Yeah I hear ya....

I tried to find bulkhead fittings with std flares on both sides, but had no luck. I don't have the tools to create the AN flares so it would mean an additional adapter and another possible leak point.

I also needed to keep the lines tight to the inside so this was a better option.

It'll look pretty clean too with the trim piece I have in mind. But that can wait for now.

Just about got the thing stripped down for the body shop.

Thanks!

Joe

 

Last little fabrication project before it's off to the paint shop. I needed just about 1/2" more clearance above the tank for the EFI pump fittings so I made this raised access panel.

Will help if I ever need to change the pump or sending unit.

 

A little seam sealer, screws, and a gasket and it'll be good to go.

 

Screwed down tight.....

 

Not a ton to report, but the work at the body shop has begun. Nice that the car had all original paint (and much of that had worn/washed off). Has been able to strip by hand.

I'm going to start to detail the engine and trans. I need to settle on a color for the motor as well.

 

Back on the rotisserie.

 

Just read this thread. Great build. Love the attention to detail.

 

For those still following, things are moving at the body shop. Hopefully the floors will be painted soon and we can get the body back ioto the chassis soon for final mockup.

 

Wish I could add more than one picture at a time in the iPad.....

 

Like I said, nothing really exciting to see at the body shop right now....

 

Since the car is going to be all black, I wanted to add an accent color and decided to paint the motor an iridescent blue. Couldn't find an engine paint that did it for me, but I discovered that the 2006 GTO that I got the motor and transmission from was Impulse Blue Metallic.....

Spent the weekend cleaning, and painting the engine and trans.

Perfect! It just glows out in the sun. It'll be a nice contrast to all of the black.

My paint guy is going to base/clear the intake and valve covers for me so they'll look really good.

Joe

 

And the transmission......

 

One more at the body shop (don't know why the pic got rotated...).

 

Looking forward to seeing this come together.

 

While the boring stuff is happening at the body shop, I decided to putz with the console. I needed to fabricate a new top plate for this stretched Buick Lucerne console. So I thought I'd try my hand at fiberglass.

I used blue foam insulation to fill the gaps and carved and sanded it to match the original top plate profile. I also used some steel wire to form the compound curve at the wide end.

 

Stretched some fleece over it.

 

Soaked the fleece with resin. Once it dried, I added two layers of chop mat.

 

Cut it loose from the console, cleaned it up a little, and cut the opening for the flip up ashtray door. I'm also adding two AC vents in the space above the door.

 

Should look pretty nice with a little body filler and few hours of sanding....

 

Console looks great.

 

Thanks!

Got my Holley accessory drive brackets back from the powder coater this morning so I decided to start my final engine mockup in between sanding on the console top plate.

Starting to look nice......

The Holley kit is so nice (and a great value compared to most of the other bracket kits) and everything fit up perfectly.

 

Floors are painted black. Still need to shoot the undercoating into the wheel wells, and some small touch up, but we should be getting the body back onto the chassis this weekend.

He will start skimming and blocking after one final full-panel mockup.

Getting closer to paint......

 

Got my reworked engine harness and computers back so they are ready to go! Also ordered the full chassis harness from American Autowire.

Got the AC vents and controls fit up into the console I've been working on. It's pretty much ready to go as well. Just need to final sand the top plate I made and send it out for hydro printing. It came out really nice.

 

Don't know why it keeps rotating my pictures....oh well.

Here's a closer shot of the AC controls. Hidden inside ashtray door.

 

Last one for now.

 

Have to figure out what changed in my images as the aspect ratio looks all fubar.

Sorry.

 

It's looking great! Do you do Facebook? I'd love to see you post your progess to our group as well. www.facebook.com/groups/54to56olds

 

Thanks! Not on Facebook. Too busy these days to maintain multiple build threads.

Once the car gets painted, things will get crazy. I'm stoked to get this thing fired up.

I see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

 

In case anyone's still interested, I am still progressing although I had to pull my car out of the body shop and figure out a plan "B"......

Lost a month or so of time and had to redo some stuff. I got lucky and found a shop that picked the car up, stripped everything back to bare metal, did some hammer and dolly work, sprayed everything in epoxy primer, and two coats of high build.

They brought the car back to me and I am going to do the final filler and block sanding myself. They will pick the car up and paint it for me.

This will save me a lot of cash and I'll learn something along the way. They will check to make sure it's all straight before they take it for paint.

Couple of pictures just to show it FINALLY all one "color".

I have the doors, fenders, and hood all aligned and gapped pretty nice, just need to get the deck lid gapped and I'll start block sanding.

Nice to be moving in a positive direction again....

 

Drivers door gapped. I'm going to drill the hinges at the doors to help align at final assembly. We are keeping the hinges on the body through paint so they don't have to be removed which will help.

 

Looks great

 

looks great really like the console work and the engine and trans really do shine !!

 

Glad to see progress. As others have said, it looks great!

 

Had a little trouble getting the deck lid lined up nice. Not sure how it got that way, but after hours of adjusting and shimming, I got it nice and even everywhere but the drivers quarter where it was really tight.

I decided that the only way to fix it was to cut the top of quarter and fix the gap.....

Was a little nervous at first, but it actually came out great! Got the filler in and it's pretty much ready for primer. Glad I didn't decide to do it.

Now onto some block sanding and final filler.

 

After I made the cuts.

 

All welded up and ground.

 

Filler pretty much done (I think)...

 

I haven't been here in a while , but omg does that thing look sweet ! Great job man !

 

Very nice project you have going. Well thought out..... I'll be following

 

Block sanding my brains out, so nothing exciting to see. It's coming along pretty good. I'm hoping to get it to the shop for paint in the next couple of weeks.

Located and drilled holes in the doors for the mirrors. Went with tri-five Chevy mirrors with the wide angle glass.

They work pretty well actually. Even looking through and around the vent windows.