Fenders

In my last post, I mentioned that I was attending some training in Chicago. We were scheduled a half day on Friday, so I made arrangements to go to Tamraz Parts Discount Warehouse in Plainfield, IL. I definitely recommend calling ahead, as they have parts in different locations and you may end up waiting.

I ordered new fenders and a new radiator core support. Even calling two weeks ahead and then again the day before I was scheduled to arrive, I waited 45 minutes for my parts. As I understand it, the fenders were stored in another building and someone neglected to arrange for them to be brought over. The manager drove out to get them for me. I loaded up and was on my way.

Bringing It Back Home

Since the majority of the work has been finished, we are going to tow the car back to the house and put it in the garage. Nick had some smaller jobs that were coming in and he was planning on pushing the car in and out of his shop and neither of us was happy with that thought. It will be safely back in the garage Sunday night.

I am driving up to Chicago for some work training this week, so I will post once I return.

Primed

When I checked on the car yesterday, Nick told me that he would have primer on it by the weekend. I hated to doubt him, but I might have questioned him. It seemed that there was too much to finish before it was ready. Naturally, Friday after work, I stopped to check his progress and I have to say that I should not have doubted him.

 The driver side door is primed and ready to be hung.

 The deck lid with fresh primer. This was not actually part of our agreement, so even though he painted it, it did not have any repair work. There are some holes in the corners where a spoiler was mounted.

The driver side, after the first primer. This will all be block sanded, touched up and then primed again. 

 Driver side quarter panel. Cut, shaped, welded, blended and painted with primer.

 Passenger side. A twenty plus year old welded quarter panel that isn't quite right. There is a buckle just above the wheel well. This was caused by an improper welding job. I should make it clear that Nick did not weld this side.

It is very early to be thinking about part colors, but the idea of the original mountain green is starting to grow on me. It is light enough to be forgiving to any imperfections, and it stays true to the cowl tag. The originality isn't that important to me, as I do not have the original motor. Another difference from the original is that this car had a Landau top, and I cannot talk myself into doing that to this car.

Update

Nick told me that he was working out in his yard during the last two nice days, so since it was raining all day on Thursday, I decided to stop and see how it was looking. It is looking pretty close. I can tell that Nick is proud of what he does and gets excited telling me the details of what he did, why he did it and what he is going to do next.

Here is how things are on the Thursday before priming. The driver’s side quarter panel needs to be sanded with 220 grit paper.

 The rear end/ tail light area has been sanded and is ready for primer.

 Nick spent quite a bit of time working  on cleaning up detail areas. An example of this is the gas cap area and the trunk key hole areas.

 The drivers side door has been sprayed with Etch Primer, which forms a better bond with the metal. It will be primed off the car and then installed.

 The front end has been covered and taped off. The interior will all be taped off soon.

 When I visit tomorrow night, these parts will all be covered in 2K primer.

It is hard for me to see how it is going to turn out. It looks good, but I know that there are things that are not right. This car originally had a Landau roof, so the sail panels might not look so smooth. There was a dent in the roof that wasn’t included in the scope of this project. I am sure that once the primer is on, we will see additional areas that will need to be addressed. Nick seems confident that it is going to look nice, so I need to trust him that it will.

Nick inspecting the roof condition. It will get sprayed with the Etch Primer and then 2K Primer.

Beginning the Second Week

I went by Nick’s place to check on the status of the car. The weather was pretty good today, so Nick spent most of the day working in his yard. The plan is to have the rear clip of the car in primer by the end of this week, so if Nick isn’t worried about the time, I shouldn’t be either. I took additional photographs of the car, but they do not show much of the changes that have taken place.

Nick did some additional sanding and finishing work on the passenger side rear quarter panel. The door has been hung and aligned. The speed line matches nicely. The driver’s side door is off the car and will be replaced with the new door after the primer is complete. The second fender is off the car to allow access to the door hinges. The original fenders will remain off, as I am planning on installing two new fenders in a few weeks.

