Episode Thirteen, Bonus episode, final photos, car is sold

  October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

------------------

The car is sold and we close out this series of blog posts with a summary.

As of 6/11/25 I finished the car to the stated goal, i.e., the major bodywork was done and the car was roughly reassembled. On 6/2/25 I put the car up for sale at $7500. I ran the listing into the late summer of 2025 but took it down for a month when it didn't sell. 

In October 2025 I relisted it at $7000, then lowered the price to $6750 and then $6500. After the ad started getting too old I took it down and relisted in 3/13/26. There were always more than a thousand clicks on each ad, but no buyers.

But within two weeks Kasey from Pocatello Idaho contacted me. That was Saturday morning 3/28/26. He drove up with his son Jordan, a trailer, and a wad of $100 bills that afternoon. We looked at the car, discussed what was done to it, speculated on the best way to finish it, and then he pulled the trigger. He loaded it up and I waved goodbye:

It took 8 months to build and another 9 months to sell. Being a niche market, coupled with the fact I didn't need to sell it, I'm happy with the transaction.

Honestly, in the back of my mind I sorta hoped it wouldn't sell. It's a beautiful body style and would be a perfect candidate for an LS swap. I could build it out the way I want, confident that the work that went into it was solid and lasting. 

But alas, she's gone. Oh, I. Oh, I. Better learn how to face it, she's gone.

These are the sale photos: 

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode twelve, surprises, final body prep and reassembly ***updated 6/25/25

 October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

------------------

As of 6/11/25 I have finished the car to the stated goal, i.e., the major bodywork is done and the car is roughly reassembled. On 6/2/25 I put the car up for sale.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode eleven, core support, roof, headlight extensions and miscellaneous little parts ***updated 5/11/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

------------------

There are a hundred little details to get done to reach my goal of a paint-ready car. Originally it was to be six months, which at this writing is only days away. 

I'm not going to make it.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode ten, Back glass gutter and deck, sail panels, grill header ***milestone 5/5/25, updated 6/9/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

------------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode nine - Hood, trunk lid, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box **updated 4/14/25

 October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

-------------------------------

This episode and episode ten are going to be a sort of catch-all for various small repairs. 

Before we move on, a status report: These parts are done as far as the major bodywork:

If I were going to make these panels, as well as the whole car, paint-ready, I would want to spend a couple of month priming and blocking. I have found that no matter how good it looks it can always look better. 

So at this stage the driver quarter, the roof, and the rear glass area remain. As you can see in the pic, the hood is done, and that's covered in this episode. The lower windshield is done, which is also covered in this episode. The rear glass area is covered in Episode ten.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode eight - tail light panel, eyebrow ***updated 6/4/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

-------------------------------

Had I known at the onset the degree of damage and rust in this area I might have not bought the car. At the very least, it likely would have changed my repair strategy. With this level of damage I might have chosen to replace the tail light panel, not to mention the quarter.

But as far as I know a Lemans tail light panel is not available as a reproduction. For Lemans #1 I bought the GTO panel, but for this car I really didn't want to spend the hundreds of dollars. It's a budget build, after all.
 

That means I must fix it.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - Episode seven - the doors ***updated 3/13/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

----------------

It's now time to turn to the doors. I've actually been a hammering fool already, especially regarding the driver's quarter and the passenger fender, both of which needed extensive work.

The third problem area is the doors. 

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode six, 1966 fenders repaired and modified, inner fenders **updated 5/19/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

----------------------------

This episode will focus on the fender rust and the inner fender rust.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode five, toe panel and rockers **updated 2/12/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

-----------------------

This episode will focus on the toe panel and the rockers.

I've been moving around the car, doing work here and there but not really finishing anything (Well, except, now the toe panel is completely done). I'm basically roughing out the car and getting every repair ready for the tedious finish work. For me, this sort of quantifies the scope of the whole car. I can grasp the magnitude of work and also tell myself that these are all of the repairs. No surprises.

Well, a couple of surprises. See Episode twelve for additional surprises.

I thought the rockers were totally solid, but as mentioned in Episode 2, the passenger side was discovered to be rusty. 

I'll cover the toe panel repair first.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode four, quarters and wheelhouses - updated 625/25

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

-----------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode three, products, rough body work - updated 12/16/24

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

---------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode two, disassembly and assessment

October 5th, 2024:



October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

--------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode one, introduction

October 5th, 2024:



October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, quarters, here.

Episode five, toe panel, rockers, here.

Episode six, fenders, inner fenders, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

Episode eight, tail light panel, hood, found here.

Episode nine, Hood, trunk, windshield gutter, cowl and firewall, heater box, found here.

Episode ten, Back glass gutter, grill, found here.

Episode eleven, headlight extensions, core support, roof, found here.

Episode twelve, final body prep and reassembly, found here.

Episode thirteen, bonus episode, final photos, found here.

--------------------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime - final update, 4/8/24

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

This is our last official episode, having achieved our one year goal of fixing the rust, doing the bodywork, and priming the car. The car was listed on Faceborg marketplace on April 1st, and the new owner picked it up this morning, April 8th.

This last episode will cover the panel prep for block and prime. This is another big task, where all the gaps need to be checked and aligned, the door jambs, trunk jambs, the cowls and other untouched surfaces need to be sanded to accept primer, and the surface rust and degraded original paint must be sanded out.

But before I get to all this it's time for a pre-primer review of where we came from.

