A little "teaser" for the masses, eh, Ray???

Although it will be a little while before the rest of your '77 looks as good as that fuel filler lid, I know that in your mind, when you look at the car, your are already seeing the completed project...am I right?

I'll be staying tuned to see the latest and greatest as you progress.



Dave

 

Ha , I'm teasing me first, but the biggest part of it is I've been too busy with other stuff to be able to finish the sandblasting that I need to do !

Last week was a combination of replacing and repairing two coaches with deadlines almost impossible to meet with others finding things for me to do on them and others as well!

All so so that I could meet a deadline on Willie Nelson's coach that had places all the way around it that at first had a deadline of the 1st of February and then pushed back to when I finished on Saturday his driver picked up that nite only to have him cancel his next month of shows because he was feeling like he might be getting sick and didn't want to get the flu !

The last week was just like it so I thought i would use some of my lunch time to push forward !

Yep , your right ! I can see it all now! Lol Because it's my first my vision is to get it where it looks good and I can drive it ! I've not been on the road with it yet ! It's important to me that it is mechanical right first then paint and after that I'm going to build a 27 turtle back with my other engine ( friend of mine gave me the body ) and while I'm driving that I'll do the frame off and do the stuff you can only do that way !

I love how good that bezel looks with the door on it !

Can't wait till it's back on the ground with brakes and I can move towards the body work and making the rest of it look like that !

Let me know if I need to look for an emblem for you !

Thanks for looking in !

 

Wow! You are making a lot of progress! Keep the pics coming.

 

Really ? Feels like somebody planted concrete on my feet and made me stand there till it dried !

I appreciate it though !

The one thing that keeps me motivated is I wanna drive it !

 

So I finally get to post a progress report although it's not much !

At the beginning of the year I got sick and didn't work for a week ! Finally got over whatever stomach virus I had and was able to go to work !

Of course by that time I was really jam up with all kinds of repairs that had to be done with crazy deadlines for about a month and a half ! At one point I was painting a door at the same time the driver was starting the Coach so he could back up and leave !

To say the least I've not done much except a couple more hours of sandblasting!

Good news is I've been able to pick up a few more items that were needed! All I need now for the headlight system is a headlight switch and the pull down switch ! Still need parts for the steering column but I'm not ready to pull the column yet so no hurry on that part yet !

Here's some pics of the progress ! Shouldn't be too long before it's all done then then quick part to do it all again to lose the stuff from being exposed to the air ! Then spray it down with Ospho and paint time !













That's about all I got for now ! I did make it to the Carlisle Winterfest yesterday just didn't find anything I needed! Got to meet Procrastination Racing and see his beautiful lacquer painted 68 convertible ( red on black ) with a 427 four speed ! All I could think about was the smile that will be on Doorgunner's face when his is done and the first time he gets to go cruising in it !

Thanks for looking in on me !

 

Since my last post I've managed to get in to do some more sandblasting but I'm still not done !

I'm getting there slow but sure and once done I'm gonna hit the ground running!

First thing that will happen is to get the front brakes on , then I'm gonna load up the parts car on my trailer and off to brothers house for a time ! After that it's time to clean up the shop !

All the sandblasting has left dust everywhere! Once it's clean I've lined up a four post lift ! That should make the rest a whole lot easier!

So here's a few pics of the latest progress !








Oh yea , I finally found my first corvette! Nothing special just a little 57!

 

A 4-post lift!

 

Yep , it's used but for a $1000. I can't complain too much !

But, a year ago I bought a corvette for that !

Plus I was just doing some research and found out that I probably have the original radio mounted in the gauge cluster! When I first got the car like you I couldn't pull it inside yet so I yanked the cluster to keep it from vanishing!

Here's a pic of it !

 

Good morning Ray, good to see you making some progress and keep the pictures and positive attitude coming, it helps us all.

Radio you are showing looks like one of the Custom Audio Sound Corvette radios. I put one of those in my second 77 when my original didn't make sound any longer. It actually put out pretty good sound. They also have speakers to match that output that sound pretty decent. Nice thing about that too is it doesn't destroy your console should you decide to go back to the original radio some day. Personally, I like the sound of the engine and only play the radio when the car isn't running.

