Hey Chris, glad to see you getting back out in the garage.

I hope everything is well with you Chris. :)

Wow. I take a few months off the site and look what happens. Sorry to hear about your eye Chris. I had my own eye accident earlier this year. Was using a wire brush on a grinder under the car. One of the wires came off and went under my saftey glasses and impaled my eys. I had to have surgery but it only took a couple of stitches. Nothing like your accident.

I will wear goggles next time I wire brush anything. It makes you realize just how fragile we really are. One minute you fine and the next. Wham. Hang in there and a hope you heal quickly and fully.

Chris,

Glad to hear you are back out in the shop again my friend!
What's the long term outlook on your injured eye? No pun intended.

V/R,
Ty

Thanks guys! It is good to actually be "working" again. Even though it was just practice...

Sight out of the eye is not so good right now, the retina is still swollen but the doc has me on drops every two hours (when awake) to try to get that resolved. I can see shapes and movement but detail is a no go. I have another appointment on the 6th to see how things are progressing.

Ty, to answer your question specifically the doc says its too early to tell yet. Too much swelling and still too many variables. For instance, they are not 100% sure we are done with surgeries. I know I am in good hands at Cole Eye, and better yet I know God has a plan for my recovery and I gave this over to him in the ambulance ride to the Cleveland Clinic on day one.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Chris

Alright Aron.... you asked for it.... :unibrow:

Fresh off the Ridetech 48 hour Camaro!
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2367.jpg

The fronts are in pretty darn nice shape and the rears are good enough to get some time on the car before needing to buy new rubber. Bret gave me a heck of a deal on the tires and even shipped them to me!

I was out in the garage all last weekend building my Dad a custom wood rack for his new wood shop. It turned out really nice (I forgot pics though). I built three main racks that we lag bolted to the studs of the wall. They will accept 1"x2" rectangular tubing for the wood. He can slip in the 12 tubes in 1' increments to give him tons of options for storing lumber. Felt good to be working with my hands again.

Chris

Sorry for the sun spot in the pic...

Sounds like your doing better after your accident. Here is to a speedy full recovery and to enjoying your project.

Got to shape some metal this weekend.

FSP on the Aluminum ready to cut:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2461.jpg

I little shape:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2463.jpg

A little hammering and a little wheelin' and it fits the FSP!
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2465.jpg

Without the pattern:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2468.jpg

One more to try to show the shape:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...d/DSC_2469.jpg

Lots of fun. Very relaxing as a matter of fact (so far :)). Not a ton of progress but progress is progress right!

Chris

Hey Chris,
Good to hear you're back on some projects. Looking forward to updates.

Good to hear chris. Good luck with your recovery.

Wow!! What an amazing thread.Hope the eye heal's up completely.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks guys!

Felt good to get to work on it some. I hope to be able to post up smei-regular updates on the nose.

Stay tuned.

Chris

So much for semi-regular updates....

I do have a BIG update this time though... Not technically about the car but... The wife and I just signed the contract on a 40x64x10 building Saturday! The Firebird is getting a new home! :)

This of course is going to put a damper on the funds and time for working on the car but once we have the building up look out!

Chris

New home for the Firebird underway!

Pad prepped:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/DSC_2952.jpg

Building being delivered:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/DSC_2959.jpg

Poles done:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/DSC_3012.jpg

Lots of work but man will it be nice to have a place to work on my car again!!!!

Chris

Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool deal! I dream more about the garage I'm going to own one day than the house. :D

Wow just read this thread, it's cool to see God's faithfulness in your trial. Makes you think about whats really important, the things we take for granted, thanks for sharing.......

Thanks guys.

Yes God is faithful for sure. We continue to pray that he will restore vision to the eye. I know he has a plan for this injury and I hope that I can honor him in how I deal with it and adapt to it. If it is in his will I know I will regain sight in that eye. Right now I can see shapes and movements but no real detail. I have to say though having even that amount of vision is a huge blessing. We go in next Monday (week from tomorrow) for another followup. Time will tell.

Until next time.

Chris

Good luck at your appointment.

Thanks Wayne.

The Firebird's new home is getting close...

