 | The right quarter has at least a case of the silly putty in it. This will require replacement of the quarters. Bondo Bob needs to retire. |
 | Another view of the depth of bondo laid out on the left rear quarter. Anyone have a depth gauge? Now that we know what we have to deal with, we can order parts and get it scheduled to come into the shop. |
 | Now that we have removed the many pounds (gallons) of body filler, the true problems are revealed. This is a prime example of butchery. It probably took them longer to do this wrong then it would of to do it the right way. |
 | The right side quarter after all the body filler removed. More butchery. |
 | Lets see, we patch the edge but leave all the dents on the side. Makes sense. This car needs new full quarter panels. We placed a phone call to Goodmark and the original stamped quarters showed up a couple of days later.We'll see how good the reproductions really are. |
 | The right wheel house was salvaged and patched. The left outer wheelhouse will require replacement. Both trunk extension panels are rotted and will require replacement. |
 | Just when you thought you'd found everything, there's more. The roof glass channel had been welded over in a poor attempt to keep the rear glass sealed. Welding metal over rust does not make the job right. |
 | Once we cut out the the butchery and then the rust, we fabricated a new channel and started welding it in place. |
 | The right front fender has been stripped. Not too bad of a shape. Nice to see that! |
 | The Goodmark trunk floor extensions have arrived. We can now make progress on the quarters. |
 | The frame has now been pulled. It now is back to factory specs so we can start assembling the nose. |
 | The Goodmark hood fits beautifully. Slight shipping damage but it is par for the course with the trucking companies. |
 | The firewall has had the evaporator and fan blower openings welded closed. We are doing the bodywork to make the firewall smooth. The Vintage A/C port goes into the firewall after the work is finished. |
 | The Goodmark rear quarters are fully welded in. The trunk lid body work is done |
 | The body in epoxy primer with the guide coating. It is ready for block sanding. |
 | The body is block sanded. Once all the body parts are block sanded, we will be starting to edge the body and parts in color. |
 | The front fenders are painted inside so the protection is complete. |
 | The cowl induction hood is now also painted on the underside. |
 | The trunk opening is now edged out in 2000 Mercedes Silver Metallic |
 | Door jamb openings are also finished out |
 | Doors get the same treatment. Now the car will be assembled, all the panels aligned and then the body will be prepped for painting the color coat of silver |
 | The door and fender are being installed and aligned |
 | We have now painted the car in silver basecoat. The clear has not been applied at this point. We will now be stenciling the stripes in black. Once that is done, we will clear the whole car which will eliminate the stripe edge and make the stripes appear to float. |
 | The stripes have been measured and taped. This is a very time consuming process to get it right. |
 | Now that the stripes have been painted, we have clear coated the entire body. We put 5 - 6 coats of clear on the cars with stripes so there is not a paint line between the color and stripe. This gives the whole job a lot of depth and makes the strips appear to float. |
 | We added a silver pearl flake to the clear coat to give an added twist. The fine metallic in the color give one reflection. The larger flake in the clear gives another level of pop in the silver and makes the black look metallic under light. It is a look that is not very obvious except when the light hits it in a certain angle. |
 | Another view of the rear after clear coating. |
 | Now outside in the sunlight, the true colors of the car can be seen. Looks really great! |
 | A/C condenser and radiator have been installed. The engine cooling fan and new fan clutch also now have been installed. |
 | Now that the successive wet sandings and polishings have been done, it is time to take a look at the results. Simply outstanding. Now we will start the assembly process on the car. |
 | We have now built a trunk kit and a stereo system to finish out the trunk. It is done up in a gray outdoor carpet with JL Audio subwoofers and 2 JL Audio amplifiers with a 12 disc CD changer. Side panles were fabricated to finish out the trunk and show off the hardware. |
 | Thanks to The Tire Rack, they supplied us with a set of 18" front tires and 20" rear tires. Michelin Pilot Sports, no less! Very expensive tires. Rims are due to arrive tomorrow. |
 | Unfortunately, we have hit a last minute snag. The aftermarket headlamp trim panels (aka fender extensions) are absolutely HORRIBLE! We had to cut in a couple of areas and add to others to have a nice line. The upper contour where it meets the top front of the fender actually pushed the panel out creating a huge gap inwards. However, these are the only ones available on the market at this time. We have 2 full days wrapped up in these $99.00 panels. |
 | The grille, grille moldings, grille emblem, front bumper and headlamps have been installed. It is really starting to come together. |
 | We are also installing Vintage Air. We removed the factory heat control panel, fabricated an aluminum panel and installed two power sockets. We installed the A/C control panel down to the right of the stereo. We had to eliminate the lighter socket in the factory location but made up for it up above. |
 | The Vintage Air evaporator and ducting on its way in. |
 | After many, many hours of reworking these extension panels (the panels around the headlamps), we have acheived a better then factory look. |
 | The right side required less work, but work nevertheless. Same beautiful result. |
 | The A/C hoses and receiver drier are installed. The new windshield washer reservoir also has been mounted. |
 | We have now mounted the Michelin Pilot Sports on the Foose Nitrous 20" x 10" wheels |
 | The front Michelins wrapped around the Foose Nitrous 18" x 8.5" wheels. Once we mount them on the car, it should change the whole attitude. |
 | The rear Foose 20" rim and Michelin Pilot Sport tire has been test mounted. Fits well without any modifications needed. |
 | The front 18" Foose rim has also been test mounted. Clearance is good and turning presents no interference issues. Good fit for upgrading from a 14" setup! |
 | Seats have been removed to properly clean the carpet. |
 | The front seats have been cleaned and the tracks lubricated. |
 | The rear seats have also been cleaned. |
 | Side view of the LS5 Chevelle SS as it emerges from the shop in preparation of the taping of the show today. |
 | Another front corner view of the Chevelle. Car sits nice. |
 | We have finished the "Fast Track" restoration. We started this on 2/24/06 and finished on 5/12/06. 2.5 months to do this amount of work and in a quality fashion is quite a feat. |
 | |
| | |
;)
;)
Past Projects