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10/9/2000 Still have not touched the car. It will not get painted this year since the weather will be too cold by the time we are ready. We are hoping to get the jambs painted and the doors and fenders on and then move it to my house for the winter. 10/17/2000 Dad has the week off of work and is working on the car. He is working on the rear quarters right now. I went over last night and the right rear quarter is done and primed in blue. He painted the right side door jamb, the right side rocker, around the trunk opening and the tail lights. He is working finishing a couple of spots on the left side today and then will cut in the jambs and edges and the body will be ready for paint. Once the body is done, he is going to go over the front fenders and the doors and everything else once more and paint the edges and then we will be ready to assemble. 10/23/2000 Both door jambs are painted now. Dad also painted the edges of the driver side door, passenger side fender, header panel, lower valence, cowl panel, and spoiler. This week he will paint the edges of the passenger door and re-paint the bottom of the trunk lid. There are a couple of spots he needs to work on the drivers side fender before he can spray it. We should be able to bolt on the doors and a fender, maybe both by this weekend. 10/26/2000 Installed the doors last night. The passenger side door went on and lined up great, but we took it back off since we have not painted the edges of it yet. We installed the drivers side door and found a problem. We have not had it on the car since dad replaced a patch on the quarter panel right behind the door. Well, the body line down the middle of the door does not line up with the quarter. We should be able to fix this with a little work. The gap and the back of the door to the quarter is also less at the bottom where the patch is, so that will be fixed at the same time. 11/13/2000 Dad painted the bottom of the trunk lid and installed it on the car. He also painted the jambs on the passenger door and that is ready to install. The only thing left is the driver side front fender and the driver side rear quarter where we have to make some adjustment to the body line. 11/20/2000 We put the fenders on this weekend drove the car to my house for the winter. We had to install the passenger door and I installed the inner fenders to the outer fenders and then put that unit on the car. There is some tweaking that will still have to be done in the spring before we paint it. We will have to remove the driver side fender and paint the edges still. The hood and trunk lid are on also, but the latches were not installed. When I started the car, the idle was very high. We messed around with it for a while timing it and trying to adjust the idle on the carb, then found that the throttle linkage was hitting the valve cover and keeping it from closing completely. I adjusted that and then we re-timed it and it runs great. I had to add 3 quarts of ATF because enough leaked out the tailshaft when we removed the engine that the car would not move. I will tinker with the car a little bit over the winter in my garage, but not a lot I can do until it is painted. 11/27/2000 I got some more pictures back. This is what the car will look like through the winter. The car is at my house now The engine compartment The color is on the door jambs 1/8/2001 Finally worked on the car a little this weekend. I am trying to get the trunk lid to fit correctly. This is the same lid that we took off the car, so I don't understand why it does not seem to fit right. I wired the electric choke and started the car and ran it a few minutes to make sure it worked. :-D Dad came over and helped me removed the hood so could pull the brake booster out some and remove a seal I had put on the end where the shaft goes into the firewall. I learned that seal is not supposed to be there because the booster pulls air in there. The power brakes seem to work better, though I have not tried driving it yet because of the amount of loose bolts on the car since we have not fully assembled it yet. 6/20/2001 Well, it has been a while. The weather is now warm enough, but so many other things happening. I am re-doing the roof on my house this week, and then hope to get my dad to help finish the bodywork and get the paint done. I got the car to his house to make room for the roofing materials. Kinda funny, we did not put much gas in it to bring it to my house initially, so when I went to drive it to his house, I made it about 150 yards from my driveway and then ran out. :-) 7/23/2001 Dad's been working on the driver side fender. It is done and he just needs to cut in the paint on the edges and we will install back on the car for the last time. Then there is one more spot to work on the left rear quarter and we will be down to the final priming and blocking before paint. We are finished doing the major stuff to my house so I will be able to focus on the car now. 8/27/2001 My dad is done with the driver side fender and we installed it for the final time last night and lined it up. We had to re-adjust the door just a bit and it looks really good. We also installed the hood and lined it up. Tonight I will get the header, valence, and fender extensions installed. 