My dolly is for sale!
 

PM me and we can see what we can do.

Updated photos
 

Just an FYI. I just updated the first post on page 1 to show full screen photos. I didn't know how to do this when I got started. Enjoy!!

I like those wheels. Good progress.

At the stripper
 

Once I delivered the body to the stripper it was unloaded along with all of the other parts (hood, fenders front and rear cowl,etc.)
At Fred's Shop
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/52.jpg
In the booth. I just bolted the casters on and rolled it in.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/51.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/53.jpg

Now I will tell you a little about Fred at Freds Fabrication in Cuba, MO.
Fred does all sorts of work and does a very good job at a very respectable price. As you will see in the following photos,
he stripped the
car to bare metal, then put it in epoxy primer ready for me
to pick up.
I asked him to: strip the entire body, door jambs, firewall
and misc. pieces (front and rear cowl, body extensions, etc.)

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/61.jpg


http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/62.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...pala_01-41.jpg


http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh531/fuman2/63.jpg

He then repaired a few holes before he applied the epoxy primer.
Fred didn't call me to ask, he just repaired the holes and cracks.
This is the type of work he does. The best or not at all.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics028.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics034.jpg


http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics043.jpg

Fred told me up front that he would remove one layer of paint and a time. This is one way to reduce the risk of warpage.
Little did Fred (or myself) know...
this car had SEVEN LAYERS of paint!! He took them off, one
at a time. He even sent me a video of his progress
when I was at a Goodguys show. What a class act.

Here are some pics when he was done.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics052.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics001.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics044.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics026.jpg

Fred works on a time & material basis. Big time shops and do it your self guys alike, give him a shot. Fred's Fab.com check it out.

Also if you want to save some money....don't take it to any stripper and pay them to do work you can do. Remove the windows
and remove all of the sealer holding the window in. Remove the trim, interior, etc. Take things apart. Basically make it so all he
has to do is strip the parts.
As you can see in the photos, when this car arrived at Fred's he could literally walk up
to it and start stripping. This keeps the cost down. Now give him a call.....

It looks good nice clean car to build.

Time to get busy on the body
 

After the body was brought home from the stripper it was time to begin the long process of the body work. To take this car back
to factory stock may not be too difficult, however why would you do that? Creativity it was makes this such a fun hobby.
Let the drip rails dissappear! I know, I know, now you can't drive it in the rain. I may be wrong but I think the rear tires
may have eliminated that possibility already.

Here is how the rail looked when I brought the car home.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics024.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics021.jpg

The best way I was told to remove the drip rails was to remove 8" and leave 8" connected in between.
As you can see in the photo below
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics012.jpg

You may also be able to see that when you remove the drip rails on this car, you seperate the roof from the rest of the car.
This is why I removed 8", stitch welded, then removed the remaining 8" sections.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics030.jpg

Welded and ground smooth
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics023.jpg

A little filler
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics045.jpg

First pass of working down the filler. A final coat or maybe two and we should be good to go.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics019.jpg

When I first starting cutting I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. After the job is done, I like the smoother look.

More Bodywork
 

Next I started at the back of the car and began working forward. I skim coated the entire rear quarter. Then sanded until I hit
primer. I was blown away at how "imperfect" the factory panels are. You can see in the next photo, how much the bottom of the
door sticks out. Adjustment and tweeking will correct it.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics006.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics022.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics042.jpg

I started working on the door to get it straight. Think about this when you look at the photo: These doors are 5 foot long. Parking
spaces in 1977 were not any wider than they are today. Chances are the car beside you had a 5 foot long door also. A great recipe
for many door dings. There were so many little dings, I couldn't tell what was high and what was low until I started sanding. The sanding board
will tell all.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics051.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics032.jpg

Want a straight sanding board? A 4 foot level and adhesive roll paper. $20.00 at Lowes. It even has handles.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics054.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics009.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...Carpics041.jpg

Getting closer
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...iphone4058.jpg

We will bolt the door up next and begin lining up everything.

Bolting on the panels
 

At this point I need to bolt the fender and door on to line every thing up. This way I can sand across the rear quarter to door gap and the
door to front fender gap and get everything right.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/595.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/596.jpg

As I soon figured out, to line the front fender up, I needed to have the hood on. To line the hood up I needed the opposite side fender on. To line
the oposite side fender up, I needed to have the opposite side door on and lned up. Oh well, it gave me a good look at how the car was going to look. Reminder.....The old wheels and tires are being used to roll it around. They will be replaced with the new Boyds shown earlier.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/597.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/598.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/599.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...fuman2/600.jpg

Suspension, Wheels And Tires
 

To get the front wheels and tires measured out, I first needed to get the front suspension completed. A little research showed that the front control arms were the same as a 70-81 Camaro.
Some 2" drop spindles and a set of upper and lowers from Heidts should get the job done.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2012.jpg
By the way a big thanks to Mike Hawley at Heidts. A great guy and if you ever take a ride with him....you won't forget it!
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2013.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2014.jpg
Tire selection complete.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2028.jpg
Once the tires and rims came in I learned a few do's and don'ts.
DO go to a tire shop that has knowledgable people mounting wheels and tires.
DON'T go to tire shops that just add air pressure until the tire seats OR this may happen:
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2026.jpg
I'm just glad we were not in the shop with him when it happened.
A few sneak peeks;
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2018.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2015.jpg
Note: The rear tires will come out another 1.25" per side from where they are in this photo
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2008.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2003.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...n2/Car2004.jpg

Anybody seen one of these like this before?
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...cs32512012.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...cs32512001.jpg

Dude that is looking pretty slick..