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1/10/99 We worked on the engine a bit this weekend. The freeze plug that popped out was under the motor mount, so we had to remove the motor mount and power steering pump bracket to get at it. We cleaned it out and re-installed it with a pry bar. Everything went smoothly. I put the correct mix of anti-freeze and water in and we ran it for about 15 minutes and everything looked great. I checked the oil and there was not any water in it. I will do a compression check on it at a later date to make sure that's ok. I am hoping to start on the body work in the next week or two. I have enough money saved for all of the materials. I have to order the trunk floor and maybe a small quarter patch panel. 1/17/99 We got started on the car this weekend. 4 of us went to it with paint stipper and got most of the paint off. The hood is completely clean now. It looks like someone closed the hood while leaving a socket wrench on the air cleaner, so there are a couple small dents there on the hood. There is some shallow bondo spots on the drivers side front fender and door. I will go back this week and remove more of the trim and the bumpers, grill, tail lights, and whatever else I can. Dad starting to scrape off the paint with stripper 1/19/99 Worked on the car a bit more tonight. Removed the rear bumper and taillights. Removed the windshield trim. Dad did some more sanding. done some sanding also 1/20/99 Tonight I removed the front bumper, grill and nose piece above it, headlights, window fuzzies and the trim around the convertible top well. 1/23/99 Today we took the front end completely apart. Next weekend I will pressure wash the front end to clean it up before I disassemble it further. I ordered a basic front end rebuild kit that includes ball joints and A-arm bushings. I also ordered poly subframe bushings and the heater core and seal kit. I might as well do all of this while the fenders are off. I need to order a couple of patch panels this week. One is for the lower rear of the front left fender and one is for the lower front part of the rear quarter. I also got my pictures developed this weekend, so I will scan a couple of those and throw them on here. removing the fenders Right front view with fenders off Left front view with fenders off 2/1/99 I pressure washed the front end this weekend, trying to get some of the grease off to make cleaning easier. I got the trunk floor and front end parts today. Now I can work on the suspesion this weekend. I also ordered a couple of patch panels for the left side. Should have those by the weekend too. Pressure washing front 2/3/99 The right door and right rear fender are mostly smoothed out and primered. I started dis-assembling the front end too. We decided we are only a couple of bolts away from removing the engine/trans, so we are going to locate a hoist and do that. What the heck, huh? I ordered some more front end parts that did not come in the kit I bought, might as well replace absolutely everything up there while it is apart. Should be able to get the a-arms off this weekend and strip and paint them. 2/6/99 I took apart the front suspension while my dad worked on the tail of the car. I got the A-arms off and cleaned up. My dad took them to a machine shop to have the new bushings pressed in, and they said they would go ahead and dip them to clean them up. DOH! That was 2 hours wasted with a hand drill and wire wheel cleaning them. Oh well, they will be in nice shape and ready for paint when I get them back on Wednesday. We should have the engine hoist by this weekend, so that will come out and the subframe will come out and I will start thrashing on that. 2/14/99 We got the engine out and the subframe off this weekend. I also removed everything from the firewall and the steering column is out. For the most part, all of the disassembly is finished and we will be cleaning, painting, and re-assembling from here on out. engine comes out next disassembling subframe 2/16/99 Tonight I pulled the seats out and everything that is under the dash. I pulled the wiring because I need to replace the fuse box. The heater box is really rusty, so that will require a lot of attention. There is also a lot of surface rust under the dash. All that will get taken care of and painted when the car gets painted. 2/22/99 Nothing happened this weekend really. Between a nasty sore throat and my truck getting new ball joints and shocks, I didn't have time. I am just waiting to get some paint now to paint the frame and suspension parts, then I can assemble them. I little cleaning and painting or the firewall and underneath the body and the subframe gets bolted back in. 3/1/99 I got the paint for the subframe last week. Dad painted it this weekend and says it looks great. I haven't been able to work on the car because of this nasty flu bug going around. I did take my dash wiring harness into Evergreen Musclecar on Friday and they will send it out and have it reconditioned. It is less expensive than buying a new one and should be just as reliable. I was told that they replace the entire length of any wire that is damage or broken, replace all the connectors in the fuse box, but re-use the