DTMAce's project updated... June 17th... Going together!

rettagurl · **Posted:** Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:28 pm

Your car is comming along better than mine is. I got my headlight and grille and headerpanel fixed but I'm having a hell of a time finding a hood and fender.

DTMAce · **Posted:** Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:27 pm

Try J&S Auto Salvage out of Flint. ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š Ask for Dave. ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š He is the one that got me the Z bumper, and that car with the 3400 should still be sitting there. ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š Hood is trash but the fender might be fine. ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š Just missing a bumper cover, and the shifter stuff. ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š

DTMAce · **Posted:** Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:56 pm

UPDATE:

First of all, I promised a closer shot on the original pin striping the car had (I had it added shortly after buying it)

This was painted to match the colors and design of the decals for the Z26 logo. They will not be going back on the car however. So wave bye bye to those.

This is a shot of the structure left behind after straightening and removing the upper core and the corner. This part is all ok, though there is a tear through one area starting at the coolant tank mounting hole.

Just a shot with it all removed and ready for the replacement parts.

Shot of the old core top panel and the core I removed from the 94 base.

Hopefully will get this back in the next day or so, shoot the welded areas with a little paint, the put the fender back on and finish aligning them. Then we can work on the couple of dents in the hood, get that mounted and start prepping for sanding and painting. Yay!

ROLNGTZ · **Posted:** Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:35 pm

Nice work. Sweet that you were able to keep the Beretta and get enough money to repair it. I will be checking in on this topic more to see your progress. Keep it up. Looks like you will have it on the road in no time.

3X00-Modified · **Posted:** Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:41 pm

A lot less of the core support was needed than I originally thought too... looking good tho

DTMAce · **Posted:** Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:55 pm

Well it helps when your father has 25+ years of metal framework exp under his belt. lol If I had done this, I would probably have replaced more, and not done so well. My fault for being a computer geek. lol

We did cut more, just in case cause you never know.

Washing the dirt off of the car today, to prep for body work. Hope to have that done and get it taped and papered off so I can start sanding. Fun stuff.

Money pit Beretta · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:36 pm **Location:** Kansas

Man, you work fast! I've got to ask: is the vapor canistor ok? Sure doesn't look like a computer geek is working on it(come on, your dad isn't doing all the work). What a great come back story this is!

DTMAce · **Posted:** Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:43 am

LOL No he isn't actually. So far all he has done is point in directions and the frame work. I have been doing all the dirty work, pulling stuff off, cleaning, etc. But I don't mind. Was working over the door pillars this evening, they are not in the best shape, but hoping to fix them. Rust was showing through in the front corners of the pillars.

The rockers don't look that bad though, thank goodness. So... Working on removing the stuff around them now. The doors are excellent, hardly any rust at all, so won't have to do any painting past the edges. That helps.

The Vapor canister is ok, but I will probably have to replace it anyway. The winter before I parked the car in 05', I had to replace the A/C bearing on the pump. When I did that, the coolant system was opened for the first time since I owned it. I have not recharged it since, and I am pretty sure that there is going to be moisture in the system now anyway. So I will have to replace that canister and vacuum the system when I redo it later this spring. Not going to worry about it for the moment.

I don't know about fast, but we would like to have it mostly done before middle of next week. At least painted/cleared anyway. I have a lot to do between now and then. In the middle of ordering new hoses and a muffler for it from Autozone online.

Money pit Beretta · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:36 pm **Location:** Kansas

Just checking on the vapor canistor, if the purge valve goes so does the idle. I hate rust, I've spent alot of time and money to fight it. Eastwood makes some great rust converter if you could use it(for small stuff). I like it because you don't have to wash it off. Fast! No joke, it would take me months and months to do the same(I only get to work on the weekends though). Not to say that I can do what you are doing. Metal bumping is about all I know and that was self taught.

DTMAce · **Posted:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:40 am

Actually the worst rust areas so far are mostly in the rear, some small areas of the floorpan and the upper door pillars. Floor pan due to water getting in, have to fix the leaks yet. That will be looked into very shortly actually. Today was not a good day, have not done any work at all on it, had other issues to take care of. Though I found out my new carpet should be here Thursday for it. Won't be putting that in to a bit later though. Trimparts brand bought from Ebay for 120. Supposed to be really good stuff, so we will see.

Just placed an order today for Tranny lines and a muffler. Free shipping from Autozone online! Gotta love it.

Will update more later. I plan to keep the updates here on Beretta net, so stay tuned.

Thanks.

DTMAce · **Posted:** Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:10 pm

Ok, some new updates. Worked on it a bit last night, got the parts for the core in place, just have to get our measurements and weld them back together. Starting to look like a car again. lol

Here is a shot of the core, clamped in with vise grips. We just have to look up our side, corner, and front to back measurements as well as height so we get it welded in correctly. Have the book here somewhere....

Picture of the masking to protect the trim from my sanding. I am not good enough to not need it. LOL Been cleaning with the DuPont stuff there, to make sure all the previous wax and grease, etc are all gone, so the tape sticks good. That is good stuff. Back when I last did this sort of work, I used Wax and Grease remover, I guess this is the same stuff, smells the same anyway. *shrug

More updates to follow. I am leaving after posting this to go down to Gaylord and pick up my new muffler and tranny lines. See ya all later!

Money pit Beretta · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:36 pm **Location:** Kansas

Wow it looks great! What are you going to use to weld it? Well, looks like the air bag worked.

DTMAce · **Posted:** Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:24 am

Thanks. Well we have 4 welders here to choose from. hahah Probably just the standard wire welder. The way he does those, you would never know it was torn apart, the original spot welds are reused. Once painted, can't really tell, unless you do this work yourself and know what to look for.

Air bag? Oh it worked, in that it went off when it was supposed to. Problem was I sit so far back from the seat it actually never touched me. Kinda funny. The impact really wasn't that violent, but since the deer smacked right into the sensor it went off. I already have a replacement from the base to put back, wheel and all. I was wanting to replace my wheel anyway, was coming apart.

OH I got my carpet today! TrimParts out of Illinois... Stuff looks excellent! Has all the foot pads sewn in and everything! Not bad for 120+shipping. I went with a darker grey, as I was tired of the origina light grey and its staining ability. This stuff is made to exceed OEM spec, so I should have no problems with it. I would have went black but that wouldn't have matched anything. At least dark grey will match the trim.

Money pit Beretta · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:36 pm **Location:** Kansas

Had to ask on the welder didn't I (should have known it would be more than one)? Man, felt kinda bad that I didn't ask if you were ok. The air bag can mess you up, but as you said you were so far back I feel somewhat better. I'll have to check my carpet(new leak and an old one), gray is what I would need. Do they have a web site?

DTMAce · **Posted:** Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:46 am

Actually I am wrong. They are not out of IL. They are out of Lebanon OH. Hell I used to live maybe an hour or so from there when I lived in OH. LOL
They have a number here...
513.934.0815

I bought this through Ebay from this seller on this item:

Ebay item: Carpet for Beretta

Hope that link works, if not let me know.

DTMAce's project updated... June 17th... Going together!

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