I made a temporary grill out of oval perforated sheet aluminum, which is just sitting in place now. I will make another and paint it black, and see which one I like best. I also spent a few hours installing the radiator (thanks Nancy for the hand), fuel pump, and hoses. All I really need is the heater box installed when I get the back-ordered gaskets, and the wiring harness.
The clutch was also finished up, every piece new or refurbished, even new cotter pins. Feels tight, I can't wait to drop it in gear!
I also installed new felt channels on the vent windows, and as soon as the other felts come in I will continue the rest of the door restoration. They were a pain to install by myself, thanks again to Nancy for the helping hand.
I had a dream that I was driving the Stingray already, jammin' the gears down the highway, and then I realized that I forgot to put the oil in the motor! I'm so glad it was just a dream. First thing today I did was get some oil and an oil filter installed. I also put the exhaust gaskets on the headers, installed the new Demon carb, and the fuel line. Jimmy stopped by the other night and we installed the harmonic balancer, lower pulley and water pump. Before that, I adjusted the transmission mount so that the shifter was centered in the body. The cross bracing on the radiator mount was welded in tonight too. This entire entry is practically out of sequence/backwards, so I'll keep up with it. I started today by installing the headlights, although I can't turn them on without the harness.I did get all the parts out of the house and into the garage this past week, and that has definitely helped move me along. I ordered all my parts, except for the wiring harness. Now I need to work on the dash soon.
I finally got around to installing the correct U-joints on the drive shaft, and installed the drive shaft, shifter and spedo cable in the car. No picz...it was a bit too cramped under the car in the garage, and it was over 90 degrees out, so I worked on the cold concrete in the garage.
Now I need to lay out all the parts I still need to install, go over my shopping list, and place some orders. I want all the parts in the garage this weekend and out of my attic and bedroom. I am motivated now that the water company has removed the large pipe from the driveway, and I "could" take the car on a ride if I were finished. Sarah is holding me to my September due date....but I want it done earlier! NOW!!!
This weekend I plan to start to lay the fiberglass on the dash, and possibly get working on the dash cluster. That should be a fun job.
Last seen clutching Dewalt buffer in my driveway. If found please return....I will need it to finish buffing. May be hanging out with my common sense, because that hasn't been around for about a year also.
I have been color sanding, and buffing, and polishing to the point where I can hardly type this entry. So far it looks pretty good, especially considering that I am not a professional and this was done in my garage for a few hundred bucks. I still have some minor scratches from the 1500 grit color sanding in my clear, even after all the buffing/polishing. Maybe tomorrow I'll try some more...maybe not.
I did it! The Stingray now has a shiny coat of paint, and I did it in my garage for a few hundred dollars. I started by giving it the basecoat of 1967 Marina Blue, and as can be expected, had immediate problems. The lower doors and hood were terrible, with lots of sand scratches that were were visible. I took the hood off and sanded it down with 600, and then re-shot it again with the base. The doors were also wet sanded down to the primer and re-shot, each with three more coats of base blue. No big deal right....wrong...I spilled about $100 worth of paint when I dropped the gun. Nice job. So I was running out of supplies quickly. What, no picz you say? I was so frazzled, I forgot...sorry. Then I had to lay down the thin line tape for the hood graphic, and by then I was ready for bed.
Wake up the next morning, paper off the entire car and shoot some black down the hood. After removing the paper/tape I found a few areas that needed a bit of a touch up, so I adjusted the spray gun fan to small, reduced the air pressure, and was able to blow in the paint like an air brush. I was pretty excited with my new talent!
So here it is as of tonight, with two medium wet coats of clear, and a ton of dust, runs and bugs to color sand out of it tomorrow.
Yesterday, Tommy (72 Chevelle) and I were talking about how the body work was going. I told him that I probably know enough about paint and body work to write my own book...but it is the application of this knowledge that eludes me. Every time I do it , I get better at it, but there are those times where I swear I just got lucky at it.
My wonderful new neighbors are so kind and supportive as I push the Vette out into the driveway each day and sand, sand, sand. Then I push it back in and prime, push it out and sand. I tried to warn them that when the Vette is done, I am sure to have another project in the driveway, and they don't seem to be bothered by that. (Whew)
I was wet sanding the car for what I thought was the last time with the 600, when I found this HUGE bulge on the rear deck. (I thought I had fixed it earlier) Damn, now I had to rough it up and start filling and feathering again. I lucked out by getting it the first time!So, you want to see what it looks like after all this sanding? I have given it my best effort with the sandpaper, washed it down, and plan to paint this week. Wish me luck!
