[ZeGermanHam]

A little update on my progress over the past few weekends. I got my grills out of the shed to take a look at them again and determine if they could be reused, or if new ones would need to be purchased. Here's one of them for reference. Someone had painted them fully black rather than silver & black. The paint was flaking off in many places, and they also had lots of red paint overspray from whoever painted the car from Cameo Ivory to red.



As one might expect, all but a few of the mounting tabs were broken off...


My solution was to cut away the cracked plastic and bend up some 1" wide strips of aluminum, then JB Weld them into place and drill new holes.


One of the attachment points for the parking lights was also cracked, so I again cut away the broken material and glued in some aluminum, then drilled a new hole.



Then came sanding and cleaning. I took a tube cleaning brush to clean each individual square of the grill face.


The anodized trim was a little beat up. Nothing super major, but it had some medium scratches and some slight bends that I was able to get out.


The GTO emblem was not pitted, but the paint was ratty, so I stripped and repainted it by hand.



No photos were taken of my fastidious masking job, but here is the final result in all its glory. They came out looking like a million bucks (to my eye, anyway). The I stripped the anodized trim with Easy-Off oven cleaner and polished them nicely on the buffing wheel. The black painted portion of the grills was done with Krylon spray paint, and the silver part is Eastwood Brake Gray, which has actual stainless steel flakes in it and is typically used for painting brake reservoirs and calipers. Looks excellent on the grills.





Also received another shipment of parts from Ames. This time, interior stuff. I got the 2nd to last pair of bucket seat covers they had in stock, which I was grateful for, since they are now experiencing 6-12 month waits on upholstery. Also picked up a headliner, sail panels, carpet, and various other items to redo the interior. Gotta say, these Legendary seat covers look fantastic. So much nicer than all the reproduction stuff I used to see in GTOs 15-20 years ago.



Lastly, I decided this afternoon that I wanted to test my horns to see if they actually work, since they were never wired up when I used to drive the car in the '90s. Who knows the last time they actually were used. Could've been 35+ years ago. Hooked 'em up to a spare battery and tried the high & low tones. High tone sounds good. Low tone sounds a little buzzy. See for yourself: https://youtu.be/a0VC53dnrCo

[70L34]

Great job. I am intrigued by how you recreated the mount bosses with aluminum and JB Weld. Do they seem strong?

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by 70L34

Great job. I am intrigued by how you recreated the mount bosses with aluminum and JB Weld. Do they seem strong?

Yes, they are very strong. Zero flex and the JB Weld bonded very well.

[ZnbOlds455]

Looking really good! Great job with those grills!

[ZeGermanHam]

This weekend I disassembled the passenger seat now that I have decided I'm going to overhaul the bucket seats myself. Between the information that is available here and on YouTube, I now feel confident that I can refinish them to a high standard. It goes without saying, disassembling 55 year old seats is pretty gross!

Here's what I started with. It's the original upholstery, tearing in a few places but I've seen worse.


Lower cover panels had some surface rust.


Yuck. Can't say I didn't expect it, though.


All torn down. No broken springs! I'm hoping to have the same luck with the driver seat, but it of course sees a lot more wear & tear, so fingers crossed.


The seat tracks had a healthy amount of surface rust on them. Since there is no easy way to disassemble these for sandblasting (don't want sand in the bearings), I submerged them in Evaporust for about 24 hours.


The Evaporst worked like magic!


All cleaned up and sliding like new again. I know they weren't painted like this from the factory, but I'm not building a points car and I'd rather they not rust again.


My shop recently got a new blast cabinet. Great timing!


Ah, so fresh & clean.


Also blasted, primed, and painted the lower covers and the seat back panel.




Still about 3 weeks out until I (supposedly) receive my seat foam which is on backorder, but I'm pretty excited about this aspect of the project. Can't wait to have a couple of fresh buckets to install.

[ZeGermanHam]

Yeah, the Evaporust was really nice to work with, too. Very minimal odor, biodegradable, no acid, safe on skin (although I always wear gloves with any chemical), non-toxic, and it's resuable. I cleaned up some rusty springs, hardware, and other smaller items while the seat tracks were dunked, all of it came out looking like new. Great product. Would be nice to keep a 5gal bucket of it around, but at ~$25/gal, it's not free.

