Body work has been steadily progressing, probably because it's the one thing that I'm not responsible for. Every time I see the guy at the body shop, he shakes his head slowly with a wide-eyed look and says, "I never would have guessed it was that bad under there." Maybe it's an elaborate ruse, but I believe him. I don't tell him that I'm not at all surprised, just because it seems like this is the way my life tends to go.
They ended up ordering a lot of brand-new, reproduction sheet metal for the car, including quarter panels, the filler panel between the rear window and the trunk lid, a new radiator core support, and new door skins. There are other parts they would have liked to order, but they aren't available, like the trunk lid, the C-pillars, and probably just a complete 1965 Impala, really. For those items, they just had to rebuild what was there using sheet metal.
Here's a picture of Matilda with the passenger side quarter panel cut off:
And here's a close-up of the C-pillar on that side, where you can see the remains of someone else's efforts to pull out a dent at some time in the past:
There was a small depression in the chrome trim on the drip rail, like someone had pressed their thumb into a piece of clay. It fell right in line with that row of holes where someone was pulling out a dent, but I never would have guessed that all that was under there. Can I pick 'em, or what?
Here's a photo of the driver side, after they put the new quarters on, and with the new filler panel between the back window and the trunk lid:
Notice, also, that they transferred the threaded holes for the blowout straps over from the old filler panel to the new one. They've been very kind about not laughing at me and telling me what a stupid idea that is.
And here is a photo after they had primered the car:
It's not a very good picture, I guess I didn't hold the camera steady, or maybe the lens was smudged, or maybe it's just that the full glory of the restored body can't be accurately captured by today's meager technology, it's hard to say.
The yellow masking is on there because they were getting ready to shoot the underside of the car with "Lizard Skin." It's an undercoating that the bodyshop guy swears by. He said it's water-based, but once it cures you need a grinder to take it off. So it gives excellent protection from gravel and moisture and other stuff that wants to ruin the underside of your car. It is ceramic-based, and it supposedly also helps with insulation from noise and heat.
Meanwhile, several weeks ago they got the frame stripped down, blasted and powdercoated, and delivered it to my garage. I've got it sitting there on jackstands, awaiting installation of the suspension and drivetrain:
It is somewhat maddening to look at it sitting there, knowing that I have 90% of the parts I need to put it together, but unable to start without those last 10%. I've got the front control arms bolted up now, but I need to get my rearend rebuilt before I can really put the rear suspension together. There are a few other loose ends on the front suspension, too. At the same time, I am making slow progress on engine assembly, so I will mount the engine and transmission before the frame goes back to the bodyshop. I will also run some fuel and brake lines.
To try to organize my thoughts on what all needs to be done, I created a little work flowchart, and I try to get a little bit done every night:
It's similar to a lot of other common project management tools, but I think I kind of invented this exact format when I was working on a project at my old job. One thing I like about this format is that it shows, at a glance, all the things that I could be working on, so if I don't feel like doing one thing at the moment, I can see what other items I could be working in parallel.
Also, as I go along, I typically remove items that are completed to make room to break out the next tasks into smaller, more detailed tasks. That helps me remember all the little things that need to be done, and gives the satisfaction of crossing things off as "finished."
Anyway, it helps me to anticipate parts that I'm going to need in the future, but it also helps me to focus on doing what needs to be done next, instead of getting side-tracked on things that I don't need right now. Like painting rocker covers, for example....
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