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/DSC_3789.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/DSC_3790.jpg

Maybe soon I'll be able to spend some time working on the car :rofl: :willy: .

Chris

ooooooooh that's pretty!

It will be when the Firebird is in it! :)

Thats going to be a beautiful shop.

Chris I lost track of this thread (life got in the way) and I am just reading about your accident.... I truly hope your eye heals well as that is one Hell of a trauma you've been through.....

BTW the nose work you have done is nothing short of awesome... You are a very talented fabricator indeed so congratulations on your fighting spirit, keep healing,, and keep working my friend as it can be the best therapy out there sometimes....

Thanks man!

We go back into the Doc a week from today. He is going to laser off some scar tissue that developed since the last surgery and we'll go from there. Been a long road but I can still do what I love and that is work with my hands. It's a little tougher with no depth perception but you adapt. Viewing work and an angle is the worst... :willy:

I can't wait to get back into working on the car. Building the barn has been fun but to be honest it has been a long tough road too. It seems like I am pressing forward on that project just to get the end, not really enjoying the process.

Until next time.

Chris

Hi all,

Quick update here...

The shop has passed ALL inspections and we are moving stuff in. Most importantly the 'bird is in nest! :rofl:

We actually moved it in last weekend but I have been out of town and/or sick since. We'll be organizing things ASAP and starting to work on the car soon.

Chris

:woot: That's good news.

The shop is very nice !
 

Please post a pic of the shop when done and good luck with your eye.

Nice shop man. I've always wanted at least a 40x60. Settled for a 27x44 that's attached to my house for now.

Thanks guys.

Lots of work but I am sure it will be worth all the effort in the end. I won't have "finished" pictures for years but I will keep posting as I get some major milestones accomplished. I plan to get the Bridgeport and Compressor setup tomorrow so I'll probably post up some pics of that. Hopefully I can get a bench built too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chris

So I had a little time to look over the car now that it is in the barn. It turns out that the quarter panels are indeed skins... and NOT properly installed skins at that. :rolleyes:

It turns out they lapped the skins over the stock panels about 12" or so AND only tacked the panel on every inch or so. On the plus side that will make removal easier! :willy:

Good times...

Chris

Man has it been a LONG time since I could post an update!!!

Good news I was actually able to work IN the barn rather than ON it! :topic:

So I removed the rear axle and the sub-frame:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...psd212d2a0.jpg

After that I built a cart for the body:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps60e650f5.jpg

Then I took off the remaining bolt on stuff:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps9b2d5479.jpg

Then started on those 1/4 skins:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...pse0ff194a.jpg

Not pretty!

Couple more of the 1/4 skin:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps7465d702.jpg

Close Up:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...psee3f52d8.jpg

As you can see they stitched the skin with a tack weld every inch or so. Great work there... Not so much. I am swamped at work and I have a couple side jobs I have to work on so progress will once again be slow. But hey at least I got to work on her!

Love the quality work there!!!! Make sure to brace up the rear before you cut off that great metal work!!

Thanks Rick, I was wondering about that. I have only seen people (shops on here) brace the cars up when the floor is removed. I am not intending on remove the floor just yet.

The other thing I was hoping for is maybe I could correct the 1/4 - 5/16 inch of tweak the body has before re-welding those panels back on. When I dropped the front sub frame there was a 5/16 thick piece of steel between the front mount and the body. When I built my cart I made sure the mounting points were all exactly the same length (height) and when I set the body on the cart that same mounting point is a heavy 1/4 off the cart's post. The floor in my shop was poured level and i have checked it specifically in the spot the car is in and it is good.

I do plan to go get my Dad's laser and double check all the pad heights just to be 100% sure before attempting to correct anything.

Good to be working on it again though!

Chris

Why brace the car before the quarter is pulled off? Like Chris, I thought that was only done when a structural part is removed. Is the quarter more structural than I think it is?

Glad to see you starting back on the car, Chris. Good luck!

I wouldn't worry about it if you are just doing a skin. If its out of whack it was done long before you got it.

I've seen some cars with the 5/16" biscuits up front stock. Just make sure your doors and trunk shut ok before than after the work is done.