A few observations.
1. what you are seeing is not that uncommon; looks like a lot of surface rust which I am sure was of little concern to whoever built the car as it was a "flip". Again, not uncommon at all.
Yeah, I know. It is surface rust, the roof had it the same on the inside and it is already sorted out. Floor pans were rotten so these are going to be replaced (I already have AMD parts here) and the rest we'll see as we go along.
2. the glue on dash pad is actually a dash cap and when installed correctly look ok and are easily detected as they are hard plastic verses the original padded dash. You should have seen this when you first looked at the car; however it probably didn't stand out. Given that the cap costs like $100 and a new pad costs $800+, you can see why someone would have chosen the cap. Again, if correctly installed they can look very nice.
It looks nice so I have no problem having it as it is. If the pad was in a bad shape w/out the cap I would probably wrap it with leather.
3. Is that spoiler on backwards...
Hahaha it probably is! I didn't even notice because I never saw one IRL before I got this car. It is brand new, the old one was probably in a bad shape so they replaced it. The screws on the inside of the trunk are too long so it looks it was a rushed job. I'll definitely turn it around.
this is one of those "be careful what you wish for". If you want it really nice, you are on the right path, but you could probably not completely deconstruct the car and make it nice and drivable, however it is your car, do what you will.
Sorry I don't understand what you're saying: what do you mean not being able to deconstruct it and make it nice and driveable? I am from Central Europe so sometimes my English is not up to par.
Believe me, I have 3 or 4 cars in various states of build and none of them are driving (my Challenger was until I decided to EFI it); so long as you have the time, money and expertise; make it how you want it. All in all, I would say that car isn't too bad and I would fix some of the larger issues (like heater control valve, Vintage air) and enjoy the car.
Well, I don't have expertise and I have no-one to ask except the guys on this forum.
Money will always be an issue so I'll take it step by step. The goal was to make it drivable asap (maybe for next summer) and then start doing upgrades afterwards. Time: never enough of it, especially considering that the car is in my mechanic's garage 150 km away from where I live.
Think of it like this;
1. make it safe (brakes, steering, suspension)
2. make it functional - basic (engine, trans, electrical)
3. make it functional - comfort (heater/AC, stereo, seats)
4. make it pretty - paint, stripes, spoilers, etc.
Good luck and have fun
Yeah, the steps will be more or less as you wrote down. It will probably be something like this:
1. fix the rust
2. sort out the AC/ventilation ducts, probably install Vintage Air kit
3. electrical (all new cables, alternator)
4. interior
5. put everything together and check that there is no risk in driving it
6. have it insured and registered (I still don't have Croatian license plates)
7. drive it for a season or two and then start upgrading (disc brakes, suspension, engine etc)
