Working on the interior, dash pads

By mid March, we have a good start on the interior.  Since a previous owner died the dash black, we had to pull the old vinyl off and replace with new vinyl.

The original dash.  After removing the pads, you can see the original red that wasn't dyed with the black.  We first tried to remove the black dye, but it wasn't possibly without ruining the material.

Dan pulled off all the old vinyl, and prepped the dash frame for the new red vinyl.

New vinyl goes on....it's not an easy process to lay flat.

Completed...still lots of work to do when installing.

Carpet is in.

Behind the seats, the jack/tool box area is completed.

Dash now with the dash pads and the instrument cluster.

The body is progressing well

The paint is curing very nicely. Body components coming along well.  Dan Devito is leading the effort.

We're targeting a factory finish, so this means leaving some orange peel in the finish rather than buffing it out, in particular, below the belt line of the body.  The factory buffers typically didn't lean down to buff below the belt line.

This is inside int he jack box, recently painted red to match the interior.

I love the taillights of the '63 vettes.

Headlight adjustors in, getting ready for the bulbs.

Dan admiring his work on the body.

The interior is next on the schedule over the next few weeks.

Frame painting completed

Dale at Autobody Dimensions  painted the frame (underside on top) in satin black (semi-gloss) and it came out beautiful...Tony and I inspected after each coat to ensure proper coverage.

Dale got a work out painting both sides of the frame.

Tony in the background observing and ensuring all areas were covered.

Coming along nicely.

The paint flowed on very well.

We rolled the chassis back across the street to Tony's shop.

We use this paint for touch ups to the frame

Rebuilding and painting components and priming the frame

We worked further on may of the chassis parts and the frame this week.

The starter needed a good rebuild and clean up - semi-gloss paint in the background which is what I'll use to paint these components.

Starter winding looks good...just a little cleaning

After bead blasting the starter - ready for paint

Semi-gloss black paint to finish it off.

Fan shroud after bead blasting

The original jack before restoration.

In the bead blaster...

Back to my work bench and ready for paint.

Completed jack

Dale painted the frame with a sealer/primer before painting the satin black tomorrow.

And the cross member....the original impossible to find 1963 bushings are taped up.

March 2019...prepping parts and the frame

Its March 2019 and we're working to finish the car by June to take it to the Bloomington Gold Show in Indianapolis and then the NCRS Nationals in Greenville, SC in July.  We're coming down the home stretch, but still a lot of work to do.  This week I'm working on getting the frame primed and painted and lots of parts, including brake drums, starter, springs and more.

Front springs in the glass bead blaster to clean up

Matching up to the Z06 Bible

Adding the proper Z06 green marking to the springs

Complete and ready for installation

Placing the bell housing in the hot wash/cleaning machine

After washing and light bead blast, the bell housing came up nice

Z06 finned drums reading for painting

Lower A-arm we sent out for powder coating