1966 Chevelle Project: One Piece at a Time...
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Well....it's been a minute since my last post and a few things have changed, I'll spare everyone the details, but here's the cliff notes version. Sold the house and almost everything we owned, quit my corporate job, and my wife and I moved to a small beach town in the Florida panhandle. July 2018 I drove back to Arizona, bought a trailer and hauled my car back to Florida where she sat for a little over a year in the trailer. This Sept, I found a space to work on her, so after about 4 ½ years....the project is back on! She's got a little more Arizona surface rust and the drive back to FL beat the heck out of her, the A-pillars and bracing broke off so it was really back to square one. A little over a month ago I drove 1000 miles (roundtrip) down to Punta Gorda (FL) to pick up a chassis so I could start putting the body back together, however I still plan to buy an aftermarket frame in the near future. Last month my parts order showed up and I've been pleasantly surprised how the reconstruction has been going. I've got the cowl, floor & rockers locked with vise grips and sheet metal screws and am doing a rough test fit of the fenders and doors laster this week.
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You mentioned that you are in Arizona but purchased the car in Milwaukee.
Is there a reason you got car from Milwaukee being that you could have purchased a pretty much rust free or minimum rust car in Arizona or the Southwest?
You would have been way ahead.
Just curious.
Is there a reason you got car from Milwaukee being that you could have purchased a pretty much rust free or minimum rust car in Arizona or the Southwest?
You would have been way ahead.
Just curious.
Thanks Dan, it's a long story with a very abrupt moment of clarity where we realized we were spent, not happy and money or titles no longer mattered, so we decided to make a change. We were just talking about it last night and both of us are waaay happier, less stress and we both get to do what energizes us. You can say I retired, but I enjoy building/renovating homes and cars, so if I can make money doing either it's a way better option than the corporate gig (spent 18yrs with the same company). The belief that we have to work til were 65 (or longer) to then "retire" never made sense to us, so why wait.
Totally reasonable question. I looked around at the time and couldn't find anything I could afford and wasn't plugged into the car community in Phoenix so I didn't have any leads or a network of friends that could keep an eye out for me. Ultimately it just came down to me being ok with the challenge of this sort of build and it was all I could afford at the time.
I'm getting to your point. I don't think I'll have to go that far but I am replacing roof skin, quarters, full floor and rockers, trunk pan, wheel houses, firewall tail panel, quarter extensions, windshield lower channel. I am probably forgetting something lol...
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Lookin good though my man! At least you'll know everything is new and nothing is lurking. I am replacing everything but the trunk lid so if you have any questions don't hesitate to shoot me a message.
Update: Feeling like I'm making progress.
Driver door and fender looking good, just a little more adjustment to bring the fender flush with the door, not sure how I'm gonna do that, but I'll just keep trying. The fender crown line and top line of the door line up well and body lines are just about there. Driver side A-pillar cap fits well and has a good transition to the topside of the back of the fender. Before I go too far, I'll probably test fit the quarter in the next day or so.
Passenger side is a little different story...Good news is that I test fit the quarter panel today and she fits pretty well, nothing way out of wack, which was surprising given what she's been trough. The door, however, keeps fighting me. The bottom of the front of the door lines up with the top of the rocker, but the back of the door is too low. Back at it tomorrow...
Driver door and fender looking good, just a little more adjustment to bring the fender flush with the door, not sure how I'm gonna do that, but I'll just keep trying. The fender crown line and top line of the door line up well and body lines are just about there. Driver side A-pillar cap fits well and has a good transition to the topside of the back of the fender. Before I go too far, I'll probably test fit the quarter in the next day or so.
Passenger side is a little different story...Good news is that I test fit the quarter panel today and she fits pretty well, nothing way out of wack, which was surprising given what she's been trough. The door, however, keeps fighting me. The bottom of the front of the door lines up with the top of the rocker, but the back of the door is too low. Back at it tomorrow...
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Stoopid question alert. After about a dozen tries, I cannot get the rear of my passenger door from sagging. New door, new hinges, new bolts (all in place and tightened) and new door hinge pillar. When closing it, I can lift the door and it will go into place against the striker bolt, but without my help it will drop about 1/8"-3/16" below the rocker lip. Any help/tips/tricks will be greatly appreciated.
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Well, a little update here. Last week my chassis arrived, the 8-10 week time turned into 5 months (nobody planned on a pandemic), nonetheless she got unloaded, uncrated and now it's time to get my car on her final chassis and get her back together. Plenty of work ahead. I'm posting most the progress pics on my Instagram account @ thelocalspeedshop since that platform is just easier to upload pics/videos.
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Awesome.
I too enjoy the process so, for me, time frames are not even considered.
Hope you continue posting pics here. Web based forums are about as close to "social media" I'm willing to get.
I too enjoy the process so, for me, time frames are not even considered.
Hope you continue posting pics here. Web based forums are about as close to "social media" I'm willing to get.
Laffin, yeah I'll for sure continue to post on TC, this community has been so great aint no way I'm ducking out.
Day 15 update. Spent time getting the doors/quarters/fenders to a good point. That passenger side was misbehaving so I had to go backwards to go forwards, no biggie just part of the process. Yesterday the trunk pan went under the knife. The pan braces have been a little tricky, but I'm enjoying the learning. Had to do a quick cleanup on the threads for the driver side bracket, but all's good now...I do have to say so far these AMD panels have been pretty dang good. I'm planning on running a 28" diameter wheel/tire combo (20" wheel with 335/30 tires)so after modifying the brackets, I should have about ½" of room, but we'll see. Progress
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