Quick proof of life/current status/direction change and future plans update.
Officially, as of tonight, both rear floor pans are now fully welded in, metal finished out, and complete.
With this small milestone, the future direction is going to take a slight detour from continuing on with the floor pieces for a bit. Now that the new rear pans are solid, have added the much needed structural strength to the floor, and able to tolerate some load, I’m going to be working on finally finishing off the poor rear firewall.
The firewall has sat unfinished and stagnant for the last 5+ years, and it eats at me every time I look at it. The package tray section of it is good, just needs a good cleaning and scuffing of the bare metal areas to be ready for epoxy primer. The vertical and focal point area however needs finishing. I’m in a kind of “X needs to be done before I can proceed with Y and Z” type scenario here. My real focus is to be able to bead roll the new side panels and get them welded in permanently, but I have to address and finish the center section first.
The center section needs a little hammer and dolly work to get it nice, and the side panels need to be out to have access to the backside with the dolly. I started on it tonight, removed the panels…
…then stripped off the old putty from the face and did some profiling of the metal to clean it and get it ready to accept some fresh filler.
I still have some more profiling to do, but it’s a start for now. Actually, I’ll likely get the hammer and dolly work done first, then profile the worked and remaining areas. Once that’s done, it’ll be dust city as the filler work will commence in earnest on it. When the center feature is straight, right, and looking good, then I’ll cover it up and switch to bead rolling the side panels and getting them welded in. Then most likely shoot the entire rear firewall in epoxy to finish and protect it until such time as I need to worry about upholstering it.
Just a quick recap on the center feature of the rear firewall, for those new members and for those who might’ve forgotten what it is.
It’s not just a random design, although it looks decent and could be dismissed as such, it actually has some historical significance to it.
When Cutlass was first introduced to the motoring public, it actually wasn’t even its own model yet. It was an slightly upscale OPTION on the base model F85, one of Oldsmobile’s more popular cars at the time. The original F85 emblem looked like this…
…and so now you can see the resemblance. This is my small and subtle way of paying homage to the car that started the Cutlass bloodline and marque that we all know and love today. Should be interesting to see if anyone will pick up on this once this car gets revealed to the world.
Anyways, enough for now, let me know what y’all think about the progress and the direction it’s headed. I’m still really happy with it.
D.
Officially, as of tonight, both rear floor pans are now fully welded in, metal finished out, and complete.
With this small milestone, the future direction is going to take a slight detour from continuing on with the floor pieces for a bit. Now that the new rear pans are solid, have added the much needed structural strength to the floor, and able to tolerate some load, I’m going to be working on finally finishing off the poor rear firewall.
The firewall has sat unfinished and stagnant for the last 5+ years, and it eats at me every time I look at it. The package tray section of it is good, just needs a good cleaning and scuffing of the bare metal areas to be ready for epoxy primer. The vertical and focal point area however needs finishing. I’m in a kind of “X needs to be done before I can proceed with Y and Z” type scenario here. My real focus is to be able to bead roll the new side panels and get them welded in permanently, but I have to address and finish the center section first.
The center section needs a little hammer and dolly work to get it nice, and the side panels need to be out to have access to the backside with the dolly. I started on it tonight, removed the panels…
…then stripped off the old putty from the face and did some profiling of the metal to clean it and get it ready to accept some fresh filler.
I still have some more profiling to do, but it’s a start for now. Actually, I’ll likely get the hammer and dolly work done first, then profile the worked and remaining areas. Once that’s done, it’ll be dust city as the filler work will commence in earnest on it. When the center feature is straight, right, and looking good, then I’ll cover it up and switch to bead rolling the side panels and getting them welded in. Then most likely shoot the entire rear firewall in epoxy to finish and protect it until such time as I need to worry about upholstering it.
Just a quick recap on the center feature of the rear firewall, for those new members and for those who might’ve forgotten what it is.
It’s not just a random design, although it looks decent and could be dismissed as such, it actually has some historical significance to it.
When Cutlass was first introduced to the motoring public, it actually wasn’t even its own model yet. It was an slightly upscale OPTION on the base model F85, one of Oldsmobile’s more popular cars at the time. The original F85 emblem looked like this…
…and so now you can see the resemblance. This is my small and subtle way of paying homage to the car that started the Cutlass bloodline and marque that we all know and love today. Should be interesting to see if anyone will pick up on this once this car gets revealed to the world.
Anyways, enough for now, let me know what y’all think about the progress and the direction it’s headed. I’m still really happy with it.
D.
