57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looking good Vic...great that they're getting with it...

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

The box is looking great. I'm glad they're working on it. Hopefully it paint prison sentence is a short one.

Thanks, guys! Hot Rod Express called this morning with a question about the car and told me they'd moved it back to the body shop and are starting to block sand it. Hopefully they stay on it and don't run into too many issues with my work. I've tried to convey to them that my goal is a nice driver and I expect it to get rock chips and muck from road trips. As such, I don't need body and paint work to the level of a top ten show car. They charge an hourly rate instead of quoting a price for the job, so you can understand they have an incentive to do as much to it as they can. At 100 hours, their rate decreases from $65 to $50 but that still adds up in a hurry.

I did some more work on the stereo "box" to the point where it's ready to be covered with leatherette material to match the console lid. It will have to wait on that for a while, though, as I need to finish the mounts for it in the car ...which isn't here.

[Low Elco]

Looks awesome, Vic! Glad to see it going forward. Dad has a new resident at his house.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Looks awesome, Vic! Glad to see it going forward. Dad has a new resident at his house.

Thanks Chip! Yer ole Dad dropped by with the (99% finished) beauty and I took some photos. It looks great! I have the stainless tubing we need for the upper radiator hose upgrade, so just need the existing hose as a pattern. I might be able to get close with the pics I took, but it never hurts to have the real deal on hand.

I dropped off some additional parts/hardware at HRE this week. They're about ready to lift the body off the chassis for final priming, blocking and paint. They estimate next week for that. Plan is to return the chassis to me while the body is being painted and buffed, then back to them to set the body on. Don't know if it will happen quite that quickly, but I'm hopeful. Nearly all the spots they found doing the initial blocking have been repaired. Only one door gap remains to be done.

[Ol Blue K20]

It looks good. The front shot it looks mean.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

It looks good. The front shot it looks mean.

Without the grille and bumper it looks kinda like a gasser.

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Following along with this is exciting, LOL. I can't wait to see the next progress update, but I'm glad that you are paying the bills and not me.

Thanks Russell, I may need to start a GoFundMe page before this is all over.

I'm really looking forward to having the paint completed and all my stuff back home. They've started to disassemble everything in preparation for the final priming and blocking. I'll probably have to make a run down there the first of next week to pick up parts like the rear bumper, tail lights, moldings and etc. that they won't need going forward. I need to modify the inner fenders and core support, so they won't be doing anymore to them. Consequently, they'll be coming home with me also.

[Russell Ashley]

Following along with this is exciting, LOL. I can't wait to see the next progress update, but I'm glad that you are paying the bills and not me.

[Low Elco]

I'm diggin' that hood brace!

[Vic1947]

Just a quick update...

Forward progress on the paint front has been fairly steady. Not as much done as I'd prefer, but they do have other customers too I reckon. The front clip, doors and hatch have all been blocked twice with a guide coat and are ready for paint. The body still needs to come off the chassis, then they'll return just the chassis to me at the house for a few things I need to do before reassembly.

They'll have to re-prime the body and block it like they did the removable parts. Then finally we may see some color. This whole project has gotten out of hand from a financial standpoint, so to cut some costs, I elected to forego the red two tone. Painting it solid silver will probably save several thousand dollars and get everything back to me a couple of weeks sooner. At least I hope so. I'll have to re-do the dash parts that I painted red, but that's no biggie.

I've been hacking up the inner fenderwells to remove the support ribs and flatten out the back where it attaches to the firewall. To help maintain the correct shape, I've been doing it in pieces. I used the bead roller to offset the edge and will build a removable panel out of aluminum sheet metal to fill the gaping hole (outlined in yellow) where the fresh air ducts used to be. I threw in a photo of the unmolested side for comparison with yellow arrows showing the areas I modified.

[mongocanfly]

Sucks about the paint budget...but itll look good no matter the color...

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Sucks about the paint budget...but itll look good no matter the color...

X2, I think it'll still be awesome looking

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Sucks about the paint budget...but itll look good no matter the color...

