21 Years Later She's Free....

[pcguy2u]

[SubSonic]

In for pictures...

[LikaRokBowTie]

I logged in just to see what was happening with your car since it had been awhile.I know this sounds crazy,but back in the mid 80's I wanted to buy a 1980 Z28 over a new Grand National,I was stationed overseas and came back looking for a cool car and found a white one with blue stripes for sale in another city and it looked really good,but I went with the Buick and really wish after all these years that I had not!I think that the Z28 would have been more fun,I know I wouldn't have kept it for very long though,I had this bad habit of changing cars after a short time.So it's nice to see one being restored and having been in your family for all those years

[TwistedEnergy]

Ok so these pictures will pick up right from when I last left off... since then a lot of progress has been made (sorry it has taken so long to get these up here)

A/C Compressor from Vintage Air




The guys did an amazing job repairing these


NOS Fender, what a find, fit perfectly.


All primed and ready for paint




4-Speed Manual Transmission from the Donor Car. One of the gears had to be replaced. But other then that, was in pretty good condition.


New Drums


So smooth, not a single bump or divot




New rocker panel, definitely needed with the amount of rust that was there


The car has definitely come a long way from what it was






The heart is back and where it belongs




A/C is in, what a plumbing job that was.










This RAD Cradle held us up for about a month. Finally found one that was usable and in near perfect condition.


Body is primed, its getting there


More rust repair


Undercoated the entire bottom of the car


New Pully's




This 4-speed conversion was a must




Now it is starting to come back to life and really look like a car again.












These next few pictures are of the car in the dry fit stage. I can honestly say that in terms of lining up all the panels and correcting the gaps, this car will look better then when it came off the line. The attention to detail the guys at The AutoDream Group put into their work is so professional and just perfectly executed.








We ended up having to replace the front nose and rear bumper due to spider cracks that appeared during the priming stage. They could have been sanded down but the guys advised against putting in the work because of the way this urethane is, there is a great potential that they cracks would have eventualy shown through the paint.


So we got really lucky and found this gem. A NOS front nose. Was sitting in some guys garage for the last 30 years, and is in absolute perfect condition.






The rear bumper is the only aftermarket part on this car for this entire restoration. We were unable to locate a NOS piece and didn't want to be held up any longer trying to locate even a used one.


No sanding was required, this nose was as smooth as glass.




Collecting all of our miscellaneous pieces.


Had a tough time trying to decide which stripe package best matched the original, and we ended up choosing the one on the right, because the one on the left, the top stripe was just an ugly maroon colour.


Seam sealer was put on..


And the car is now ready for paint



(pictures to continue on next post)

[TwistedEnergy]

And here she is, fresh from the paint booth








What an amazing job The AutoDream Group did with this one.


If you are ever in the Niagara area and in need of a paint job, these guys are definitely the ones to look after everything you need.

[TwistedEnergy]

More pictures to follow in the upcoming weeks, the stripe kit is on, just haven't had tome to get out to the shop to get some pictures. But we are in the home stretch. Needs about 1 week of mechanical work and a week to put the interior back, clean it up and make her shine. We can see the finish line. Its been a long road but completely worth all the time and effort that has been put into this.

[Rico]

Wow, that car looks great! In the end, all of the work and money will pay off. Can't wait to see her complete.

[chef-beavis]

Awesome. Been wondering when this would pop up again! Looks great!

[Ascension]

Looks awesome. You should be proud.

[techinny]

Can't wait to see it done, looks great so far!

[DwRed1LTV6]

She is looking great Twisted Energy

Gonna be sweet when its all back together.!!

[L&M CAMARO 6]

I just finished reading with great interest, from start to this point.
Looks fantastic, the end is near the end and a new beginning starts.
Subscribed.

[Homer2]

This is making me miss mine now . Love to watch it come together - bringing back memories of what I did (and couldn't) do.

[hrpiii]

looks great. Glad you went through this process to bring it back to it's glory.