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The body does look great, but in all honesty there is a ton of work that was in it before it got to the epoxy stage. And, there is going to be about 3-4 weeks of 8 hours a day in the body work (and that is before paint), and that still won't be a perfect show car job (for those that are wondering). When cutting and welding metal, it can still tweak even a little which requires body work on the tail end. And, even though the car was described as all original, never been wrecked, we've found a few places where there were some hidden minor dents, which of course, take extra body work. But, the car was still the best of the bunch after months of searching, and was a great price for what i got.
The good part is that the car is in the best hands I could imagine have working on a car. Joe's body guy is one of the best in the business, and has an amazing eye for detail. He looks for the things I would never think to look for or ask about. I feel lucky to have the car in such capable hands. Chassis: due to a few scheduling conflicts, we've had to reschedule bringing the chassis to the coaters. Hopefully, we can drop it off later in the week. I spoke with Jason Rushforth about the wheels, and he thinks they'll be done in the next week and a half to two weeks. The tires are in, and are waiting at the shop to be mounted once the wheels arrive. I also received the gauge package and new ABS overlay for the cluster from New Vintage, and HOLY COW they look cool! We are using a 6-gauge cluster, with tach and speedo in the center, and then oil / batt / volts / gas split on each side. In the dead center, we had them set us up with one of their killer indicator panels, that has turn signals on either end, and warning lights for check-engine, overheating, low oil, and brights. I'll get pictures up in the next day or so. The best part is that you don't have to hack up your dash to install them. You simply take the original plastic cluster housing out (unbolts from the dash), remove the factory gauges, and use a dremel to trim the original so that the new overlay will fit. Then use epoxy to secure it in place. Takes all of about 30 minutes from start to finish (plus wiring, but that is beside the point). |
We worked with New Vintage USA for a gauge cluster for Project Sabre.
Original Bezel: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1022.jpg ABS Overlay: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1023.jpg Here is what the ABS pod looks like loaded, and using one of their Indicator Panels in the center (with turn signals, high beams and warning lights). Loaded Gauge Pod: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1025.jpg Integrated Indicator Panel: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1029.jpg |
I also ordered a front end bolt kit from Tamraz on ebay, along with a 10pc seal kit. All the seals are from MetroMMP, and are their Softseal style. I also had to buy a rubber bumper kit (hood bumpers, hood to fender bumpers, door bumpers, trunk bumper, etc) as mine were all shot.
http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1061.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1063.jpg Got those and delivered to the body guy today so he can finish aligning everything. Looks like we're going to have 3-4 weeks total of bodywork due to some wavy spots and a few hidden dents that needed a good bit of work. One of the parts of the Cutlass front fenders that always drove me crazy (not in a good way) are the pot-metal fender trim at the front. They don't match anything, they never align properly, and they always were an eyesore to me. So after talking with the body guy, we decided to have him fabricate replacements from sheet metal and weld it to the fenders, and then bodywork it for a smooth look. Here is the passenger side in a not-yet-finished state: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1048.jpg Here is what the driver side looks like before he starts: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1050.jpg Here are some updated body pictures: http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1038.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1039.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1040.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1041.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1043.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1044.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1045.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1046.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1051.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1057.jpg http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/IMAG1058.jpg |
parts
I have a few parts left over from my build. Let me know if you need anything.
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I don't have any updated body pics, but should in the next day or two. Chassis hasn't gone to powder coating yet, I believe Joe is waiting on the use of a trailer so he can haul mine and a few others to the coaters.
I did get tracking for the wheels that shipped out yesterday: http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/...SixShooter.jpg I also updated our project website in the gallery section: http://projectsabre.com/Gallery/Gall.../AprFolder.jpg |
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Looking good!
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And here are the chassis pictures with the RideTech suspension being installed:
http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis1.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis2.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis3.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis4.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis5.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis6.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis7.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/May12/Chassis8.jpg |
Oh YEAH!!!!
As an olds guy, I am loving it.
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Thanks! We are loving this project, and itching to hit the road with it soon.
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We are quite a bit behind the original release date of March 2012, and the later updated date of mid-summer 2012. But, we are chugging along and hope to be done in the next few months. That will give us seat time before next year's events, which we will need.
