Progress Progressively Progressing

"MM54" (mm54mk2) 07/27/2019 at 22:35 • Filed to: '71Chevelle

4

7

In my last post I noted that the next step was to remove the undercoating from the top/inside part of the fenders, residual from the fact that this whole car (including the engine bay) was undercoated when new.

This is the better looking of the two, too. Notice the spot where the hood hinge and washer tank kept the undercoating off the fender in 1971.

As is the theme with this (from all the other million parts over the winter I stripped), this failing and ugly undercoating was removed.

Most of the paint underneath was, unsurprisingly, in good shape.

A messy and unpleasant job for sure, but with good results. A putty knife and a bunch of elbow grease removes most of it, with mineral spirits coming in later to clean up residue. I gave it a final scrub with some MEK (aka liquid headache) on a rag to make sure I didn’t miss any .

This will get sanded again and generally finished/painted when I do the rest of the fender; for now this keeps it looking good and prevents the now-exposed metal from rusting.

I like working in the back yard, it’s shaded and feels much more private than the driveway.

Second time around for the other fender is the same process, except I’m dumb and didn’t take a before picture. This side cleaned up better than the other, and almost didn’t need interim primer.

That concludes the work on the fenders (for now; eventually they will get fully sanded out, primed, and prepped for paint... some day they may even get painted) .

This means one thing - that’s right, it’s time to tidy up the garage! Here’s the “before” picture, taken while wrapping up the metalwork on the driver’s side fender. This is, more or less, how it’s been for the past couple months.

I am ashamed

That hurts to look at, let alone work in. Let’s see how it is after half an hour of putting things away...

Much better.

Using this new space (which is more like how things normally are), I proceeded to mount the clutch master cylinder’s remote reservoir on the firewall (while test fitting the fender I made sure I had room where I wanted it).

Artsy crooked photo has a purpose, to show the whole setup without a bunch of other stuff

Satisfying! With that taken care of, the next step will be to drain the half tank of two year old 87 octane to make room for some fresh 93 down the road, and to finish up connecting the new fuel line at the tank. After that, more odds and ends.

lone_liberal > MM54 07/27/2019 at 23:23

2

Very nice progress! I’m jealous of both the car and the garage even in the before picture.

MM54 > lone_liberal 07/27/2019 at 23:52

2

Thanks!

It’s a good garage, sometimes gets a little cramped though; that far wall hosts a bunch of Stuff which makes for tight access to the other side of the car. The only real problem in there is the floor, which is very badly cracked and settled/heaved, not to mention the surface is turning back to gravel from decades of salty runoff . There are spots with over an inch difference in height between either side of the cracks, and every time you sweep there is always more dust and grit which has come out of the floor. I’m looking to get that taken care of in the fall though - can’t wait to be able to roll stuff around!

shop-teacher > MM54 07/28/2019 at 00:34

1

Yay progress!

lone_liberal > MM54 07/28/2019 at 01:52

1

I wish mine was as deep as that. It's a  3 car but it's pretty shallow and the placement of the man doors doesn't allow a big bench like yours. Still, it's much better than I've ever had before so I can't complain.

Urambo Tauro > MM54 07/28/2019 at 07:22

1

That hurts to look a t, let alone work in. Let’s see how it is after half an hour of putting things away...

I feel ya. I hate clutter, especially when it gets in the way of my work. It doesn’t help that I have hoarding tendencies.. . But I try to view cleanup as an essential part of whatever task I take on. E.g. I’m not done changing my oil until the tools are put away; stuff like that.

MM54 > lone_liberal 07/28/2019 at 10:43

1

Likewise, before I bought this house I’d never had a garage with room to actually work on a car in (and only once a garage to park in at all!). I do really like that it’s square (24x24) and not the more-common 24x20.

MM54 > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2019 at 10:44

1

I’m pretty good with cleaning up when done (because a mess is the worst) - the issue here was that it had been months since I was done with the task at hand, so it got pretty bad!