| 1970 LS2 Chevelle Convertible The build continues! |
 A pile of scrap parts cut away during the sheet metal finishing stage.  The setup of the I/P cluster area. This is a mock up cluster we use to build our mounts and the dash face. An escutcheon will be built below the steering column to ensure serviceablility.  Here is the car getting ready for the initial primer. Note the minimal use of filler on the quarter tops and deck panel. The ends of the deck panel had been rusted through (a common problem) and previously had just been filled over. Steve cut away the rust, extended the deck panel to original lengths on both sides, and tacked it in place. The factory style quarter to deck panel seam will be recreated. Simply filling this in with bondo would have ensured cracks in the paint soon after driving. Doing this correctly is time consuming, but it's the only way if durability is desired. From here, the car will be coated with wash primer, etch primer, and high build primer so we can start blocking her out.  The dash face. Note the cut out under the I/P cluster for column removal and installation. We want the best appearance possible but we make each car as serviceable as possible.  The right side quarter. The Goodmark panels were very straight and required very little work after installation.  Priming has taken place and we're ready to start sanding. The black 'stripes' are the guidecoat, used to help while blocking.  Speaking of blocking, here we go. HCC's Pedro Lopez works the right side quarter.  Fast forward here too. We're on a tight deadline with this car, and haven't had much time for picture-taking. We've blocked all the pieces and the body shell. The loose pieces were all painted with basecoat/clearcoat inside. The body structure jambs, inner panels, and firewall were also painted before reassembly. This keeps us from having any areas of the car that are 'dry' (devoid of paint). Because we're painting this car a deep blue metallic, it needs to be painted while together to ensure a seamless layout of the metal flake in the paint. After all of the parts are back-taped and protected from overspray, we'll seal it and lay silver on the hood and decklid to form the stripes. Go to page PREVIOUS PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NEXT PAGE |
