Thread: Luke's GTP

I see you already ordered the SS stuff. I'm about to do my entire truck cab but I'm using an alternative product.
A company called Noico makes it and it's much much cheaper than Second Skin. Lots of people seem to love it.

A 50 sq ft pack is only 65 bucks. It's just a TAD thicker than Damplifier but I'm sure Damplifier is a better product. I plan on doing the truck better than the car as I'm doing a foam layer and MLV layer as well so I think going with a cheaper CLD will be okay. That and I need about 100 sq ft to do the trick so that adds up since it'll be three layers.

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

screw body shops all your doing is lining the owners pockets,

Totally agree. I don't want to go to any shop, believe me. But like most folks living in the big city, I just don't know too many welders... What's your little brother got going on? Interested in a little side project? I'll park it with ya for a week. However long he needs if he can do it right. Rust isn't too bad compared to what I've seen online when researching my options. You gotta see some of these towers some guys are trying to fix!! Man oh man. Towers just gone, dissolved, pocking through into the car.... Nuts

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Yup, I was in the same position as your car. I saw the rust and just did a quicky patch job. My rockers were pretty much gone and that was the main reason I sold my car, the rust was going to take it over.

I sure hope I don;t have to get rid of it...I don't wanna get rid of it. Plus I drive like 2 times a week so a new car makes no sense for me. That patch looks solid

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

I'm rooting for ya, let us know if you get a fix on it.

Thanks Junk! I will see what I can come up with. I will definitely be posting pics after the repair. Like you said, rust isn't that, THAT bad. Like I wrote in response to Hurtz... My rust is nothing compared to some of the cars out there trying to be salvaged.

Originally Posted by PurpleGuy

I see you already ordered the SS stuff. I'm about to do my entire truck cab but I'm using an alternative product.
A company called Noico makes it and it's much much cheaper than Second Skin.

It's ordered, just haven't had anytime to play with it. Which sucks. Didn't know about this stuff till I came across your thread and knew right away I wanted to do that. I purchased the Regular Damplifier though, not the Damplifier Pro... saved like $100+. I'm starting with the floor first, back seat, firewall. Then doors and trunk. Probably will need to buy another 40 sq.ft. Good luck on the trunk plans! Sound like its gonna be super pro.

Haven’t done anything with the GTP for a few weeks now. Just too busy... On the weekends, I have a side-gig setting up Chuppa’s and Arches for weddings. Sometimes I set up 2-3 a weekend. After the ceremony I gotta tear them down as well. Sometimes right after the ceremony, sometimes not till midnight. I posted a few pics of what this looks like. It is the work that has been keeping me away from the GTP, but also funding is ongoing restoration. The most recent wedding this past weekend was at a venue that also housed a classic car museum. Pretty cool.

Chuppa in Place. Florists putting up the garland and flowers:


Arch. At classic car place:


Another White Birch Chuppa:


On this weekend, had to drive from the north side of the city, all the way to the south side


Classic Car Museum:


Pontiac Logo:


Cars:


Benz:

Pulled out the heater core last night. Worst part was getting the clips off the hoses by the firewall. Man was I getting frustrated. But pulled the son-of-a-b***h out. Core was completely clogged up, hoses as well. This Dexcool Dust/Sand just doesn't go away. It's incredible.

and you said the core got hot as well as both hoses...... you could have flushed that with a garden hose at a friends house.

if you blew through it like we talked about in chat, you would have felt the clog right a way too i bet.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

and you said the core got hot as well as both hoses...... you could have flushed that with a garden hose at a friends house.

if you blew through it like we talked about in chat, you would have felt the clog right a way too i bet.

I know... I know...
It did get hot, not enough I guess. Even at that time when we were talking about this, my gut feeling was telling me it should have gotten wayyy hotter. I wasn't expecting so much gunk to show its face again. I'm thinking that Dexcool Dust collects in the heater core since it's a low point in the cooling system? At the beginning of this year I ran enough water through the system to flood a swimming pool, on two separate occasions, and this s**t lives on like a cockroach.

And I did try to blow through the hoses like you said. That was the first thing I did. And guess what? Nothing came out. I knew right then everything was clogged up. That core would likely work if I flushed it, but at this point I'm replacing it. I don't want it leaking in a year.

Went to move the car yesterday, so I could work on it - (Sunday 10-09). It's no more then a 20 yard pivot really, I fire it up and press the brake and the pedal drops to the floor with almost no resistance. What the hell, I thinking. I'm able to move it anyway but the brakes were super soft. I park it and pop the hood to discover my master cylinder is bone dry. How did this happen? Did my brake lines rot out? Critters? Another problem to deal with...

Got the new heater core in, on Wednesday of this past week. Everything installed fine, seemed to work OK, so I put the heater core covers back on, buttoned it all back up. Yesterday, Sunday, I thought to bleed the cooling system so I let the car get to operating temp. After running for 10 minutes or so I see coolant running down the inside of the firewall!! Un-Nerving to say the least. Then I notice a huge puddle on the outside. Only thing it could be I'm thinking, is heater core hoses, the clamps.... I don't know. I proceed to take off all heater core covers, check heater core for leaks. None to be found. I remove hoses, re-tighten the hose clamps in the engine bay, and try again. Still leaking, but minor now. What the hell!? I'm 100% sure the clamps are right, so..... must be the hoses. Drove to AutoZone and bought 2 new hoses and Coolant Concentrate. Another surprise $50.00 spent on the turd. By the end of the night I had it all working right tho. Heat so HOT you could roast a chicken in there! I was ready to call it quits but wanted to get a few sheets of the Damplifier on, plus I was enjoying the heat in the cabin after 1.5yrs of NO heat. Worked an extra hour playing with that. That stuff is gonna be great.

