Once the paint covered all the bare primer, it was amazing how much more inspired I became! Okay, so there is still a lot of color sanding to take care of, but there is also a lot of trim and seals that can be installed now.
The vent window assemblies were complete less the glued-on rubber seals, so I finished that part and began installing the windows. It was another visual accomplishment to fuel my enthusiasm.
To fuel it a bit more, I decided to make the back end look more finished, and the bumper, splash shield, and hinged license plate frame/gas-fill cover are now in place. The trunk lock and pot metal “V” passed a fit-check, but must wait to be fastened in place after color sanding the trunk.
Today, some of the last chrome parts went to the re-plating shop today. I should have brought them in earlier as I just realized the stainless-steel window frames will have to be attached to the glass before I can install the power windows.
Last week I ordered the mufflers and tailpipes from Waldron. I should have ordered them earlier too, as the quote is 8-weeks for delivery. They have the tailpipes in stock, but the mufflers are made in Canada and their factory just reopened after being closed for the virus, so I guess it wouldn’t have done any good to order earlier!
Exhaust pipes will have to be fabricated at a later time in a local shop, so my plan is to temporarily install flex-pipe so I can start the engine and sort out all the inevitable problems that are waiting to surprise and frustrate.
I look back at the last ten years of dreaming, designing, repairing, fabricating, learning, and changing nearly every part and I realize that only the basic sheet metal shell is anywhere close to stock, and it too has been massaged and/or altered functionally…if not so much visually.
Inside, the changes are even more extreme from floorboards to headliner, and everything in between. About the only things recognizable to a stock ’56 Plymouth owner would be the control knobs on the dash, but I hope I will have been able to make the changes look like they might have come from the era.
Is it not "funny" how we remember the good parts and forget the thousand bad times ? Good thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've had my share of problems created by trying to do too many new things, yet resolving a new or odd problem often provides the most satisfaction. My only real regret is not starting my project a few years earlier. Building a new house and moving half-way across Texas got me way behind, and then nature reminded me that at my age I should be looking at old cars, not crawling around a cold concrete floor working on them! If I manage to get this one on the road before I assume room temperature, I may die of shock!
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