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Just got the body blasted yesterday, chassis is done, waiting for body. Need to have the body painted before cold weather this fall. I do all the body work and painting myself, can't afford to pay anyone else. Colorado car that was raced with a '66 W-30 engine, I put the block in my '67 442 and put the tri-carbs on a 455. Ceramic coated the headers that were in the trunk. $1500 to blast the body, hood, trunk, and fenders. New 200-4R transmission. Got the bumpers rechromed by El Paso Electro Plating, $1000.
Using original exhaust for now, saving money where ever possible. Not building a #1 show car, this will be a road worthy street machine to drive and enjoy. Overdrive transmission with the factory 3.91 rear gears. This is H/O #144. My '69 H/O with the 455, overdrive, and 3.91 gears gets 14 mpg highway.
Ready for Z code silver. 6 coats of primer with body work as needed every other coat and block sanding. Just finished 2 coats of sealer and block sanding. Including the silver paint have less than $800 invested in paint supplies. I'm not any where near a perfectionist or professional but can't afford a $15K - $20K paint job, so I do everything myself. I have more time than money.
Really nice Roger, I’m looking forward to your finished result. Again, kudos on your determination whether the motivation is financial or physical, your collection is awesome! You also have the bragging rights of building it!!😀
Fenders are primed and sealed ready for silver after many hours of rust repair and block sanding. A painter friend of mine suggested that I shouldn't paint the body silver and fenders/hood separately at different times because the silver will not match. So the body is on hold until the hood is ready for silver also and will reshoot the body and do fenders and hood at the same time. Any body run into that problem before? Now doing body work on hood, it's like someone walked on it.
...... A painter friend of mine suggested that I shouldn't paint the body silver and fenders/hood separately at different times because the silver will not match. So the body is on hold until the hood is ready for silver also and will reshoot the body and do fenders and hood at the same time. Any body run into that problem before? ...........
I have heard that from very good car painters. I don't remember all the factors, but I believe it. I am using the "Z" paint (with more metallic) on my '70 Cutlass "toy". Guess what I will have done....the silver will be painted on all parts......the same day, same temp, same "mix" of paint with doors and fenders on the body for painting..
Last edited by OLDSter Ralph; Oct 2, 2022 at 08:35 PM.
Metallic silver is an incredibly tough color to paint well, without getting blotching or weird shading issues. You'll want to look at tutorials on painting those metallics consistently; even starts and stops can cause issues, and you want all the panels on the same orientation they'll be seen on the car. Granted, GM painted those parts separately at Fisher body and they probably never matched from the factory.
Well I'm back, took the experts advise and finally ready to paint the "Z" code silver all at the same time. Since I had the black and pin stripe done last fall I hope it works out taping them off. Worked all winter finishing all the body work and block sanding for weeks. Wish me luck! I got the engine broken it and it's a beast.
Finally got the car on the road, was fighting engine issues and after much time and money it turned out to be a broken rotor cap! So finally drove the car to the gas station. Not happy with the way the 200-4R is shifting. I'm happy with my armature paint job, spend many weeks on block sanding and wet sanding paint. Did base coat clear coat. This is not a show car but built to be driven, raced, and enjoyed as a driver and grocery getter.
A bonus when I bought the car is that it was last raced with the tri carb set up and custom air cleaner. The original engine was long gone. I do have the original TH400.
I don't think getting hit in the rear would result in the column being shoved that hard by either something from the front or the driver from the rear. Not pretty.
From the stripe, I know it's a 442. It could not be in your Hurst/Olds because the wood trim is missing. From memory, that's what usually happens in a front end crash when you are not wearing a seat belt.
It is a photo of my H/O, I had removed the original wood trim to replace it. It was a very serious front end collision as I discovered on disassembly that it had replacement fenders with nuts for both the '68 and '69 hood hinges, and the big block engine mounts didn't fit over the cross member pads. I changed to other engine mounts and it dropped into place and upon further inspection it was obvious with shitty looking welds that the whole front frame had be replaced with a Cutlass frame piece. I had to replace the plastic dash piece and shorten the straps above the steering column. Luckily the title is not a salvage title, probably never made an insurance claim. I did use '69 hood hinges by drilling extra holes in the hinges to fit the hood bolt location. After 2-1/2 years I'm ready to move on to my '65 442 convertible.
We all need to remember that those cars were built to be driven fast and sometimes we hit things. GREAT job on the finished product. I know that involved a lot of time and patience, not to mention the expense.
I absolutely love your daily driver '68 tri-carb Street Warrior H/O!!!
Much admiration that you restored, built and customized her to meet your dreams, as opposed to building a trailer queen...
I believe that we're at a point in time where in order to keep the tradition alive, we need these cars to be seen.
Hopefully when the tri-carbs are open, and the V-8 roars and the silver streak flashes by an EV with authority, kids will put down their damn cell phone and ask, WOW - what's that?" And thus get the internal combustion engine itch!
Quite appropriate final build pic setting = "Passes everything but the gas station" - LOL!!!
Respectfully,
fast_dave in Nor-Cal PRK
Last edited by fast_dave; Jan 28, 2025 at 03:26 PM.
Amazing work 
