A Little Off The Top---Please (part 3) The Build

well when I left off with "part 2" I had sandblasted the whole car and found some places that needed attention--I also took the big cube engine apart to redo only to find a spun bearing on #8 so it went into the corner for a while--then a little surprise one Saturday morning when I was suppose to be getting ready for work ended up with an ambulance ride to the hospital then a helicopter ride to Kelowna to get my heart repaired after a heart attack--don't remember any of it and am doing fine now--sure slowed me down though and when I get tired I stop--was a while before I got back to the car but am working on it still-----

while recouping I got bored so used some leftover parts from my parts car to make some wall art



there was rust hiding under the old paint and bondo so cut it out and put new in



welded the firewall in too



had to stop work so sealed it up as winter was coming





this car is being built for comfort so split bench full power seats but chevy floor pan isn't flat so out with the cut off saw and there you go--2 18" holes in the floor




problem #1--chevy doesn't use x-members in the frame--there in the floor pan and 1 goes right where I cut so some planning was required--new x-members that will be used for seat mounts too

out with the pattern paper to get the holes closed



transfer to metal



make it fit and weld it in








floor is finished --I had a backup engine--320hp--350 Olds so tore it down to find a low mileage super engine so off to machine shop for a clean up and it is now waiting to be reassembled

it is now time to get the mud work done and finish the body--then assemble the engine and hear it run





that's all for now as everyone knows seeing body work is like watching paint dry---lol

Bob.............thanks so much for your story and the awesome workmanship on your car. The floor redo looks like factory......Glad you are feeling better and getting back in the swing of things....

Hey nice firewall! Lol!

Glad you are back at it Bob.

Lookin good. You are ahead of me.

You are poking along there nicely Bob, man I am glad to hear you are doing fine, kind of gives you a reality check eh.

...glad you're back at it Bob and fully recovered. I'll be watching every update and the knack of making changes look factory is outstanding and well worth the extra time and fabbing...

I like this boy named Hunter. His car is aight too!!

I second the praise heeeped on be Mr. Tinnman !! A big thumbs up for feeling better too !

Nice work. I like the chop. Door/Wall art is great.

Al

Very nice work...

hey Matt--firewall looks great--you guys did an awesome job--thanks

Glad to hear that you are back at it again Bob, I love the work you have done. Geez mate, take it easy though.

Just teasing Bob! Glad to hear you are back at it.

well I guess it's update time--they say as you get older your wiser----well I don't think so--I was going great on the mud work when I did a foolish thing at work without proper ventilation and it took 2 months before I could breath properly without gasping for air and heavy coughing--got direct orders no more dust even though I used a mask in the shop which meant body work came to a screaming halt--I finally found a body man that would work after hours in my shop for a reasonable price so progress is happening again--first thing he said was gaps were too close so he ground them and I welded them --



trunk gap was too wide





finally he said --"that's it--out of the shop till he said ok" it was time for him to go to work





so that's it for now--I peek in the window or when the door is open then head back to the pool

Thanks Bob, nice to see you are moving forward again, but listen to the Docs mate, we like having you around.

Sorry to hear about your health issues.

Happy to see an update on this build.

Looking good and glad to see the progress.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.......... an update. Most appreciated, Bob.

Did ya get a little box of plaques from Earl?

Gezzz Bobby boy, about time you started taking care of yourself, you want to live long enough to enjoy some time with this ride, keep away from dusty stuff etc and take care mate.
The car is looking razor sharp mate.