[edvisme]

Related items in this thread. Well, kind of.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...hlight=edvisme
In more more news today, the car needs to go back to the body shop for frame repair,,,, again! Appears as though the body shop pulled the right front torque box down a little to far. Car is sitting 3/4" lop sided. Stay tuned!

[edvisme]

Gads I think to much. And when I do that I end up spending more $ on the car I am going to buy the pair of new reproduction front firewall/sub frame torque boxes and use only the right side (must be purchased in pairs.) This is the only solution I feel is right to correct the over pull on this part to begin with. I have welded new floors onto these parts already so I have an idea how they come off and go back on the car. Heck, if I would have known it was still out while I was doing the floors I would have changed it then. The things I miss when building a car lol. Ah well, tare it apart again and fix it right.

[edvisme]

I'm an idiot. I have learned a lot about myself and this car getting it this point. A HUGE piece, or shall I say the entire humble pie was served to me recently.
Last month I went to the salvage yard here that specializes in old cars. He has some early 70's Firebirds. I was able to get some front firewall measurements off of one that was clean of any damage. After doing some disassembly to gain access to the points I needed to measure I took those measurements to the front end of my '70. I set the tram gage at the exact measurement and point from the salvage car and compared them to mine and they were spot on! The body of my car is straight!
This was all done at my house and the car was not drivable so we had the flat bed come get the car and haul it to the frame rack. Once on the frame rack the frame tech set up the laser and targets under the car and programmed the computer and hit run.
There was 10 targets on the frame and everything hit spot on (all in the green area.) It was then decided its either the front springs or a control arm...
Come to find out the cause of the uneven stance of the car was the left side front spring was in upside down.....
Yea, I did that,,,idiot,,lol
Once I R&I the spring properly I hooked up what was needed so I could drive the car home, about 2 miles away taking the subdivision roads.
Sigh, I feel like such an idiot. I'd like to push all of the bad doings on this car on something else, like blaming the car. But in fact its all MY stupid doings. I guess the older I'm getting the more I'm missing when it comes to this type of stuff, it's embarrassing.
Anyway, I did those goof ups and own them. All I can do now is press on with the build.
And today, wow! I made much + progress with doing what I do best, blocking primer and paint related tasks. The right side of the car and trunk lid have had their first sharp cut with 80 grit on my long block. Tomorrow I will continue on to the left side and roof and get this bird in round 2 of primer this week. Then will come the dreaded task of lining up the front end, again. So much fun.
Tell ya what, it sure was fun to drive the car for a couple of months while I shook out all of the mechanical issues. The engine runs fantastic. The Pypes exhaust and HO manifolds sound bitchen. I left 2 knarly stripes going up the drive, too.
I will post some pic's of the progress in future updates on the build.
Until then, Cheers

[Formulabruce]

we never stop learning!! Glad it was "sorta" simple!

[Pepi]

Glad you got it figured out, can't wait to see some pictures.

[edvisme]

Been awhile since I updated the progress on the build. Not much to post when its all just body work, sanding, sanding and more sanding.
I posted a thread awhile back about what the metal screen in the formula hood is for. I posted a picture or two of what I did to my hood to remedy the torn and worn out screen in mine. For those that missed that, what I did was took my dremel tool to the under side of the hood and cut it open. Once I had it open I was able to remove most of the screen, at least the screen I wanted out of the way. Then I used the 3M 08115 panel bond and glued it back together. It took me about 30 hours of work to get it looking like it is now. I just finished primering it and I'll let it sit for a week or so then go back to it and sand it out for top coat color. The black is one coat of epoxy primer then 3 coats of grey 2k primer over that. This aughta look very nice once its painted. Here are some pictures of the hood and one of how the car looks right now.

[edvisme]

Getting closer...

[edvisme]

Finally! After 10's of hours of repair and reconstruction of the hood, color is on the under side of the hood.

[RicksGTO]

the car is looking great, can't wait to see it in paint. Would make it tough to overspray the underside of that nice hood now that it's all done! Are you taping it off or doing the factory overspray look?

[edvisme]

Thanks, Rick. I plan to paint the hood off of the car so I will let the hood sit like it is until the very last minute then mask off the complete underside then flip it over for top side paint.
Also, I'm on a "dry time" break right now from painting the rear spoiler and ends, the rear body panel, the front air dam and the mirrors. All of the pieces will be in color today. I think tomorrow will be a day off from the car. I have been working on it for the last 10 days non stop. One thing is certain, the car will be painted this month. Then reassembly will follow shortly after the cut and polish is completed making this project completed before the end of the year. I'm very excited! It's been a very, very long road on this project.

[Judge273]

Putting color on the car is the most exciting stage. The assembly is actually fun and even rewarding on a day to day basis.

Wish I had those skills! Nice work!!

[edvisme]

Judge, Thank you! Yes it is. I think back to my other long builds and remember once they were completed just how emotional I became. Here are some pictures of todays progress (more to come.) No mind the small pieces of dust in the clear. As they say "Ahh, it will buff right out."

[Pepi]

Looking good, can't wait to see the whole body in that color.

[edvisme]

Just finished painting the nose. Tomorrow's project will be the front inner wheel wells in a satin black. Then get them installed on Saturday. I'm having a great time!

[edvisme]

Oh yea, Here's a link to a video of me doing a burn out a few months ago lol. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=2&theater

[edvisme]

Picking up momentum. Painted the inside of the trunk today. Color will be going on the body sometime next week

[edvisme]

More updates (for my own purposes I suppose.) Final sanding completed. Next up is a thorough cleaning of the car and shop and then mask the car up for paint. Been a long week here.

[72projectbird]

Wow that trunk is snazzy!

Nice work!

[edvisme]

Took most of the day to mask the car up. Just a few things to do to the shop and its spray time.

[edvisme]

Finally! Color on the car. Let it sit until Friday then I'll cut and buff the paint. I'm pooped. It's been a long day.