 

 

As with most projects, there is something called job creep. This is all of the little things that were not discussed on the original estimate. Typical Job creep items in regards to body work are: hidden damage, unnoticed dents, rust under paint and countless other add-ons. So far, Nick has performed above and beyond when it comes to job creep. I am amazed at the amount of work that he has done on items that were not part of our deal. He removed and will reinstall both doors. He sanded and will prime the deck lid. He is going to sand the rear end (tail light section). He ground out the trunk weather stripping grooves. He ground out all of the silicon in the rear window channel. He is taking care of the rocker panels. I could go on and on, but I am afraid that he might see this and charge me more. 

freshly ground out rear window channel. This view is looking down into the car. The metal at the top of the image is the package tray behind the back seat.

The First Friday

I stopped by to check on the progress after work on Friday. Nick had the new quarter panel welded and ready for the final finishing. The door was straightened and aligned to make sure that everything lines up properly. 

On the passenger side, he was able to blend the quarter panel weld seam. Since the quarter panel was already welded, he adjusted the door to align as good as possible. Once the sanding and priming is complete, we will install the hardware for the door and the window mechanisms.

No Quarter

One of the first tasks that I want completed is to have the driver’s side quarter panel cut off and replaced with a new skin panel. I have had the replacement panel for close to twenty years, but never had anyone do the work until now.

Monday evening, I stopped by the shop on the way home from work to check on the progress. I don’t want to wear out my welcome or be one of those guys who hover and watch the work, so I cleared it first. I was surprised at the amount of work that he had completed during less than a full day. The quarter panel was cut off and removed.

 

 

The new panel was trimmed down to size and dry fit into place. Nick had ground down the edges to make the seams as small as possible, and prepared the other edges for welding. I am happy with the progress so far. Within the next few days, the welding will be completed and the seams should be blended.

 

Glass

Saturday night, the day before the car was going to leave the garage, I decided to remove the rear window. Nick had commented on the fact that the windows should come out, in order to allow better prep work, and that he had a guy that would remove and replace glass for $75.00 each. As a person who hates to pay for labor charges, I grabbed my razor blade and went to work.

Out on the Streets

The first thing I needed to do was to dig out the car. I emptied out the trunk and the interior. I gathered up all the nuts and bolts that were scattered around the garage. I grabbed the Shop Vac and removed the evidence of the squirrel nest. It didn’t take too long to get the car cleaned out enough to continue with the plans.

Nick (The Body Shop Guy) showed up and we aired up the tires and rolled it out of the garage. We removed a few items from the front end and then pushed it out into the street. It was the first time that the Camaro had been in the street in more than 15 years. Christina snapped a photograph of the monumental occasion. 

Looking at this picture and it is easy to see that there is a long way to go.

Making Plans

I have been looking for someone to help me with the car. I posted a request for referrals on Facebook. I asked friends and coworkers. I ended up with no solid leads. My lack of progress meant another month passed. 

While on a trip to my sister’s house to get her mail, I passed a sigh along the side of the road. Three words “Body Work Wanted” inspired me to make a phone call. The voice on the other end of the call seemed friendly, and we made plans to meet at the house for an estimate. The next evening, after some negotiating, I had a final offer. I called him a few days later to accept.

He was going to come over on Sunday to help get the car. I figured that we would tow it to his garage, but he figured we could pull it behind my truck in an effort to save $100.00.

The Beginning

More years than I would like to admit ago, I accepted a promotion at the company where I had been working. I needed to get a car and my new boss gave me a “signing bonus” that I could use to pay for a car. I took this money and made one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. Instead of buying a practical car, that would get me to and from work reliably, I used the money to buy a 1967 Chevy Camaro. My boss was decent enough to not say anything about my poor decision making skills, but he would have been justified.

In what was perhaps the first of many signs that I ignored, after driving it home from Terre Haute, I pulled into the apartment parking lot, the battery shifted and hit the fender wall and caught fire. I was able to drive it back and forth to work for some time and even did it during the winter months, although it didn’t handle very well in the snow.

Little problems cropped up and before too long, the Camaro was parked in the garage. We moved, and the Camaro was towed to the new place, occupying a valuable spot in the new garage. Years passed and nothing happened. Actually, things happened. The trunk filled with junk, as it was a good place for storage. The interior was removed from the car and set on the roof. A squirrel or two took up residence over the winter. The worst thing that happened was that the car sat there day after day, year after year; a constant reminder to my wife, of my selfishness.

It was pretty obvious that something needed to happen…