1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:43 am

some pictures
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon


Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:10 pm

As with any project, we found suprises. In the cars past someone fixed the normal fender/lower cowl rot. It was worse than I thought. We got it fixed but it has delayed the paint work about a week, lots of small spots to massage. had to weld in some patches on the lower windshield frame and the rear quarter windows, but not more than expected. Body work should be done Friday the 10th, and in primer. Next week a lot of block sanding and paint the week following. I have to thank the Guys at the body shop for all their work. I feel kind of helpless because up to this point I have done all the work on this project. I have to leave it in their hands.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby dindin » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:32 pm

Wow, really going to town in that car..nice work. :th:

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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:44 pm

Car is in primer. lots of block sanding and detail work, but progress can be seen.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby HI WINDING MONZA » Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:39 pm

Larry are you staying with silver? Factory or some other silver?

Doug in P.R. 8)
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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Mon Jul 13, 2015 4:46 pm

Factory code 15 silver poly on the top, "Safari" panels, hood and header. This was the original color for the car. The lower sides, valances and hatch will be code 16 Dark Gray Poly. This is the 2 tone combination that was used on the 1978 Bonneville. The stripe will be code 77 Carmine. I photo-shopped a mock up of the paint to see which of several 2 tones I came up with I would like. This is what it will be like. I decided that the color from the sides going up the rear roof pillar and on the hatch would mimmick the other Pontiac models from that year. I wanted to make it look as "factory" as possiable.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby jon72vega » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:18 pm

Doing the 2 tone that way will look sharp!
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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Wed Jul 15, 2015 4:53 pm

I try not to make a pest of myself. I only go check out my car at the body shop every couple of days. If I could I would be there all the time. I am SOOO curious about what is going on with my car. The body is being block sanded to find any small imperfections. It looks amazing, I can't wait to see it with paint on it. The fenders became a major problem. The patches that had been done in the past were really poor. as you can see in the second photo. The lower rear sections were badly rotted and just had a patch spotted over the rust and a lot of mud. If I had known they were so bad, I would have found some good used fenders. Time constraints in the body shop schedule kind of took precident, so we decided to fix the fenders. They cut out all the bad metal and properly patched in metal, and finished it right. a good under coating an it should outlast me. God willing and the creeks don't rise, It will be in the paint booth Monday. It has been super rainy here we have had 21 INCHES of rain in the last 6 weeks. Northern Indiana has been designated as the sixth GREAT LAKE! Humidity and mosquitos are bad. A bare metal fender will start to surface rust in about 4 hours.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby zzip » Thu Jul 16, 2015 6:09 pm

I think all over the world is the same problem with rotten fenders . :cuss: :cuss:
I fix my left one and the right one is ready sunday .

Succes

Peter from Antwerp

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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Fri Jul 17, 2015 12:06 pm

Fenders are done and being fitted to the doors. They came out great. Starting to look like a car again
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby Vegabee » Sat Jul 18, 2015 3:50 pm

I remember that rich looking two tone on Pontiacs when graduating from high school.Thanks for bringing it back.Looks like the paint stripe line runs just below the mirror.Going to look nice.
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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:30 pm

Block sanding done! A few spots to massage on some seams and it's ready for the booth. There are some parts in the booth already. the underside of the hood is primed and ready. The SAFARI/NOMAD panels, headlamp buckets, mirrors, valance panels, and rear plate pocket. They should be ready this afternoon. Paint very soon. The suspense is killing me! I can't wait to see it. :th:
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
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lleelduo
 
Posts: 303
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Location: Bluffton IN.

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:10 pm

Another delay! :bang: Sanding the door bottoms we found some small pinhole rust spots that had been covered up. Had to take the doors off to repair them properly. Best to do it now than later.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
User avatar
lleelduo
 
Posts: 303
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:47 pm
Location: Bluffton IN.

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby sportriderok » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:06 pm

Hang in there, Larry! The wait will be worth it. Look forward to every update on this car.
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Re: 1978 Pontiac sunbird safari wagon 2.5

Postby lleelduo » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:31 am

Finally some color! They got all the jams and door edges and underside of the hood done. Put the doors and hood back on and into the booth! The original code 15 paint is a silver with a touch of pewter in it. The paint that was on the car was so bad you cold not tell what it would look like. I love it. I cant wait to see the 2 tone on it.
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Larry Leitz

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari sport wagon
1969 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 convertiable
2016 Chevrolet Volt
2016 Chevrolet City Express
User avatar
lleelduo
 
Posts: 303
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:47 pm
Location: Bluffton IN.

1978 Pontiac Sunbird Safari Wagon

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