Rear end assembly

The first parts back on the frame was the rear end. I had the rear end rebuilt proir to painting.

Brake and fuel lines

All new stainless steel fuel and brake lines from Fine Lines in Ohio were next.

Steering assembly

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The power steeling components were rebuilt at Rhode Restorations here in Ohio. Please note that the steering box was repainted gray. Black was not the right color.

Meanwhile back at Finishing Edge

Mike and the guys mounted the body to a rotisserie. This required bracing up the door openings. We were now able to continue cleaning all the crud off the bottom. I was able to do the majority of the cleaning myself. My friend Joe Bacik contributed a few Saturdays. Mike also started the repairs to the sheet metal. I also finished removing all the trim.

Progress on the chassis

Joe and I continued to assemble the chassis. The front suspension went on next followed by the engine and transmission. The engine was rebuilt by C & M machine in Ohio. My friend Kevin Clinton at Wiseco Piston in Mentor made a custom set of pistons for me. I had the transmission looked at and it only needed new gaskets. Mike came to my shop to paint the engine. The valve covers on the engine are temporary.

We now had a complete rolling chassis.

We are also a little over a year into the project!

Paint removal and blasting the bottom

The doors, the fenders and the trunk lid went to media blasting. They were blasted with a plastic media that minimizes warping. On the rest of the body paint we used a chemical stripper. Somewhere along the line I got the brilliant idea to sand blast the bottom of the car and the trunk. I used a granite media that did a great job. Special thanks to Joe Bacik and Shaun and Mike Kichka for all their help with this nasty job. I am very glad we added this step. It improved the end result. You can see in the pictures where the lower rear quarter panel was patched. This repair was old and brazed in place. All we did was camouflage it to restore the bottom stamping lines. Most of the underneath was very solid.

Seat belts and seam sealer

I have six grand kids that I hope will ride in this car. For that to happen I will need rear seat belts. The front seats came with seat belt mounts but not the back. I made some reinforcement plates for the rear seat belts and welded them in place.

Mike and I spent a day reapplying the seam sealer to the underside, the firewall and the cockpit. I was on the caulking gun and Mike was brushing it to make it look factory original.