May 17, 20169 yr I finally made it to the First Gen Group!!! Picked this up today (very hard to find in Alaska). As they say, it's rough... but it's all there. Plan is to fix rust (primarily rockers), I have replacement fenders (will be painting and distressing), interior is nice shape, will polish out and clear coat the patina and throw on a set of snow flakes. Traveled 375 miles round trip to pick it up. Home Sweet Home
May 17, 20169 yr Whats the plan for this GEM? I have always loved the gen 1 wagons, used them as my winter car in Montana. Always started, and some of my friends would say too ugly to die, A few of them had to eat crow after a blizzard.
May 18, 20169 yr Author Build it and drive it. I'll get a build thread going in the next few weeks. Edited May 18, 20169 yr by tundrabrat
July 2, 20169 yr Author Figured I'd test my plan out for the finish... Pretty happy with the way it's turning out.
July 5, 20169 yr Author Got some help from my 15 yr old today. Pulled bumpers, fenders, front valence and got a better look at what I'm in for. Rockers are toast (which I knew) and rear must have taken a decent hit at one time but I like metal work and other the mechanicals and interior are in good shape and all the weird trim pieces are there and in good shape. Metal work to start in the next week or so after my oldesr's SS is done. Luckily it came with another set of fenders. Note the pile of dirt and rust. Edited July 5, 20169 yr by tundrabrat
August 7, 20169 yr Author Started to biopsy the car today, believe it or not... it's not as bad as I thought.
June 22, 20187 yr Any updates? I'm getting the rockers done on my coupe this week. I'm going with a slightly thicker sheet metal than stock, hoping to improve it's strength and lifespan! the metal was .80mm (0.032") to 1.0mm (0.040")
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