Keep up the great progress buddy, and see you in June.

David

 

It's good to hear from you David ! I trust your doing well !

You are so correct about my stereo system! I was looking yesterday thru a google search and found out that you could get a cassette player in 77 and because when I took it out I remembered just unplugging everything I was guessing that maybe by some chance I still had something that was still original to the car !

I see that didn't last too long ! Haha

Today I took the day off work to work on something and I'm now here with car so I pulled out the cluster and start looking at the stickers on it ! Finally I turned it over and I believe this will confirm what you said !




Thanks for the heads up though !

So will your trip be business or pleasure ! Either way I should be a lot closer to being able to drive it by that time!

I'll be looking forward till then !

Ray

 

Well today is a bit special!

My car turns 41 today!

I did get to work a little more on her yesterday and I can now begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know it's not a train !

Can't wait to start on the body work it's the one part that should for me go faster than any other part !

Here's a few pics of where I am now !

 

Keep up that momentum Ray, looking good brother.
David

 

😎 It just worked out that I had to be at my shop waiting for someone so I tried to use the time wisely!

 

Keep up the good work! Even if it's little by little, you'll eventually get there.

 

Yesterday I did get a small amount of sandblasting done ! Little by little I am moving toward being able to move the car around under its own power !

Even if it's only for a short time ! I'm thinking that I might have to pull the engine and tranny long enough to clean the engine and compartment area !

Here's a pic of what I got done then a question and another pic , maybe someone can answer what's happening!









In the pic of the steering control valve the cap is missing! Is the valve leaking there because the cap is missing or because the valve needs to be rebuilt! It is the only spot that it is leaking !

Appreciate any info on this !

 

Finally, I started sandblasting the front half of the car starting just forward of the right wheel !

Tonight I finished all of the initial blasting when I got just forward of the left rear wheel !






All I got to do now is to go back and redo everything to get rid of anything that has come back from all the metal being exposed! That part will go quickly and then it'll be time to put on paint and then install the new front brakes and bleed the system !

More again

 

If only I could tell you how many times I've had to utter THOSE words...

You're getting it there Ray. Tenacity, determination, and patience...the three things that those of us who have been down this road have learned to embrace.

Keep it up buddy, the forward momentum continues!

Dave

 

Most times it's like trying to push a truck uphill , in gear , with the brakes on!

Over the years I've learned to see the the whole picture but focus on accomplishing it in small sections at a time !

Once it has brakes again is when I can really shift gears ! Progress will slow down for a short time on the car while I remove the sand dunes from the shop and put them back on the beach and then reorganize and install the lift !

Then things will be a lot easier to do ! Problem is there will will be a lot more to do !

It's all good though, I've got this crazy thought that I might get to drive it one day !

Last time I looked your project was coming along nicely, I'll take another peak sometime this weekend!

 

Last week I thought that I had finished the hard part of the sandblasting but realized I missed an area about 6 inches long on the frame right before the left tire!

So when I got thru with work today I went in and finished that up !

So I wanted to show everyone two of the things I've used to do all this sandblasting with ! One is the screen that I built so that I could use the same sand over and over ! All I had to do was to sweep it up and pour it right back in !











All I do is shake the screen with one hand while I pour with the other !

The other little tool that I came up with was from needing a way to reach tight areas and to reach places that that I just couldn't get the gun or my hand to go to !

First picture is the gun and tip ! Second is the piece I added to it ! It's a rubber wire protector from a Milwaukee Polisher ! I simply push it on the ceramic tip and it's ready to go !










This is how I was able to sandblast areas like the a-arms and springs and even the frame where the body is as close as an inch !

Nest up is getting everything ready for prime and paint ! Then get the front brakes on and bleed the whole system !

At that point it will be time to clean shop and reorganize then put everything together and test fit so I can take it all apart and get the body work done ! Then I can put it all together again !

 

That was a great idea when you told me over your weekend visit. Know I got to see it.
Handy, very handy to know!


RVZIO