The time has come to man up and do this thing. I have had this car for a few years now and I honestly cant see parting with it ever, time to make it new.

For those that don't know the car from previous threads....
When I found it a fairly clean one owner car with less then 90k....




Then I spent a whole weekend cleaning it and came up with this.....






Drove it like this for quite some time, was very happy with it and thought I might just preserve the original finish despite the minor (or so I thought!!!) rust.

Well that was all well and good until this happened...


Was hit by an inattentive driver in a Nissan Altima (why are they the worlds worst drivers!!??!)

After tear down it was clear that frame damage was going to be an issue...


I think the problem was the bottom of the bumper bar was rotted out and the beam did not do much to slow down the impact. So at this point the car was parked on the hill and the search for parts began. Flatty fenders are tough to come by and it took a lot longer than it should have!!

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Found my flatty fenders with a little help from the Starion forums. Problem was, they were in Buffalo NY and I am about 8hours away just outside of Boston! After convincing family and friends that I wasn't crazy for planning a trip that far to pick up a fender I had an epiphany, why not make a vaca out of it! So I called my girlfriend and said "Hey, how about a trip to Niagra Falls, neither of us have been and I can pick up my parts while we are there!" Thankfully she is down for an adventure so we packed up a car took her eight year old daughter with us and went north.

Bonus niagara falls pics...







What an amazing site! Spent the better part of a whole day just staring at it, truly worth the trip if you are even considering!

Anyway, back to the car.

Step one....start the long dormant Starion. A little Mitsu love at work here, jumping it with the Sapporo...


Step two...clean off 18 months of dirt and out door grime....



Step three inspect damage.....

Apparently the years of sitting on grass at the previous owners house kept the car moist for WAY to long and the rockers and qtrs are rusting from the inside out.





Discouraged but not one to give up as the floors and framerails are good, I drove it to my work, All Star Collision in Salem Ma.




Loaded up on the frame machine, disassembled and being pulled..


Rust in side the front fenders on the apron. All Rot will be cut out, replaced and sealed before paint.





This is going to be a big project, I certainly have my work cut out for me, but in the end a full re spray new decals all rot removed and a few surprise parts thrown at it will make it all worth the while. I cant wait to show you the wheels that will be going on it!!

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Then don't. Show us.

Wow, that is gorgeous. Real shame that Altima hit you... I have always loved the flat side Starion. Not many around anymore. I'll be watching this thread for sure.

I will...as soon as I clean them up and get tires on them. Think ultra traditional Japanese wheel, haha




Thanks, tons of updates to come for sure.

Project is in full swing now, since the rust started from the inside out, the first step is to remove the outside for access.

Outer skin removed....



Next level down...



Scary looking but its all for the greater good!



You can see in this next picture were the majority of the rust is, between the pinch weld and the floor. Looking down from the interior here.....



And up from the undercarrige here....



Other than that small spot on the frame rail, which of course will also be addressed the floor and underside are in amazing shape for a northeast car.

On the passengers side quarter panel a large area of surface has been peeking through the paint for a while. To save from any future surprises we decided to grind down the paint and see what was there...

Uh-oh is that bondo showing up?!



After a lot more grinding it seems the panel is in fairly good shape. Must have been hit at some point but the bondo was only a skim coat, decent repair was done but I HATE seeing holes drilled to pull a dent!!! Those will have to be welded up before we get to the final body work stage!



Covered in SEM rust-mort, this stuff is amazing! Literally turns rust back into shiny metal, I will have to do a before and after shot somewhere on the car. Amazing stuff!

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Interior out, floors are in pretty good shape all things considered....



Carpets will get a good shampooing, or replacement if they don't clean up 100%



Thats where I am at right now, tomorrow afternoon the next step, metal replacement on the drivers side floor/pinch weld.

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Very glad to see such care being lavished on a Starion.

Like the night Niagra pic.

Buffalo, haha... guess you picked them up from crazy Justin??

-Robert

_________________


My Build/Pic thread

Thanks, the guys in the shop here don't really 'get it'. Its not a muscle car or exotic, but the older they get the less and less there will be. Plus on top of that I really love this car! (and old mitsu's in general!)




Yup, Justin! Good guy, met him his family AND the llamas, haha!

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

nice flatty, my brother has a maroon one, i saw this one pop up on the internet the other day;

_________________
"This is where mechanical excellence and one-thousand, four-hundred horsepower pays off."
76 Colt sedan, 73 Colt Wagon, 92 Galant VR4, 77 XS400

Yeah, just saw that pop up on Tumblr a day or two ago. That car is an inspiration, a few more pics here...
http://www.jdmeuro.com/mitsubishi-stari ... iii-japan/
this one as well.....


edit....and this one.

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

You've been busy, Brad. I am hurt that I haven't been invited to help in the resto!! How is your fathers RX-7 doing? Any word on what he is going to do? Jamie going to rebuild the 12A?

_________________
Chris

78 RX-7 GS Spark Yellow
74 REPU Lawn Green

I will def bring you along for the fun part.....re-assembly!

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Some more work done last weekend.......

Brought in this antique to help with the sheet metal. A very old break that has been around for years...



All the rusted metal cut out. Rest of the sheet metal exposed to see any other damage. Little bit of rust under where the heel would rest.



Rubens firing up the torch to heat the metal. Need to make it pliable to bend the floor to match the factory design.





Without him none of this would be possible, big thanks goes his way! He has been doing this for 30 plus years and is so knowledgeable in metal work!

Decided it would be easier to make the shapes after it was tacked in place.



Pinch weld taking shape again....



Good amount of work done but still a lot to go! Getting excited. Looking to replace the decals on the sides if any one has any info on reproductions.

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Yup, I know exactly how you feel.


That's a VERY big project that you have on your hands.
You're lucky to have access to 'pro' autobody equipment and experienced "hands on" help like that.

My actual 'build' thread is "down" at the moment. I'll re-post the link later.
Meanwhile, here's the 'JNC' thread... Link--> Lancer 1800 GTX (A175X) Prototype...

Good luck with your 'build' and keep us posted.

_________________
Walk softly... and carry a BIG stick!

Thanks! Your build is one I have been looking forward to seeing complete. Someday I dream to bring a boxtype Lancer into this country. Those are one of my favorite all time cars.

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c

Any updates?

_________________
88 Chrysler Conquest TSI
87 Dodge Raider Turbo

Sorry everyone, been a little backed up with the bill paying jobs in the shop. Have a good update for you all now.

Rockers rebuilt and closed off....


Quarters closed up, still needs a little finishing obviously...


Factory style joint between the rocker and the quarters...


The part that made me the most nervous, the door jamb. Reused a lot of the factory metal here after treating it with rust-mort to keep the factory look.


Floor mostly finished, just needs grinding, finishing and a few small areas need filling.


Floor section in the rear foot well area.


Coming right along now! Light at the end of the tunnel for the heavy body work.

_________________
Brad D.

'83 Sapporo Technica; '84 Starion ES; '87 Conquest TSi;
'91 RX7 convertible; '68 Camaro SS 350 convertible; '71 NSU 1200c