Bird Overhaulin: August 2010

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The block had new freeze plugs and new cam bearings installed when it went to the shop.

Not too shabby

Reamed the ridge, stone honed the cylinders, a lot of cleaning...

Engine back from being cleaned

Cleaned up pretty good.

Another angle

That paint on that door panel: Yes, I let the kids help. If Im not mistaken one of the boys ruined a new shirt which did not make Monica happy. The boys have good memories though!

Dash painted

Turned out very nice! As well, you can see more of the work on the under dash area.

Dave came over and helped me remove the windshield. Thankfully, no rust. Simply sanded and started painting. You can also see that the inside of the car is done and painted. More of my roll on Rustoleum black...

I originally tried to paint with the windshield in but it did not look very good. I was glad I removed the windshield because it ended up cracking (right before I pulled it) and as well, it allowed me to do a thorough job on the dash portion of the cowl.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

What a cowl...

Man oh man!

Beautiful

Turned out very nice. As you can see, you can barely tell that the floor pan was weled. You have to be looking for it.

Cure epoxy cure.

February 25, 2010 What I did on the underside

I did not have Kenny butt weld these panels but instead asked him to weld on top inside the car (which wont be seen) and form a lap joint. What I did so that it did not look like this was done was to grind off the bottom lip that was hanging over with a die grinder. Then, once again it was epoxy time to clean up that seam. I put it on, let it cure, then sanded it down to smooth it all out. The next couple of pics made me happy I did it this way because it turned out very nice.

Primed!

Oh yes...

Sealing and Painting

Seam sealed and primed. My version of red oxide= Rustoleum Rusty metal primer.

Rear under seat floor pan area

Knew that this piece was going to have to be replaced. Cut out a piece from a car at the Richwood Junkyard with my friend Dave Havercamp. Kenny had the hang of welding this thin stuff by now. He welded this piece and the drivers toe pan in about 45min.

Drivers side toe pan work.

I did not want to replace this side but after I started grinding, I knew it was going to have to be done. Worked over the sheet metal and called Kenny back over.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Thanks for the welds Kenny. Those little stress reliefs that they cut in the floor pan really come in handy. Without them, it would be hard to make the floor fit exactly perfect. You can see some of that epoxy again to smooth out that joint.

That finished toe area

That little corner piece seemed to take forever. Would have been a lot easier with an english roller.

Some more epoxy handiwork. Around the perimeter of the weld, I sanded with the die grinder and then epoxied over the welded joint. When I applied it, I smoothed it out. Once cured, I sanded over it to smooth out the line. Epoxy is much more permanent than filler, thats why I like it. Plus, Im a glue guy!

New toe pan

This is the toe pan I fashioned up with a spare sheet of metal. This one fit like a gem! Be nice if someone made a reproduction...

Doggone heater core

This is the toe pan that I cut out and recreated. Notice the spot welds nicely drilled out.

No floor...

This is a pic from the underside. Even though I had everything cut out, it was still a lot of work getting everything lined up to fit.

1-29-09

Now that the trunk was done and the subframe all painted, it was onto taking care of the rust in the passenger floor pan. More good friends: Kenny Ballenger came over with his welder to begin the work. Freezing cold, some coffee, some Subway, some babysitting of Kennys son Aden, and we got it done.

I cut out the entire passenger side pan and took care of the spot welds using a spot weld bit from Harbor Freight. Some of the best $5 ever spent.

Sold this bumper, the black bumper, and a non-stock TA hood for $60. Not always easy to come up with "Bird Food".

Somewhere along the line, sold these for $120.

73 400 out of a Grand Prix. All stock, 4H heads, nothing too special- except for the fact its a Pontiac! Cost me $250 and came with a TH400. Got to hear it run as well.

1-15-10 400 Pontiac motor brought home!

Oh yes, its at the house. Theres Tim again, good to have good friends...

December 2009 Buick 455 gone

Sold the Buick motor for $450.
Its really hard to sell a good running engine that has a lot of new parts on it. Especially when everything is all set up for it in the car. But in keeping with an all Pontiac car- IT HAD TO GO!

I rolled this on with a foam roller. It turned out very nice. Takes a while to dry (TSC Tractor Enamel) but dried to a very nice finish.

10-29-09 Painted subframe

I used TSC tractor enamel over the Rustoleum Rusty Metal paint (even though it was bare metal). They are both oil based paints so they are compatible with one another.

10-23-09 Subframe is blasted

The Kings and myself did a little blasting today. The core support, subframe, control arms, on my Bird are done. We also did one of Tims frames and some other parts. Big Leroy (the compressor) handled business. Thanks Jenn for the shave with the blaster...