I didn't want to post another entry, but I couldn't let the opportunity go by with such a title. I hung the doors and hood, and tried to set all the gaps equally the same. Of course I'm frustrated with the results, because on a Stingray you can't shim the fenders or hood...just align the doors the best you can. I really want the body line to match up nicely, but it never really did before because the front end, and the rear end, are both aftermarket pieces. 
The hood always had a huge lift here. Not much I can do about it, I can't bend fiberglass.
Then I found the little bag with the bolts, and of course I never cleaned them. So after I do, I'll hang the rear pieces and finish aligning the body parts to the best of my ability. Then finish sanding, and I hope (gulp) paint!
No, I'm not in the garage with the guitar...I'm jammin the doors and hood. I finally thought that I've spent enough time with the sandpaper, and it was time to put some color down. I hope to have the doors hung and the hood back on this week, so that I can sand the rest of the body with 600 and shoot it next Friday.
All I have to do today if figure out if I need to clear the jambs first, or hang the parts back on the car, paint the basecoat and then clear everything. I'll figure it out.
I sanded the hood...again...and then wet sanded it down to 600. I leaned the broom handle up against the edge to get an idea, and shot these two pics. I'm out of primer, but I think one more coat (or two or three) ought-a do it. Let me know what you think.
It was a productive weekend here at South Hill Customs, and we had lots of welcome visitors. It started off with a visit from our good pal Tommy and his '75 Stingray.
Then we got a visit from Eddie, who has my first stingray, a '73 L-48. Unfortunately his ex-wife took a claw hammer to it in the garage and it needs some extensive body work and new paint....ouch!
We also had a visit from a friend (who's identity will remain a secret for his own protection) with his new yellow 505 hp Viper. He just got it out of the repair shop with $20,000 worth of "minor" body and suspension repairs after he hit the gas a bit too hard and threw the rear end out into an oncoming mini-van. The rims alone are over $3,200 each!
I'm not sure who owns the red Lamborghini kit car, but he drove by a few times. Stop in if you get the chance!
Jimmy was here lending a helping hand, as well as Tommy ('72 Chevelle) and Dave "the Mayor" ('50 Merc) who stopped by to check things out. I titled this blog "No Fingerprints" not because we didn't leave any on the body work, but because I no longer have any fingerprints left, seriously!. I sanded so much that I have no fingerprints, just bloody tips on the ends of my hands. I am STILL working on the hood, almost there, just a few tiny waves to block out.
My garage is covered in plastic, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. my tool box and my parts. So, when Nancy asked me what I was planning to do with the hardtop now that it was finished....I could only think to cover it with more plastic. We wrapped it up, and taped it, but later on I unwrapped it so that the paint could breathe (I really just wanted to feel the smooth glossy finish again, and show it off to any one who might stop by the garage!)
How did I get that smooth shiny finish? Well, it started with some wet color sanding with 1000 grit paper, then on to 1500 grit paper (hmmm...I think I skipped the 1000 grit actually). Then I buffed with the Diamond Cut 2.0 compound, followed by the Finiesse-It. The final step is to buff once again with the Glaze, of course changing pads with each application. I didn't sand the rear valance, I will if I need to later on after the entire car is painted.
The best invention in the garage this week is my home made spray gun holder. I found this store-brand garage organizer (probably designed to hold an ironing board) hanging around the house, and bent it into the perfect shape to hold the spray gun so that I could fill it and set it down between coats of paint. 
Why would anyone bother to restore a part that no one would ever see??? I spent hours taking apart my heater box to fix some cracks, and while I was at it, I figured I would sandblast the heater blower and give it a light coat of cast blast paint. WHY? I guess to have the satisfaction of knowing that it was cleaned and restored and .....man, I have issues......who cares!!!
I spent a few hours sandblasting rally wheels, headers, small parts, and my eyes. Then painted these parts, which are now ready for installation.
Next step is to lay down a little fiberglass on the heater box to fix those cracks....because the parts are way to expensive to purchase, new or used. The outer cover is about $168 and the inner heater box is over $450! A little time spent here on restoring these parts is money saved for other parts.
I am off of work the entire week, and it is cold and raining. It figures.
I received my new valve covers purchased on eBay, and I think they look HOT! They have a billet aluminum rail, and a nice fabricated, tig-welded race look. Most importantly, they clear the valvetrain. I now need some good valve cover gaskets to keep any leaks from spillin' all over the new motor.
The correct oil pump pickup has finally been installed, I just need to put the oil pan on. I also got around to returning the parts that needed to go back to Jeg's and Keisler.
I'm off all week, let's see how much I get done!
So, we decided to take a break and hit the west coast for vacation, and of course we had to stop by a few hot rod museums and shops. We saw hundreds of awesome exotic cars while in LA, especially up the Pacific Coast Highway, but the Peterson Museum had some cool displays of old California hot rods.
