Looks and sounds great. I'm probably at least another year from being at this stage with my '49 Olds 98 convertible.

 

That's looking great, I've been following your progress as well.

So I must have busted the front pump on the tranny during one of my mock ups (or it was the guy that sold it to me), anyway I bought a new pump and swapped it out (that's the recent drive video), but they sent the wrong one. It caused fluid to be pushed out of the vent.....a lot......

Took them a while to figure it out, and it was a picture I sent them of the trans strapped to my lift that showed the electrical connections that clued their tech in....crazy.

Anyway, out came the trans again, another new pump, and it it's working pretty well at this point. I've put a couple of miles on it but haven't gone over 30-35 mph yet. I think it's good to go now though.

I worked on some fun stuff yesterday. I got the rear electrical all done, ran front lighting harness, and hooked up a horn I snagged from a 2009 express van I pulled another LS out of recently, it sounds great!

I have tail lights, brake lights, backup lights now.

Going to the upholstery shop Nov 2! Have lots of little odds and ends to do between now and then.

 

Pictures all fubard again.....?

Another shot showing the back end with some bling finally.

 

Got the gauge cluster cleaned up and re-assembled. I wired in some color changing LED's too. It came out great! The pics done to do it justice.

I love the dash in these cars and now this one's amazing lit up! Also got the fuel gauge wired up and operating. I'm only using the speedo and fuel gauge. I'll get the other vitals on the Torque APP on the tablet in the dash.

I also installed the Dakota Digital speedo adapter unit. Just need to wire it up and calibrate it.

 

LED's installed. The kit is for motorcycles. It worked better than the stuff they make for cars because the strips/sections are shorter and easier to arrange in the cluster.

 

Blue

 

Red.

 

Wow the dash looks really cool like a old jukebox! Your doing top notch work thanks for sharing

 

Still following and enjoying every picture! You do outstanding work.... Tedd

 

Still plugging away on a bunch of small tasks to get this thing ready for the upholstery shop. Lots of Fatmat being laced down too.

Figured I'd share a picture of the car with some more bling installed....

 

looking incredible

 

Been a while since I followed, its awesome.

 

Thanks guys! She's almost done. I told you when I started the build thread it would be long and boring at times.

Dropped the car off at the upholstery shop yesterday. It's supposed to be done in three weeks. We'll see. After my bad experience with the first body shop, I was a little freaked out about leaving it there, but these guys seem genuinely excited to do this.

I'm not having anything exotic done. Just using good materials. You'd be shocked at some of the quotes I got in this area for a custom interior.....

I'll post progress picks over the next few weeks.

Here's a picture of the wire loom covers that my friend Scott cerakoted for me. I like the color contrast. Need to find some kind of design or logo to put on them. I didn't want to put the "rocket" decal on there out of respect. Maybe some pinstriping.

Thanks for hanging with me. It's the only place that I have a build thread for this thing.

Joe

 

Car is at the upholstery shop and things are moving along pretty well. He's telling me it'll be done in two more weeks.

The headliner is in, the front seats are sewn up and test fitted (still going to add a top stitch to the perimeter seams, and need to install the cool medallions I found), and the kick and side panel boards are made.

Should start to see finished panels late next week.

Got the car insured last week, so once I get it back, it's street legal.....

 

That's awesome. Great job! The blue lights on the cluster panel looks great. Which Phoenix show will you be taking your car to, next year?
My '49 Olds 98 convertible is a long ways off, but I might have a non Olds ready for the Yuma, AZ Moonlight At The Oasis in March.
Bob

 

Thanks for the compliments!

I'll probably hit spring Goodguys in March, and maybe the Pavilions occasionally. I am about 40 minutes north of downtown Phoenix and usually hit the smaller local shows and hangouts.

Yuma's a haul. Who knows. We'll see how this thing comes together. I hope to drive it a lot. Not just to shows.....

