E-tek Shop Panorama

Rain rain - go the **$*% away!!

Arrrrgh!!!  It's been raining around these parts for like 3 weeks....which means all the toys stay tucked away awaiting the next sunny day...  :(

But, luckily, the fun continues inside the shop - rain or shine.  So, after getting the '68 Camaro off the jack-stands and onto rollers -



 I spent some time getting the quarter to sail panel trasnition on the 68 Camaro smoothed out -

Then I did some more work on the 240Z's suspension and brake peices, inlcuding full master cylinder and wheel cylinder rebuilds - 

With all this rain, it's starting to look like the Vancouver - 

complete with weird varieties of fungus growing under the Ford Model-T fenders out back....

1940 Ford - back from Upholstery - and onto CENTRE STAGE!

The 40 Ford is done at upholstery and - WOW - is it ever looking the part now!

 

Trunk - nice enough to sleep in!

 

From rusted, neglected hulk,

 to Super Custom - 

she's ALL THAT!

Finally - some time to get the rest of stable ready for summer!

Our `967 Galaxie lost ALL brakes over the winter sojourn - so I couldn't get it home until today - when I had time to attach the tow-bar and tow it behind the all-useful Mini-Van!

Now that's it' back at the E-tek Rod Shop :) , I bled the bakes all around, then did the last few things needed on the 390FE swap-engine:

 Since I was in the swing of it all, the Mini Cooper needed a belt-adjustment -

 She's a tight fit - but that can be a good thing!

It's way down there....

With the maintenance issues out of the way,

 I was able to turn my attention back to the 68 Camaro restoration - 

The gaps and joints pretty much aligned perfectly. All that's left is to get it up on the lift to sew up the welds at the bottom of the quarters and rear panel....

Each panel is perfect and no filler is required.

Another big announcement occured thsi week as well: The upholstery shop: RIP STITCH called to say theat the 1940 Ford  - aka Project Leonard - was done and ready to move!!  Stay tuned for MAJOR photo's along it's route to being finalized!

FINALLY - the 66 Camaro project lurches forward!

The roof and quarter panels were welded in place using my Lincoln 180, with ESAB wire through the plug-weld-holes I punched earlieir on -



All the gaps were painstakingly measured and evened-out prior to final welding:

Once everything was welded solid, the welds were prepped with 36 grit, the surrounding metal was gone over with 80 grit and the entire area cleaned with pre-solve to enssure there where no contimants remaining.

Short-strand fibreglass re-enforced filler (referred to as "Kitty Hair" by my Dad!) was used to cover and fill the sail panel and A-pillar welds. It dries har- as-rock and is water proof, making it the best product for this application -

Although it took a lot of work (due to shitty re-pro hinges!)I'm very happy with the gaps.

The inner fenders were welded to the quarter lips as per factory specs:

Whenever I do a big project like this, I think how nice it is to take an old vehicle that had already gone through several restorations - and bring it back to a "no-filler new" state.

Paint is slated for July/August!!

Don't forget to check out my website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !