1990 country squire resto/lowrider in UK

[andyfanshawe]

Progress today for the first time in ages.

The task was to repair the rust corner of the wheelarch, finish the panel replacement where the spare wheel used to be and try to weld some holes up.

Heres the card template for the rusty corner and a black line where I am going to cut



Here it is removed and the offending rusty steel





New steel clamped in place for welding.





I spot welded the join down the quarter panel to prevent any distortion.



Heres the wheelarch lip in place ready for welding



and welded



to be continued..............................

Andy.

[andyfanshawe]

Cardboard template for bottom panel made



And panel transferred to steel



Welded in



Fully rustproofed by heating the panels and spraying dintrol 3125 in till it seeps through the joints



Finished arch waiting for prepping for paint



View from the outside to the inside!



Hole welding next. Copper plate clamped to the back of the panel to absorb the heat and prevent distortion







Andy.

[P72Ford]

Its been said many times, but I do have to reiterate. You do really, really nice fabrication work, Andy.

Keep up the great work!

[1990LTD]

fuck you do nice work, Andy. I can't wait to see more of this car.

[87gtVIC]

Nice mang. I wish I had some skills like those.

[johnunit]

I love the sketch, and all the improvements to the quarter panels. This just keeps getting more interesting.

[hemihotrod402]

Don't get me wrong, I really like the sketch, but it seems that color scheme would fit a mopar better.

[andyfanshawe]

Yeah, the paint may need a bit more thought............................

Recent evenings have been wet and getting dark quicker, so not much progress till today.

Time to remove the "wood" from the rear quarter so I can do some more welding and get it prepped for paint.



This is me with a hair dryer and a wallpaper scraper!



All off-but not the sticky residue yet!





Cutting the light unit metalwork out



Ready to be welded up
-and you can see the 5 holes around it I had to weld up.


More tomorrow.
Andy.

[andyfanshawe]

Time to start thinking about the lowrider part of this build.
Yes it will have air suspension but it really needs to be lower.

Now this will take a lot of work, and I certainly can't do this outside, but................cutout the floor and firewall where the frame is and lower the whole body down over the frame, and remake the floor and firewall. Probably have to lower the motor too!! Oh, and move the steering column, and wiper motor, and trans tunnel..................
That will give a nice stance, and combined with air, will make this wagon sit on the floor.
Hmmm........

Andy.

[MrMarquis]

A body drop?? Daaaaammmmnnnn. Not one for scraping pavement, but that ought to look slick.

I've been considering doing an air suspension set up on my Marquis, but have no idea what I'm doing. What do you plan on using?

[andyfanshawe]

A body drop?? Daaaaammmmnnnn. Not one for scraping pavement, but that ought to look slick.

I've been considering doing an air suspension set up on my Marquis, but have no idea what I'm doing. What do you plan on using?

Hi Mr M.
the rear suspension is on coil springs, so they just need replacing by an airbag with suitable plates for top and bottom (more details on that later). front suspension has shox going through the springs so a shockwave needs to be used. See these and other components at www.ridetch.com

Then a digital control system needs to be used. I am using the auto pilot sytstem on my camaro, but there are a few others available now.

More details soon.
Andy.

[hemihotrod402]

just out of curiosity, how low would it be sitting without the body drop?

[wagon mafia]

for the front you might want to look into z'ing the frame. that will lift everthing up in the front so that you dont have to worry about dragging though the oil pan and such

[wagon mafia]

also to go low in the rear placing the bags in the rear coil mounts my not get you the low that you are wanting with out cutting into the cargo area.

well here is the question. are you wanting to lay the car out on the frame and rocker? if so i suggest installing the air ride and making it lay out on the frame first.

i have been looking in to baggin, and body droppin my 86 pontiac wagon

[andyfanshawe]

Hi Guys.
Good comments and questions.

I want the car to ride at the suspension setup as it is now-to keep all the factory settings-camber, castor, pinion angle...etc. BUT the wagon looks too high in this position. It looks very dated and more like a 4 x 4!
So the body has to be lowered over the frame to get the stance I want.
Z'ing the frame at the front won't be needed since the oil pan won't go lower anyway.

The air suspension will then (most likely-but no guarantees yet) sit the frame on or very near the floor.

Okay, todays jobs....
Today managed to make up the panel to fill in the gap where the side marker light used to be. Joddled it so it would sit flush and spot welded it in.







Completed panel



Just got the wheelarch lip to repair in 2 places and the quarter can can be prepped and painted. then its on to the other side.

Andy.