Ugh

I just realized how neglectful I've been with the blog, and this car project in general.

The winter/holiday season is always a little rough, and I've made ZERO progress on the car.  The RH quarter is off, and I still need to clean up the area and prep for installation of the new quarter.  Last winter I got a few days to get in the garage and do some work, but this winter I've been pretty lazy.

So, thanks to anyone still looking at this.  I will have updates.  My hope is still to have the quarter done, and start on the roof (or finish both) before the winter's out.  I'd really like to start re-assembling the car this summer.

I have the feeling that re-assembly will go fairly quickly--depending on how my finances hold up.  This year is looking pretty grim all-around.  We got fair increases at work, but income taxes are up, property taxes went way up, and I'm certain that everything is about to get a lot more expensive for all of us.  We'll see how tax returns go, but I'm guessing those will be a lot thinner as well. At the risk of offending you all, I gotta say I sure hope the people who re-elected Barry the Magic Negro are happy.  You got what you asked for.

Thankfully, most of the work on my car can be accomplished with a little hard work.  I hope the major expenses will be limited to the engine, front brakes, and suspension.  I won't worry about the interior until I have all the mechanical stuff settled.

RH Quarter

Started cutting out the right hand (passenger) side quarter panel.  Cutting the spot welds was pretty uneventful, and I've just about got the skin off.  I don't know how you could ever get one off clean, because there are a couple of spots you simply cannot get a drill into to cut those welds.

I find myself wondering if anyone out there could use these quarters.  Probably not, since they all seem to rot in the same places.  But I have seen some custom builders pushing out the rear wheel wells to make the rear end of the car wider--which is actually a pretty cool look, but nothing I'm interested in.

I may post them on the local classifieds, see if there are any takers.

Progress is still painfully slow.  Bodywork just isn't my strength, I guess.  I'm more of a disassembly guy (LOL).

Stalled

Work on the car has stalled out.  I got started drilling out the spot welds on the RH quarter panel last weekend, but didn't get far enough to remove the panel.

It's just been difficult to commit time to the project.  This quarter panel should go much faster than the other one, but I gotta get motivated and get moving again.  Sure would be nice to start re-assembling the car this spring. . .

LH Quarter done!

The left hand quarter panel is welded on solid, and lucky me, when I undid all the clamps and screws, everything stayed exactly where it belonged.  Door seems to line up well, as do the window channels.

I still have to fill in the screw holes and grind down the welds, but at least that bastard is on finally.

I have to clean out the garage, and reposition everything for the other quarter (which I still haven't ordered)...  The RH job will essentially be identical to the LH job.  I'll be replacing the outer wheel well, trunk drop and quarter panel.  I expect this side to go much faster.

I'm done making predictions, but every little bit of progress gives me more optimism about having this car done in another year or so.

No pictures this time.  There's really nothing new to see.

More quarter panel progress

Have not had time to work on the car for several weeks.  Let's just say I've found a new friend who is not a car, and we've been spending some quality time together.

So today had to be Camaro day.  Got a lot of work left to do, and I sure would like to have some kind of rolling chassis by springtime next year.  Oh well, it may or may not happen.  It's not like I'm on a schedule.

Today I simply worked some more on lining up the panel, closing the gaps, etc. . .  The major part of that was stripping the glass, regulator and latching hardware out of the driver's side door, and mounting it back up to the car.

 Then it's a matter of minor adjustments to the quarter to make it line up just so with the door.  You have to watch the gap between quarter and door, the gap along the bottom of the door, and how the top of the door lines up with the top of that section of the quarter.  It actually fits pretty well, but there were a few spots that need some work.  Nothing drastic, though.

Lines up pretty well.

The next problem spot is the rear quarter where it meets up with the section holding the brake lights.  There was a significant gap here, but it all pulled together nice, with the help of a couple ratchet tie-down straps.

The other problem areas are going to be the window channel, and a nasty gap by the trunk header panel.  Very doable, though.

Also, the door is held in with another strap.  So far, so good.  Once I have it fitted, I'll take it all back apart, seal up my seams, then re-fit and weld the panel permanently.  I'm liking how it's starting to look with the new metal.

More to come later!

Broken Record

. . .As in, I'm starting to sound like one.

Progress on the Camaro is minimal.  I did start over again fitting the quarter panel, using the front of the wheel well/back of the rocker as a reference point.  Should be much closer.  I do need to pull the door out of the basement and use it for fitting before I get any further.

On a side note, two new projects have raised their heads.  Behold:



Lynn--who, for all intents and purposes, has been my dad since I was something like 7 years old--started doing some work on his two 1965 Chevy C10 pickups.  The blue (or green) one was his dads, and the red one he bought brand-spanking new back in the good ol' days.  Both trucks need a bunch of work, but they're really solid, and much better than they ought to be having been out in the weather for so long.

He started the blue truck right up.  The red one should as well, but we're going to swap out the old points with an Eastwood HEI unit, then give it a try.  We're not sure what the motor in the blue truck is, but the red on has a 283.  The blue is most likely a 283 as well, but could also be a 265.  It's nearly impossible for me to tell.  One of these days we'll scrape down to the casting numbers and find out.

Plans are to build stake beds for the trucks, which should be pretty straightforward, and far less expensive than trying to restore the old beds.

So, we're all ass-deep in old Chevys.  Which could be worse.  We could be ass-deep in MOPARs, and then the only thing we could do is politely shoot ourselves and call it a day.

Slowing down

Things have really slowed down with the car.  Between work and life, I haven't had much time to devote to the Camaro.  Sad, but true.

I have begun fitting the quarter panel, and am busy clamping and screwing in the quarter around the wheel well first.  Everything seems to be matching up fairly well, but it's not exactly plug-and-play.

Pictures to follow soon.  I'm hoping to have this quarter done in the next week or two, so I can start on the other side.  Sure would be nice to begin fitting the roof before snow falls. . .