Nice job there. A friend of mine had a 55 2 door wagon in the early 70's that was painted a beautiful metalic green like that. It had a prior life as a drag car and still wore the red plexiglass radiussed top, (see through) hood scoop.
THAT is some unbelievably Perfect paint and body work. Most of us wouldn't even bother to cut and buff it.
Almost 20 years and I lost count on how many forums, lol But it was worth the wait. No matter what you build or how many times you improved your skills, and have redone things every post has been worth the viewing and as always BEAUTIFUL job. Larry / formally L&L Custom!
Well yesterday was homecoming, Jared and I drove up to Annapolis to pick up the body from Absolute Rod and Custom Paint. Really pleased with this green paint, it does catch your eye. Gotta love a tilt bed trailer for loading a rotisserie... All strapped down for the trip south... A stop for fuel and then we headed to the Wednesday night meet at Leonardtown Arby's... I think that's the slowest traffic has ever travelled south out of Annapolis, we had quite a few people breaking their necks, slowing down to give the thumbs ups, etc.. With that done, we can finish our spring cleaning in the shop and get this set back down on the frame..
Thanks for all the feedback guys!! Yeah, Brandon and the guys did a bang up job on the paint.. Will be turning some heads when Dana takes it out. We stopped by the upholstery shop on Friday, they had the console ready... Video:
Robert, the paint is outstanding but it just reflects the untold hours you & your team have devoted to the extensive metal work. The bar has definitely been raised. HRP
Thanks for all the comments guys! Well I think we're long overdue for a wagon update. Yes, it is back in the building.... And we should be setting the body back on the chassis this weekend. We've been buttoning up some last minute things on the frame before a body makes accessibility more of a challenge. The cable for the O2 sensor up to the EFI was about two feet too long, so we ordered another connector and shortened it up a bit. In order to better hold things from bouncing around, a large Adel clamp is "massaged" to better fit the shape of the Bosch connector, and yet remain loose enough to remove the connector if need be for any future troubleshooting needs.. ….and here's our leftover. Next, we had transmission cooling lines to run, which means straightening a coil of stainless 5/16 line.... This should be straight enough.... We had to insure clearance around the inspection cover and starter, so those were temporarily installed... We found these fancy stainless "cable ties" at McMaster, but even using a banding tool to tension it, the "tang" retention allows it to loosen slightly before the tang locks in. Since I had recently picked up a pair of Pex crimpers at a pawn shop for cheap, we thought we'd give those Oetiker clamps a shot for keeping things snug.. Looks like this may work! Top side... Bottom... The crimpers/pliers we used... $15 at a pawn shop... Running the radiator ends... And then some other superfluous stuff, we got the second vent bracket welded up last night And even though it's off in the near distance, it's about time to repaint the tag so DMV can register it to the car (1955 only had one plate in MD)... Thought I had some bus paint that was close, but looks a bit too light.. But playing with some mixing ratios online, I may be able to use some of my one shot lettering paint as a tint to get us much closer... And since the rest of the bits are now being cut and buffed, we better get the body on the frame to make some room in the shop.. ….and between all that, we made another set of window dividers, these going to Dallas for the restoration of a 57 wagon...
Awesome, awesome work. Been following along since page 1. So glad to be able to at least spectate. Thanks for sharing the process.
Saying that the level of craftsmanship in this project is breathtaking has become redundant. It truly is incredible. I'm sure it was all good, but that freshly painted body perched up on that rotisserie, high up on that trailer bouncing down the road would scare the hell out of me. Thanks for taking the time with this thread - I've learned a lot following along.
Thanks for following along guys! Last night we got some details crossed off the list, our radiator sits on the front side of the core support but the overflow can't stay on the front side as it would spew all over a painted splash pan. So we marked the core support baffle to align with our overflow AN fitting and as Jared was drilling the hole and installing the grommet, I got to bending some 1/4" stainless tubing. Now it will drain behind the frame rail... Since McMaster had made a delivery we got some of the Oetiker clamps installed. Yeah, I think I like this cleaner look... My buddy Jeff Ford down in Aiken SC was working on installing a floor pan patch and had omitted the flange in the radius corner below the toe panel. So in addition to busting his chops, we put together this video tutorial so he could do the next panel in one piece. Hope it helps someone else as well.. .
Mike wanted to get started on the wiring harness, but we thought it best to install the brake bracket assy first. As luck would have it, the plastic bushings did not fare well with the install. We took the opportunity to make bushings out of oilite bronze, something more fitting in a 55 Chevy over plastic. With the brake pedal sporting new oilite bronze bushings, Mike got all the pedal assemblies installed, and hole drilled in the floor for the parking brake cable.. Then on to underneath stuff, installing the flex plate bolts and torqueing them down. We used the starter to bump the engine around, and found we also needed to shim the starter, so that was done. The AC vent brackets were folded using the magnetic brake.... Then trim the ends and one more media blast session to get it ready for epoxy primer. Jared and I worked on getting all the body mounts snugged down, and then turned attention to the rear bumper. In the stock configuration this is slightly wide, so we had opted for a slice and dice and making the three piece bumper into a one piece.. We had intended to get this done prior to paint, just one of those things that slipped through the cracks before it got sent out for paintwork. We did have some rags used between the bumper and body to prevent any damage, and removed them for pictures. The final fitment after tacking: Our data plate for the firewall had been looking pretty sad.... …...so much so that we had thought about leaving it off the nice shiny firewall that Richard and Brandon Glymph had sprayed for us.. But we had sent some pictures of the carnage to Bob at Alternative Chrome in Kutztown PA, and he said he could clean it right up and add a sealer for us.. Much better... .
Starting some of our electrical work, since the fuel pump and float assembly both connected using ring terminals, we wanted to use some weather pack connectors so there would be a quick disconnect. We had purchased one of the weather pack "kits" from Jegs in order to have a selection to work from as we put the car back together.. On our standard terminal lugs, we pulled insulating sleeve off the back side so we could use a "W" crimp, and then covered with heat shrink. Some anti seize was applied to the connection to help keep corrosion controlled, and some braid loom and heat shrink was used to add some protection. Weather pack connection, wires stripped just enough for the W crimp, strain relief crimp remains on top of the wire's jacket insulation. Next, to finalize our parking brake situation, we needed to drill a hole in the floor, which then had epoxy primer applied to the perimeter. Once cured, we installed a rubber grommet and fed through the floor. If you recall, the Lokar cable did not fit the opening in our donor brake pedal assembly, so a thick washer with the correct smaller hole was found, and the bracket hole was opened up to the outer diameter of the washer... Then the washer was TIG welded in place.. Next challenge, the brake assembly had an internal pedal return spring that would now rest on the cable and rub in the same place on the ends, so in order to minimize any wear through the cable strands, the spring was relocated to the side of the frame at the adjusters where a shoulder was machined into the adjustment fittings to support the spring ends and not rub into the cable. To further protect the cable from spring rub, as there surely would be deflection of the spring as the brake was applied, we test fit some heat shrink to act as a protective sleeve. The internal liner of the Lokar cable was roomy enough for the heat shrink to pass up inside, so concept test complete, we ordered some high heat Teflon shrink tubing from McMaster. This was installed over the cable, with plenty of extra slid up in the liner, and assembled all the parts.. That should hold us.....
If I had to sum up your work on this, it would boil down to "attention to detail"! Phenomenal craftsmanship!
Thanks!! Oh yeah! Made a trip to Annapolis Wednesday, Brandon and Richard were done buffing parts... Hell of a way to transport fenders and doors....
The Jalopy Journal