Joe

 

Stay in touch, I'd really like to see your car and I think so would everyone else that has followed your build thread. We know what you've done with this car. Others may only take it at face value if they don't know the TLC that went into it.
Bob

 

Should have some cool interior shots this week. They are almost done fabricating the door and kick panels so they should be covered in leather this week. Once all of the rear side panels are made they will re-cover the rear Toro seat. Probably a week away from getting it back?

Here's a picture of the cool headlights I got. Had to modify the buckets a bit but they fit nice now.

I think the black projectors will look right at home in my "dark" theme....

They are nice pieces (Dapper Lighting) and supposedly meet DOT requirements.

 

Some shots of the interior coming together. These guys did a great job, and it was fun working with them. Still need to put the console together and install the armrests but he's coming out to the house to finish it.

I also still have a brake issue. I thought I had everything figured out but when I tried to take the car for an extended drive, the master cylinder apparently was not returning all the way back & the front calipers eventually locked up.....

So if I got enough pedal stroke to get decent brakes, I had this issue. When I shorten pedal stroke to get full MC return, pedal is soft and basically goes to the floor.

I removed one front caliper line and capped it and the pedal is great (about half way down) so it looks like a volume issue. I must be right on the ragged edge with this setup I put together. So I bought a bigger diameter MC and also a larger booster. Been working with CPP techs.

We'll see what happens....

 

Seats....

 

Trunk.....

 

Love it

 

Amazing interior. It is going to be sweet once done.

 

Still plugging away. Lots of little details but it's getting done.

Test fit and wired up the headlights and turn signals. Gonna look pretty cool.

 

Great build and really cool details. Thanks for showing us.

Lot of hard work on your part and your shop choices.

Look forward to more of your progress.

 

Dropped off all of the chrome last week, but first I needed to modify the center grill bar to clear the front tilt hood. It had to be pushed back about 3 1/2", so I narrowed the bar by 2" and modified the shape of the stands to match the front of the bar.

I actually like the bar set back like this better than the factory locatation. I always thought they stuck out too far.

 

Shaped to fit with a section welded in.

Sorry if the pictures are sideways, sometimes they are fine sometimes they are not.....

 

Better look at where it ended up.

 

That thing is going to awesome when finished. Dave Kindig has nothing on you.
That is a bitch'n ride for sure. Your fab skills are fantastic. Looking forward to
your updates as you move forward with the build.

 

Big milestone (at least it was to me), drove the car to the gas station and back!

Drives really nice. The chassis feels great and the brakes are good to go.

No issues, leaks or strange noises. I took it easy but I did get it up to about 60mph and it tracks nice, no vibrations.....

Really happy with this thing at this point.

Hopefully have the chrome in a few weeks.

 

Oh, and I installed this E-STOPP electronic parking brake. This is an awesome product! I originally wanted to re-use the stock giant chrome lever under the dash, but put my new fuse block right where it would've exited the firewall....

 

Got the hood wet sanded and buffed, looks great. Also finally finished the console. Got the AC controls all hooked up and everything seems to be working properly.

This thing really is almost done......l

 

Console.

 

Very nice... that paint is amazing! If you don't mind saying, what's the console from?

 

Thanks!

Console started out as a Buick Lucerne piece. I cut it just past the shifter opening and lengthened it about 3" and changed the shape flaring it up to match the width of the tablet door (shortened OE glove box door). Made the front structure out of wood.

The top plate is the rear section and the curved area surrounding the ashtray fiberglassed all together over shaped blue foam.

 

Fleece covered and glassed

 

"Bodyworked" and wrapped to match door panel inserts.

 

I made the side panels from PVC foam and the upholstery shop covered them in leather for me.

 

I thought Buick, but I was thinking LaCrosse. Turned put really nice.... I was doing something similar with a Fusion console, but couldn't get the area I needed for my shifter due to the way the cup holders were setup. That Lucerne came out nice. I also have a Dodge Charger console in can experiment with.

 

Huh, maybe it was Lucerne.......