richieg

iTrader: (1)

I bought this car almost two years ago "sight-unseen". I can honestly say, I will never do that again. I got the perfect story from the previous owner about the car. father & son project, etc, blah, blah, only a dime size of rust in one of the rockers. Well after getting it delivered I drove it around a couple of miles parked it, went to start it a half hour later and the wiring harness caught fire, and I left her sitting in front of the house. A month later I pushed it in the garage and started exploring problem areas. Basically the car was almost a total loss. I'm sure if I dug around, this thing had to have been totalled before. The only usable parts were the hood, part of the side cowl, and part of the dash. The previous owner had no place working on a car, but should have been a sculpture. The bondo work was amazing. I can honestly say that over 50 gallons of bondo was used in this car, a full box of shop towels, 6 street signs, one package of fiberglass layed with super glue, 10 gallons of rhino liner, and 1 bag of concrete. Even with that sorted list of materials, the body lines were perfect. Allthough the guy had to put on 11 1/2 shackles on the back to accomodate the extra weight. Either way, I left it alone for a good while, then last november I decided I'd actually try to bring it back to glory. Well almost a year later it left 2 days ago for paint. I've never done a project this large involving cars, but I'm glad I did, and felt the need to share my ordeal with other car guys. I won't clutter up the post with pics, but here's a link to my picture gallery if you want to see a 1st gen tore up and put back together. http://mobius1.net/gallery/index.php?cat=4
The body shop it's going to is owned by friends. They've agreed to make me "shop bitch" which means I get to do all of the sanding and prep work supervised by them, that way when it's all done I can honestly say that I rebuilt this thing myself. But it also means it will be a month & a half before it's done. But I'll definatley ***** out pics of the finished product when it's done.

Captainofiron

iTrader: (1)

nice man

its good to see a few others out there building honest to God muscle cars and bringing old cars back to their former glory

wish I had more time and money so I could finally finish my 68

richieg

iTrader: (1)

Being my first time ever owning or working on a first gen, I'm just happy I could build it up this far along. My happiest moment was when I delivered it to the guys doing the paint. They are the old timer type that know these cars very well. When they gave their seal of approval, it was a great feeling of relief. The car will have factory interior, but I converted it to all wheel disk brakes. Strangely enough, the car came with a 1976 455. not a 67-68 400. But the engine was completely rebuilt and tweaked. I have a 12bolt on the way for it. This thing should be torquey as hell. And the march serpentine system isn't original, but damn that thing looks good.

Captainofiron, let me know if you're looking for anything for your project. There's alot of stuff I took off my car that could have been cleaned up and re-used. I'm not looking to make money on the stuff, just get it out of my garage. I even have a damn near complete driver quarter panel brand new with some metal cut off.

LSfan70s

What about some pics of the paint job??
That would be nice!

richieg

iTrader: (1)

and once it's painted I will. Normal life complications, and a new baby are taking up my time at the moment. But eventually I'll get it done.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

As I was reading this part, I thought to myself how can this get any worse?

judgeraiv

That is going to be sweet,Nice Engine!

LSfan70s

How much would you charge for a body work like that?
Im starting the body work of my bird in 2 weeks, but I think it's costing me too much.

richieg

iTrader: (1)

Well I'm a wok at home dad, and my bird was a project to keep me in the garage away form the kids. Working on my bird was more of an excuse to stay out in the garage away from crying kids. bottom line, I don't have a going rate for myself. most shops I've talked to start around the $45 an hour mark and go up to $65. What are you getting quoted?

LSfan70s

I'm paying $3000 for a 6 months job. The guy is replacing lower rear patches, adding some stripes to uper and lower windshield frame, adding some patches here and there, will replace rockers, fix up doors, complete floors, get the whole body ready for paint and some other things not major tham the ones I have mentioned.
For the prices you've told me, I guess I got a good deal.

If someone thinks I can get a better deal, please let me know.

mikey67

Nice work! That was a hell of an undertaking. That is going to be really nice when you complete it!

richieg

iTrader: (1)

Lsfan, I'd say be thrilled at that price. really! As a matter of fact, I'm curious how well the guy has looked the car over. With all of the work you're talking about, I would be expecting previously undiscovered problems to arise during the progress. Heck, I'm surprised a body guy would even come out with a hard figure before getting into it. Either way, I'd say you're getting a good deal.

LSfan70s

Well that's the price he came up by hiting the body with some sort of hammer and checking stuff, with the car completely naked (no interior, no dash, no roof, no cables, no glasses, no nothing, just the body). The body is very good condition, but he said that he might find the devil hidden under the paint, but that's something I'm praying won't happend. But if it happends, wich I beleieve it will, the price may rise a "little".
Thanks for your help richieg.

MrElectric03

iTrader: (71)

Nice job! My 68 Firebird 400 isnt as good looking as your car when it got there or when you were done but its a nice project. All I need to do is sell my 94 Z28 and my 72 Firebird so I can get my 68 where I can work on it and start restoring it. I sure hope it looks as good as that someday.Great work!