No brake fluid. Where did it go?


Leaking!! Why are you leaking?


And leaking on the outside, Ohhh Man. Burn this car down!


Damplifier applied to rear seat:

that black puddle is the brake fluid leak. look under the car where that leak hit the ground. that master tank is nasty, id take it off and clean it, the master needs to be bled at this point any way. find fix you line, bleed the baster, then flush the brakes all the way around.

if the ends of your hoses are all worn out and floppy, like not firm, they will leak no matter how tight the clamp it.

IN russia the gp maintains you

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

IN russia the gp maintains you

LOL! For some reason, I always think back to The Simpsons when I hear that... "In mother Russia...

Interesting fact about cars in Russia. Every car is required to have a dash cam for insurance reasons. There is a tendency in the people there to walk in front of moving traffic, and then sue for damages. It's like nothing you have ever seen before! Freakin hilarious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjj-1L6qeOc

Late winter 2016 I evicted a russian while he was at work, his parents came to visit him and saw us throwing his **** to the curb. They called him he came, and called the police on us for stealing $5,000 cash. Silly guy doesnt know in america you need proof, not here say.

Made some progress last few days. The entire back half of the car is wrapped in Damplifier. The stuff really hugs the metal good. I feel like it will be effective. Takes a while to apply though. I have this theory that for it to most effectively absorb noise and vibrations, it should be laid down using as big a sheet as possible. Instead of little swaths here and there... The sheets come (12x24) so the challenge is to cut the correct pattern and lay a big sheet, not to overlap anything (zero waste), and not to slice your fingers open. Edges on this stuff are sharppp!
That little roller with the handle cost $16.99, believe it or not. Man did I piss and moan about having to buy that. Looked at other options and they all were made of plastic and looked flimsy. I found that you really apply a lot of pressure when rolling this stuff on. In the end, I'm glad I got this roller cuz it really gets the job done.

Back seat bench and back rest... done all the way up the backside there:


Half way done:


Action Shot! ... and yeah. Little bit of rust in that there corner. Nothing that can't be fixed.

Worked on the car this weekend. Wanted to finish with the Damplifier but couldn't. I have water leaking through my cowl and I have the part to fix it but couldn't get my wiper arms to come off. I have the 1 piece cowl... Without the cowl on, I'm not insulating the floor boards only to have them get soaked, so that's on hold for a minute. Instead I put in the new drivers side actuator, passenger actuator, and heater core cover. Also, each floorboard in the car has extra sound deadning material glued to the metal. My passenger side looked funny so I started chipping away at it, only to find water under it, and rust, and it smelled like mold/rot. Chipped it all off. Time for some OSPHO, sand, and spray. Chipped away a couple test points on the drivers side and found no water, but some rust.

Next on the list is to fix that cowl, fix the rust, finish insulating, order carpet, and work on undercarriage rust removal. Alongside the rust removal, since I'm under the car anyway, I will be working on replacement of fuel and brake lines.

the rust on the inside o noes!

Yeah man... Nicht Gut!!
It doesn't look too bad... I'm just forever optimistic about this car. However, it's becoming ever clearer that rust will eat this car alive. It's gonna have to eat me with it tho . It's a 5 year car I figure. Maybe 7. I don't know... Let's go with 7.

They should make full dunk tanks of rust converter for cars... Just drop the entire body in it for a couple hours, pull it out and the rust is all dissolved and gone...

Then you start working on patching the weak points and so on...

They do have those dunk tanks. I know what you mean. The car has to be stripped down to the metal, frame and chassis only, and then they submerge it. The dunk tank is basically a huge dumpster, that's sealed, and filled with acid to burn the rust off. They had it on one of those car restoration shows. That's too serious of a restoration for me tho...

I do some work at a place that does the acid baths, it's kinda eerie if you're a car guy. The first time I walked in, there was a mid 60s Nova, a 69 Camaro, and a 69 fastback - all stripped shells, sitting on shelves

Didn't do much with the Grand Prix. Ran the engine for like 15min. and that's it. Getting some white smoke on start-up, every time. That's got me a little worried.

Mostly worked on our other, better car, the 2007 Corolla S. This is the wifes car. Worked on it with assistance from my little helper. He actually helped out. Had him filing down the walls of the new brake pads so they would fit better. He's gotten some other intro's to tools and such from me, hopefully something sticks. After he got bored helping, he started organizing the wrenches by number, handing me tools, but mostly crushing helpless insects with the hammer. LOL. While working, we got to witness a big OOPS.

Watched the CUBS win and did some work last night. Got the Damplifier almost up to the firewall. Need to order more because 40sq.ft. was not enough. It's an expensive little add-on. Sucks.
Did the cowl fix. I've had this part for like 2 months now. Finally put it in. Needed to buy a 3-jaw puller at HF to get the wiper arms off. Another surprise $20 spent on the turd. On the bright side, every single part I bought in the last 2 months has been installed. ZERO $$ wasted.