Thought I'd post an update on how the body restoration is coming along. But first a recap....

Starting point is here - a rear-ender trashed the taillight panel, quarter and deck.



With insurance check in hand the cutting began over at Mike's shop.



We used an NOS deck and left quarter. The right quarter and taillight panel are press molded pieces from Corvette Image. Very happy with the CI products.



I knew the car had been in several small accidents before I got it. Nothing big enough to damage the frame, but lots of fiberglass damage. So it was now or never and we stripped the paint off the front as well. I was hoping to save the surround, but it was too patched up as was the drivers side fender. So more cutting was called for.



New surround and fender from Corvette Image was bonded on:



All body seams were glassed, door edges glassed and blocked with dyna-glass. The amount of "bondo" (dyna-lite) was kept minimal. The following pictures are right before primer and you can see how little dyna-lite is on the car.







And finally yesterday it was time to shoot the primer.







From here the door jambs need to be finished and primed, taillight panel just need a scuff and then primer. The front will take some work, but not that much. Hood gaps need to be cut and then blocked to the surround. Same for the headlight doors.

As for the back half, all the body work came out great. It will just need to be guide-coated and blocked before final primer. The final primer will be wet-sanded (probably to 320 grit) and then it's ready for paint.

 

WOW......now THAT's a story! Great to see it coming back together!

Mike sure does nice work on the details like the door gaps etc!


I see a Cruise In debut!!


JIM

 

It is looking good. I now wish I would have had the guys pay more attention to getting the body gaps like yours instead of leaving them stock. I guess there is always next time.

Lets hope Jim is right and there is a Cruise In debut. Heck there might be another magazine shoot for that red car again. How cool would that be!!

 

Good for you to get the entire body fix done - no more bodywork worries.
Just a little advice zwede, try to run the same style wheel on each tire instead of the 3 different wheels in the pix. It looks much better with the same rims for some reason.
Nice work.: :
BTW how did the BB engine overhaul work out for u. Tons of more HP? I never read your results but i really liked reading your rebuild post.

cardo0

 

The engine turned out good. Feels peppier but didn't get a chance to dyno before the wreck.

 

So are we staying with same color of red? Nick has a bunch of red paint and stuff sitting around.


JIM

 

I think Nick already sold the paint. I'll probably stick with Torch red. Why mess with perfection.

 

I think he still has it...or he did the other day. Had trouble getting anyone to ship it.


JIM

 

Question on the rear frame to body attachment. I need to remove the bolts that attach the frame to the body in the rear of my '74 to replace the body mounts. How do you remove the rear most bolts zwede? I can't get a socket over the bolt head inside the frame. On my '74 they attach the frame to the bumber bracket and should be similar to your chrome bumber attachment brakets.
This will allow me to lift the body up enough one side a time to R&R the body mounts. I see in your secound pix u have already been there.
Any ideas?

cardo0

 

I enjoyed the pictures. It looks like some really well done body work.
If you decide to run a combination of wheels I do like it better if the 2 on each side match.
I'll be waiting for more progress pictures.
Regards,
Alan

 

I think your '74 has to be different because there's no such problem on the '71. If you look at the 2 holes on the side of the frame, that's where the bumper bracket goes. The inside of the frame has a cut-out so you can access the bolts.

 

Thanks Jim,
My main goal is to use as little body filler as possible and none on any edges. With the few wrecks it's been in, before and after Markus has owned it, and the very poor assembly at the factory all the edges had to be glassed. There's probably a solid week on just the door gaps.
Mike

 

Markus, sorry to hear about the smack to the rear. Mike told me about it today.

I may have Mike do the body work on my 71 roadster (L88 long hood, class in the rear, Stan's flares) which will be a magazine car and hopefully debut in BG this year. He is already working on assembling offset TA's for me and some rear end tuning so I don't go hop, skip and jump down the track when we are done. 555 cu inch motor is at Santa's workshop (Jim Moore Performance) right now beginning to be assembled. You are way ahead of me in terms of getting back on the street though and, I'm sure, looking forward to getting it done.



Keep us posted...those door gaps are to die for (figuratively speaking of course). Great work and (IMHO) you ARE doing the right thing getting it all done correctly while you're at it.

Doug

 

Thanks! Some more progress pics. Door jambs have been prepped and primered. Currently working on the headlights. I got the gaps done, now they need some primer and blocking to the surround.

 

Looks like your project is coming along great Zwede, and I wouldn't expect anything less than that when the bodywork is being done by Mike...he's the best. Can't wait to see it finished - its gonna be killer

 

What's the story on the '53 Buick under the cover? If I'm thinking what I'm thinking, that's a very valuable ride...

 

Its one of 1690 ever built and yes, it is very valuable. Its been in Mike's family and been handed down to him - he plans on restoring it one day.

 

Looks like a Skylark...those had an astronomical price way back then...hehehe sorry to hijack the thread...

 

It is lots and lots o' money.