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair - updated 3/18/24

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

---------------

Hear Ye, Hear Ye. 

This is a milestone. After 9 months of work, working Wednesdays and Saturdays, I am proclaiming the body shell's rust repair to be ended. Finished. All done. Completed. 

It's been an arduous journey.

I entered into this knowing it would involve many difficult deep-dive repairs. But even though I've done much of this sort of work before I was still not prepared for how difficult this car would be. This is a major pitfall of the car hobby: Even knowing it will be hard, it's always harder than you thought.

Given this, I am quite literally surprised that I didn't screw it up to the point of making it junk. Or kill myself. Or even experience a serious injury. I succeeded in every single task. The car came out solid, square, and everything lines up. 

In the very first episode I invoked Jesus' help, and He did.

This first punch list is largely complete:

In episode one I outlined my strategy for working on the car. Stage One was body shell repairs. This is the stage I'm proclaiming as complete. Stage Two is the repair of the bolt-on sheetmetal repairs. Which means I have moved on to stage two.

Actually, I have been doing some Stage Two repairs already, like the passenger and driver door and the trunk lid. In particular, the door repairs were necessary in order to properly fit the quarters and the floor pan.

I've also been doing some Stage Three repairs (bodywork) in many of the episodes, but really just rough-in bodywork. There's a subsequent episode for the finish bodywork.

In today's episode I'll be addressing the last of the Stage Two repairs The fender patch panels, fender dents, and the repairs to the inner fenders. 

--------------------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair - updated 03/08/24

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

I am getting really close to my goal of making this derelict disaster of a body into a rust free, solid car that is ready to build. It was my 6 month goal to weld in all the replacement panels and drop the body back on the frame, but that actually took seven months. That was Stage One.

I have completed the repairs to the small rust areas, grinding welds, and the preliminary body work over the welded seams. These have added an additional 3 months. 

My next goal was to have a completed, primed, and undercoated body at 12 months. This would be Stage Three, if you remember our build plan described in episode one.

Imagine if I'd bought a solid, no rust car (not exactly easy to find, I admit). A no-rust car would mean skipping that year of rust repair. By comparison, a year of work put into a no-rust car might have made it into an actual driver.

However, the purchase price of a no-rust car might be in the neighborhood of $8,000 to $10,000, while my car was a fraction of that. Essentially, I have spent a year and several thousand dollars to get to the same point. I'm ahead in the money but behind by a year (although my time is free to me).

As mentioned in other episodes, the work I've done has been very difficult. So, has it been worth it? Well, regarding the time spent, I'm really in no hurry to get the car finished. The challenge of making these difficult repairs has been rather satisfying. And the transformation is substantial. So the answer is, in the end it has definitely been worth it, but I will never, ever, do this again.
---------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair - updated 01/02/24

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

--------------------------

I have now reached the point where there is no more rust in the lower body shell, the frame has been repaired, straightened, and PO15'd, and the body is temporarily back down on the frame. Now it's time to move to more Stage Two repairs, like the core support and some of the small rust areas in the upper body. 

Let's start with the core support. The area around the battery tray on these cars is typically rusted from battery acid, and my car was no exception. This is the driver's side where the rubber mount is located:

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two (updated 2/9/24)

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

---------------------

Now it's time to install the outer rockers. Here's the new pieces:

.

I purchased these from Amazon for $104.99 for the pair. They are made of a heavy enough gauge of metal. But they're are not complete stampings, they're more like skins. This AMD piece looks better, but because it's twice the price I bought the others.

Of course, as I mentioned in another episode, sometimes cheaper is not cheaper. 

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop - updated 02/05/24

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

-------------------------

So just to bring the reader up to speed, we've gotten a little out of order. In the previous episode I noted the body had been dropped back on the frame in order to finalize the floor pan positioning and passenger rocker so as to weld them in. Which means today's episode has already happened. 

I couldn't do the final welding on the underside until the main welding was done on top. So that means the body had to come off again, both for the welding as well as the undercoat. I'll cover that as well. 

That will be body drop number two, this time for good. 

As I mentioned in another episode, the rear crossmember had been yanked backwards and twisted, probably by a tow hook. Plus it was rusty enough to justify buying a new crossmember. Here's the old and the new:

I had to straighten the old crossmember enough to get at the mounting bolts. So even though it looks kinda ok in this pic it is really wacked out. 

With the bumper brackets removed and the old crossmember out of the way we can see the driver's rear frame rail had cancer:

I marked out the cut line and fired up the grinder, which yielded this result:

1967 Pontiac Lemans budget build - Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one - updated 02/28/2024

Lemans #2 Episodes start here.

------------------

Episode one, introduction.

Episode two, trunk panel install part one.

Episode three, trunk panel install part two.

Episode four, door rust repair.

Episode five, tail light panel and rear crossmember.

Episode six, passenger quarter panel.

Episode seven, driver's quarter panel.

Episode eight, floor pan and rockers, part one.

Episode nine, floor pan and rockers, part two.

Episode ten, frame repair and prep, body drop.

Episode eleven, radiator core support and miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode twelve, trunk repair and more miscellaneous rust repair.

Episode thirteen, fender and inner fender repair.

Episode fourteen, panel prep and block and prime.

Now comes the most intimidating job of the whole build, the floor pan and the rockers. This episode will cover the removal of the body, the cutting out of the floor pan, the repair of the toe pans, the firewall body mounts, and the kick panels. Episode nine will cover the installation of the rockers and the new floor pans.

Here's what I started with: