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Project 48 build thread


falconvan

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I'm off work all week and man does that feel good. I think I'm going to start scouting around for a different job; I thought I'd really like a higher level of management but it has been nothing but constant aggravation. I just cant get away from it; long hours plus constant calls and emails when I'm not there. The money was nice at the beginning but It's just not worth it so hopefully I can find a way out.

I got to spend a few hours working on the car the last few days. Lots of prep work underneath but nothing that really shows on a picture. I had a few spots in the floor that had some small pinholes so I mixed up some All-Metal filler and took care of those. I got the door hinges out which was an adventure all in itself. Those big #3 Phillips screws figured they had been there since 1948 so they were staying. It took about 3 hours to get 16 screws out. I saved this brake petal assembly from a 96 Firebird we scrapped and I think it's going to work fine once I trimmed off the unnecessary pieces. I did a little trial fit with the dash and front seat; it might have to come down a few inches but I think it'll work.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My friend Kyle has been putting some time in on this and it's nice to have the help. He's been finishing up some metal repair and is getting ready to start at one corner of the car and work his way around smoothing everything. I've been painting some POR-15 in all the hidden cavities and the trunk floor to try and make sure the rust stays gone once we're done. It's moving along pretty good; as soon as we've got the main body finished and primered, I'll move to setting the drive train, and setting up the steering.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We've steadily been working on this a few nights the last couple of weeks. I've got the rustproofing paint pretty much done on the interior and will be starting underneath soon. Kyle's starting to go back over the patched areas and smooth them out. Still a ways to go but moving along.

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You think you're getting pretty decent at body work until you sit and watch someone that does it for a living. Man, I got a lot to learn. I've got him putting about six hours a week into this; that's about all I can afford but he's making much better progress than I was. I'm doing the grunt work; lots of sanding, stripping and patching and Kyle's doing the finish work. I'm optimistically hoping we'll have the body work wrapped up by mid summer. It's good to be excited about working on this car again.

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OK, while Kyle's smoothing the wrinkles I decided to start figuring out how to make this 64 T-bird rear seat work. I always thought the wrap around rear seat was cool so when I saw one in the bone yard last year, I jumped on it. It's about 4" too wide and after a lot of staring and thinking, it made the most sense to narrow it in the middle. I'm going to figure out the back section first and then move to the seat. Here we are cutting up and narrowing the package tray.

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Thanks guys. Not much to report this week; it's been a busy one for me so I havent been out to the garage. But my body man has been plugging away for a few nights so it's nice to know something is getting done.

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Here we are starting to float out the quarter panel; defiantly a few high spots to work over. I'm not totally sold on using this door, that's why I stopped stripping it for now. Once we get the main body done I might look for a better candidate; it's got some rust damage near the bottom. They do make a lower door skin, too.

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We hung the other door so we can start fitting it and making sure everything lines up good. In the meantime I went back to work on the package tray, making a filler piece and finishing up the mounting brackets for it. I like it; I think it'll add a nice touch.

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Falconvan; Still here following your thread; things are really coming along, looking great!! I continue to be envious of your welding skills. Want to stop by and visit and see the work "up close and real" as soon as the weather warms !!! Cass, alias, Littlemo ...:rolleyes:

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Thanks guys; I'm glad you like it. After measuring the armrest I'm thinking more along the lines of just a padded or painted filler panel now. It would be really narrow and not of much use as an armrest. But I'm still tossing ideas around. LittleMo, just let me know when you're up this way and I'd be happy to give you the tour.

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Falconvan

Just found your thread today and read all the way through it. Have you finished the Fatman rack mount yet? I would really appreciate some good photos of it if you have some. Keep up the good work!

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No, but it shouldn't be too far off. We're shooting to have the main body all in primer by the middle of March. Once that's done I'm going to set up the drivetrain and steering and drop the body back on temporarily to get everything roughed in before we blow it back apart for paint. I'll make sure I get some good pics and document the steering install in case anyone else wants to give it a shot.

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I took the seat base today; sliced it in two and pulled four inches out of the middle. It looks like it will fit pretty good but I need to do some reinforcing and add a piece at the bottom front to make it tall enough. I've got it sitting on a piece of unistrut and that looks like just about the right height. Also I stripped the dash; the back of it had a lot of surface rust so I sanded that and coated with POR 15.

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