1973 Rebuild

[Matthew Abate]

AND TODAY!

 

[Patcon]

WooHoo!!!

Also, it seems like a bad idea to have a propane heater in a spray booth on the discharge end but that's just me...

[Captain Obvious]

Looks fantastic!!!  Bet you're crawling the walls!

[ConVerTT]

Which orange is that? 918?

[Matthew Abate]

14 hours ago, Patcon said:

WooHoo!!!

Also, it seems like a bad idea to have a propane heater in a spray booth on the discharge end but that's just me...

Hopefully just on to get the room to temp. Once my car is out of there I do not care.

 

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Looks fantastic!!!  Bet you're crawling the walls!

You have no idea. He’s had it for two and a half years!

 

9 hours ago, ConVerTT said:

Which orange is that? 918?

Yeah.

Well, matched to a panel, so maybe not perfectly 918.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Matthew Abate

[240260280]

Looks great Matthew!  I'll try to connect the next time I am in Bell Labs, Murray Hill.  Right now it is closed.

[Matthew Abate]

Couple more pictures just to keep the thread alive. Not much progress, but with the quarantine it’s nice to seem ANYTHING happening.

 

I found a couple of small issues in my last inspection (some undercoat overspray on the top and two bare spots in the front wheel wells). In my experience (4 cars) this is better than usual at this stage.

Once those things are fixed it gets wet sanded and bugged, then it comes home.

Also, I’m really please with my decision to close up the antenna and hood Ornament holes.

***

So here’s the question for today, do I just reverse my disassembly process as I had planned, or is there some better order of assembly people recommend. I was going to start with fuel and brake lines, then put in the differential, then start the wiring process.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Matthew Abate

[Matthew Abate]

The car is home!

 

Its been... and experience? A saga? A trial? I’m not sure what to call it. The work is beautiful, except where it isn’t. There were a few things that needed to be fix after it was done, and then a few things that needed to be fix after that, and then some things that are being fixed now, and some things I’m going to just have to let go.

After three years and many dollars, I’m really happy to have it back and be moving onto the next step.

 

Here are a few more shots from before it came home:

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Matthew Abate

[Patcon]

As a reference point for others, would you be willing to share in round numbers what the paint job cost?

It looks good and it's very rare to have a flawless paint job. The good news is a car can be reassembled pretty fast after paint is finished

[Matthew Abate]

Was quoted $10k and six months. Paid $16k and took three years. Granted, there were some surprises, but mostly created on their side, like when they waffled the hood over-blasting it so I needed to find a replacement.

It was just not a great experience for me. Maybe that’s because my expectations were off, but they didn’t manage my expectations at all.

[siteunseen]

I'd say "their" expectations were way off! Have a bottle of wine and do the Yelp review. 

 

[Matthew Abate]

So moving on from that (while waiting for them to finish the three pieces they forgot to shoot and for a bottle of touch up paint for a few small spots in inconspicuous places), I’ve sorted all of my hardware and am planning out the reassembly process.

I’m thinking I’ll start with checking all of my suspension hardware torque, then mount the steering rack, then hang the fuel and brake lines in the tunnel.

After that I’ll lay down the Dynamat. Curious if anyone has done a really extensive soundproofing job. I’m looking at emulating Sound Deadener Showdown’s approach, although they went out of business.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Matthew Abate