Dashing

We have been plugging right along on the ’57 in between the FJ and the collision work this week. Paul painted a whole slew of brackets and the radiator support. Jordan was busy disassembling the dash, tagging and bagging all of the parts that go behind it. For an old car, this thing is really pretty complicated. Lots of time was taken to make sure nothing gets broken, bent or lost. I believe that we have done a pretty decent job with that but it does take extra time. Hopefully all the documentation will make it somewhat easier when it comes time to put it all back together. There are cables, brackets, wires, levers, pulleys and all sorts of other things behind that dash. I did some finishing work on the fenders that Jordan started on last week. Those should be ready for the first round of primer next week.

Its a block party

This week we started blocking out the doors on the FJ. While working on one of the doors we found a previous rust repair that was in need of attention so we are in the process of getting that fixed up. In the mean time, Paul and Cole dedicated some time to getting the body a little closer to priming. We pulled the old seam sealer out of the drip rails where it had gotten bad over the years and was letting water seep down to the metal. We will treat all those areas and apply new seam sealer before priming. Its doesnt really improve the looks of the job, but it will hopefully extend the life of the drip rails. Thats what Cole is doing in the picture with drill. A wire brush on a drill works really well at that when good old fashioned elbow grease is used. So, finding these things did set us back from priming today but hopefully next week will go smoother.

Little body work, little painting

We have been keeping the progress moving on the ’57 over the past week. We have got a good jump on the body work for the fenders as well as painting the fresh air tubes.  These parts were sprayed with epoxy a couple of weeks ago and have been sanded back down, sealed and sprayed with an egg shell urethane paint. These parts are now ready to be stored until they go back on the car. The fenders have a few dents from over the years that have to be repaired before paint. Here you can see that has begun. We will continue to work the fenders until all the dents are out. Once that is achieved, the will be primed again with a urethane primer. We may do this several times to be sure we are able to block out any waves or slight imperfections in the metal. This will ensure a completely flat, straight panel for the best possible paint job.

Priming the doors

Last week the guys put the finishing touches on the doors to the FJ. The bodywork is all wrapped up on them and Paul has sprayed the last few coats on primer on them before the final blocking for paint. We hope to be getting the body in its final primer this week which should wrap up the body work on the FJ. It will then be turned over the paint shop for its prep for paint.

Deconstruction continues

Yesterday Jordan spent a good portion of the day breaking down the doors. Today, he has been at it pretty steady all day. The doors are both completely apart and removed, the trunk is off and apart, the hood moldings have been removed as well, as a few more interior molding parts. The time consuming part of all this is bagging and tagging all of the parts and their bolts to make reassembly much easier. And buddy I’ll tell ya, their are a lot little parts. We have tubs that we use to store parts in so that things remain in one spot for safe keeping. Inside the tubs are bags with screws, bolts and clips labeled where they came from as well as the tons of bright work from the same panels. Hopefully tomorrow these newly disassembled parts will be going to the blaster.

Another Ghia back on the road

Here we have the finished product!  After a good long while in the shop, this Ghia is headed home today. I know the owner is happy to have her car back. Im not sure what wheels are planned for this beauty, but I will post pictures of it when she gets them on.