Blue Impala, black interior

I got the interior wrapped up on the '67 SS. Man it looks (and smells) new. The door panels were pre-made and then pre-fitted by an interior specialist. I just installed them. Sure there are issues in places, but all of it is fresh and overall it looks like a million bucks. These pics are just after the thrash, and without the flash. So check back later to see the big car all shined up and in the sun.

What a cream puff, eh?

(Click pics to view larger)

Once I finished the job, I plopped down in the back seat with all the windows down to relax for moment. The memories came instantly rushing back from the car I had in art school, a 1967 Impala four door hardtop.

  Suddenly I was having a flashback to a certain night in 1985, parked on a moonlit river bank in central Louisiana with a tall blonde in the back seat and a cold beer on the dash. I grinned, glanced over all this work one more time, and said to myself "Hell yeah!". Then I got out of the Impala and went home in my junk. Feels good to be done.   

Z/28 crunch, part two

Well I got started on that Camaro today. Also fixed a dent in a red '55 Chevy door this morning, so it was a double-dip Chevy day!

 First I removed all the necessary exterior items, then I corrected a slightly misaligned decklid by moving the latch, then out came my various hammers, for fixing that nasty little dent. With the bumper off, you can see some more sheetmetal damage where the bumper bracket bolts on. That was actually the hard part, its three or four layers thick.

 Theres a brace behind those bumper mount holes, too. It limits access to the backside (inside the trunk). If you can tell from the photo, it was actually pretty messed up right there. In the photo above, the holes are facing towards the camera instead of straight back, and there are dents above and below that beyond the mount area. No problem, I say!

To straighten the mount area, I used a door skinning hammer (for long reach) held against the back of the mounting area inside the inner brace, and struck the opposite end of the hammerhead with a ten pound sledge hammer (many times), standing over the open trunk and swinging toward my knees. I also had to use a smaller pair of  hammers to do the last of it. Since theres so many layers its difficult to get the top one completely flat but the mounting face is back to the correct position. I want to fit the new bumper and brackets before we paint, but it should be good to go and fit fine. The damage was contained to a small area there, luckily.

The quarter panel, however... had been previously repaired in the same spot as the dent. There were three holes under the bondo on that corner, and a previous crease plus a new one in the middle of the dent where it turned the contour inside out! Dang. Knocking the dent out from the inside was a piece of cake, so I don't know why the previous repairman would have drilled holes and pulled instead. Maybe they didn't take the tail light out?

Anyhow, this photo is after I did the metal straightening:

 

A closer look-

Here it is, ready for bodyfiller after welding, filing, grinding and sanding:

You may have noticed in some of the other photos, that this quarter panel is awful wavy. I am going to fix some of that while I'm there. Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter and thanks for stopping in!

In the weeds- 1965 American Motors Corporation Rambler Marlin

Well, at least they mow around this one!

Z/28 Crunch!

Yep, even hot rods get banged up. Looks like this project is coming soon, thought I would post a teaser. I'll be fixing the sheetmetal on this one. Nope, its not really a Z/28, just an RS/SS. Along with this fix, I hear we will be doing some additional work and converting it back to that configuration.

Blue 1967 Impala returns!

This fine ride has been at the upholstery shop for a month and a half, door panels are still there. But we got the car back with the headliner and vinyl top nicely installed. I worked this week towards finishing the job and have only a few more days left on it. The windshield and back window moldings were left off at the customer's request, he is gonna polish and install them.  The overall freshness of the car in person is striking, it smells new. Once complete, it will be a beauty. This car is stock except for front disc brakes and power windows which I added during earlier phases of the job. It has been a LONG time since I patched those quarter panels!

This week I installed the cowl and molding, wipers, wired grounds and power feeds under the hood, gathered new headlight connectors, installed the package tray and shot and installed the molding, trimmed the new top and installed drip rail moldings, wired the power windows and rear speakers, installed the dimmer switch, carpet, console, passenger seat, kick panel, and door sill plate. And other stuff, lol. Getting close now.

Take a look! Click to view large.

Bronco on a stick, part two

The 1975 Ford Bronco body shell that I primered in an earlier post has gone to the next stage, so I thought I would update to show the progress. We did find a couple of rust spots and I fixed them, I'll make a seperate post about those.

