Sebring (original) 1st Gen Wasteland / Mad Max Build

[ratrog64]

As some might know, I am no stranger to the Sterling Kit Cars. This is however, going to be my first Sebring build.
This is going to be a quick, down and dirty, rat / wasteland mad max car build. Not going to be pretty, just going to be. A fast, no frills car build, using mostly crap I have laying around or can get super cheap.
Not going to be everyone taste, maybe no one's taste at all. I have 2 beautiful Sterlings ( #114 & #S069) already, that are stored more then driven.

So here is the story. I found the body (body only, no chassis) on FB Market Place. Had a quick chat with the seller to get some info about the car, what's included and what's not. I have a new friend Casey that I met through the West Coast Sterling page that is a new Sterling project owner. I knew he was needing a windshield for his car and this Sebring had one in reasonably good condition. So I turned him on to the car and he struck a quick deal with the seller. I was interested in the car from the start but it was a little further away then I felt like driving and I needed another project like I need another hole in my head. Well, fast forward about an hour or so after he picked up the car, I offered a trade for a loose windshield I had in stock for the car. So now he has the windshield he needs and doesn't have to deal with another body taking up space. I think we all know how difficult it is to sell a body in poor shape without a windshield because they pop-up for sale pretty often. Well, that's the start of the story, I now have a new project, my first Gen 1 / Original Sebring . Photos below are from the original FB Market Place ad.

 

[farfegnubbin]

Excellent acquisition! I’m stoked that you have a fresh project.

 

[ratrog64]

The chassis build started with a 73 beetle chassis (back bone/tunnel) that I got for free with a bunch of other parts I bought from a local seller I met through Market Place. I went to look at some tires and rims he had for sale and ended up filling up my truck, twice. Along with the parts I bought, he gave me leftover parts from his recent build. The chassis assembly began with some parts I just took off the trike my brother was in an accident on. I had mentioned his accident during a Sterling build I was doing several years ago. I finally got around to cutting up the badly beaten trike and salvaging the rear trailing arms , stub axles. torsion bars and spring plates. The front beam was from the same purchase as the chassis however I swapped out the trailing arms and spindles with some I had gotten for free with a purchase a year before. The backing plates and drums were free from the chassis seller because he had upgraded to front disc brakes for his build. All I had to do was ad some new front wheel cylinders and an old pair of shocks to have a complete front end. Rear backing plates, brakes and drums were part of the same purchase above. Add another pair of old shocks I had and I now have a roller.

 

[ratrog64]

Next add a late model transaxle and some axles and cv joints that I had laying around. Rear engine cradle from the trike and some new transaxle rubber mounts. Wheels and tires are vintage VW 4 lug aluminum slots. I think I paid $150 about a year ago. Rims are very corroded but could be made nice if I wanted to invest the time and effort. Not on this project, they are already perfect! New wheel studs and lug nuts. Rims are 15" rears and 14" fronts. Tires are as dry as the desert sand and will need replacing pretty quick. The engine is a 1641cc I bought a while back for $800 that was supposed to be an 1835cc. I pulled the heads, pistons and cylinders then honed the cylinders and put on some fresh rings. Next added some old ratty looking engine tins to complete the rat look.

 

[ratrog64]

So today, Saturday Aug 9th Casey loaded up the Sebring for its last leg of its most recent journey and changing of hands. With the help of my bro and nephew, we lifted the Sebring body off the trailer and on to the awaiting chassis. After rolling the chassis and body back into the driveway where the work will continue, I took some photos and got acquainted with my new project. Interesting discovering the differences between the Sebring and Sterling. I will talk more later about what I like and dislike how they differ. After the commotion of my new arrival had settled, I got back to working on Ray's S068 Sterling. I will be updating his builders journal soon. After a few hours more and the passing of the rain, I decided to do a little work to the Sebring. It did not come with the front bumper, instead it came with a plastic bumper cover off a only God knows what kind of car. I made a quick cardboard template of the fender contour and got to cutting. I think I cut off more then I kept but this is what I came up with so far. Keep in mind, this is not supposed to be a pretty car.

 

[ratrog64]

More front end photos.

 

[letterman7]

That would have been a good time to see if the windshields are the same between the Sterling and the first generation Sebring. Warren and I suspect that they are but have never been able to confirm that. All you'd have to do is place one over top of the other to see if they nest.

 

[ratrog64]

That would have been a good time to see if the windshields are the same between the Sterling and the first generation Sebring. Warren and I suspect that they are but have never been able to confirm that. All you'd have to do is place one over top of the other to see if they nest.

Well Sir, you just may get your wish. This one will be coming out since it is very loose already and needs to be resealed back to the canopy. When I lift it out I will see if it fits in Ray's car since I have not installed his yet.

 

[letterman7]

Excellent. Take photos!

 

[ratrog64]

Started out the afternoon today wanting to work on the canopy. It was only being held on by 2 bolts neither of which had a nut on them. While trying to open it myself from inside the lower corner of the windshield slid out of the lower corner. I knew it was loose but didn't think it was ready to fall out. I guess I got lucky it stayed in during transport. So I removed the windshield and scraped all the goo off the glass and started working on the canopy where the glass mounts. I don't know what the last guy used to secure the glass but it certainly wasn't the right stuff. You can see that some water has made its way in between the glass around the perimeter. Its not bad but not perfect either. You can see in the photos there are a lot of stress cracks around the window frame. One of the reasons I wasn't going to try and make this car real nice.