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

X2, I think it'll still be awesome looking

Thanks guys, I think the small amount of billet, the polished stainless trim and the chrome will be all the silver needs as complimentary colors. Shouldn't be too long before we find out.

HRE lifted the body off the chassis late Monday then brought the chassis to me yesterday. I'm taking a break to post on the forum after spending a considerable amount of time this morning pondering how to route the trans cooler lines. Seems like every path runs into multiple obstacles. I'd prefer to do it all in hard lines, but I may have to give in and use flex hose rated for the pressure. The last set of exhaust hangers will also be testers. No wonder I left them to do at a later date.

Talked to the shop this morning and they have the body in the paint booth masking it for primer. Hope they get it sprayed today. As far as I know, all that remains to be done after that is to apply a guide coat and block the primer. Unless something else interferes, we may see some color by next week.

[knomadd]

Hey Vic, sorry to hear about the budget issues. I'm sure the car will still look great in silver!

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I'm taking a break to post on the forum after spending a considerable amount of time this morning pondering how to route the trans cooler lines. Seems like every path runs into multiple obstacles. I'd prefer to do it all in hard lines, but I may have to give in and use flex hose rated for the pressure.

I have an idea about this... Without seeing the obstacles, I'm not sure what to suggest, but wanted to give you this option, if you don't already know about it... I've been using PTFE lined braided stainless hose for just about everything lately. It's great for fuel, oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, coolant, just about anything. It won't rot out like the standard rubber stuff, but it's definitely pricey and won't do tight bends like rubber. Obviously these are drawbacks, but from a longevity standpoint (like hard line) it's pretty darn good!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Hey Vic, sorry to hear about the budget issues. I'm sure the car will still look great in silver! I have an idea about this... Without seeing the obstacles, I'm not sure what to suggest, but wanted to give you this option, if you don't already know about it... I've been using PTFE lined braided stainless hose for just about everything lately. It's great for fuel, oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, coolant, just about anything. It won't rot out like the standard rubber stuff, but it's definitely pricey and won't do tight bends like rubber. Obviously these are drawbacks, but from a longevity standpoint (like hard line) it's pretty darn good!

Thanks, Duane! I came to somewhat the same conclusion as you but decided to order rubber lined stainless braided hose and the corresponding fittings. It's slightly less expensive than the PTFE, rated for transmission fluid and will handle the pressure. It's a bit more flexible and will easily go around the stuff that's in the way. It's supposed to be here tomorrow so I'll try to post some photos after I get it laid out.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I sorta finished the last exhaust hangers. I say "sorta" because the Delrin I used for noise dampening may not work as I hoped. After tacking the first tab in place on the tailpipe, when I disassembled everything to make a full pass with the TiG, I noticed the heat from the tack welds caused the Delrin to melt slightly. I stopped what I was doing and looked on the Google for the melting point of Delrin which is 350 degrees. So then I got to wondering if the tailpipes would ever exceed that under a load. The closest I came to actual hard data was a graph of predicted versus actual tailpipe temps at various distances from the engine. From what I could tell it could range from 200 to 400 degrees.

Called my brother in law, Rick for advice and he pointed out that without knowing the diameter of the pipe, whether it was a single or dual exhaust and whether there was airflow over the pipe during the test there's no way to know if the results could be used to predict what will happen in my scenario. Like me, he's adverse to do-over's so the path of least resistance is to check it after going out for a spin and if the Delrin has melted away, switch to PTFE which has a melting point of 600+ degrees. I went ahead and ordered a one foot piece of PTFE rod off of eBay just to be on the safe side. I doubt HRE will need the chassis back before I get the material in and have a chance to re-machine the bushings. I guess the lesson here is to check to see if there's water in the pool before you jump.

[Ol Blue K20]

Ooh.....ooh....I can't wait to see it......

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Ooh.....ooh....I can't wait to see it......

OK, here's a sneak preview...

Sean at Hot Rod Express sent me a few photos this morning of the parts he squirted last Friday. Fenders, top of the hood and other loose parts getting prepped in the booth today and should be done by tomorrow.

