Looking great! You've inspired me to start on the build for my wife's truck...build thread coming soon...hopefully!

Total of 4 people to get the body off the rotisserie and onto the frame. 2 for hanging doors and fenders.

We used two air jacks, one on each side, to take the weight of the body while the rotisserie was removed.

Then we rolled the frame under the body and lowered the body down onto the new body mounts and bolted it on. Bolt holes lined up without a lot of trouble. A few of the original mounting bolts were too short to catch the caged nuts in the body so gotta get longer bolts. Not sure why that happened but likely the new mounts are a bit thicker than the original 49 yo mounts.

We were never in danger of dropping the body but you gotta be a little tense while the body is 4 feet off the floor, sitting on the jacks. Relieved when the body was back at home on the frame and the jacks were removed.

I'll be fine tuning the door and fender gaps today. Fenders have 4 adjusting points; lots of tweaking to get all the lines and gaps perfect.

Luckily mine was a lot lighter and a convertible and I had a shop with an overhead crane. So it was only a two man job.

Quote:

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Fenders have 4 adjusting points; lots of tweaking to get all the lines and gaps perfect.

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Good luck. I spent hours and still don't feel like I got them perfect.

It's a tough decision to put a cutting wheel to hours of work and start over. But, if you want perfect (or near perfect) gaps sometimes that's the only way.

The patch panels are often the cause of bad gaps. That was the case with this one. Takes as lot of work to make them match up right. Still prefer using patch panels over buying a complete aftermarket fender. They come with their own set of challenges.

I just read all 5 pages. I'll be following along also. I have a '67 Chevelle in my shop but haven't started working on it yet. This is my inspiration.

That's my favorite year for the Chevelle!

ClassicArnold said:

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I just read all 5 pages. I'll be following along also. I have a '67 Chevelle in my shop but haven't started working on it yet. This is my inspiration.

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Classic, good luck with your 67. Very satisfying when it starts coming together. Lots of frustration and $$$ along the way.
I recommend you work where you can walk away from it for a while when the frustration level gets too high. You never want to be on a timeline. When things are going great, stand by, something is about to bite you in the butt.
I'm paying a pro restoration guy to do the high skill stuff like metal replacement but I'm putting in lots of hours. Full time job kinda hours. I'm retired so no big deal.
I'm predicting this will be a $65K project. Lot of that is labor for the pro but having him as a resource is worth it.
I had additional costs because I'm cloning a Malibu to an SS. New engine, tran ny, rear end. I have $8K in the 396 engine, including a fuel injection system.
Keep us posted

Helliphant engine... Misread Chevelle as charger

Took a 2 week break. My restoration buddy had eye surgery and was down a while.
All the fender/hood fitting we needed to do is a two man job so hadn't touched the car until today.
Here's the pics:






Fitting fenders and especially the hood, is trial and error. Getting close but still a few areas where the gap needs some more adjustment.

It's going to be awesome!

Actually I've been at it 5 months. Seems like 50.

Most take more than a year to get here. You are on a record pace!!

You know (not that it was a risk for you) that 75% of projects like these die or go on life support shortly after disassembly. Knowing what it's going to take, what it's going to cost, and making it a priority is what makes it possible. I laughed aboutbproject, but it was true - posting here made it real, we couldn't fail in front of everyone here.

Great thread!

Centerpole90 said:

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Most take more than a year to get here. You are on a record pace!!

You know (not that it was a risk for you) that 75% of projects like these die or go on life support shortly after disassembly.

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So true. I have done a couple of simple restoration projects (no frame off stuff) and even then they were both tiresome after a while. I am not sure I have the patience or determination to do a full resto like this Chevelle or the pickup that you did.

Patina Resto-mod. That's the name I'll give what we did.

I know what you mean and I absolutely take it as a compliment - thank you, but it doesn't require the dedication a real restoration takes.

Yep, start a thread about a restoration and you gotta finish. Rabbit's outta the hole; he gotta run now!!

Ok, before you make me some kinda restoration hero, let me reiterate, I'm paying a guy to do the high skill stuff; metal replacement and paint.

Sometimes I'm doing moderate to high skill tasks but mostly I've been a sanding, priming, blocking grunt.

More progress today:

Inside of doors, bottom of trunk lid, inside of body all get two stage color matching the exterior.







This color, Fathom Blue, looks dark in low light but pops in sunlight.

Three days deep into wet sanding and buffing.
No new pics, just lots of work.

A little concerned about some pits in the clear coat. I've wet sanded with 1200 and 2000 grit and a few pits are still showing.

I actually have 4 coats of clear so lots of clear to sand..
If the pits don't come out after another days wet sanding we may shoot another coat of clear.

Nice

Great work, thanks for letting us follow your project with all of the great updates.

Awesome work, it's looking fantastic.

That is a beautiful color and the stripe is classic muscle car. Well done.

Do you sleep??

Looks awesome. In the speed/price/quality triangle they say you can have 2 but sacrifice 1 - this is going to cost you a bundle; because the quality is there, and you are blazing.