08/10/2005
Rolled out of the garage for cleanup/prep for the final rebuild
Although this has been done before, this time has to be followed by action or this car will never run again in my lifetime.
08/13/2005
Pulled fenders, pressure washed, scrapped/cleaned old sealer, grease, etc
The fenders came off pretty easy but since the car was crunched in the front/right front in the late 70’s there were missing nut clips, etc. You can also see the original car color here just in front of the door. The car was already orange when my parent helped me buy it in 1974 and I had no idea it was originally blue for many years
I have figured out how to make it rain in Oklahoma in August. Just roll a car out of the garage that doesn’t have windows and presto! Believe it or not those rear tires used to be further under the fenders with a different 1957 housing I used to use with a 5:43 rear gear. With the new larger rear offset I may wish I had a wider rear housing after all.
Front view. You can almost see the salvage yard markings in the lower right of the pic where it appears the radiator support was replaced. In the middle 70’s a Pinto wagon (remember those?) pulled out in front of me and I crunched the front/right front of the car rather good. I never knew exactly what the repair company did (besides paint the front end some type of red and try to pass it off as orange – so the front fenders and hood have an extra coat of paint) but now I can see the actual work done.
Just another shot from the rear. Current plans call for keeping the black scheme for the rear tail light valance and hopefully replacing the rear deck lid and end caps with fiberglass versions with a ‘California Special’ look to them. Maybe.
The old pickup in the back is my father-in-law’s old truck that was originally planned to be a motor donor. Likely won’t be now but I might just get it running again.
Floor pans are needed but it’s not as bad as some I’ve seen. The car sat under a tarp for years without much activity and now it shows. The driver’s side is worse than the passenger but the pans are already in hand and waiting.
The passenger side isn’t quite so bad but still needing replacement. Doubtful I’ll pull the seat mounts since things look good around there. Some sanding/grinding/sealing should be enough.
The trunk area needs a bit of attention but overall is pretty stable. The battery was once mounted on the right side and after some late night street racing it apparently ripped loose fell over inside the marine box and leaked into the trunk. I didn’t know until much later and had quite a mess to clean up.
