BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
That back end really pops with the tail lights and your plate. The bumper will only make it look better!!! Get ready to turn heads with it!
Time for an update already!
Parts are slowly getting tuned up and going back on the car, I’m installing all the things that won’t interfere and be in the way of wet sanding and polishing once the paint has cured enough to do so. Things like door and trunk locks can go back on and in, door handles and mirrors not so much so.
90+% of the trim is finished and ready to go back on, but there are/were a couple that still needed the brushed finish treatment. Got the stainless cowl at the base of the windshield done...
...and installed:
Then I cleaned up all the rest of the windshield trim and cleaned and installed the plastic liners that sit inside them before installation:
It was a bit touch and go for a while there when I had two of the plastic clips break on me and refuse to hold the trim, but I was able to get the broken ones out and replaced with two metal ones all without damaging or scratching anything, so big win there.
The camera doesn’t really pick up the brushed finish very well, but the contrast between it and the dark metallic grey is pretty sharp in person.
I also got 3/4’s of the back window trim installed as well, but I need to get the trunk filler panel that I forgot in the back seat of Duke’s truck back from him before I can complete it.
I won’t be cut polishing the rocker panels or most of the bottom of the car (you can’t really see much there anyways), so I also installed the restored lower rocker panel moulding on the driver’s side along with all of it’s restored clips:
It’s tough to get a good camera angle that adequately showcases this piece, but I feel it balances the lower half of the car, and the brushed finish on it ties in nicely to the silver accents on the wheels.
It’s all about a cohesive theme and the little details.
Speaking of details, I finished off the windshield area reassembly by addressing the windshield wiper arms tonight. I had put the brushed finish into these a couple years ago when I started doing the perimeter windshield trim. The arms being stainless held the finish fine, but the bases being raw pot metal had oxidized very quickly.
So earlier today I knocked the oxidation back off with a little red ScotchBrite, then masked them off and sprayed the bases with some clear to keep them looking their best:
Once that was done, I spent a few minutes installing and adjusting them so that they park nicely each time they’re shut off. It just completes the package nicely IMO:
Tomorrow I think might be rear bumper day. I have to locate the good condition impact strip I scored at the junkyard a couple years ago and swap that on to eliminate the one that has holes in it for the bumperettes that it used to have. I think it’s in storage out in the shed, but I gotta wait until it’s light out to go find it.
The bumpers on these cars have the bumper to body filler panels clipped onto them, and while both front and rear bumpers still need them to be repainted, I might just install the rear bumper with the old paint on them for now anyways. It’s easy enough to pull the bumpers on these cars. Just for the sake of having the car a little more reassembled and clear up some more floor space in the process.
That’s all for now gents, I’m just trying to get the car as assembled as I can while I’m waiting for the paint to cure and harden up.
Oh, I almost forgot- because I came in under budget with the paint materials and I have the extra cash now left over, I pulled the trigger on ordering a new ABS replacement AstroRoof headliner board tonight. The original one was so brittle it literally crumbled on me trying to take it out. The new one I ordered not pre-covered because I already have the material from when I bought some for the AstroRoof insert. Lead time on it is pretty long at 30-40 days because it has to come directly from the manufacturer, so I might as well get that ball rolling now.
Ok, that’s actually it for now. Things are moving along smartly now and it’s feeling great to be at this enjoyable stage after the months and months of gruelling dusty, dirty body and prep work!
Till next time,
D.
Parts are slowly getting tuned up and going back on the car, I’m installing all the things that won’t interfere and be in the way of wet sanding and polishing once the paint has cured enough to do so. Things like door and trunk locks can go back on and in, door handles and mirrors not so much so.
90+% of the trim is finished and ready to go back on, but there are/were a couple that still needed the brushed finish treatment. Got the stainless cowl at the base of the windshield done...
