ChattanoogaJSB

I did the front with the brake job

Yes, I'm told the bodywork should be done with the car on the ground. After fitting the door to "85%" I went ahead and installed the quarter (well bonded) so that I could pull the trailing arms and send them out while I did more trim removal all over. The arms should be back in about a week and half. By then I can rebuild the rear end and set the car back down and do the stripping (ugh) and bodywork (yes!).

I just pulled the front bumpers and some trim the other day while the quarter was setting up because I had the babysitting and I needed to maximize the time. The plan was to go after the arms next.

So far the progress has been good. The wreck occurred on 6/5. I'm trying to have the car done by mid September so I can enjoy it a little around town and then make my pilgrimage to Petit Le Mans (first year for my son to camp there) and do the halloween track night at the NCM course- plus maybe another.

ChattanoogaJSB

My schedule is aggressive, but I'm trying not let this accident eat up more time on the road than I have to. I suspect the real slowdown will come on weatherstripping and reassembly. The door trim in particular reads to be daunting.

Unrelated, I will say that using a small gear hose clamp on the emergency brake clip inside the backing plate worked awesome. I read it on the CF, and shaved considerable time off today just in that one area.

ChattanoogaJSB

My trailing arms and strut rods will be at Bairs in the morning. Even with body work to do I could not help but clean up and paint the fenderwells to get ready to put the new parts back in.

ifitgoesfast

What a nice frame.

Once you get the arms back in, what's next?

ChattanoogaJSB

The frame is awesome! One reason I bought the car among many.

When the arms are back in I'll get it lined up and then a bit more trim off and it's time to start stripping. I may strip the doors while I wait on the arms, insure.

What I do know is I need to keep the pace of work going strong.

ChattanoogaJSB

Not too much progress today- cleaned up and painted the half shafts. Will do the rear end hardware next. I will probably not make them cosmetically any better than this.



Also I ordered new spicer u joints from Bairs along with some door shims so I can finish aligning the door and get that lower quarter edge right afterwards.

I'm trying to be "all set and ready" to put the rear end back together as soon as the trailing arms hit my front porch.

67's

LookIng good, I guess it's time to get out the razor blade.

ChattanoogaJSB

It's getting close! I cleaned up some more hardware for the rear end with the wire wheel and painted- some black some in Seymour Cast Blast. I think with the new joints I will be all set to reassemble the rear.

Stripping is coming up fast!

LouieM

And your claim is that these pics are of the same car?

ChattanoogaJSB

About 90 minutes apart, yes my friend!

ChattanoogaJSB

Minor update- I got my new joints pressed in today. $8 each/labor and I think the piece of mind will be great.

Yesterday I heard from Bairs, they want to replace my RHS arm as well as the left due to "rust" which I find hard to believe since the frame and arms were so dry in my mind. Bolts and hardware were not seized like you hear about. The truck side arm was indeed bent.

I ok'd it deferring to them. Has me feeling a little leery but oh well.

They have helped me with some harder to find stuff at good prices so I'm going to put it out of my mind.

Slow day otherwise, I adjusted one bucket y stop to confirm the buckets will align perfectly - I had never done so. I also took off the bezels and some odds and ends.

Now I feel I'm in limbo waiting for parts so I can get it back on the ground, finish shimming the door, attaching the lower rear quarter, and on to stripping. In all likelihood next week will be mundane work waiting on the arms.

I may get a razor scraper and start that messy process, but I'm trying to avoid the sander or chemicals inside the garage.

You men have a good weekend!

ChattanoogaJSB

I've been making "silent progress" for a week. Most of the work is on the door jamb, which I will probably not resist the temptation to blow a little "temporary" primer on tomorrow. Since I had to cut and adjust the bonding strip the jamb/quarter needed quite a bit of filling. No Bondo, trying to keep that to a bare minimum on the whole car- all the filler is panel adhesive!

I also got the door alignment pretty darn close, it took 4 shims from Bairs. The door gaps are very decent, of only a little wide uniformly all around- such is life.

I did have to section the quarter leading edge to remove the excess adhesive that set up before I could get it flush. Unfortunate but no way around it. My repair will be extremely flush and the car will get plenty of curing time in the sun to allow things to move as I strip the car. I'm optimistic it will not show through being joined and filled with 100% fiberglass and adhesive as required. Photos to follow-

ChattanoogaJSB

LouieM

Looking good, Benton!
As the old saying goes, "it's starting look like a car again."

VITIV Coupe

Benton your doing some serious good work here and thanks for sharing. Regarding Bairs, I have used them also. They are a topnotch company and wouldn't sell you something if you didn't need it. I have a 64 coupe also and before I replaced my rear spindle assemblies, I search the internet for the best possible vendor and only two come up and Bairs was one of them. I live in Southern Ontario and if you drew a strait line from Bairs in Pennsylvania, I am about 100 miles on the other side of Lake Erie. I contacted Bairs about rebuilding my spindles and they phoned me back in a couple of days and said they had 2 on the shelf. I hopped in the Edge the next day and took the 400 mile round trip to pick them up. While I was there Brian gave me the royal tour of the plant. They have a huge inventory of parts and they really know how to rebuild trialing arm assemblies. Great people to deal with and a great price for their product. I am very happy with my new spindles and the car drives great now. Stay focused and keep up the good work Benton, I am learning a ton off you.

ChattanoogaJSB

Thanks guys- having a few people following the thread is actually a big morale booster. This is a pretty solitary endeavor otherwise!

I'm learning a lot myself- in that I'm actually doing things that I previously just read about. With my '69 (in college) I did just a little bonding and fiberglass on very small pieces but this is a whole different ball game.

Regarding Bairs- I appreciate the good word on them. My inlaws live a short drive from them and I also got to meet Brian, yogi, mike and the crew. I have gotten great service from them, including my quarter and harder-to-find lock pillar cover at good prices. The trailing arm's "extra needs" were a surprise but no biggie. I know they will be pristine for another run of decades when they're back.

Again, thank you for the kind words. Heading back to work!

ChattanoogaJSB

They say the devil is in the details, right? Well the door jamb is like one big detail to me! Time consuming for such an inconspicuous portion of the car, and I really had to cut and glass to make it work, so filling it is even more tedious. I don't think my wife sees much difference in the last day of work!

ifitgoesfast

But how many would do battle with the devil?

It's great you're doing the work. If it were just some body shop, they might've left the panel as is as set.

It's going to be interesting to see the whole car stripped. But too bad there's no way to just paint the rear quarter with matching lacquer.

ChattanoogaJSB

Thanks! I do dread stripping the jambs. I know I will run into a little prior work nose and tail, but I'm not fearful. My deck emblem is off stock location a hair and it's always drove me nuts, so I'll get to fix that bubba fix.

My aggressive schedule has me wanting the car painted by mid September and reassembled for some fall trips. Once the rear is back in next week things will pick up a lot!

Actually painting is the least worrisome part- it's almost a reward in the middle I feel.

Zoomin

I'm impressed with your progress, which totally destroys my line of reasoning back when you were trying to decide which direction to take.