HERE ARE SOME "BEFORE" PICTURES OF THE WAGON TAKEN ON THE DAY IT WAS TOWED HOME BACK IN YEAR 2000...

From the old pictures, the body seems solid at first glance. In reality, it was totally rusted halfway down and all around all the windows and windshields, and held together only by lots and lots of RIVETS. The previous owner cut up thin gauge metal (like the ones used for tin cans...lol), molded them and riveted them over the rusted parts without cutting out the rust and welding the new sheets on, and just patched them with lots of body filler prior to painting it seemingly with a brush.

When we scraped the paint off, we saw the rivets (lots of them!). The body just fell off as we took out those thousands of rivets and "puzzle" pieces of tin sheets one after the other. Only the propeller shaft tunnel and the roof held the car's front and rear together.

A lot of body parts were missing. Just look at the pictures and you'll know. The rear side glasses have been replaced with aquarium-like glass and center posts were fabricated and spot-welded on the long window opening for reasons I can't tell (maybe it was cheaper...lol). We cut out the makeshift posts and I had the correct one-piece glasses fabricated...Also from the left picture below, you can notice that the front wheel caster was not correctly aligned. It is because the suspension system was heavily damaged too and the stabilizer bar was not in place.

The interior was a total mess. The seats, headliner, and side panrls were all totally damaged. The rear seat was missing. The floor boards were nothing but small, uneven pieces of sheet metal (like a jigsaw puzzle) and were also just riveted together. After we took off the floor pieces one by one, only the center propeller shaft tunnel was left of the whole flooring to hold the car's front and rear together (plus the roof which was surprisingly rust free). We had to weld some temporary braces to avoid twisting the car out of form and alignment. Even the interior side window railings at the back were squared off like a window pane planter box on which you can put flower vases...lol. They were just riveted too.

The engine room was so dirty and crappy and the engine was shut .

The front face was also totally rusted and was only held together just the same by rivets and tin sheet metal. The front grill came out in 4 pieces as we took it off. The rear tail lights were ones from a Ford Transit delivery van and was not correct either.

The rear tailgate was likewise totally rusted and we had to fabricate a whole new one because a replacement one can no longer be found.

And look at those bumpers that came with it. I wanted to burn them after taking them off...lol.

SOME COMPARATIVE "BEFORE AND AFTER" PICS...

***Please note that these pictures were taken years apart without any intentions of making any similarities among them . It's just by some great chance and probably my picture-taking style that they had the shot angle similarities shown below.***

VIEW FROM BEHIND THE WHEEL AND THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. SEE HOW SHINY THE PAINT STILL IS AFTER 7 YEARS?...

wanna HITCH A RIDE?

A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF MY WAGON AFTER CLEANING...

GOTTA LOVE THOSE REAR FENDER SEXY "HIPS"...

AND THOSE WHEELS BENEATH THE HIPS...

***Notice the wheel center caps missing in the pictures below? Check out page 5 for my May 31, 2008 story and updates on them***

I LOVE THE LONG ROOF...

SOME NIGHT SHOTS...

***PAGE 3 IS MY WAZUPS PAGE (REGULAR UPDATES ON THINGS I'M UP WITH MY WAGON ***