BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”

[64nailhead]

Epoxy on prepped epoxy should be durable on steroids, eh?

Looks better than OK AFAIC - I think I need to raise my standards to your unaccustomed standard

Correct me if I’m wrong, none of this is visible when complete?

 

[Rktpwrd]

Makes perfect sense. Thank you. The final spray looks far better than anything I could achieve. Amazing job as always D. And thanks again for taking the time to explain.

Any time Tony, and you’re always more than welcome. Thanks for the compliments.

Looks like you successfully reached your goal. Covered or not.... It looks clean & straight.

Great job as always Donovan. Remember, we're always our own worst critic. Looks great from here and you should be proud 👏

Thanks gents. I guess I kind of down played it more than I intended. Now that it’s dried it does look pretty good. Just not as perfect as I was hoping it would turn out. It’s definitely lazer straight, all those countless hours of block sanding filler were certainly worth it. I had next to no issues blocking out the areas that had filler in them when I was sanding the epoxy.

Epoxy on prepped epoxy should be durable on steroids, eh?

Looks better than OK AFAIC - I think I need to raise my standards to your unaccustomed standard

Correct me if I’m wrong, none of this is visible when complete?

Appreciate it Jim, thanks. Granted, my standards are probably a little higher than most. It’s the perfectionist in me.

The rear firewall (everything in this picture)…

…will be visible even after the full interior goes in. If all goes well, it’ll look like it already does, just covered in black leather. If that’s not possible, then it’ll get painted in a semi gloss black (with maybe a second color for contrast) to match the rest of the interior.

Now that it’s finished and in black epoxy, I think I’m going to take a couple of these pictures around to the two local top notch upholstery shops and see what they say about the feasibility of wrapping it in leather.

That would certainly eliminate a lot of the speculation on it and allow me to further plan for the future.

 

[Flyers9928]

Any time Tony, and you’re always more than welcome. Thanks for the compliments.





Thanks gents. I guess I kind of down played it more than I intended. Now that it’s dried it does look pretty good. Just not as perfect as I was hoping it would turn out. It’s definitely lazer straight, all those countless hours of block sanding filler were certainly worth it. I had next to no issues blocking out the areas that had filler in them when I was sanding the epoxy.



Appreciate it Jim, thanks. Granted, my standards are probably a little higher than most. It’s the perfectionist in me.

The rear firewall (everything in this picture)…

View attachment 212787

…will be visible even after the full interior goes in. If all goes well, it’ll look like it already does, just covered in black leather. If that’s not possible, then it’ll get painted in a semi gloss black (with maybe a second color for contrast) to match the rest of the interior.

Now that it’s finished and in black epoxy, I think I’m going to take a couple of these pictures around to the two local top notch upholstery shops and see what they say about the feasibility of wrapping it in leather.

That would certainly eliminate a lot of the speculation on it and allow me to further plan for the future.

Looks amazing as usual! keep on plugging away brother!!!

 

[69hurstolds]

Too bad you won't have some red leather with a white leather center to accentuate the emblem...but subtle is good, too. It would look a bit weird if nothing else has red or white inside the car. Hardly anyone gets the rocket emblem with the much younger crowd nowadays, I could just see them try to figure out the "new Transformers-style" emblem you're putting back there.

 

[Rktpwrd]

Too bad you won't have some red leather with a white leather center to accentuate the emblem...but subtle is good, too. It would look a bit weird if nothing else has red or white inside the car. Hardly anyone gets the rocket emblem with the much younger crowd nowadays, I could just see them try to figure out the "new Transformers-style" emblem you're putting back there.

It’s interesting that you mention the Transformers thing. I’ve never really noticed the similarity before, but you’re right. It kinda does look Transformer-esque.

 

[Rktpwrd]

Well guys, this will be kind of a special post for y’all today. It’s geared more towards the guys who have had trouble visualizing what I’ve had planned and have been working towards all these months.

With the floor and rear firewall now essentially done, I wanted to get the interior panels trimmed and fitted to the redesigned floor. I had intended to start with the lower rear panels, but quickly realized I actually had to start with the B pillar mouldings. One whole night spent just trimming and modifying these:

The fit as you can see is very good, nice and tight with no gaps to look like they came that way. Don’t worry, these aren’t actually rare factory black B pillar mouldings, they’re blue ones that have been dyed black at some point in their life. And they’re not in the greatest of shape either. The plastic is starting to break down and get crumbly, and the stand-offs inside for the top two screws are split and crushed.
I’ve gotta source some better condition factory replacements, I’m not terribly enamoured with the looks of the aftermarket replacements available out there.

With the B pillar trims fit, I could move onto the lower rear pieces. The uppers I modified several years ago when I first had the firewall welded in, so that was a bit of a time saver. They just needed a little refinement to make them perfect. Careful measuring, and careful cutting:

If you’re squeamish and the thought of cutting rare, one year only, factory black interior panels (which these are), you might wanna look away!

After several more hours of trimming and test fitting, I had both upper and lower rear panels fit nicely, with the new attachment holes drilled and the factory screws reinstalled. Pleased with how it was coming together, I naturally decided to take it to the next level.

Dug the large roll of jute out of the shed, cut and fit pieces to fit the floor, then cleaned up the racing harnesses and seats. Then installed all the pieces into the car for a final test fit and photo op.

So here ya go, this is for all the guys that seemed to have trouble visualizing my end goal. Naturally the jute will be covered with carpet and there will eventually be DynaMat sound deadening underneath it, but for now it covers up the bead rolling details that seemed to distract everyone.

No more words, just pictures for your perusal, but one final note: I have something special planned for the missing insert panels in the back, but you’ll just have to wait to see what that is.

Enjoy.

D.

 

[old80cs]

That's going to be really something, Donovan, the two seater look is very cool for that car!

 

[Rktpwrd]

Well would you look at that.
I went to the downstairs storage on a whim to have a look, I keep some of the very good condition and rare pieces to use on The Juggernaut down there, and low and behold, what did I find?

A set of factory black, near mint condition B pillar trim! I’d obviously been hoarding these so long that I’d forgotten about them.

You can tell they’re factory original black, as there’s no signs of paint or dye on the backsides. Which falls in line with what the rest of the indicators tell, these would’ve only been available in ‘78 for the Cutlass, and have the ‘78-‘80 only telltale 4th screw hole down near the sill plates:

I say “near mint” because they do have a couple little flaws. The passenger side one has this little bow in it where it overlaps the rear panels…

… but I think that can be easily restored back to its original shape with some judicial use of heat. The passenger side is also missing the stand-off on the inside for the very top screw…

…but again, I think this can be repaired. Melt one from another less desirable trim piece on, and good to go. At least that part is always hidden.

Damn glad I squirrelled these away back when I got them!

 

[69hurstolds]

Another thing you could do if the melting plastic on it won't work is get an appropriate diameter aluminum cylinder piece, cut it to length, and drill a hole in the center of it for the screw. Make the diameter wide enough for stability when screwed down. Not sure if epoxy would hold it on or even just use it as a type of spacer like an A/C bracket bolt, sliding it onto the screw when installing. Starting that screw in first, obviously. Just spitballin' here. Luckily it's just a decorative finishing trim piece and doesn't see any load. There's a million ways to skin this cat.

 

[84dragcutlass]

Amazing what you'll find when you go back and see what your younger self thought would be useful. I stumble upon stuff i had long forgotten about occasionally, unfortunately mine is normally after I've already bought a replacement...