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Before we could even mumble the word paint, we had to
reassemble the car and put all our mock up projects to the test
one last time. This "dry run" gave us a feel for how our car
would go together during final assembly. This was the first time
we saw our car off the jack stands since we rolled it in the
garage 3+ years ago, and It proved to be a great reminder of
how far we had come so far. With the rear brakes back on the
car we could finally run our Lokar emergency brake cables
and secure them to the body. Now the long awaited step of
mounting our wheels and tires was finally here. After hours of
walking car shows looking at the multitude of choices available,
we found a combination that had the symmetry from Big to little
we were after. We really liked the tread pattern on the BF
Goodrich Comp TA HR4 which were no longer available, so
finding a new set of 4 was no easy task but well worth the hunt.
We mounted our new rubber on Billet Specialties Legacy
wheels with knock off centers to hold the traditional look we
were after and boy did they make the car come alive! With the
car's weight now fully loaded on the suspension we could
adjust our pinion angle and measure for a custom drive shaft
to be ordered later. It was finally time to call the painter and
talk paint. He was very eager to come see the car with all her
panels refitted. During his visit he did some fit checks while we
went over color ideas and made some plans for the journey to
his shop.
reassemble the car and put all our mock up projects to the test
one last time. This "dry run" gave us a feel for how our car
would go together during final assembly. This was the first time
we saw our car off the jack stands since we rolled it in the
garage 3+ years ago, and It proved to be a great reminder of
how far we had come so far. With the rear brakes back on the
car we could finally run our Lokar emergency brake cables
and secure them to the body. Now the long awaited step of
mounting our wheels and tires was finally here. After hours of
walking car shows looking at the multitude of choices available,
we found a combination that had the symmetry from Big to little
we were after. We really liked the tread pattern on the BF
Goodrich Comp TA HR4 which were no longer available, so
finding a new set of 4 was no easy task but well worth the hunt.
We mounted our new rubber on Billet Specialties Legacy
wheels with knock off centers to hold the traditional look we
were after and boy did they make the car come alive! With the
car's weight now fully loaded on the suspension we could
adjust our pinion angle and measure for a custom drive shaft
to be ordered later. It was finally time to call the painter and
talk paint. He was very eager to come see the car with all her
panels refitted. During his visit he did some fit checks while we
went over color ideas and made some plans for the journey to
his shop.
Now the grueling process of disassembly could begin. This
was a very important stage since any time spent taking
pictures and making detailed notes would hopefully save us
hours of work later when things weren't so fresh in our minds.
This was also the perfect time to build our fastener list so all
the right materials are here when we go to put "Humpty
Dumpty" back together again. While disassembling we
separated our parts into boxes going to paint, powder coat,
chrome, and polish while keeping an inventory of each box.
was a very important stage since any time spent taking
pictures and making detailed notes would hopefully save us
hours of work later when things weren't so fresh in our minds.
This was also the perfect time to build our fastener list so all
the right materials are here when we go to put "Humpty
Dumpty" back together again. While disassembling we
separated our parts into boxes going to paint, powder coat,
chrome, and polish while keeping an inventory of each box.
| Before the Paint |
Before we pulled any body panels off, our painter did a
thorough rub down and marked up the areas requiring his later
attention. We also made a last minute decision to send our
hood sides out to be louvered before turning them over to the
painter. We then fabricated two steel struts in the door areas
to minimize any body movement during transport. All that was
left was to design a dolly system to maneuver our body around
the body shop. The design needed to be strong yet easy to
disassemble for transport when needed. Finally, it was time to
bring in some friendly man power to load up all the pieces for
the ride. Here's our stripped down body & chassis before the
trip to the paint shop.
thorough rub down and marked up the areas requiring his later
attention. We also made a last minute decision to send our
hood sides out to be louvered before turning them over to the
painter. We then fabricated two steel struts in the door areas
to minimize any body movement during transport. All that was
left was to design a dolly system to maneuver our body around
the body shop. The design needed to be strong yet easy to
disassemble for transport when needed. Finally, it was time to
bring in some friendly man power to load up all the pieces for
the ride. Here's our stripped down body & chassis before the
trip to the paint shop.