...and installed:
Then I cleaned up all the rest of the windshield trim and cleaned and installed the plastic liners that sit inside them before installation:
It was a bit touch and go for a while there when I had two of the plastic clips break on me and refuse to hold the trim, but I was able to get the broken ones out and replaced with two metal ones all without damaging or scratching anything, so big win there.
The camera doesn’t really pick up the brushed finish very well, but the contrast between it and the dark metallic grey is pretty sharp in person.
I also got 3/4’s of the back window trim installed as well, but I need to get the trunk filler panel that I forgot in the back seat of Duke’s truck back from him before I can complete it.
I won’t be cut polishing the rocker panels or most of the bottom of the car (you can’t really see much there anyways), so I also installed the restored lower rocker panel moulding on the driver’s side along with all of it’s restored clips:
It’s tough to get a good camera angle that adequately showcases this piece, but I feel it balances the lower half of the car, and the brushed finish on it ties in nicely to the silver accents on the wheels.
It’s all about a cohesive theme and the little details.
Speaking of details, I finished off the windshield area reassembly by addressing the windshield wiper arms tonight. I had put the brushed finish into these a couple years ago when I started doing the perimeter windshield trim. The arms being stainless held the finish fine, but the bases being raw pot metal had oxidized very quickly.
So earlier today I knocked the oxidation back off with a little red ScotchBrite, then masked them off and sprayed the bases with some clear to keep them looking their best:
Once that was done, I spent a few minutes installing and adjusting them so that they park nicely each time they’re shut off. It just completes the package nicely IMO:
Tomorrow I think might be rear bumper day. I have to locate the good condition impact strip I scored at the junkyard a couple years ago and swap that on to eliminate the one that has holes in it for the bumperettes that it used to have. I think it’s in storage out in the shed, but I gotta wait until it’s light out to go find it.
The bumpers on these cars have the bumper to body filler panels clipped onto them, and while both front and rear bumpers still need them to be repainted, I might just install the rear bumper with the old paint on them for now anyways. It’s easy enough to pull the bumpers on these cars. Just for the sake of having the car a little more reassembled and clear up some more floor space in the process.
That’s all for now gents, I’m just trying to get the car as assembled as I can while I’m waiting for the paint to cure and harden up.
Oh, I almost forgot- because I came in under budget with the paint materials and I have the extra cash now left over, I pulled the trigger on ordering a new ABS replacement AstroRoof headliner board tonight. The original one was so brittle it literally crumbled on me trying to take it out. The new one I ordered not pre-covered because I already have the material from when I bought some for the AstroRoof insert. Lead time on it is pretty long at 30-40 days because it has to come directly from the manufacturer, so I might as well get that ball rolling now.
Ok, that’s actually it for now. Things are moving along smartly now and it’s feeling great to be at this enjoyable stage after the months and months of gruelling dusty, dirty body and prep work!
Till next time,
D.
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Hurry up and buy!
Hahahaha! "cash left over"....surely you jest!
THERE IS NO "CASH LEFT OVER!"
Don't believe me? Let Jim, from "The Office" break it down for you:
Hahahaha! "cash left over"....surely you jest!
THERE IS NO "CASH LEFT OVER!"
Don't believe me? Let Jim, from "The Office" break it down for you:
How did you put a brushed finish on your windshield molding and drip rails? It looks killer
He got drunk and was going to use a 000 steel wool pad and polish them, but forgot he left an 80 grit wheel in there....the rest, as they say, is history.
I kid! I kid!
It does look great though, especially with the dark gray paint contrast.
Thanks!
BUILD THREAD - Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)
Ok, so tonight's update isn't really an update per se. It's more of a response to the suggestions you guys made to possibly carry the brushed finish look that I did on the wiper arms through to the rest of the trim. The truth is, by the time you guys had made the suggestion, I was already in...
gbodyforum.com
Post #361 right at the top of the page. Think I had started it on the wiper arms in the previous pages, so you can have a look there too.
Now comes the fun part....reassembly. It's cool seeing a car come together after a long awaited paint job.,,,and, you can't forget the years of painstaking body work and prep.
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