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The weather here in the Northwest has been insane, its rained more days than any other year and its really putting a damper on my progress. I've been trying to make things work but I'm going a little insane not being able to do any painting or stuff.
I really wanted to have the body and firewall painted by April/May so its still within the window but barely.
I don't remember why I got this piece of metal at the steel yard but I know I spent $6 on it and it sure came in handy today.
Kind of a pain to cut out with a grinder, but the belt sander cleaned it up pretty well.
The firewall should be done this week, then I'm pulling the dash and I'll be back onto cleaning the bottom of the car to get it ready for paint.
Jessica
Yeah, I am in Eugene and I am sick of the rain also. Enjoying your build.
Thanks! I feel like I'm going crazy I just need a good week of no rain and 60* or warmer days so I can paint the body and then I can move forward. Of course all this cold wet stuff has given me little motivation to finish up the bottom of the car so even if I got good weather tomorrow I couldn't do anything
Well I got that firewall plate drilled out and bolted up. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't be thick enough material but it isn't flexing or popping in and out so I think it'll work just fine.
I'm still dealing with the cleaning of the body but I went ahead and ordered my body bushing kit and engine/trans mounts. Its a good thing I had some new rubber mounts because the poly inserts don't come with the metal surround. I just cut up the new rubber ones and put the poly parts in them.
I also decided to put my leather Camaro seats in my Fiero because they are just sitting around and they are in good shape. Then I went and got another set of Camaro seats locally that were $40 that look horrible but are mechanically fine. I really never liked the grey leather in my black interior of the El Camino but didn't want to recover them because they were in great shape.
So that about finishes off the frame!
I'm glad I didn't have to reuse any of the old parts I pulled off the car at least.
They look right at home in the Fiero.
These are perfect for a recovering job.
Anyways I've been busy with the Fiero and the S10 lately, and fixing up some stuff on the dually. I just figured out what was causing the codes to be thrown in the Fiero so its running great now. The S10 had a balljoint cotter pin fail and that was a fiasco, but luckily not too damaging. I just need to replace a bent tie rod (that was brand new after rebuilding the suspension). I also just got done replacing the U-joints but need to put the driveshaft back in now haha.
I swear whenever I say I'm going to do more on the El Camino everything else takes priority.
Jessica
Look at you go! great job on the frame. I just took on another project and had to put the monte on the back burner for now. Awaiting your final assembly, cant be much longer...
Look at you go! great job on the frame. I just took on another project and had to put the monte on the back burner for now. Awaiting your final assembly, cant be much longer...
Thats always the way it goes! Another project and you put one on hold.
I should be putting things back together here soon. Cleaning up the bottom of the car, welding up holes and dressing the welds has been taking a really long time. I've been focusing on getting my C30 on the road lately and getting it looking nicer. This weekend should be clear so I'm going to try and finish getting my new doors ready for the dually and welding up some of the body molding holes while its sunny.
I also got new shoes for the Fiero
They're stock FRS/BRZ wheels.
Some other not so great things have happened as well, but until I have a resolution I'm going to keep it to myself. Its just causing me grief and I have to deal with it and figure out what all it means for the builds and my time.
Jessica
Thanks!
I've finished welding and dressing all the plugs/holes in the firewall. I also closed up the rear wiring hole in the under bed cubby the other day. I still need to climb in there with my grinder and flatten down the welds but I hate being in a little metal box with a grinder
I shaved the LS2 fuel rail covers I got for free and painted them the same color as my hood stripes.
I need to get the dually moving again so part of that is also getting all the parts ready to go on the truck. I wrapped these over memorial day weekend.
Its not perfect but its getting there and there is basically no rust on these, unlike the ones on the car.
Hopefully a lot of the welding on the Dually will get done now that the weather is finally starting to get nice and that will get off my plate and the El Camino will get back on track.
Jessica
Well I haven't done anything on the El Camino in the last month.
My Daily driver S10 got side swiped and although its not too bad it was a pain to deal with. Plus I have to fix it myself because the other driver won't admit fault. Anyways I was getting ready to sell that truck anyways but now it needs a door and a bed side. I picked up a 95 2 door 4wd blazer to replace the mini truck. I've got some crazy ideas for it, including putting an AWD transfer case in it and dropping it an inch or so. That will make it more like a Typhoon, and better in the rain this winter, then I'll worry more about power.
