need help with vin

It'll be a nice family project with family history. These things mean more than some "barn find" or restored car from some place else.

 

here is somemore pics

1971 townsman....after being pulled out from under a tree.....

 

It looks like there's plenty of work there to keep you busy for a while!

 

starting the work

this weekend I think I will fix the top....a body man told me to sand with 80 grit and apply por 15 let it get tacky and then prim

 

Get another body man for advice.....if the shop says MACCO, run!


Your pics are very small, almost impossible to get a real view of the condition of your roof and cars over all condition but I will say that the advice given to you is not the way to start this. For starters leave the POR15 rite out when it comes to your outer body work. and you are going to need more than just 80 grit for prep and prime.....

Can you give us some larger better detailed pics of your wagon? I'm sure a lot of members then could give you some more sound advice:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Yea fat tedy is right hard to see the smaller pics

 

I will try to get better pics,I WILL ALSO PUT THEM IN RESTORATION SECTION ALSO

 

Better pictures of the townsman

goint to have to do them in separate post

 

pic 2

another pic

 

pic 3

another picture

 

Looks doable but you have a LOT of work ahead of you!

 

Yes, I would strongly suggest removing all the window chrome before you start. It some times can be scary whats under there rust wise as dirt and moisture collect there. If you have rust under the trim it will find it's way under any work/paint/primer you do.

 

The POR15 suggestion is absurd! That **** is for frames, floors and trunks NOT bodies. That merely looks like surface rust from what i can see. Sand it down with 180, sand any areas you will be "mudding" with 80 grit. If the steel is pitted with small amount of surface rust down in the pits simply go buy some metal cleaner and a red scotch brite and scrub the bare steel down. After all your prep and body work clean the panel with wax and grease remover. If your primer is not a DTM (direct to metal) primer buy some self etching primer (usually available in a rattle can), apply a light coat of that on the bare steel first followed by your primer. Ive done body work for 7 years now and have completed restorations on two of my own personal cars. I dont know everything but i know enough to get into trouble!

 

The trickiest part of that roof is going to be to get it smooth. Ripples and any pitting are going to show like mad on that large, smooth surface. I would be tempted to look at the paint that gives a texture similar to a vinyl roof. It will hide very small imperfections. One of the members here has a hearse and that is what the coach works did when they built the hearse. There was a 2 tone paint scheme available from the factory, as well as a vinyl roof option, so you should be able to find the D-pillar trim to separate the two colours.

 

Surface rust or not, that's a bit past just sanding unless you want to spend all summer doing it. You really should start with removing trim....to see what is under it, the clam shell wagons can be bad under the rear window trim. Then a media/soda blast to get down to the metal then you know you are clean!. Sorry Mike, but there is a reason vinyl tops are not put on cars anymore = rust and you still would have to do the same de-rusting to install one along with the fact..... try finding guys today that KNOW how to install one.... everyone has the talk but........

But as mentioned..... NO POR15 period on the body!

Real world, you are going to have filler/bondo no matter what for a smooth finnish, cars came off the line new with filler and that's a fact.