91MR2

Tons more progress over the last few days. Got the car cleaned up and then undercoated all the areas that were metal patched (plus a sizeable area beyond), including the inner trunk area as well as the wheel wells. Then got all new stainless hardware (with tons of grease for future removal needs) to re-attach the bumper support, plus repair and mount the reverse light housings. Today I ran the wiring loom for the reverse lights and rear side marker lights. Tail lights and center panel next...

Mike thanks for that, I think they just matched it kind of like they do at hardware stores with a chip/sample, etc. Either way, I’m pleased…

Gentlemen, the car is back home as of yesterday, and I'm very pleased with how it came out. Paint match is great, and it should last a very long time, lots of metal replacement involved here, finished off with waterproof duraglass. I spent the rest of the day cleaning it up and am now preparing for re-assembly, hopefully this coming week...

Bodywork done, getting painted today...

Big week, the red car is in the body shop and work is well underway. They should have it for a couple weeks, before it returns home for cleaning and re-assembly. Lots of areas that will be cut out for new metal to go in, but they aren't too bad, mostly small areas, even the body shop felt good about it once the stripping down began. It has to get uglier before it gets better...

More or less the entire rear of the car is getting repainted, where the rear 1/4 panels were seamed, all of the body work is starting to show through, so they are taking it down to bare metal and fixing everything properly and then repainting. My friend and I did all the structural stuff on the inside, so that is now complete. Basically restoring a car that I thought was going to be nothing more than a parts car...

You can paint over chassis saver, however, that isn't necessary in this case, since it's all on the inside of the trunk and will be just covered in carpets anyways...

Well, today was the day, I brought the red car in for paint today. Should be done in a couple weeks. Very excited, hoping it will come out really nice, especially with all the prep work I've been doing. Car should go back together pretty fast once I get it back, hopefully by the end of May. Will update...

Been doing a lot of work on the red car, grinding, scraping, cleaning all the inner trunk area, as the car is finally going in for paint next week. Today, I applied the Chassis Saver (think por-15). This product will neutralize the areas of concern and convert it to a rock hard surface, never to rust again. So they say...

Had my paint/body guy stop by to have a look at some of the prep work I’ve been doing and to get aligned for the upcoming work his shop will be doing. Super excited for the outcome of this car…

Thanks Goce, there are many steps to go still of course, including using a great product called chassis saver, that my body shop swears by. I'll keep everyone updated for sure...

Made some major progress with the red Mi16 this past week, after cutting out and grinding away all the bad metal inside the trunk and in the inner fender wells, I cut up new metal patches and by buddy came over and welded them in. Very please with the results. Car goes in for further surgery/paint in May...

Man, this place has been quiet lately... Took the SW for it's maiden drive of the season yesterday (for added fun, we crossed 132K miles) after much deferred maintenance and all new fluids over the winter. Ran flawlessly, very pleased with where this car is at. Just awaiting some minor paintwork this summer and that will be all for this car other than routine maintenance...

Pesky tail lights off now, just needed some convincing. Car goes in for paint/body sometime in May...

Also just got my floor mat back today. It came out ok. Mostly pleased, especially considering the condition of the mat in the first place, quite weathered. All in all, the patina/fit will be just fine...

Boy, it's been quiet in here lately... Pulled the center panel off, the tail lights weren't coming off, but going to give them another try today.

And did the driver's side patches today...sorry for the lousy pictures... Hoping to get everything cleaned and welded up soon, and then do the fiberglass overlay on everything...

Started working on my metal patches today, in preparation for the welding/fiberglass overlay to come. Got the passenger side done, quite pleased with how it will all come together, should be very strong, especially with the FG on top of everything...

It's the little things... The red Mi16 came with a set of floor mats that while branded Peugeot, are not for a 405. Likely a 505 is my guess. The passenger and rear mats fit fine, but the driver's side doesn't at all. So after talking to some local carpet stores about binding an old 30 year old floor mat, I found one willing to do so. After some careful (?) measuring today, I cut it to shape and then dropped it off. They will do the final trimming/shaping. Hoping to have it back in about a week...

The SW was in need of new fluids, so up on the lift it went. Good news, the car had a tremendously bad oil leak when I got it, however after putting on the lift, I noticed the oil drain plug was barely finger tight. After changing the motor oil/filter, gear oil, and then tightening everything well, etc., the car has been dry as a bone underneath. Was also a good opportunity to degrease everything down below. Took it outside for a nice wash afterwards. This car should be really nice when I'm done with it...

Tail lights will be the next thing I pull off. We will make this car right...

High Bean, the rest of the car is basically rust free, where the rear quarters were replaced the bodywork is starting to show through, more a function I believe of just bad body work done in the first place, which my shop will certainly remedy when they repaint more or less the whole rear of the car. Quite honestly, because of how good the rest of the car is, it allows me to rationalize spending this money to do the bodywork correctly, i.e. metal replacement where needed, etc. It will not be cheap, but in my opinion, it is the only way to save the car properly…

Mike, the rust here is fortunately all in the trunk/inner fender area. It's not something I was happy to find, but it's nothing structural, and the rest of the car is surprisingly free of rust. Again, not ideal, but it's not the end of the road for this car. I brought detailed pictures of all of this to my body shop, and they aren't intimidated at all. We will soldier on and make this car right...it's now a mission... This is regrettably what we sometimes deal with in these great lakes climates. Thankfully none of my other cars are afflicted with any of this. However this car has certainly seen some winters in its lifetime. But it will never see that again once I'm done with it...

In order to fully process all of what is ahead, I took a step back for a minute to figure out a plan. At the moment, I have an excellent body shop already lined up to basically re-do the rear 1/4 panels, since the bodywork just hasn't held up. It will be done right. All the inner work, ie. trunk floor and wheel wells, I'm going to tackle. My friend has a welder, and since none of this work will be visible, we will just get some good metal back in there, and once done, will seam seal everything from the inside, and undercoat it all from the outside. Since this car will never again see winter driving, I believe it will all hold up. Again, not what I was hoping to find, but these are old cars with stories to tell... I thought it deserved a wash today, so I pulled it out of the garage and did so (in 38 degree weather no less). It will be worth it when done...