'67 Chevy II Project

[Jimbo1367]

When this thread first started I thought, wow that needs ALOT of work,
I never imagined the build was going to progress so quickly and with such a high level of craftsmanship. What is you day job and mechanical back round? This is a bad ass build.

I love the suburban. Glad to hear its getting some love later on too. Keep up the great work !!!

Jim

[wiedemab]

Originally Posted by Jimbo1367

When this thread first started I thought, wow that needs ALOT of work,
I never imagined the build was going to progress so quickly and with such a high level of craftsmanship. What is you day job and mechanical back round? This is a bad ass build.

I love the suburban. Glad to hear its getting some love later on too. Keep up the great work !!!

Jim

Thanks for the kind words. I'm not sure I agree with you on the speed at which the work is getting completed. I started on it over 3 years ago! As far as my day job is concerned - - -nothing even remotely related to this.... I'm the Director of Corporate Strategy for Hillenbrand Inc.. We have a portfolio of companies around the world in various industrial markets as well as Batesville Casket. My background does lend itself a bit to this type of work though. My undergraduate degree is in mechanical engineering (although I was never really a "practicing" engineer). I spent my early career working on improvement projects in a manufacturing environment (Lean/Continuous improvement).....ended up working in Sourcing/Procurement - got to run that for one of our companies for a few years, which was fun (traveled all over the world!). - - -anyway, none of that has to do with cars. The real reason I do any of this is that I picked it up from my Dad. He spent his career running an autobody shop. I remember watching him build cars as a young kid (and fix everyone elses! - he would fix things that should't have been fixed - -I think simple to prove he could fix them........kind of resonates with this project huh!). He still has his '67 Chevy II that he finished when I was 3 years old. I learned how to weld and basic fabrication along with body work from my Dad and over the years, he and I have just tried to continue to learn new skills (buy more tools!) and get a little better with each build. I've also become friends with some very talented and knowledgeable people in the industry over the years that have been gracious enough to put up with me asking them lots of questions. I figured that if I knew what good looked like, I could keep on trying until I got there...I've thrown away a few attempts in the process.

I literally get at most about 8hrs a week (on a rare occasion I'll marathon if the wife and kids are out of town!). It's frustrating at times, but I have to remind myself that it's a hobby and it'll get done when it gets done. Our family has had a lot going on the past several years too, which puts things in perspective.

It's all about having the right tools for the job and plenty of patience (which I lack!)..

[wiedemab]

Finished up the core support





Decided to re-skin the doors. By the time I fixed the small rust issues and fixed some damage to the driver's door I could re-skin them quicker/easier. I'm glad I did. After having the doors dipped would have been impossible to get the door shells primered very well. I used a KBS coating on the insides of the doors - it works really well.

[wiedemab]

First we lightly folded the skin edges over and test fitted it to the car. This allowed up to adjust the skin on the shell. You would be surprised at how they will twist and move around - - if you aren't careful you can make a mess. Once we had it where we wanted it (these Dynacorn skins fit pretty damn well) - I tacked it in a couple of spots, took it back off, hammer and dollied the rest of the skin and welded it on.



I have to say - it's invaluable having the old man around (he's skinned who knows how many doors in his life) - lots of little tricks to be learned. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but there is no substitute for good ole experience! Action photo of Dad!



Door back on and adjusted to the quarter and fender....next is start working the gaps. (I have basically the same pics of the other side, but for conciseness will spare the redundancy)

[wiedemab]

Gap was wide at the top, so I split the quarter and moved it forward a bit.



Quarter stuck out from the door at the top (shape a little off too). The rest of the door to quarter lined up well, so I split the jam and reshaped it.



The top of the quarter ran a little uphill toward the front of the car. I split it and lined it up so that the molding would line up properly without too much adjusting/shimming.





There we go - -much better!

[wiedemab]

The only other thing that I've gotten done recently was to work on buttoning up the tail-panel and tail-light areas. I welded up the factory lead seams with silicon-bronze (same as I did at the roof to quarter seam. I still have a little bit of work to do on the tail-light area and then gap the decklid.

Slowly, but surely making progress. One of these years it'll be on the road.

[SlowProgress]

Thanks for sticking with this project. Love that your saving another one. You are lucky your dad has the skills to help out as well and your metal work is great, something you will have your whole life. For some reason I never subscribed but I fixed that today. Stay motivated!

Scott

[HEEP]

[QUOTE=wiedemab;655678] I welded up the factory lead seams with silicon-bronze (same as I did at the roof to quarter seam.

Brandon, Can you explain why you welded with the silicon-bronze on those seams? I think I made a mistake on mine by using my mig.

[RedrumLs]

Originally Posted by wiedemab

First we lightly folded the skin edges over and test fitted it to the car. This allowed up to adjust the skin on the shell. You would be surprised at how they will twist and move around - - if you aren't careful you can make a mess. Once we had it where we wanted it (these Dynacorn skins fit pretty damn well) - I tacked it in a couple of spots, took it back off, hammer and dollied the rest of the skin and welded it on




I have to say - it's invaluable having the old man around (he's skinned who knows how many doors in his life) - lots of little tricks to be learned. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but there is no substitute for good ole experience! Action photo of Dad!



Door back on and adjusted to the quarter and fender....next is start working the gaps. (I have basically the same pics of the other side, but for conciseness will spare the redundancy)

That's awesome & a blessing! Having pops around to give a helping hand with his knowledge & experience...I wish my dad was still around.. that's probably the exact thing he would be doing... consider yourself fortunate..
Greg

[waynieZ]

I agree with Greg, enjoy your time in the garage with your Dad. You guys are doing a great job.