8/28/2001 Dad installed the header panel, lower valence and fender extensions during the day yesterday. The gaps at the front of the hood were crooked, so I cross measured and found the front end slightly mis-aligned. We loosened all of the bolts and shoved the front end over and tightened it up. The front end is perfectly square now. From the front on the hoist From the front From the back 10/22/2001 I bought a 10 bolt posi rearend this weekend for $100. Woohoo!! That has been something fairly high on my list that I wanted to get before I cleaned up the stock rearend. I will clean it up nice and install it with new springs and bushings this winter. 11/22/2001 We moved the car back to my house for the winter since we can't paint it in the cold. I will be working on cleaning up the new rearend and get new springs and all that to finish up the rear under the car. 1/10/2002 I ordered new springs from Hotchkis and received them the other day. I bought the 2" drop front springs and 1.5" drop three leaf rear springs. I installed the front springs last night and it looks great! There are pictures below of the new look. I had the posi rearend sandblasted and my dad painted it and is changing the seals in it. Then I will remove the old rearend and springs and clean the underbody and install all new parts. I also bought a stock radio to fit into the dash. I have not intention of making it work since I plan to hide a new CD player under the console. new and old springs side by side Front shot of car with new springs High shot of car in garage after new springs side shot of car with new springs 1/20/2002 I pulled out the rearend and springs this weekend. I only had 2 of the bolts that hold the front spring mount to cut off. I will spend the week cleaning the underbody and spray it black then I will be able to put it back together with my new posi rearend and Hotchkis springs. The old rear and springs are out Where the rear axle was 3/15/2002 I have not really done much with the car lately. I have it up higher on jackstands now and will remove the exhaust so I can easily clean the underside of the car and spray some paint on it. 4/9/2002 I have continued to clean the underside of the car for the past few weeks. I have the wheelwells cleaned up and a couple of feet forward of that. Dad took the posi rearend home again and took it apart and cleaned the inside. We had it sandblasted and there was still some grit left inside. He put in new axle bearings and seals and refilled with fluid. It is also painted gloss black along with some of the brackets. Next I will put some black primer on the bottom of the car and then re-install the rearend. We have been talking about having a friend of my dad's paint the car. He owns a bodyshop and they have painted this color before and it is a bit tricky. They had to talk to the paint rep and learn some things to get it right, but now they have painted a couple of cars and can do it right the first time. It will cost a bit more, but I think it will be worth it. 4/29/2002 I finally got the bottom of the car cleaned and I painted it Sunday. I started installing the springs and got the rearend up tonight. I included a pic of it below. I still need to tighten all of the bolts then get the brakes hooked up and the driveshaft painted and re-installed. Then it will be on to my dad's house for a final priming and blocking and then to get painted. The rearend cleaned and installed 5/14/2002 The rearend is in and all tightened down. I installed U-bolts over the axle and the original mono-leaf shock plates. I bled the brakes tonight, so that is done now. I also painted the driveshaft and will install that later this week. I am planning on painting the gas tank flat black also, since it is pretty cruddy looking. I also installed the hood latch a couple of weeks ago and that is all adjusted. 5/19/2002 During the week I bled the rear brakes. I also painted the driveshaft. On Saturday, I installed the driveshaft and put the car back on the ground. I tightened up the rear springs and installed the gas tank. I started the car and it runs good, then ran the car back and forth to test the brakes. I will drive it up the street to my dad's this week so we can finish the body and get to the paint. 7/7/2002 Drove the car to mom and dad's house finally on Wednesday! It's running a little rough, but it hasn't done much more than idle a couple of times for 6 months or more. This is the first drive since I replaced the front springs and rear springs and rear-end. I took it slow since I do not have a windshield and also did not have a gas cap on it. We will be priming and blocking once more and then my dad will call a friend to give us an estimate on painting it. 7/20/2002 Dad has been doing a little work on the car. He has been doing some detail sanding around edges and things like that. He taped off the dash and engine compartment and painted the top of the inside of the doors and rear of that with the dash color. Once that has dried good, it will be taped off and we will mask the rest of the interior area and underneath and prime and block it, probably twice more. 8/28/2002 Now we are rolling! We put the car on a trailer and my dad took it to Auburn Corvette to have them look at it and decide if they would paint it. They liked the shape that it's in and said we can get it in there in 2 weeks. He brought it back home and put it on jackstands and has been working on it for a couple of days. He has found quite a few spots that needed more attention, and has been smoothing them out. We will tape it off and put another coat of primer on it this weekend and then block it again. This thing will be perfect when we take it in for paint! 