[jtwebb]

Well, the front clip is off the 69, the engine is ready to come out and I am already feeling beat. For starters, someone earlier had done a half-a$$ed resto, and patced things any way they could as long as it would be covered up. The frame looks to be pretty rusted in places, floor pan appears to have some type of silicone on top of the trans on the under side of the car. The car is what I would call a good 20 footer, so the way I see it, anything I do will only improve on what I had. Frame cleaning, paint, firewall paint, all that good stuff. I realize there are about 500 steps in this process, and I am on like #2 so I am going to try and not get down. How do you guy's handle it when you are/ were at this stage of the game?
Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[Chevello]

Just keep telling yourself "This is gonna be SOOOOOOO Cool when I get done.

Oh, and try to do at least a little whenever you can. But don't try to do it all in one day. Best to make a list starting from where you want to get, then figure all the steps to get there, then break it into chunks that you can accomplish in a reasonable period of time. That way you can cross things off the list as you go. Punch lists with a bunch of cross-offs are good to see when they are taped to the side of the car.

Hth

K

 

[GRN69CHV]

Two choices, do it as you go (driving resto) or tear it down and set off on a 2 - 3 (or longer resto). Best way for me has been the 2 - 3 year deal, but I only disassemble and work on certain areas of the car at a time.

 

[Marci]

Hey there, JT.....welcome to the absolute best Chevelle place ever!

Check out some of my pictures (you'll find them in my sig) and you'll see that I just went through all that. Took the entire front clip off and replaced the engine and tranny......My motivation? It runs SO BAD A$$ NOW!!!!!!!!!

Ever feeling discouraged, just holler and we'll be there to encourage you or buy your car...whichever comes first.... :thumbsup:

 

[136679ss]

I'm sure I wont be the first to tell you this, but the further you dig, the bigger the can of worms becomes. Just be sure to walk away when you become frustrated, you'll know the right time to go and continue the work you started. JN

 

[Jim Mac]

Im from the Car Craft school of thought. I figure I would love to have my chevelle nice enough to enter it into car shows, but I really want to drive the dang thing, I figure I'm getting mine in safe running condition, nice rims,tires,decent interior,mild motor, figure I'd try to get the mechanicals out of the way, drive the thing like I stole it, and if I ever hit the lottery then I'd have the body and paint completed, but since I'm sure I wont hit the lottery, I may go the one day paint route, so when some idiot in a parking lot bangs a shopping cart and scratch it I won't really feel so bad. Jim

 

[ssal396]

Just take your time & do things right the first time.. We've all been there, fixing other peoples half a$$ed repairs just goes along with the territory..

Scott

 

[obseSSed]

Welcome to the world of restoration...Just go to the showroom and look at what your velle could (will) look like someday. That should give youa little motivation. Just keep at it..if you get frustrated just walk away for a couple of days and keep talking to your buds at Team Chevelle....They'll help you get through it :beers:

You might want to take pictures before disassembly so that you can keep track of where everything went...it's very helpful if you are doing a complete rebuild that will take some time...Unless you are very experienced and familiar with the car, your memory will fail you. You also might want to bag and label small parts and catalog them. It takes some extra time, but just makes the rebuild a little easier when you go to put parts back on the car.

 

[jtwebb]

Thanks again folks for the great advice. I am looking forward to the challenge.