[mongocanfly]

Oh yeah...that looks real nice..!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Oooh!! I like it. Thanks for sneaking us a peek.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Oh yeah...that looks real nice..!!

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Oooh!! I like it. Thanks for sneaking us a peek.

Thanks, guys! They've been making good progress. Kathy and I went down there on Monday and looked everything over. It's even nicer in person. Sean, their painter, did a great job of laying down the base and clear. No runs, no drips, no errors. The body is in the final stages of prep. They were blocking the last of the primer while we were there. All of the loose parts are complete except for the cut and buff part. There was very little orange peel and hardly any dust nibs, so that should go fairly quickly. They prefer to let the parts sit for a week or two so everything is completely cured. Don't know for sure, but maybe by the first of September we'll have it all back here at the house.

I've been working on a short punch list for the chassis and parts I retrieved after they disassembled everything for the color. The metal work is done on the first of the inner fender wells and I've applied a base layer of Duraglass over the welded areas. Waiting for a few things to arrive from eBay to complete the list of tasks on the chassis but should easily be done before they need the chassis back to mate it to the body.

[Scott2]

Looks great!

[mongocanfly]

Looks great Vic...gotta make you feel good...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Scott2

Looks great!

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looks great Vic...gotta make you feel good...

Thanks, guys. Seeing things start to come together gets me recharged.

I deviated from the punch list today after deciding the H-pipe in the exhaust was just not working for me. The shifter cable was way too close to it and would require that I fabricate a standoff to keep it from burning a spot in the plastic sheath. Plus, if I ever needed to drop the trans for any reason, it would be right in the way. So I cut it off at each end and capped it with some 1/8" cold rolled plate. Problem solved.

While finishing up the weld on the driver side, a molten BB bounced off my helmet and onto my scalp. As I shook my head, it exited and fell on the towel I was laying on, promptly setting it on fire. So now I'm doing the Watusi under the car beating the hot spots with my welding gloves. For just an instant, I had a vision of my ponytail going up like the Hindenburg. But fortunately it didn't come to that. I will admit, though, I was moving like a teenager there for a little bit.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, guys. Seeing things start to come together gets me recharged.

I deviated from the punch list today after deciding the H-pipe in the exhaust was just not working for me. The shifter cable was way too close to it and would require that I fabricate a standoff to keep it from burning a spot in the plastic sheath. Plus, if I ever needed to drop the trans for any reason, it would be right in the way. So I cut it off at each end and capped it with some 1/8" cold rolled plate. Problem solved.

While finishing up the weld on the driver side, a molten BB bounced off my helmet and onto my scalp. As I shook my head, it exited and fell on the towel I was laying on, promptly setting it on fire. So now I'm doing the Watusi under the car beating the hot spots with my welding gloves. For just an instant, I had a vision of my ponytail going up like the Hindenburg. But fortunately it didn't come to that. I will admit, though, I was moving like a teenager there for a little bit.

Looking good Vic, I bet your getting a bit excited..

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Looking good Vic, I bet your getting a bit excited..

That I am, Dale. Plan to go down tomorrow to see the finished product if they get it done.

Unfortunately, Sean (the painter at HRE) called this morning to discuss a minor hiccup. As he was blowing off the body with compressed air, an area on the cowl lifted. Apparently, I didn't get the EDP scuffed adequately and the air found a way under the primer/paint and blew it away. Pretty embarrassing. It was the only spot that he found and can be easily repaired, but still. This is what happens when you let an old guy work unsupervised.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

That I am, Dale. Plan to go down tomorrow to see the finished product if they get it done.

Unfortunately, Sean (the painter at HRE) called this morning to discuss a minor hiccup. As he was blowing off the body with compressed air, an area on the cowl lifted. Apparently, I didn't get the EDP scuffed adequately and the air found a way under the primer/paint and blew it away. Pretty embarrassing. It was the only spot that he found and can be easily repaired, but still. This is what happens when you let an old guy work unsupervised.

Oops, always gotta be a hic up or you get worried.

[Low Elco]

I saw the pics on FB, I'm so glad you're seein' progress! Vic's gonna have a busy winter!