9/1/2002 Dad primed the car again today. We will block it once more this week, and then the plan is to take it to the paint shop this weekend. Here are a few pics from today. Just before we primed it again Right side, after priming Back of car, after priming Left side, after priming 9/9/2002 We took the car to the painter today! I am going to have them put the bumblebee stripe on the nose, so I need to track down the stencil kit and drop it off with them. I will also pickup another trunk lid and have them paint it also. My current trunk lid has holes for the spoiler, and I would like to have the option of running without a spoiler. Hopefully both will be in stock at the local muscle car supply. If I can get the stencil kit tomorrow, they think they can have it painted by the end of the week, or early next week! 9/15/2002 Well, They should be spraying the car tomorrow. I think I will get it back home on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will post pics as soon as I get it home. 9/18/2002 Picked up the car today. Here are the pictures! Left side of painted car Right side of painted car Right Front with stripe Right side again 10/6/2002 We have spent most of the week color sanding the car. We (ok, my dad did a majority of it) started with 1000 grit, then 1500, then finished with 2000. Dad will pick up some new buffing pads tomorrow and start buffing it. I should be able to bring it back to my house by next weekend. Then I have a bunch of stuff waiting to bolt back on. 10/10/2002 The car is all sanded and buffed. It looks awesome! I took dad the windshield trim and he buffed it out really nice. Looks like the door handles will work out just fine too. Next step is to get the trim that goes on the top of the windshield frame installed, then we can do the windshield. We have decided to buy the windshield, and install it ourselves. Someone on Camaros.net left really detailed instructions on installing one, so we will give it a shot. Doing it ourselves will allow us to take our time and make sure that everything is just right before we install it. Pics after sanded and buffed Pics after sanded and buffed - 2 10/25/2002 We have the windshield sitting in the garage, and we will test fit this weekend. We have decided to have it professionaly installed. I bought new bumpers, center grill piece, paint seal kit, door and truck weatherstrip, sun visor pivots (which the top latches to also) and parking and tail light lenses. We got the tail light housings cleaned up and painted, and they look awesome. I dis-assembled the grill and cleaned it up and repainted the black. I also cleaned up the headlight trim rings and those were painted. I will do some assembly this weekend and my dad will setup the windshield install for Monday or Tuesday, then I can bring it home! 10/26/2002 Today we painted the windshield frame semi-gloss black and installed the chrome that goes on top of the windshield frame and on the posts. We painted the frame black so that it would not stand out at all and there would be no blue visible when the windshield is installed. I also installed the tail lights, new rear wiring harness and the brake light switch. I need to get some bulbs now though, since only 1 of them was good. 11/2/2002 The windshield was installed earlier this week and the windshield trim was installed. We were going to bring the car back to my house yesterday, but the battery was dead. I ended up taking the battery out of my truck today and started the car and drove to my house, then swapped the battery back into my truck. I took the battery back to Shucks and it tested bad. I now have a new battery. This afternoon I installed both door locks, the gas tank filler tube, the gas cap, and I got both brake lights to work and the turn signals. I cannot seem to find the key for the trunk lock, so I cannot install that yet. Here is a pic I took today of the back of the car with the new gas cap. The back of the car with tail lights and gas cap. 11/13/2002 Still can't find the trunk keys. I have installed the shocks and the front bumper. The rear bumper is ready to bolt on now. I have installed the headlights and they work now. 11/20/2002 I found the trunk keys in a box last weekend, so I installed the trunk lock. I finished installing the rear bumper and started working on the grill. I am also pulling bolts here and there that did not get painted before I installed them and I am painting them. I have also been fooling around with the convertible top trying to figure out how to adjust it. Not much luck there so far. 12/5/2002 I installed the instrument pod last weekend just to see how it looked. I tried to hook up the speedometer, but the cable was sticking out just a little too far to be able to screw on. I investigated on the transmission end and the cable seemed to be stuck somewhere. I found that I had pinched the cable between the body and the subframe. After about 2 hours of messing around with the jack, jackstands, and loosening subframe bolts, I got it free. It then hooked up just fine. I dumped 5 gallons of gas in it and was able to take the car for a spin. I just puttered around the