1967 Camaro Restoration Project
Page Six
Joe, your going to have to trust me on this one. A paint job is only as good as the preperation work under it and Frank and I have no idea what was under this sail panel so the decision was made to strip both sail panels down to bare metal and start over. The last thing I want on this job is to have the paint pop in five years time because it was not prepared correctly from the get go, so the only way to make sure that does not happen is to go back to the "get go" and start over our way.
This step is going to make a heck of a dust mess so I decided to install the off road tires and push it outside to do this step. No sense sweeping up what Mother Nature can blow away.
It only took about an hour or so but I uncovered a WHOLE lot of UGLY!! Not to worry, some Magic Metal Mud here and we'll be back in business. Remember what I said about preperation,, if it's not done correctly now and the paint pops, there will be no trophys in your car show future and we'll both be pissed.
The drivers door striker was not fitting into the latch just right so a few wacks with the slide hammer was in order here.
Here is where I make my case about never throw anything away on a project like this until you are well past the point that you think you don't need it anymore. This part is the pinion bumper bracket that mounts on the floor pan at the back of the transmission tunnel. The pinion bumper is mounted in this bracket and it keeps the rear end from hitting the floor pan when the the rear travels upward after hitting a large bump or from wheel hop during hard take offs. This bracket is made out of unobtainium. You can't buy it, you can't find it, it is not made by anybody anywhere. If you need one, you WILL be cutting it off a donor car somewhere or you will not have one.
