This posting is the result of our friends Connie and Manuel of San Antonio, TX.
Last winter we became acquainted when we meet them through a group at Quartsite, AZ. Since meeting them we have been following their Blog. On one of their last posts I noticed a car under a tarp in Manuel's workshop, so I asked them what it was and that we had a 64 Chevelle. It turned out it was their son's 1968 Pontiac GTO that he is restoring and they asked to see some pictures of our car. Connie, this is what you get for asking.
Sandy and I flew into Portland, OR on September 7th, 2002 and picked up the car on the 8th. Seeing as our 30th wedding anniversary was coming up, 9-9-2002, we made this our anniversary present to each other.
Here we are picking up the car in Albany, OR. We spent 5 days driving back home.
Since the car was free of rust and had just a few minor imperfections, our plan was to give it a fair paint job, clean up the interior some and enjoy the car. In October 2002, my friend Jerry and I pulled the interior and engine out of the car and delivered the car to Lynn's Autobody and Restoration in Lakeville for the start of the body work and painting. We were able to get in because someone else put their car on hold to accumulate more funds.
October 2002
November 2002. At this stage the guy with the other car decided to go ahead and finish his car. This meant that ours was put on hold.
While the car was on hold I decided to take the frame to our shop and work on it there. That's when our budget went to hell. I sent the frame out and had it powder coated. While this was being done I figured it would be nice to put on front and rear disc brakes. So here are the results.
February 2003.
Then I thought that I should put in a Chevrolet crate engine. So here is the 350 CI 330 HP crate engine installed with a rebuilt turbo hydromatic transmission.
In May 2003 I sprayed undercoating on the underside of the bare body.
In June 2003 we took the car back to Lynn's. He said that he would work on our's when he had a chance.
July 2003. Primed, painted, clear coated and sanded.
August 2003. Randy is starting the buffing process.
I finally got the car home in the fall of 2003 and spent the winter putting on the bumpers, chrome, interior and finishing off the engine compartment.
April 2004 the car is starting to come together.
We had the car finished by the 3rd weekend of June when "Back To The 50's" is held. This is the MSRA (Minnesota Street Rod Association) gathering where approximate 8,000 to 10,000 cars, 1964 and older, show up at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
July 2004
Thanks to Randy at Lynn's Autobody we have received several trophies. At one show we received a "Best Paint" trophy and at another we received a "Best of Show". We did not start out with this much of a restoration in mind, but it was nice to see the results get noticed. We are enjoying the car even though the budget went out the window early in the process.
Now that we have a home again, we will keep the car in the garage, so we can use and enjoy it more.
And a big thanks to our good friend, Jerry, for all his help and guidance with working on the car.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy
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