It's already in color Novablue71, I'm just late to the party with the build thread!
In order to make sure everything was fairly square, I replaced the broken rear leafs with DSE's 2" drop leafs and we welded in the Global West tubular subfame connectors and fitted the solid aluminum body bushings before the majority of the bodywork was done. I had to replace all the hardware for the front leaf spring cups, the bolts were turning in the clips. We ended up cutting access holes in the floor then covering those back up. Since the car had to be mobile during the bodywork phase, the drivetrain was left in place.
What started as a quick quarters, prep and paint job, turned into a full blown restoration somehow....still not sure how or when that exact change happened. But I'm pretty sure it was before I spent two weekends in 95F heat in a blasting suit and $500 in blasting materials later underneath the car.
Some may say I was committed at that point...others would say I needed to be committed. I was glad I blasted the entire bottom though, we found some pinholes so we welded in new front floorpans. Once everything was sealed and epoxied, we sprayed the bottom satin black.
Here is the car finally in paint, and on it's way home from the painter...I think it was about 8F that day...but I was glad to avoid any salt spray from the winter roads. Trust me, it's not as dull as it looks in the pics...it was covered in dust and my old crappy digital camera, I think 2megapixels was all. The gentleman that did all the bodywork and paint is a neighbor of my parents, and one of the few guys around that still has the patience to do the necessary metal work on these old cars. Speaking of patience, it took a full year to get to this point.