Bulldawg was shooting for having the engine and trans painted, and reinstalled in time for our upcoming Meet & Greet at their shop, this coming Saturday. Haven't heard from them in a few days, but hopefully they were able to get that tackled, and we'll get new pics this weekend. Dark Dog Customs is handing the shell back to the body shop, as they have all the measurements and mock up pieces they need to start the interior. Hopefully the shell will leave their shop tomorrow or Saturday morning. Body work: they are estimating about 2 weeks worth of work on finish body work. But based on his current schedule, that may take 4-8 weeks to get done. Once it is finished, it will be ready for paint, and then back to reassembly. LED update: Spaghetti Engineering has finished the prototypes, and we are getting the first production unit! It should be here next week sometime, and we are very excited. Here are picture of the kit that they emailed to me: http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/LED1.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/LED2.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/LED3.jpg |
Here are some updated pictures I took at the meet & greet yesterday morning:
http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112a.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112b.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112c.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112d.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112e.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112f.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112g.jpg http://www.rndfabrication.com/images/Sabre081112h.jpg |
Wow just went through the whole thread nice work guys! Nice to see something other then a Camaro (especially since I see one every time I go in the garage) :lol:
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The frame came out great. I like the wheels too. Nice work.
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Spaghetti Engineering
So will those LED tail lights that Spaghetti Engineering is building eventually be available to the public?
I'm slowly (going on 5 years) doing a frame-off on a 71 Cutlass Supreme. --GaryB |
Absolutely. They should have them available for sale shortly.
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Update: Just got tracking for the LED lights, which should be here early next week. The body is also now back at the body shop, and they are getting started on finish body work. A little hiccup is that the car needed floor pans up front due to miniscule pin holes. I ordered pans that arrived, but unfortunately Summit sent one of the pans for a '64, and not for my '71. So that is going back and I'm waiting for the replacement to bring to the body guy. Hopefully, he can have it all finished in about 6-8 weeks, as he has a lot of other projects ahead of mine. In the meantime, the interior guy is going to work on the seats and panels.
Joe also got the transmission painted (pic below) and the engine painted (waiting on pics). Hopefully he can get them put together along with all the clutch parts, and permanently install it in the chassis. Once that is done, I will measure for and order the driveshaft. I will also be ordering the brake lines and fuel lines. The goal was to have all of that (and possible the exhaust) done and installed before the body is finished and ready for paint, and I'm hoping now that Ben is at Bulldawg, we can still achieve that. Here is the painted transmission and bellhousing: http://www.projectsabre.com/images/SabreT56.jpg |
I also just updated our website gallery:
http://projectsabre.com/Gallery.html Click on the August image, and it'll take you to the August Gallery with more pictures |
Here is how it sat on 9/12/12 at Bulldawg Musclecar's shop:
http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/...s/IMAG3059.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/...s/IMAG3081.jpg Here are some pictures of the front fenders and the floorpan progress: http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/Oct12/Drfender.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/Oct12/Pafender.jpg http://www.projectsabre.com/Gallery/Oct12/Pan1.jpg The front fenders are done and ready for paint. The body is still being worked on, but it getting much closer. Hopefully another few weeks and it'll be ready for painting. The front floor pans had some very very tiny pin holes. Not much to worry about, but since it was down this far, I went ahead and got some new front pans to have installed, as I don't want to mess with it again. The seat mounts are going to be redone, as they currently are just tack welded and don't have any supports or tie-ins to the structure. The body guy is tackling that as well as the floor pans. His goal is to have it in the booth between mid to late december and early january. That would put us starting to reassemble around the second week in january. With any luck, all the pieces will fall into place and it'll be on the road within a month of finishing paint. That would give us several weeks of road testing and tweaking to get it ready for spring-time events. On the upholstery, nothing so far. He is slammed and hasn't had time to get to our seats or doors yet. |
Met with the body guy last week, and also met the painter. We went to the supply shop and bought the last of the body work materials they will need to get it ready for paint. They anticipate having it ready to go into the booth in 4 weeks. Paint should take a day or two, roughly, then it will sit in their shop for a few weeks to cure before going back to Bulldawg.
I haven't had a chance to get to Bulldawg's shop in a while, but hope to carve out some time an evening or two next week. I will skip measuring for the driveshaft until the body is mated to the frame and everything is installed, so that the measurement is 100% correct. The brakelines I ordered came in, but not to me. Someone, somewhere has a new set of stainless brakelines for a 71 cutlass. Thankfully InlineTube is filing a claim and sending me another set, which I hope to have in a week or so. Bulldawg bought the flexible lines for the fronts, so those are already at their shop. Now comes the fun part: the mad dash to finish everything before spring arrives. |
We finally received the brake lines. Funny thing was the same day they were delivered, a store a few doors down that swore up and down that they didn't receive our package, had an employee bring us the missing package. So we shipped it back to the vendor and let them know it was coming.
No real updates other than the body guy and his helper are cranking away on getting it ready for paint hopefully in a few more weeks. |
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