[ZeGermanHam]

4th of July update: I'm happy to report that the body is now 99.8% done with metal work. We're still going to do a little bit of lead work in a few spots, but it's minor and will happen very soon. The big thing is that there is NO MORE RUST REPAIR left to do! Here are a few photos from the last couple of weeks.

Last of the cowl repairs. Still need to smooth the welds a tad more.



Replaced the entire bottom inside lip on the trunk lid.


Was able to track down & buy an undamaged original header panel. Also got an original hood scoop insert that I'm going to open up for ram air. Not pictured here is an automatic console top that I also purchased to replace mine which was cut up. Thank you to Joe Barber in Pennsylvania for the goods!


Spent a good many hours removing the remaining rustproofing from the underside of the floorboards. Not fun work, but came out well. I smoothed out the floor patch welds today after this photo was taken.




Behold! One rust-free GTO body!




We've gone over every square millimeter of this body over the past six months, and although there is still plenty of work ahead, it feels very good to have the metal work in the rear view mirror. I'm currently getting materials together to prime & undercoat the underside and then put it on the chassis. Gotta keep putting one foot in front of the other.

[gtospieg]

Very cool...big step, congrats

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

Very cool...big step, congrats

Thank you! Big step, indeed.

I will say, I'm not terribly impressed by the body mount kit from OPGI. The supplied hardware is very low-grade, and the none of the bushings fit the two holes in the middle of the frame (these holes are smaller than the rest). It was easy enough to trim the bushings down to fit, but still. I'm surprised by this snag, since the body mount kit had been highly reviewed on OGPI's website. Maybe there's some selective "filtering" going on with the reviews they post.