dartnlo said

Just typing my thoughts out loud...

I'm hemming and hawing lately. My original plan with this car was/is to make it look good from 20 feet and ride and drive nice, but... I've got "grass is greener" syndrome. I look at all of these people doing rotisserie restorations and I know I'm capable of one, and the car surely deserves one. I need help talking me back into my original plans basically.

I've run into a lot more rust (surprise!) as I started working on the floor pans and have basically halted work as I consider my next step. So far I've decided and accepted that I'm going to have to remove the undercoating from at least the floor pans so I can wire brush and better repair the floor pan issues. None of the holes are bigger than 2" x 3" but there's one in each quarter of the floor. So that's not really the issue. I've spent an hour inside each rear wheel well scraping undercoating that is left and wire brushing. No perforations there except for the outer seat belt mount area. The rockers look solid from the side but the driver's side is very soft on the bottom in about 3 places. I was already planning on replacing the lower rear quarters and lower rear fenders with patch panels. I know new rocker panels would allow me to get inside and treat the rust inside there.

Options:
1. Continue on as planned. Do the best I can in my less than desirable Model-T garage environment. Wire brush/remove all the rust I can see and somehow slow the rust I can't touch. I want to at least feel like I'm somehow slowing its inevitable return to dust while I enjoy the car..

2. Do very little. Patch and seal up the floor and cabin so that water stops intruding and the carpet stays dry. Plan on dry weather driving only. Do quicky patches (my sheetmetal fabrications not purchased panels) on all of the body panels with rust holes and easy rust abatement. Enjoy the car and tackle the rust as it becomes a problem

3. Wait. Continue to do what I can and enjoy the car but plan on a better restoration in the future. My girlfriend is in her last semester for training to be a Physical Therapy Assistant. I work from from home and can work from anywhere with good internet access so we will likely move somewhere else in the next calendar year when she finds a good job. At that time I would look for a home with a real shop or space to build one where I could more easily work on a project like this.

Real questions I don't want to know the answer to, or I am currently ignoring the answer to:
Do any of the the "rust restorer" products actually slow down rust that you don't remove?
Will keeping the car inside slow the rust that much or will it continue to rust now that it has started? 47 years is a long time to get where it is, but I don't know how long ago it started. My last 70 Dart I had in the late 80s and early 90s had as much rust as this does. They were both midwest cars. The 70 was a Kansas car and this 72 is an Iowa car.
Will spot sandblasting help and is it worth the headache?

I'm not a very patient guy and I love driving this car around even how she runs and looks now. I'm happy with the work I've done mechanically and what little body improvements I've made. blah, blah, blah, thanks for listening to my brain blather.

Comments welcomed, reality checks welcomed, large cashier's checks very welcomed!

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