Heres a look at it like it sits now, ready for some polyester primer on the outer panels. I welded in a few dozen holes, for this reason or that. The new spare tire carrier rides on the bumper rather than having hinges attached to the body, etc. A rollbar will also be added. The truck has already been fitted for the engine from about a '99 Explorer (EFI 5.0), plus Vintage Air, so I welded up most of the holes in the firewall and engine compartment, one of the fuel fill necks, and a few various holes in the floor. Check it out in the bondo stage!

In the weeds- Willys Aero something, 195_?

Ok this is a rare one folks. Try finding an exact match with an image search! No dice, most have fins. There were several variants, I should have uncovered the script on the trunk. Owner said it was a '41 Willys and this was what I found. These were made in the 50s by the folks who manufactured Army Jeeps for so long, and they a far cry from the popular Willys straight axle gassers that came to mind when I heard of it. But nonetheless quite rare today. This one looks fairly complete and has the standard rust. What a unique hot rod this could be.

In the weeds- 1956 Chrysler DeSoto Firedome

It seems I have developed a reputation as an old car guy. Occasionally, people show me the old cars they have stashed, and sometimes I get to take pics. So I'm gonna start posting some, just to keep it interesting and liven up the blog a bit. You never know what I'll find next! All the cars in these "in the weeds" posts will be cars I have met in person, and as always, you will only see a picture here if I took it myself. This car was really grown over so these are the only pics I got though. 

The silver F-100 has it's own blog!

There are so many pictures to post on this one, that I decided to make a dedicated blog.

It can be viewed here:

http://idrivejunk-silverford.blogspot.com/

Bondo Busters

Updates on projects

My '69 GP got a new kick panel (painted it black) and seatbelts (the retracting style) from the parts car, and those leaf catcher grilles that snap into the cowl next to the wipers. Replaced a low beam headlight and found that Wagner rules, Sylvania sucks. Also blew a rear wheel cylinder and had to replace that. A little maintainence goes a long way, the car is an absolute blast to drive when I can afford the $5/gal gas to feed a high compression 455. Second gear really plants your noggin on the headrest like a palm to the forehead.

My '72 GP keeps borrowing the '69's battery for fire-up attempts. I've removed the starter and checked it out, but I can't get the engine spinning fast enough to potentially fire. Looks like I'll have to swap starters and keep trying, luckily I have a pile of em. I installed a spare HEI distributor and plug wires, and set the timing. Trying to spend zero dollars on this, but I may need at least one new battery cable to make it happen. I did take the plugs out and squirted a mixture of solvent and oil into the cylinders. Left the plugs out and spun it for probably half a minute and it spins OK that way. From what I've seen so far, a novice was working under the hood around the time when this car got stashed, and theres a few things that indicate it must not have ran well if at all. But the plugs and oil look good and it spins freely. I just gotta keep trying, and I will as long as weather permits.

At work, I just spent a week on the '62 F-100 and am about to spend another. Blocking and filling and making it straight on the outside. Not much to look at, sorry. However I have assembled all the pics so far into one folder and looking at how much there is, I am considering forming a dedicated blog, just for that vehicle. If I do, I will link it here for sure. After this, that Bronco body is next.

Aw, a post without a pic is like a bird with a broken wing. Heres a pic of the newest Factory Five '33 Hot Rod build (my friend does these, not me), this one has a hard roof. It just came off the trailer with all the goodie boxes:

Bare Bronco on a stick!

This 1975 Ford Bronco was just sandblasted so now I have the task of cleaning and covering it all up, with black epoxy primer. It was a real pleasure to work on a rotisserie. Note the necessary bracing welded into the door openings. I have always done the underneath stuff on a creeper with a body dolly, and I'm sure this makes it easier for the sandblasting guy too. Having the ability to rotate the shell is a huge advantage when it comes to blowing out all the blasting media from various hidden cavities in the sheetmetal. They otherwise could never be upside down to dump the sand out. Or in this case, I believe walnut shell blasting media was used. Of course the adjustable position and better lighting for spraying inside wheelwells and other tight areas makes for much better coverage and corrosion protection. Before doing the body shell, I did all the bolt-on parts, too. Anyway, it was a pleasure, heres a peek!