Actually did some work on the vert today. First thing I did was pull the front bumper cover off to make it a little easier to replace the headlights. That's not the
only reason, but it does make is a little easier. Had 3 studs spin and strip the fiberglass header, so I'll have to deal with that now. Then I found some hidden damage, which kind of explained why the original bumper cover was trashed. The first thing I noticed was that the right side fog light mount was welded to the support bar. It was welded, apparently, because someone broke off one of the mounting bolts. Then, I found that the bottom bolt holes on the bumper support were broken, so I'll probably have to find a new one. Then I found the left front fender was damaged behind the bumper cover, but not enough to show on the outside. Finally, the radiator support has a dent in it as well. Apparently this car had a rough life before I bought it.
I then moved to the interior - I pulled the door panel from the passenger door and cleaned it up. It's faded a little, but it was also screwed to the door around the perimeter. One screw was on the back about midway up the door in the vinyl, then there were a few screws along the bottom in the carpet. The arm rest has also shrunk and faded, so I'll probably need to order new. While I was on that side of the car, I noticed the paint was peeling from the forward rear wheel spat. So I scratched some of it away and found that it looks like it's cabernet like the rest of the car. But the car was originally 2 tone. So this piece isn't original to this car? Also, the skirt looks like it was somewhat bunched up or shrunk or whatever and left a gap between it and the rear spat. I'm not quite sure what to think of all of that.....
I also did a little work in the trunk. I had to reassemble the fuel door latch as I pulled it apart through the tail light hole to put some gas in it. The release button stopped working for some reason - I tried it again tonight along with the trunk release, neither work now. I put the original tail lights back in, then paid attention to the trunk lid. We know the car had a bad repaint, but the trunk was still the original cabernet. The deck lid, on the other hand, was completely red, but the red didn't match the rest of the car. It was also not gapped correctly and makes contact on the right side. It still had the sticker on the under side, so I snapped a pic to compare - it's from another car.
I'm not quite sure what to make of all of this, but I think what may have happened was that this car was bought to use as a parts car or donor for someone, then was thrown back together with whatever they could get a hold of, received a Maaco spray, then sold again. If I had to guess, I'm the second buyer since then as I pulled a bunch of heavy gauge wire from the battery and trunk - someone had a thumpin' system in this car at some point.
!! Something happened on the vert tonight!
