1969 Chevelle body repairs

[kb426]

My memory is really poor about some things. Did any of the 60's cars have good gaps when new? I know after they were driven that things moved around but I must have been intoxicated with showroom smell because I don't have much memory about this.

[idrivejunk]

60s stuff was no longer late model by the time I cared about cars, but as a teen and young man driving well worn A-bodies, I can say yes it was a hoot seeing just how much the whole front clip moved when going over railroad tracks.  And no, I can't say I've ever seen a Chevelle with such a tight fit but am glad to be able to offer it to a caring customer. This gent has plenty of buddies with redone cars and does plan to show this one locally. I caught that he may be catching some flak from his buds over taking it to "a resto shop" rather than a regular body shop, but that crummy gaps are something he has seen enough of and don't want. So this was a matter of addressing a key concern of the hero with the dollars and his car won't need excuses. I hope it goes back together easy for him with these same gaps or better. Pleasing a wise customer feels extra good, now if we can just follow through everything is groovy.

[idrivejunk]

Everything is still groovy as far as I know. The Chevelle guy is coming by tomorrow but before his visit I am to take the car back apart gently. So thats first thing. I don't know if we will see her in one piece again for quite a spell. Not sure on that so I took a pic. Our guy did nicely with the fill work at the door gaps, and also has the hood primed and blocked after having smoothed welds and trimmed edges in the jamb and so forth. Looks tight. The only thing I thought was wierd was nobody else wanted to mud the header a little to meet the hood better at those front contours. Probably just outta budget. We did mud across the front edge of the hood because the stamping wasn't as crisp as was desired. Should look great with the hood up.

[idrivejunk]

All systems go. Should be black next week sometime. Not sure how the paint vs assembly vs stripe masking will go, but theres an update for ya. I took it off the frame Thursday morning whilst checking for and correcting shifter clearance for reverse. The chassis gets nearly nothing paint-wise (maybe fresh black ahead of the firewall) and the underbody will probably just get a minimal treatment like rubberized undercoating.

[idrivejunk]

Theres no black stuff to show yet    but there has been activity around the Chevelle this week. As it sits now, it appears to be ready or nearly ready for the underside to be shot. Weld grinding, epoxy, and seam sealer have all been done down there so the ball is definitely rolling toward shiny time. Sorry no pics but its been a week where I had to concentrate a lot and didn't stop to smell the roses much.  

[idrivejunk]

Our hero came in today and we jawed fer a spell on all things Chevelle. Mainly he spun us a wayback yarn about riding in a Pontiac that got outrunt by a trigger happy drunk in a Chevy. I came back with true lies about being shot at in a a couple Chevys by Ford guys. In the midst of all the bench racin' gunsmoke, I thought of you un's and stuck my head under the car for more seam sealer glory and junk. Don't bump yer dome on a lift arm now  



















Speaking of Gunsmoke, did any of you listen to the "the Six Shooter" radio show? Jimmy Stewart... I've been enjoying them on the web when I need to relax.

[idrivejunk]

Chevelle is back on a rotisserie and the painter has it in the booth. I predict pretty pictures for the weekend... maybe.  

[idrivejunk]

Glad I threw in the maybe  

Here we are after Lizard Skin both kinds inside, rocker panel spray underneath, and what you see on bottom is epoxy about ready to be topcoated with single stage satin black, same as firewall, dash, core support and wheelwells.

[idrivejunk]

They want to give it a few days before taping on the new stuff. So its still grey.  

[idrivejunk]

We'll have to settle for some shiny parts with one coat of clear and a couple days worth of dust.

[idrivejunk]

Painter has her in the booth, with reversed masking. Still fussing over it. Stripe color has gone from dark red to charcoal. But the chassis showed up today and man-O-man it is a beauty    Looks like a plastic model.

[idrivejunk]

Glad I snapped these pics early today. Right now its all been sanded with 1000 grit and is ready to set down on that spiffy chassis so we can hang parts and stripe it. These pics are with a single coat of clear. Looks like the guys did OK on bodywork.  

[kb426]

Will there be more clear applied after sanding?

[idrivejunk]

Absolutely, yes. I meant to say that.  :oops:  2 or maybe 3 coats. I don't know if they plan to clear over the stripe and sand again then clear the whole car (for a flat edge), or if they will apply a normal amount over the whole car then just block the edge as flat as possible (for a detectable but not too noticeable edge).

[chimp koose]

Not only does the car look great , but this post is just 5 months from when the first post was .Pretty impressive turn around time on a body off from rust repair to black paint ! No wonder you guys get a lot of work .