6/2/6 Body in primer and drying. Cleaning the trunk and engine bays before prep and prime. The spare tire is a bit ‘lacey’ and will need some rust repair, but otherwise ready to go. When color is picked, will disassemble the car, paint the door jambs and under the lids, engine bay, and trunk, and then reassemble before final painting. Baikal blue, Fjord or Granada… 6/24/06 Granada it is.

Beginning to paint the door jambs and undersides of the hood and deck. 7/20/06 Prepping for final paint. Inside of lids and doors painted and engine bay and trunk. Ready for the exterior respray 7/21 7/29/06 Painted and in the sunshine. A far cry from the first pix at the top of this page.

The Interior is loosely placed, and the carpet to be installed matches the samples seen on the floorboards here. The next step is to tow the car to the trim shop for the carpet and headliner install, and then when it returns, it will get undercoated and glassed-in, and the mechanical bits will go up and in. 10/11/06 Car on the lift and being undercoated. The frames go up next after detailing and rebuilding as needed. The motor will go up with the front subframe. The headline and carpet are in, and inside we are beginning to mount stereo bits and the like. 10/19/06.

A strengthened, reinforced, powder-coated front subframe is the basis, with new rubbers and suspension parts. The motor is mounted with the transmission below into the waiting engine bay. Here we see it in place. 11/10/06 Motor is in, and the car drives! Will be taking it to the stereo shop to do some of the alarm and radio installations as soon as the rest of the windows are installed. The final installation will follow along shortly. 11/18/06 Trim and taillights and the remote door lock bits are in.

12/9/06 Seats are in, as is stereo. Moldings going on and the trim is also nearly done. Car runs and soon will be driving and road testing as soon as the brakes are bled. Ready to tackle the AC. 1/4/06 The trunk. Finishing the details here, license plate lights and new latch hardware. 3/25/07.

Nearing completion. Details, details. It runs well, and AC is ice cold. Picking a steering wheel. Road testing. 4/26/07. Delivery date and prepping for the ride to the local DAS dropoff terminal in Carson. Waxed and detailed for the long trip to Chattanooga. Always a bit of a bittersweet day when a long-term project goes off to its new owner.