Next time I am out that way you should remind me what Yuehling tastes like lol. You are also getting closer and closer to my Favorite part of body work....... Wet Sanding. Most fun you can have with you clothes on with your car and some water.....
If you to get the itch when you are completed with the Rusty Haulk, I got a car or 2 or more that I could use a hand at. Hate to see the both of you with nothing to do when you are finished.
I'm supposed to be wearing clothes when I sand?? We'll that certainly explains some of the discomfort I've been having....
Man, I can't wait for the days when the most work I'll do is an oil change and a wash and wax if I feel like it! Cant wait! So I guess I should add the next installment. With the thing slowly starting to resemble an automobile again, I took the opportunity to do some mechanical stuff and get off the body work train for a minute (the calm before the storm...). So I got the manual pedal setup in and cut the hole in the floor for the shifter. Next the e-brakes were hooked up, and while on the topic of brakes, all new stainless brake lines from inline tube (which were awesome by the way) and a new master cylinder and booster from our very own Steve Carusso (which was equally awesome) We started to mockup the exhaust (magnaflow stainless 2.5" system) but decided to hold off for now And then came the real bodywork. Remember what I said about the quarters (straight as Laguna seca and flat as Kate Upton??) You're about to see what I mean...
You know it's never done. In about 2 years you will get the itch to instal an M22 or a 5 speed in that thing. Then it will snowball from there.(again) come out and help me and it will save you money lol
Funny you mention the transmission explicitly. I already plan to swap in an autogear super case m22w unit next winter so I'll be able to put on some sticky tires and take it to the track. The Muncie we rebuilt and is in there now is a temporary solution and street duty only. It should hold up fine without any good traction. On to the body work! Now truthfully, I debated how much of this part I wanted to show you guys. I'm not particularly fond of how much body filler it took to straighten these quarters out (again, I refer to "straight as Laguna seca, flat as Kate Upton"). So go easy on me, it was either use more filler than I wanted, or have some hideous quarters. Obviously there was only one choice. On a side note, I called in some reinforcements at this point. Taulb and I know enough about bodywork to be dangerous, but I decided having someone who knew more than we did could do us some good and save some time. Boy did it! Enter my good buddy Aaron, he's been doing this stuff for 17 years. Primarily painting, but still pretty darn knowledgeable all around. We wouldn't be this far without him for sure. So we started with duraglass after scratching up the surface good for extra bite. Out came the DA to speed up the process Then more of the same on the other side Then we went over that with evercoat rage (multiple times as you can see from the spots) And sanded.......and sanded.........and sanded........and sanded.... [IMG]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/24/4bde6d1f1d520e679f6896992b7f7050.jpg Then each side was topped off and feathered in with dolphin fill metal glaze. This was WEEKS of work and we spent an egregious amount of time getting the body filler as straight as possible. Again, I'm not pleased with how much it took, but the end result was surprisingly straight. Next, we had some other issues pop up that needed attention.
Usually the trans is the first to go in favor of an over-drive unit. Figure you would want to cruise around with the lower RPMs As far as filler. Its not to bad on the amount considering how great those panels are. Its a little more than what I would have wanted but all things considering. I have a photo from my car where they welded the fender patch in, all in one weld so you can imagine how much heat was generated. Warped it pretty bad and then they filled it smooth, didn't even grind the welds. My pinky up to the nail almost sat flush with the rest of the panel. Needless to say I found a set of used fenders and door on the board to replace them with. Anyways, back to your build, I will start my build sometime in the next few years lol
Taulb likes to rub in his rpm's on the highway already, hes always pushing to to go with an OD (and I'll admit his 2004r is pretty awesome). I've thought about throwing on a gear vendors unit down the road, but we'll worry about that later. The filler isn't deep so much that its wide (a larger area). Again, it is what it is and I will say it appears to be very straight. Overall, I think it'll work for the goals of this car. Or, since he's thinking about moving anyway, him and his cars can just come on over to sw Ohio and we'll be all set!
Your on and it will be sooner than you probably think. I don't have access to your beer I don't think. And I guarantee I don't down here in Brazil. PS it is nice and warm here. Then only problem with moving out there is I am going to need a Semi and trailer just for car parts. Then 2 more semi trailer and a car trailer just for the cars. I guess that might not be a problem after all, got easy access to all the above just pay for fuel...........
There were a few small issues to address and decided to attack those all at the same time. A nasty dent in the drivers side rocker needed to be addressed, and although it was discussed pulling it, it appeared to be a pretty deep crease and since these cars take the same rockers as a chevelle, you can pick up a repop pretty much anywhere including your corner grocery store (I think). So I bought a new rocker and we chopped out just the bad part Taulb dove in on this one and made it his baby. Thought we had it licked and ran into a few speed bumps, but after walking away for the day and "centering our chee", we got back at it and taulb had a vendetta to settle. Out came the tools of destruction And in went a non dented rocker. Great success! We also found a couple spots of rust near the right rear corner of the back glass, obviously where water had been trapped under the vinyl top. Started cutting out chunks Trying to fit up cardboard templates to make our own patches Not having fun.... And after some tacking and burning fingers They were burned in A little duraglass, a little rage, and a bit more sanding and no more holes Then I started stripping the rest (the car, not the occupation.......yet......)
Closer look at the dent, and personal vendetta is a bit of an understatement. After the crushing defeat on day one we came in level headed and focused and got the job done!
Took me ten mins to realize there's words on that pic... Can anyone tell me why I can't view any photos from this thread after the first 2 post then this one? All others just show a small black X.
Hmmm, thats not good. Youre missing out on all the good stuff without the pictures! I attached the first 2 differently, but thats because I was on my laptop. The rest has been done from my phone since thats where most of the pictures are. Maybe try a different browser??? Alan's a computer nerd, what say you Mr. Wander??!!
Looking good Shawn, I dread body work but you guys are rolling right thru it. I'm still working on my rear end. but should install this weekend. That put's me about 2 or 3 years behind you. keep posting pics. I'm following your lead.
Thanks Joe! The body work has defintiely been just that: WORK. But we've powered through at a decent pace which Im pleased about. Just dont follow my lead too close!! As I've said for a while now, we're admittedly "professional amateurs at best". Sort of a jack of all trades, master of none type deal. We know enough to get ourselves neck deep, and we're stubborn enough to claw our way through it. Im not putting this up as a "how-to" as there are many more skilled and knowledgeable guys here that I would point you to. This is just more a "how we did it". Hence why its an over view and the pictures arent really broken down into technical steps. Its more for entertainment value than anything. But stay tuned, more to come! (It's almost caught up to real time status....almost :Brow: )
I was looking for that pic and couldn't find it. Thanks for posting that. Also shows the dent in the door that needed fixed. And yeah, vendetta, personal conquest, bloodthirsty mission from the fiery depths of your soul, call it what you will. Haha. In the end, I call it FIXED
