<><>UPDATED ON APRIL 18 2009 2ND PAGE<><><>
OVER $10,000.00 worth of body work done so far...look at pictures and you tell me.....READ ON.. How the car looked when I picked it up in Georgia. My pop an I had the drivetrain and interior up here in NC working on it ,my brother was supposed to be doing the body work down in Georgia in HIS shop ......when Pop's passed away he left me the 57...YES!! My brother recieved a 1968 GTO convertible running and complete...FRESH...(go to my 32 chevy page and see the GTO in the background)....anyway I LOVE my 57 (read to bottom for a question I have)
New floor pans will be put in the front,now they have plain sheet metal (done by previous owner)dash was said to be ready for paint by "body man"....BUT there are chips and scratches////has to be taken down in my opinion....maybe Im to picky. The wiring harness was sprayed gray also. I know a new on is oing in but.....principle of it.
Nice new 1/4 panels....MUST be removed to be put on correctly AND to fix inner fender well/trunk wall and rear fin on the inside...should have been done before they were put on....read below....
The "Body shop" in Georgia put a new 1/4 panel on...BUT it's not on correctly ...so I get to play!!!!(YES) the 1/4 panel is off in the back about 3/8-1/2 " to high.On another note,the inner fender needs replacing as well as the inner rocker,wouldn't it have been easier to do with the 1/4 panel off? and the inner "FIN" is dented...easy fix with a dolly and hammer ....WHILE THE 1/4 IS OFF THE CAR....didn't happen at the "body shop"....I'm confused.
He had cut off BOTH 1/4 panels and had NO BRACEING what so ever to hold everything in place. They also primed EVERYTHING to protect from rust on the way back home to N.C. on the trailer and inside the trunk was enough of a oil residue it didn't need to be primed to protect from rust...yep,they sprayed it right over the oil residue.
Nice oily trunk primered over
QUESTION: DOES THIS LOOK LIKE $10,000.00 worth of BODYWORK done on the car already?Thats what my brother was telling everyone he had in it so far...BEFORE it was up here for us to see it. LETS RECAP:
1) LEFT REAR 1/4 PANEL PUT ON.....AND NOT CORRECTLY
2) BODY WAS SAID TO BE PUT ON A ROTISSERIE (?)DIDNT FIX ANYTHING UNDER CAR.
3)TOP LOOKS LIKE IT WAS DONE CORRECTLY (GOOD JOB BODY SHOP )
4) DASH "READY"...BUT NOT REALLY,FLAKEY PAINT AND SCRACTHES UNDER PRIMER
5)CAR IS IN ALMOST ALL PRIMER....EVEN OVER OIL RESIDUE IN THE BACK BUT IT IS PRIMERED,that accounts for something right?
6)oh yea OTHER 1/4 PANEL IS CUT OFF....WHATS THAT COST ABOUT $5000.00 TO DO? : )
<><><><><><>UPDATE 11/09/2008<><><><><><>
Jumping in and taking off the left 1/4 panel to "fix" what the "BODY SHOP" had done, I even found a surprise...picture to follow. Notice the "SAFETY GLASSES" kiddies ALWAYS wear safety glasses no matter how "uncool" they look. lol
Here is my surprise....notice the cut? see the weld to left of cut? He had cut from the lower rocker all the way to the top,which would have been good if it were removed BUT there is a brace behind this point to the right of the cut which is keeping it in place. The vibration "noise" from this would probably aggravated me to no end. Also with this in place it had the 1/4 panel sitting out to far so when the door was close you could tell something had been done.The two holes to right of cut can be used for getting the panel lined up properly (which when panel was replaced originally was not done) but to leave that panel in place will create the same problem again . So I am going to get everything lined up and weld a small "L" shaped brkt top and bottom and weld corrisponding "L" brkt on the panel and hold them together with screws ,this way I can removed all the original metal and have the door and 1/4 panel lined up properly...sound good? Because I have never done this before !!!!!!!
With the 1/4 panel off you can see the damage that SHOULD have been repaired when the panel was taken off the first time ON THE RIGHT SIDE. See the metal thats black and white?,that is a "repair" panel done by previous owner,sheet metal bent and welded in place...horrible. LEFT SIDE BELOW PIC'S
The repair crew,better known as:
"Smilin' Bareknuckle brawlers "
(For different reasons of course,don't let the sweet faces and demeanor fool ya....lol)
This is my oldest son ,10, he and his brother ,8, help me in the garage...next generation baby!!!!!!!!
Here is my youngest boy ,8.
They both are wanting to learn to weld.......paint and bodywork...this is good!!!!
The hood has been repaired,limb had fallen across it and looked like somebody took a pick hammer and "hit" the raised portion all over,those are repaired, hood straightend out WITH NO BONDO used,very time consuming but well worth the effort. The lower rear pan has been straightend out, the right rear inner fender has been cut out and other spots in that area I am makeing panels for.
MORE TO COME WHEN THEY GET DONE..........
***********UPDATE 2/04/09************
I bought a "NEDDLE SCALER" from harbor freight, on sale for 44.00, it is the BEST thing I have seento remove undercoating!!! This car was saturated with under coating.....it took me about 45min to remove it all from the left rear inner fender ,under neath where the tires are and above...worked great!!!! I'll get a picture of it.
***** UPDATE 2/11/09*****
I have removed the inner fender on the right side...more rust,not to bad but...MORE ...lol. The body will be comeing off soon and I can start on the underside. It is amazeing that the rest of the floor pan is intact,just the front's need replaceing,the rest looks fine so far.I am going to use "eastwoods" rust disolver first then use the converter to spray the rest. Worked on my camaro some to!!!!