neighborhood for about 15 minutes, it's running pretty good and I did not encounter any problems. I was happy about that! 1/2/2003 I have worked on the car a little in the past couple of weeks. I got the drivers side glass installed and adjusted. That was not too hard. I have also been working on the convertible top frame, trying to get it adjusted. I have started looking for an upholstery shop to install the top for me. I am trying to figure out if the top frame is bent a little or not. hinge area of top frame another shot of the top frame 4/14/2003 Well, I have not done a whole lot lately. I took the top frame apart and we straightened it out a little and reassembled. I drove it to the upholstery shop today and they will install the top on it this week. 4/28/2003 I brought the car home today from the upholstery shop. The new top looks great. Now I will start on some of the smaller details while I save to do the interior. Pic of the car with the new top installed 6/24/2003 I have not updated in a little while. My dad and I repainted the door jambs and other areas that did not get painted with the body color. The body was painted with the same color, but a different brand, so it came out just a shade darker. We actually like it better than the first color. Saturday I ordered the interior kit, and should have that in a week or so. I will then need to decide if I want to install the seat cover myself or pay to have it done. I am leaning toward having it done, I think it will come out better. Tonight I am working on changing out the power steering pump. The old one is squealing quite a lot. I have also installed the glove box and door, I put on the door weatherstrip and trunk weatherstrip, and a couple more small rubber pieces. This weekend I will install the grill and fron license plate, rear spoiler, and whatever else can be put on. 6/29/2003 I got the power steering pump done this week and it is quiet. I also finished installing the grill with the signal lights and it all looks great too. I took it for a drive on Friday and it runs really nice, but the steering is a little twitchy since I still need a front end alignment. I am still working on installing misc stuff on the car and waiting to hear when my interior kit comes in. 7/29/2003 Let's just go with a list of the stuff that I have done in the past 30 days. I will be working on the interior for the next couple of weeks, trying to get the seat covers installed and the other door panel and pieces. 9/4/2003 Still just plugging away at the interior. I took apart the back seat and decided that I may have someone do the seat covers for me. 11/14/2003 I have disassembled all of the seats and dad is sandblasting the rust off of the frames. We are painting them with POR-15 and then I will take then to the upholsterer probably on Monday to have the covers installed. Both door panels are in now also. I drove the car a few more times this summer and am looking forward to finishing it during the winter. 12/7/2003 I took the blasted and painted seat frames back to the upholstery shop on 11/24. They called on the 26th and said that they were done with the front seat, but the backrest cover for the backseat was sewn wrong by the manufacturer and it was something that they could not repair. They deal with the local Musclecar supplier where I bought the interior kit, so they are working together to get it replaced. I need to call them tomorrow and see what the status is. 1/18/2004 I got the interior back and have finally installed it. Pictures are below. I also bought a Grant steering wheel and installed that. I still need to get some small parts like window cranks and some trim items, and also do some work to the console. Shot of the new interior with steeringwheel Shot of the new interior showing back seat 4/23/2004 Still just picking away at installing the smaller items on the car. I got the backup light switch from Lokar installed last weekend. I am still working on deciding on a wheel and tire package. I also painted the seat backs and installed them. I am going to take the car back to the upholstery shop and ask what can be done with the front seats to make the edges more firm, since the stock spring design just flattens out when you sit and offers zero support. 6/27/2004 Ordered guages from Jegs last week and ordered valve covers from Chevrolet and also convertible top boot and clips and the lower RS moulding kit from Classic Industries. I received the guages, top boot and clips, and mouldings, but the clip kit to install the mouldings is on backorder. I ordered Boyd's Ronco wheels about 6 weeks ago in 17x8 and 17x9.5 sizes with tires and expect those to arrive any day now. Shot of door windlace another of door windlace 7/16/2004 I received the wheels today!!! I immediately brought them home and installed them and went for a cruise. Rides nice. shot with new wheels 7/16/2004 Here is another pic of the car in my backyard, and also the engine with my new valve covers. in the back yard valve covers 9/1/2004 I decided to go ahead and install a DIN stereo in the dash and cut the dash. It was already hacked a bit, so I do not feel bad about doing a little more. I made the hole just bit enough for the stereo to slip in and then I held the sleeve in from the back and tack welded the install sleeve. Pic of Stereo installed |
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