actual plactic box part. The plug for the ignition switch had been hacked off and replaced with a different one, so that will get repaired too. My automatic trans shifter is missing the bushings for the pivot, so it is real sloppy loose. apparently nobody makes replacements for that, so I went to the hardware store and found a copper bushing that will fit in there and then I can drill it out to the correct size and that should solve that issue. I also ordered a power brake booster today. I will finally get to stop by tonight and see the subframe and the other things that Dad painted over the weekend. I just need to clean and paint a little under the body and we can mount the subframe back in and start assembling the suspension components. The engine will be next. 3/6/99 We worked on the brake backing plates today. Dis-assembled the brakes and bead blasted the backing plates and spindles. We just have to paint these up and then we can assemble the front end and get it rolling again. Dad smoothed out the firewall and painted it. It looks SWEET! Very smooth. I am still waiting for the power brake booster to arrive. 3/15/99 A lot happened this weekend. Dad got the brake backing plates painted and a few other things. We cleaned the engine really good and painted it with a medium blue metal flake paint. It looks totally cool! I removed the oil pan and timing cover and have new gaskets for them. I also replaced the timing set, it was a little loose. I have an aluminum intake manifold and chrome rocker arm covers to put on it. I painted all of the pulleys and engine brackets and mounts black. On Sunday, I cleaned up underneath the body where the frame mounts and painted it. We then installed the subframe using the new urethane bushings. I then installed the A-arms and motor mount brackets and painted a few more parts. This is getting exciting now because things are going together quickly. This week we should be able to get the engine back together and get it installed. I recieved the power brake booster on Thursday also. 3/20/99 We got the new springs installed this weekend. I rented a spring compressor and they went in very nice. The hardest part was getting the spring compressor parts out of the spring once we had everything tightened up. I also installed the sway bar. I need to return the wheel cylinder rebuild kits and get wheel cylinders, they are shot. I got some aluminum color paint for the steering box, but when I sprayed it on the box, found that was a little too bright. I will get some medium gray or flat black and paint it this week and then it can be installed. Dad is going to repair a piece of the console automatic shifter that is broken, then I should be able to install the shifter and the engine/transmission can go in maybe by the end of the week or this weekend. I found out that the neutral safety switch that I bought a couple of months ago was the wrong one, so I picked one up locally at Evergreen Musclecar. We also installed the aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold and put in all of the new gaskets for the oil pan, timing cover, etc. The chrome valve covers that were in the trunk of the car when I bought it cleaned up ok, but they are scratched up. They look fine for now, but once the car is on the road and completed, I will replace them. I need a thermostat and housing, Trans dipstick and tube, and a couple of other odds and ends I will pick up on Monday. 3/24/99 I bolted on the steering box and center link. I continued scraping the grease from underneath the body and in the trans tunnel. That sucks! If I can just do it a little everytime I go out and work on the car, it will get done fairly quickly. Once it's clean, I will just spraypaint it black and that will be good enough. I ordered a bunch of parts today including new front light harness, engine harness and a few other brackets that I need for the engine. The chrome goodies I put on the engine look really nice. 3/29/99 I have new pictures, I just have to get around to scanning a couple. This weekend I spent quite a bit of time under the dash sanding the rust. I got a lot of it removed and used some of that stuff that says it turns rust into primer. I should be able to paint under there Monday and then start assembling things. I can install the bracket that the brake pedal mounts to and the steering column bolts to it also. The brake master cylinder also mounts to that, as it has studs that go through the firewall. We got the front brake assembled, and I scraped and painted the drums. Dad installed the exhaust manifolds and a few other things on the engine. I started working on the heater core box. The half of it that goes inside the car is just total rust and is requiring quite a bit of cleaning. I have a new heater core and all of the seals for the heater box. I can't install it though until I receive the firewall pad. I also got a replacement alternator and the inner tie rod ends. I replaced both the inner and outer tie rod ends and painted them. They are ready to bolt on now. 3/30/99 Here are the latest pics! The dash before I start sanding on it assembling the subframe The engine painted and assembled |
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