Final paint!

 Big progress update this week - we have color!  Just about everything is painted, next steps are color sanding and buffing before we get to assembly.  It's not the factory madeira maroon, but it's what we wanted.  The pictures look more red than it is in person, inside it looks to be maroon.  Should be great outside.  The trunk lid has been started to be sanded smooth which is why it's not glossy.  Hoping for spring driving.

Final primer and sealer

 After many months the body work is coming to an end!  It is incredible to see the Chevelle looking like a car again - I know there is lots of work left to put it all back together, but the big parts are back in place.
 Lot's of pictures in this update so you can see all of the great work Jack's team has done to knock out the rust. First is the back panel that set us back a year trying to find one that was rust free or fit will.  Just about everything you see between the tail lights was hand built.

 Everything underneath and inside is coated in bed liner for rust protection and sound control.  It also covers over my work on the floor.

Everything assembled for final fit and sanding.  I'm thankful Specialized has the patience to put it together and take it apart dozens of times, because I would have just said paint it.  Everything lines up perfect.  They set Jill up with degreaser and taught her how to wet sand primer.  Nice to know she had a part in the paint, even if it was 5 min out of months.

Visit to the body shop - choosing paint!

We got to see the amazing progress on the Chevelle today and wow, what a difference a year makes!  We were stalled that long in the quest for the rear panel and that held up the rest of the build because everything aligns off of that panel--doors, deck lid, everything was at a standstill.  It is now on the rotisserie for finishing and we could see all areas up close.  

The firewall is nice and smooth and ready for the Vintage Air unit to be mocked up.  Jack showed us the graphite used to find any pinhole or imperfection in the primer.  I have always seen a guide coat of paint - Jack says if any of this is left it can lead to paint lifting later.  This method ensures that this will be the last time the car needs painted.  Ever. 

The rear panel looks amazing--even better than the factory one probably ever did! Jack says he looked at one of the new aftermarket parts just out this year, and it was one piece instead of three, 1/2" short on one side and 3/4" long on the other.  It may may be just as well (despite the expense!) that they built this piece from scratch.   I guess the community will still be waiting for a quality reproduction.

The entire inside and underneath are encapsulated in truck bed liner to prevent rust from ever rearing it's ugly head again.  No more rust or holes into the trunk!  Looks like a new car; actually better than new.

Nice new hood looks great after being worked and primed.

Deck lid is one of the few remaining original parts and it needed major help--it appeared to be useable to my eye but inspection revealed rust under the lower lip and the skin was peeled back, metal replaced and the skin laid back down--perfection.

New front fenders looking good and ready to go!

 Inside has a nice, hard coating of truck bedliner that should also help with noise control--once the Hushmat is in, it should be as quiet as a high end new car. Bedliner was even sprayed up into all of the corners to keep everything quiet.

Trunk looking better than it ever has, even when new.

You can barely see the widened tunnel under the bed liner.  Once the console is in all of this will be hidden and look like it was original to the Chevelle.

Looks like a brand new car - but you can still find where it was repaired from the dump truck accident in 1965.  Just enough to give it character!

It's alive and looks like a car again!

They even shrink-wrapped the frame and engine to keep the shop dust off of it!  It is really exciting to see it coming back to life. Make no mistakes, it was a bucket of cash to get to this stage, but it will all be worth it in the end.  We're making a one off car with every part better than new.  There is a 427 Camaro and an early 70's Camaro in the shop ready for assembly.