Topic: Build a Bandit

[brian c]

Joe,

In the area I circled in green, the body line on the rear quarter panel, right above the rear wheel flare, seems to have a swoosh in it. If you use the white object in the reflection as a reference point, the left of the body line is definitely lower than the right side. The ride side leads up to, and over, the body line in the door.

Either that's one hell of an optical illusion, which I seriously doubt but could be wrong, or you have one heck of a fouled up body line. The latter is my guess.

We'd need a full on shot like I showed with my car to come to any better conclusions. The larger the picture, the better. Since you have Bob's ear, any chance you can wrangle a high quality photo out of him on this??

[jgodar]

I can try... his cameras are not that good... as you have seen in the other pics we post, they all come from him in low res.. very small pics.. I will post some pics of John C's car that is being completed along side of mine and maybe you can see other stuff in his and see if you see any line issues there... coming up here soon..

[jgodar]

Here are some pics for review on John C, 79 Black/Tan SE.. Hos car has a motor in now and is missing some body panels, interior is about same as mine.. he gave me permission to post.. maybe you can tell from his things you can not see in mine?? here you go:





























Maybe some of these angles are better than my pics??

[kjkjkcjkcj]

Two things i noticed from the photos are
1) the wheel well in the last photo looks like he didn't bother to refinish the underside.  It doesn't look all that nice and in my mind would be a quick and easy cleanup.
2) The motor seemed very nice however the water outlet on the intake seems old and rusty. 

[NWW-79 T/A]

Doesn't look that bad, but I agree that the inner fenders look rough and they should've done something with them.

[LOMILETA]

1. I agree with the inner fenders.
2. Looks like the master cylinder and booster are used and just spray bombed.
3. Another case of the steel dash painted the wrong color.
4. IMHO, that metal fuel filter is a vapor lock waiting to happen.
5. The drivers side of the rear seat ( in the hobnail section on top)  looks worn.

[brian c]

On the other car...

Why is there rust on the front bumper beam? He took the time to spray the top & bottom but missed where it bolts to the subframe?? You can see it in this photo, to the left of the turn signal indicator:



And again in this photo.




Granted, its covered by the bumper cover but if you're going to take the time to paint the beam, why not the whole thing? Boggles my mind.


Dash would drive me nuts. The glove box door is a different color than the dash and the fit isn't the greatest. And the metal being painted black instead of Camel Tan?

Same comments on the center console as on yours. But hey, at least Bob's consistent in that one!

What's with the missing paint on the trunk hinges? That's bare metal there.



As for the body lines on that car...hard to see with the camera angles and reflections. Would need a good shot out in the open to see what's really going on. It helps immensely if the door is closed too

[brian c]

Dang I missed something and its blatant (and easy to correct right now). Anyone else see it in this photo:




AC suitcase is 2 different colors! Looks like one side is natural fiberglass and the other side was painted black. I know, I cleaned & painted mine all black and it looks like the half on the left. That'd also drive me nuts as you see it when you open the hood. Very simple fix.

[jgodar]

Thanks Guys.. just looked over this... John's front bumper was not ready and I can tell what you are saying.. they are still working in these of course and this will give us better ideas on what we should be looking for. When I started taking pics, they had the rubber bumper filler hanging off the front as they had not finished it yup yet, so tehy took it off for the pics and said it needed to be finished.. but they are still working on these and this is not the finished product..

We will document all of these suggestions and will bring them to Bob. So your time is appreciated and well used. I think it will help us get better cars, due to your help!! THANK YOU!

[Flounder55]

I have a question...Brian...ANYBODY ...The AC suitcase....is that where the OTHER VIN plate on these cars is located? Just wondering why only half of the "SUITCASE" might have been taken off........anybody following me here?

[brian c]

Yes there is a partial VIN that resides under the AC suitcase. It will contain the last portion of your VIN. And yes, it's often overlooked in VIN swaps - a person a while back showed up claiming to have a 1 of 1 hardtop Y88. Eventually he found out, the hard way, that someone took the vin off a Y88 and put it onto a regular TA chassis. When the AC suitcase was removed, they were found not to match on that particular car. That's VIN swapping and that's illegal...as in federal offense.

Now, before someone goes running stating the VIN has been swapped on any of BAB's cars, more evidence needs to be collected. Just because the suitcase is a different color doesn't necessarily mean the VIN has been tampered with. They may have replaced the heater core, cleaned up/refurbished the heater controls inside, etc. You'd need to pop the case back off to see IF a swap were indeed happening.

But yes I see where you were headed...just don't jump right to that right off the bat. But since your car is in your possession and you are having it worked on, it wouldn't hurt to check there just to cover yourself.

[brian c]

Thanks Guys.. just looked over this... John's front bumper was not ready and I can tell what you are saying.. they are still working in these of course and this will give us better ideas on what we should be looking for. When I started taking pics, they had the rubber bumper filler hanging off the front as they had not finished it yup yet, so tehy took it off for the pics and said it needed to be finished.. but they are still working on these and this is not the finished product..

We will document all of these suggestions and will bring them to Bob. So your time is appreciated and well used. I think it will help us get better cars, due to your help!! THANK YOU!

No problem. In the photo above where I mention the AC Suitcase, have the owner check on whether or not that wiring running from the Alternator is new or used. If it's used, demand new. It's 30+ years old, brittle, and sooner or later will cause an electrical fire. Replace it now to have years of worry free service. About $400 for all the underhood wiring harnesses from M&H Wiring Harnesses. Easier to replace them now then when all the sheetmetal is on. I have all the M&H Harnesses under hood and couldn't be happier.

[Flounder55]

Thanks Brian, He reason I asked is when you look at the VIN PLATE in one of Joe's pictures ( too me) the rivets look funny.......is it just me being synic?

[Flounder55]

The reason I bring this up.....and correct me please....if I'm wrong. This car is supposed to be an 81 pace car ( originally) arent they kinda rare ans collectable in that state? Why would Bob take a fairly rare car ( that was in pretty good condition) and convert it to a 78-79 car.

 NOW.....if you had a pace car that was a complete POS and a good title and a good to fair 77-78-79 frame with no DOCS.............it might make sense.......at least to me. All this is purely speculation mind you.  AND AGAIN....SOMEBODY PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong on ANY count!

[Flounder55]

ok...I think I meant 80 pace car