[ZeGermanHam]

Finally got all the parts needed to completely overhaul my seats (had been waiting on the foam and installation kit for a little while). So with a deep breath, I set about re-padding and reupholstering my passenger side bucket. I've never attempted any form of upholstery work before, so this was my first rodeo. Here are the results:







The Legendary upholstery and American Cushion Industries foam are excellent. I'd be lying if I said I didn't work up a good sweat stretching the new seat covers over the foam and frame, though. The upper seat back was particularly tough, and there was one point when I thought it had me beat. But I was persistent and didn't take no for an answer, and it all worked out very nicely in the end. No wrinkles, no tears, no problems. Total success! Now I have to get busy with the driver side...

[jamesq]

Here's a link to an older thread that may help you decide if you want to try your headliner install:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...28#post4921528

This very detailed thread has helped me decide to have the headliner installed professionally. I agree with your "one shot to get it right" and I would rather the shop foot the bill for the redo!

James Q

[Cardo]

That looks really good! Nice work!

[OG68]

Excellent! More incentive for me to get off my behind and finish my seats

[OCMDGTO]

Those seats look fantastic, quite a first effort

[gtospieg]

Awesome...finally. Is that a factory color for 66?

[ZeGermanHam]

Thanks guys! Before diving into it, the upholstery work had always been something that I viewed as a highly daunting task. In the end, it was very doable for a DIY'er like me. And I must say, it's very satisfying to sit on a seat that you recovered yourself!

[Greg Reid]

Very nice job on the upholstery!

[ZeGermanHam]

I paid a visit to see the GTO tonight after not having seen it since the painter picked it up in late April. It's behind schedule, but progress has been made and I'm still enthusiastic about the outcome. As a discerning person myself, I can tell that the painter has a very keen attention to detail. He asks the right questions and notices the right things without being being prompted. Hoping to have the car back in my hands by the end of January.






At this stage, I have ordered any and all parts down to the nut & bolt that I will need to finish the project. I literally flipped through every page of the Ames catalogue to see if there was something I still needed, and then ordered all of it. I now have most items on hand that were ordered, but a few items remain on backorder (windshield, rear armrest pads, vent window seals, main window felts, and parking brake kit). The result is that there is now not a single part on the car that won't look brand new.

One fun item that I ponied up the big bucks for is a (somewhat) stock appearing digital stereo from AAR. Pretty trick little unit. It has Bluetooth, hands-free calling (not that I ever use the phone while driving to begin with), and also the ability to select from an array of EQ settings and adjust the fade and balance, plus a separate output for a sub. Seems kinda silly to spend a bunch of money on a stereo that will probably get used infrequently, but I plan to road trip the GTO when done so it will help pass the hours then.

[1_Wild_Cat]

It's behind schedule

What does that last word mean?

Looking great ZeGerman...I'll bet you can't wait to get it home. I'm with you on the sound system - good sounding tunes but tastefully hidden away is a trick with these cars.

BTW - Thanks for the update. I just about bumped this thread the other day wondering how you were doing.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by 1_Wild_Cat

What does that last word mean?

Looking great ZeGerman...I'll bet you can't wait to get it home. I'm with you on the sound system - good sounding tunes but tastefully hidden away is a trick with these cars.

BTW - Thanks for the update. I just about bumped this thread the other day wondering how you were doing.

Ha! Yeah, my buddy commented that paint and bodywork takes 3 times longer than you think it will, no matter how conservatively you estimate it will take. Seems true for me so far.

Otherwise, things with me and the project are good. I suppose a silver lining to the extended time it has taken to paint the body is that it allowed me to spread out the final purchases and keep my bank account from undergoing thermonuclear meltdown. Now that I've purchased virtually everything I'll need to finish the project and the money for paint is allocated, I can start healing my bank account and not worry about future purchases because there basically won't be any. None of significance, anyway. Feels good to have gotten over that hurdle, even if the car hasn't been reassembled yet. Now I can just relax and get fired up for bolting on all the nice new parts.

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

...Now that I've purchased virtually everything I'll need to finish the project and the money for paint is allocated, I can start healing my bank account and not worry about future purchases because there basically won't be any...

That's the lie we all tell ourselves.

[ZeGermanHam]

Ha! Watch me get the car all put together and then spin a bearing in the engine on the first drive...

[1_Wild_Cat]

Watch me get the car all put together and then spin a bearing in the engine on the first drive...

LOL…another optimist just like me. Only I have visions of get hit by a Prius…