I bought a blue turbo shadow convertible years ago and always wanted to install an 89 CSX-VNT body/wing kit and put a T3 in it. But I always felt that car was so nice and original that it would be a shame to hack it up. Fast forward about 10 years and I come upon a twin to my car, only it's not a turbo model. And the bargain basement price of free made it a no brainer!
So I decided to do another project, and am building this car into a convertible version sort of similar to the 90 prototype bonzai blue car. I'm using the shell of this car and installing everything (drivetrain, suspension, wiring, dash etc.) from a 91 spirit r/t into it. I'm also going to use the seats, door panels and body kit from an 89 CSX.
The car has been sitting since I got it back in 2012. Here's some pics from back then:
Here's a pic of the twins together (sold the turbo one last year):
A couple weeks ago I got tired of looking at it, and here's what happened:
Once the motor was pulled, I pulled the interior. I was hoping for no rust, but as you can tell from the spots on the core support above, this is a new england car, so here we go:
Mostly just the drivers floor board. I can deal with that. What I couldn't deal with was the smell. With the whole interior out, I still gagged when I opened the doors to work on it. So I ripped apart the trunk, and bingo:
Yup - that was the cause of the stench! Poor car. LOL!
OK, with that out of the way, time to test my theory...
Yup - bolts right in.Gotta have a factory oil pressure gauge with a T3 motor...LOL!
OK, back to work. Stripped the engine bay and wire wheeled the rust on the core support (caused by a cheezy aftermarket hood lock system). Luckily it was only scale and no perforations.
Oh, and look what I found when I stripped the cowl...more yummyness...
After that nastyness was stripped out of there, it was time for the glass guy to come and remove the windshield so that I could see the horror hidden beneath...
That was last Friday. Since then I've removed the entire undercarriage (suspension, k-frame, fuel and brake lines, and fuel tank). There's some scale in some spots, but no rot. I also cut out all the rot on the drivers floor and in the A pillar, and welded in new metal. Yesterday I marked up and shipped off all of the fuel and brake lines to have Right Stuff make duplicates. If there's interest, they can make a template for it and create a kit for us. I imagine that it would fit all the csx cars and ES models with the rear discs.
I'm taking a break for the holiday weekend, but will be doing the filler/finish work on the engine compartment, floors and A pillar next week. I'm hoping to have them sprayed by next weekend so that I can start to reassemble!
Reply With Quote
