Dings, dents, creases and rust.
Inside trunk
Underside
Saddle tan interior
Needs some Cordovan Brown paint
Correct hubcaps
New bumpers and front Stainless
New springs, rebuilt suspension all around
First day home From cowl forward has been repaired
Engine is pretty complete
Original interior needs some help
Original headliner
Deep crease in the rocker panel
Rust, damaged molding, surface rust in front of wheel.
Dark red is bondo from previous accident.
Passenger side rear quarter.
Driver side rear full of bondo, too.
Car has been hit in rear pretty hard. This is where chrome side molding goes. Lots of surface rust.
Pins welded on
Pulling the crease out
Removing interior
Original metal back into place and body work in progress.
Feature lines coming back.
Yellow paint is special adhesion paint for bare spots.
First coat of high build primer.
First coat on. Sand 99% off and start again.
Looks like I need to do some more wire brushing and coating with POR 15.
I really like how it looks now.
Repaired area really looks good
My son Eric using 3 foot sanding block to check for high/low spots
Checking body panels for straightness
Body now has two coats of sealer. Next step, color!
The maestro applying the first coat of paint.
Eric checking first coat of clear. Right after this picture wind picked up and we had dogwood floaters in every panel. Had to resand every panel and reshoot color and clear.
First paint job in new booth
Can you see the metalflake?
Hasn't even been wheeled out yet. Look at that reflection.
Another view of masking job using tin foil. Almost too easy. Almost.
Not a wave in the body. Smooth and flat.
She loves it and that makes it all worthwhile!
Now there's a home made exhaust system.
Plenty of room in the booth.
“J” hooks hold the contractor's plastic in place. Three pieces. Easy to store.
Portable paint booth.
Eric is creating a mirror finish.
Alex in action!
Alex polished every piece of chrome, aluminum and stainless. What a great job he did! Thanks, Al!
Reassembly has started. Adjusting the bumper.
Ready for takeoff!
We started out to make it a really, really nice daily driver. I am so happy with the way it turned out I just can't quit looking at it. Thanks Buddy!
Oh yeah!
Straight on this side, too.
Looks okay from the rear
Straight as an arrow!
Assembly finished!
Jan and I did the interior and we're still talking. =;--)
Sure shines nice, doesn't it?
Getting the car ready for the car show
Eric and I giving it one final fluff and buff before the show.
In the show with Eric standing guard.
My grandson Alex' car next to ours. Next year we'll have all four cars in the show. Al's, Jeff's, Mine and Eric's 70 GTO. What a day that will be!!!
First show, first trophy.
Hershey Kiss. Looks like a Hershey bar with metal flake.
The Three Amigos. Eric, Me, and Alex. It was a family affair.
Our car, Alex' car and Jeff's car. Next year we'll add Eric's 70 GTO to the picture. Can't wait.
Melissa, Lin Meisling, Vicki, Aaron, Lynn III, Terry Meisling, and Jan. She's still smiling and so am I.
Our '63, our old '31 Chevy street rod and our DMax.
We did this same shot with our original 63 SS 47 years ago.
Had to radius left edge to clear shifter.
Will make a shifter boot to eliminate the hole.
Shifter boot is from 78 Blazer transfer case shifter.
Interior is almost complete. Had to reverse shifter for easier shifting.
Made new brackets to lower shifter into tunnel.
Closeup of new brackets. Used 3/4"X1/8" flat stock and drilled holes exactly as Lokar brackets. Rock solid.