 

[ratrog64]

After cleaning up around where the windshield goes, one thing lead to another and then this happened, 8 hrs of sanding! This car has been bumped in the nose and all 4 corners, plenty of stress cracks everywhere. I only plan on filling a few chips and holes, everything else stays. It would take about 80 hrs or more to try and make this body nice. Just not in the cards for this one. I think I got about half the body sanded. The plan as of right now is to shoot it in a high build primer after I am done sanding. Once I'm done with that I will give it a light sand and leave it like that. Maybe add in some faux tina to help hide some of the old stress cracks. I have a few other ideas rolling around in my head but I change my mind like I change my underwear, at least once a week!

 

[ratrog64]

On this beautiful sunny Florida morning on August 11th in the year 2025, I can confirm, the 1st Gen Sebring windshield is ...... (wait for it) ....... Identical to the Sterling windshield.
Photo below show 3 windshields nestled together in my shop house. You're Welcome! LOL

 

[letterman7]

Cool! We were pretty sure that the second Gen Sebring wasn't. But the first gen is just too close to Sterling size and shape body-wise that we weren't quite sure. Thanks for doing that Roger!

 

[ratrog64]

Cool! We were pretty sure that the second Gen Sebring wasn't. But the first gen is just too close to Sterling size and shape body-wise that we weren't quite sure. Thanks for doing that Roger!

Now I have secured my place is the Sterling/Sebring history books!

 

[letterman7]

 

[ratrog64]

Something is better then nothing! Only got to spend about an hour on the car this Saturday evening. Hot as hell and worked up until it was hard to see.



Most of the paint and primers have to be stripped. From sitting in the Florida heat and rain moisture has gotten down through the layers. You have to pay attention
as you sand to watch as it comes off to know when you are good. I will take a photo tomorrow of what it looks like as it come off. I have to sand until i see a feathered
edge or the new primer will fail pretty quick. Even though its not going to be a pretty car, I still have to do what I am doing the right way.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Something is better then nothing! Only got to spend about an hour on the car this Saturday evening. Hot as hell and worked up until it was hard to see.

View attachment 10907View attachment 10908

Most of the paint and primers have to be stripped. From sitting in the Florida heat and rain moisture has gotten down through the layers.

Interesting, living here in the desert we don't have that problem. Here the sun just burns the layers off if you leave the car out in the sun. I've seen cars with the paint completely gone. Sometimes down to bare metal in spots. And plastics don't stand a chance, they get dry and brittle and will break off in your hands when you touch them.

The moister you get, does that effect the layers of fiberglass also

 

[ratrog64]

1st Photo is of what it looks like when moisture has gotten into the different layers of paint (all the little round spots).
To answer your question Brett, I think when the moisture gets into the glass itself It dries out ok since the glass fiber doesn't really
absorb the water. Just a guess really. I have made some repairs to bare damaged fiberglass that turned out ok so long as they were dry when I made the repair.

2nd photo is of the minor progress I made this week. I think this Sebring has lead a pretty nice life in the past. It seems to have worn 5 different
colors in the past. So it appears it has have had at least a few owners who have cared enough to throw some paint at her.
Original - White gel coat. 1st paint job - Light gray primer and light blue paint. 2nd paint job - Gray primer with a medium blue metallic paint. 3rd paint job - Gray primer and gold metallic paint.
4th paint job - Oxide primer and burgundy base coat and clear coat. Let me tell you it is not fun sanding off all that paint. The metallic paint is a bear to get off. 80 grit gets it done!
You can also see some of gelcoat cracks in the photo.

Other then a few hours of sanding I have been putting in many many hours of designing and printing prototypes of a new set of side window hinges with removable pins.
I bought a 3d printer and let me say boy is this thing cool. Only problem is I have never used 3d cad design software so I am learning as I go. I love it!
I have almost finalized a good working set of hinges. I am currently working on making a side window latch work for the window as well. More to come about that later.

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone. Get out there and show your car some love.

 

[ratrog64]

My Sebring did not come with any side glass. With that being said it also did not have any hinges or a latch. All I have are the holes left behind in the fiberglass.
Over the past few weeks have be designing and prototyping a set of hinges I can 3d print for this car, car #068 (Ray's car) and car #310 my original and first Sterling.
Car #114 has a set of sunroof hinges but I have discovered they are no longer available, at least in the searching I have done. I want to be able to remove my side windows
when the weather is nice. I have ordered a bunch or different types of hardware, multiple production car latches and a boat load of different types of weather strip. I am
getting real close to what I think is going to work well for me. With that being said, once I have something I am confident works well, I will be offering up kits for sale.
If I am stepping on anyone's toes by offering parts for sale, I apologize and feel free to remove this post.
I have a pair installed on the drivers side of the Sebring now and am just waiting on my weather strip to see if I need to alter/adjust my hinge.



The buttons on the outside will be available in a few different shapes and with or without a cover to hide the hardware.

 

[farfegnubbin]

No worries here. I’m curious to see what you come up with.