I also decided to get the dually working and fixed before I mess with the El Camino any more. Luckily the only thing I really need to deal with this summer on the El Camino is painting the belly and interior and I have a few months to get that done. It will just make my life a lot easier to have all the dually parts out of my way and back on the truck. Plus once it can run and drive I can move it out of the driveway and push my frame out of the garage and clean/work/paint easier inside the garage. The rest of the El Camino work will be stuff I can do when its rainy or cold in the winter, because it'll just be wiring up the car and installing parts.
I've been trying to weld the driveshaft safety loop bracket back onto the bottom of the El Camino floor pans, and I really hate welding overhead so that sucks. Thats about all thats left to weld on the bottom of the car though. I should have more updates soon, but I've been a bit busy lately.
So I'm still alive and kicking. The project got a little off the rails this summer and I had to deal with a bunch of other stuff that took a ton of my time.
The dually has a new fuse box/wiring harness and the cab and front are all done. The rear is a project for this spring/summer. It does drive again though!
The Fiero is a blast and its been doing great as a daily driver. I still need to finish the hood with a scoop thats in my garage.
The frame is all done and ready to go under the car. There were a few things I've changed but nothing major.
I sanded and filled the firewall, its not completely shaved but I did fill all the old holes and make it look a lot nicer.
The crazy body is basically ready to spin now, I have a driveshaft safety loop mount to weld onto the floor pan, and a little bit of undercoat to scrape off under the bed still. I'm about ready to start cleaning and scuffing for paint and seam sealer. <br/>
Anyways I'm still getting things done, my original plan was to have it back to a roller by the end of 2017 but with a bunch of work travel and a lot of hiccups with the dually I didn't get things painted when the weather was warmer. I should be in good shape now though to get it done by spring.
Jessica
So I've made more progress! Its not a lot but its getting there.
I bent and adjusted the float on the S10 Blazer sending unit to get it to fit inside the El Camino tank. If you want to copy it I used -5 for the return and -6 for the supply on the sender. All the other lines on the car are -6 though.
I'm using tube nuts and sleeves on the 80s S10 Blazer sender with the stock flares cut off.
This is the PTFE lined hose from JEGS, and its much easier to work with than the old stainless stuff.
I need to order a few more fittings to finish the fuel system but that'll wait till after the body is on the frame.
Anyways, I am almost done with scraping the body. My goal is to have the bottom of the car primed and bed lined by May or Jun, and have the cab and firewall primed and painted satin black. I'm going to paint the cubby behind the seats with bed liner as well and omit the carpet in there.
Was just looking at the shot of our frame. Are G-body El Camino frames fully boxed?
The front section is a box till about the transmission cross member mounting point (varies on the year of the car and it isn't even on both sides). The rear is boxed to just in front of the lower rear trailing arm mounting point. The center section is a C channel like on all the other G-body cars.
I boxed the center section, made braces for the rear trailing arm mounts, as well as a couple triangulated tube braces for the front and rear of the frame. Jessica
To anyone who does overhead welding I commend you! I went ahead and welded the stock driveshaft safety loop mounts onto the new floor pans. I probably should have done it before I put them in the car, but I wanted to make sure the loop still fit when the pans were in place. I'm going to grind down the welds, but for my first time welding like that I think its alright. They are definitely not coming off without a fight.
Great welders please look away now .
Getting really close to having things ready for paint by the time the weather gets warm
Jessica
I'm thinking lots of wax and grease remover, then sand it down with 80 grit, then clean again and it'll be ready for primer and bed liner.
Does that sound right?
I finished scraping the undercoat off the bottom of the car! I don't think I'll ever do this again (but really who knows if the right project comes along I'll do it again)
Depends how nice you want it. I would just wipe it down a couple times with cleaners and shoot the bed liner. That stuff has excellent adhesion and covers a lot of small imperfections. Looks like you might have it on the road this summer?
Depends how nice you want it. I would just wipe it down a couple times with cleaners and shoot the bed liner. That stuff has excellent adhesion and covers a lot of small imperfections. Looks like you might have it on the road this summer?
That would be cool! Maybe it'll get pushed onto the road this summer but I doubt it'll move on its own
04-26-2017, 12:54 PM
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