Meanwhile...

I've been working on detailing the interior pieces. I've refreshed all of the dash pieces, console pieces, door panels, etc... We decided to go with a new bezel so we can put in a CD player. I've installed all new Pioneer speakers in the dash & kick panels.

New Hood

We ordered a new L-88 hood from Ecklers. MUCH better fit. Here it is just set on the car. We haven't even aligned it yet and it fits 100% better.

Body Con't 2

More stripping. I've stripped the majority of this car with a razor blade. The paint came off in sheets. From the doors back, the car is in very good shape...

Body Con't

The hood we bought didn't fit worth a Sh*t.

Time to order another hood. (we wanted an L-88 anyway)

Stripping the Body

You never know what to expect once you start stripping old paint...but I was about to find out.

The front end definitely has had some work in the past...

Finished Engine

After much work, the engine came together. I detailed the entire compartment, including the A/C setup, the master cylinder, and the entire radiator & support. Additions included a new Holley carburetor, a new aluminum intake, a set of original finned aluminum valve covers,new fan shroud, and a complete GM hose kit with the correct tower clamps. We also added a correct open-element air cleaner.

Detailing the Engine Bay

Besides the motor itself, the engine bay was a mess. While I had the motor apart, I decided it would be a good time to detail the whole engine bay. I stripped the firewall, inner fenders, radiator, and core support down to bare metal / fiberglass. I smoothed out all of the rough spots and painted everything in an eggshell black. The whole compartment had years of crud and coats of paint, so I spent the time cleaning everything down to original. I removed the years of paint from all of the wiring. Now the wires in the engine bay look new, and are all the original / correct colors.

Motor Tear Down

I started by removing the top end of the motor, and all of the accessories (intake, water pump, fan, A/C compressor, etc.) Once it was at this point, I cleaned it thoroughly, and painted the heads and block. The exhaust manifolds were in need of attention, so I removed them. The driver side manifold had a crack. We purchased a new one from Mid-America, and I sandblasted and re-coated both exhaust manifolds with high-temp manifold coating from Eastwood.