Its a block party

We have been putting some time in on the bug this week. It was primed a couple of weeks ago, so now is the perfect time to block it out and start sanding the final sanding. While doing so we did find a few places that needed a little more love. Cole jumped on those and fixed them up yesterday and was able to reprime them today. Since we had some warm weather we were working on it outside today.  We still have a bit to sand, but today was a good day. Another day like today on this little car and it will be ready for paint.

What a relief

Not that I was really expecting problems, its just a little nerve racking when you first hook the battery up to a car you just rewired. Luckily everything went very well. The ONLY problem we had was I wired up the headlight relay with two wires crossed. The stamps on those relays telling you what is what are mighty small and I mistook 56b for just 56. We tested every operation and they all work. Its a big relief. We also installed the door windows, the outer window scrapers and  the moldings. We also cleaned up the quarter glass moldings and chrome trim. We were on tap to install the quarter windows but Murphy and his laws showed up. One would think that if you purchased a “body rubber KIT” it would include everything you needed. Well, it doesn’t. So, we have a few more tid bits of rubber parts on order. Yesterday we bleed the braking system and checked for leaks this morning. All is well with that too. Tomorrow we will install the gas tank and if all goes well, maybe a short video of the first start up.

The heart is in

The engine is is! We received the parts we were waiting for yesterday to allow us to install the engine. There are two very important seals that go around the engine bay that help keep the engine cool. They must be installed before the engine goes in. We installed them, then checked over the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing before the install. Once the it was in, we made all of the necessary connections for the coil, generator and fuel lines. We installed the battery and the negative cable but didnt hook up power just yet. It was late in the day and I wanted to have plenty of time to make sure I have triple checked all of the connections. This is not where you want to rush things thats for sure.

WRX in effect

This Subaru was in a small bump up with a commercial vehicle. We will be replacing the right fender and fender molding. We will also fix a small scratch in the right door. First thing we did was remove the bumper and fender. Once the fender was trimmed out, we installed it onto the car. We then repaired the scratch in the door and primed it. Next was to put it into the paint booth. WE masked off what didn’t get painted and Paul did his magic. Tomorrow we plan on putting it all back together and ready to home.

Almost paint day

The prep on the Ghia is coming along very well. The car has been fully block sanded and most of the outside has had its final sand. We do have a little more sanding to do in the trunk and engine compartment before we are ready to pull the trigger. We only have a coulple of small areas to reprime and a couple more hours of final sanding before paint hopefully on Friday.

Back together

 I know. We have been gone for a while. We have been slammed with work over the past 8 weeks or so and its been a quite a few late nights and here at the shop and writing posts just hasn’t been top priority. We did find a couple of guys to work part time hours for us and are really thankful for them. They have helped us out tremendously. We reached a pretty big milestone with the Ghia this week. As you can see its back on all fours. But lets back up a bit to see what all as been done. We ordered a narrowed and adjustable front beam for this Ghia. The owner wanted it to sit lower than factory and an adjustable beam is the best way to get it there. The reason its narrowed too is because when you lower them, the tires sometimes rub on the fender wells.  You narrow it to move the wheels in some to allow for some clearance there. This also opens up more options for different wheels and tires if she desires. We also replaced the tie rods, tie rod ends, new leaf springs, new steering damper, sway bar and master cylinder. We also installed the newly rebuilt pedal assembly along with a new clutch cable and throttle cable. While we were at it, we also replaced the heater box cables. On the dash, we did away with a few holes that will be no longer needed and added one for the Bluetooth microphone. We also had to clean up the radio hole a bit. It was cut a little too large the first time, so we added some metal and reshaped it for a nice fit. While working on the dash we also added a lighted accessory plug to charge cell phones or plug in a GPS. A new pan gasket between the body and pan is held into place with all new body bolts.  Our agenda holds this car getting primer on Friday or at least by the first of the week if Murphy shows up with that law of his.

Ghia trim out time

Today was trim out day for the Ghia We had these panels ready for paint for a little while now but just havent had a chance to get the sprayed. Today that happened. We spent the morning prepping them and this afternoon we were able to get them into the booth and painted. The owner picked this very classy looking Nissan color which I think will look very nice. She has also decided to lower the front end just a bit which I think is a great idea. We have all of those parts on order and they should arrive in a few days. Once those are here we will rebuild the front end . We still have a little custom work to do to the dash then the body will be ready for primer. We will need to mate the body back to the chassis before we prime it but after the front end is built. Enjoy these painted parts in the meantime.

Quiet Ride it

 The ’67 Beetle has been on the road to recovery this week. It received sound deadening material yesterday to ensure a quiet ride and 1 of 2 last minute rust repair procedures. The bottoms of the B-posts are rusted and it has very thin metal and holes on each side. Here you can see Chris welding in the patch panel on the left side. The right is just a little bit worse off that this side, but still plenty fixable. Once these are on, we will POR 15 the inner parts to prolong the metal thats inside there. This area will get body worked out next week as well as welding in the other side.

Primed cab

Here are the finished pictures from yesterdays post on priming the cab. Once this sets up for a few days, we will start blocking it out to ensure super smooth and flat panels then a final prime. Then we will be ready for paint.

Ford truck update

Great progress was made today on the hood for the ’52 Ford. The slick sand was blocked out with 80 grit paper followed by smoothing those scratches out with 180 grit paper. Once those blocking steps were complete, Chris took over and worked the bottom side of the hood. Since the bottom of the hood will be painted as nice as the top, we spent some time today making sure the body work on the bottom side looks nice as well. Tomorrow we hope to spray the final coats of primer and block it all out one final time before painting.