Day 186

Some small progress today.  I finished the passenger side door.  It blocked a little bit better than the driver's door so that was nice.  I think the extra curing time helped.

Over the past week I also restored some original date stamped coils that are period correct for my car.  I have 3 of them and hope to sell at least 1 or 2 to recoup my cost.  They turned out great!

Front fenders are next for sanding and then onto the body.

Day 185

Well some more progress on the car the past couple days.  It was windy and wet yesterday so although I didn't sand, I did get some stuff done.  I media blasted, primed, and painted my 3 ignition coils in semi-gloss black.  They turned out nicely.  I got some decals ordered for the sides of the coils, so they will look original.  I also tested them and it looks like they are still good!

Today I was able to get the few remaining smaller parts block sanded to 600 grit.  I also finished the driver's side door which took quite a long time.  I have the passenger side door, the two front fenders, and the whole body remaining.

Work schedule the next couple weeks isn't conducive to getting things done every day in a row but should leave enough time here and there to get the remaining parts done for final paint.

I still have quite a bit of work to do before that is ready, I need to take down the entire booth, give the garage a thorough cleaning and then put up new plastic.  I was trying to beat the cooler weather but may end up just buying some reducer for cooler temperatures.  It hasn't gotten that cold in Las Vegas yet :)

Day 184

Caroline has been home and I have taken the past two days off from sanding/paint work.

In fact, the next step is more filler primer on a few parts so that's all about waking up early, minding the weather, and having a free schedule.

I did get a few cool parts delivered.  The first was a set of 3 ignition coils that were date stamped right around when my original engine was manufactured.  They need to be cleaned, blasted, painted, and overall restored but I'm hoping 1 out of the 3 is good!

I also got my small pieces of chrome work back and they looked pretty good too!  I assembled the door handles, T handle for the decklid, and driver's side rear view mirror.  I'm very happy with the results.

The only one issue was a nick in the trim piece that goes on the glove box.  It is on the upward side so it is visible and I'm waiting to hear back from the chromer if he can fix it.  I'm happy with the results, so I'm thinking I may go with him for the bumpers as well.

Now I just need to finish it all so I can start putting these nicely restored parts on the car!

Day 183

Hey, guess what...more sanding!

Today I got the roof and inside blocked to 220.  Most of it turned out pretty good.  Some minor spots on the dash but nothing another coat of primer can't take care of.

Here's a little walk around to show progress on my blocking.  The areas that are blue/green were once low spots which I have used filler to bring up.  When I prime over top of them hopefully they won't require any extra work.

I also received the replacement door panel and pocket from Colorado.  They are in EXCELLENT shape and perfect replacements for my originals.

That will be a project for another day but will require me to remove the old vinyl, cut a new cardboard backing board, dye the old/replacement vinyl, mount, and then enjoy!

I even did another upgrade on my shoes so they're good for a few more miles.

This is the 2nd/3rd time taping :)

Day 181 & 182

Yesterday I finished the the decklid and front hood.  I also got the driver's side blocked to 220.  The rear quarter panel needed a bit more filler work and will need another coat of primer filler. I called it a day after that.

Today, I got the front and rear aprons, passenger side, and underneath parts all blocked to 220.  The front and rear quarter panels on that side will need more primer filler.

I also did a mini project attaching black decals to my reproduction but original quality hub caps.  These things were expensive!  $240 for 4 but they are the best reproductions available and I didn't have my originals.

The vinyl decal is applied with some window cleaner to move the sticker into position and then dried with a heat gun to get out any bubbles or wrinkles.  They turned out pretty good.  Originally they came from the factory painted black which was probably easy for the guy that did them all the time but I didn't want to bother with such a small project.  So, the stickers did an equally as good of a job and they get good reviews.

Tomorrow I hope to get the inside areas and roof done.  After that, I will be ready to paint some more primer filler and then repeat the sanding process on the parts that need it.  Slowly but surely.

Day 179 & 180

These past two days I've got quite a bit of work done.  I finished the driver's side front fender and that will need another coat of primer filler just like the other side.  I also blocked out the entire hood to 600 and it turned out to be good!

I'm about 3/4 done with the decklid which I hope to finish tomorrow and get to the body after that!

Progress has been slow because once it is ready for final sand I have to sand the entire part 3 times.  220, 400, 600 grit which takes a lot of time.  They look great when done and especially when I put wax and grease remover on the part it has a very flat and smooth gloss to it, even with the light colored primer.

Once I get the body done I can shoot the last bit of primer required for the doors, front fenders, and any remaining areas on the body.  Those parts can then be sanded and then final paint is after that!

This is taking quite a lot longer than I had hoped, but it is being done right so that's all that matters.

Day 178

Those two fenders are ready for final paint!  (and back in the living room ;)

Today I started and finished some block sanding on the body parts.  I started with the rear fenders and those blocked out well.  I did 220 grit, followed by 400 and then 600.  Of course I am being ridiculous and blocked the underside of the fenders.  I'm happy with the results!

I also did the passenger front fender and quickly found that at 220 it still had some low spots that weren't going to block out.  I even had to use some glazing putty to fill in the lows.  So a third coat of primer for at least one front fender.

I also got some original green/grey door panel replacements.  I was going to use a vendor for the panels but found him to be a little difficult to work with.  I even went and visited with them on a trip a couple weeks ago and they will likely provide many of the items I use for the interior.  But their reproduction pieces aren't exact copies of the originals and no one even comes close to what they do!  So I'm going to try and make my originals work.

Here's what they had to offer.

Original panel, replacement vinyl, original color book 1959

In different light, the green doesn't match at all.  The headliner and B pillar posts will be in the first two greys in the 2nd row.

Here's an example of his kit on a Diamond Grey car.

The green just seems off.  It doesn't mesh well with the original Diamond Grey.  The green/grey panels should look like this.

So, my original panels the cardboard backing is falling apart.  And the rear passenger side has a tear.  The driver's side front panel also has a sloppy pocket...which can't be fixed without tearing it up.

I found these original panels and am going to create new backing cardboard for them, dye them the original colors, and use them in the car!  They are missing the white trim around the edge and chrome trim piece in the middle...but I can transfer that over from my originals!

I'll also have to get the seats custom made now, which I think I should be able to do.  I'll likely use the same grey vinyl from the B pillars for the seats and then color match a green or use dye for the accent color.

More sanding tomorrow.