Saturday- Car Show!

What a great day!

Friday

First of all, deadline to have the cars at Marymount is 10pm, and I think you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats long enough.

We got the upholstery and we painted everything else and everyone came together and started to throw stuff together onto the cars. Not literally, most of the stuff was already done and awaiting the body to be done. The tires and hubcaps were put on the cars and Chad and I touched up the rims with some paint and made the tires look pretty. Dave and Tye got the glass and window tracks installed on both rigs. Merryl got the dashes and steering wheels installed. The oak bed and metal hold downs got installed on the truck and the plywood with oak trim got installed in the wagon....Basically everything else got done.

The engines and transmissions were so nice once they were rebuilt and painted that we decided to have them on display next to the Powell's instead in the engine compartment.

We did not make the 10pm deadline but they were on the turn tables around 2 or 3 am.

Don Mettler bringing the upholstery he just finished.

Finished interior

Thursday

Today was a huge day! The Powell family came to visit our shop and I was so surprised to see how many of them showed up to our show to see their cars getting restored. It was such a treat to meet them and hear their stories of the Powell's and it was great telling them what was going on with the restoration. They all knew me since one of the volunteers gave them the blog address so they could keep up with what was happening.

On a more technical note, Dave, Wayne, and I were working on the taillights and noticed that the license plate light had to have a smaller bezel. So we had to do some searching to find smaller bezels. We ended up cabbaging onto one of them which was on the wagon parts car. I don't remember how we got the other one.

The tailgate that I painted earlier in the week got its glass, rubber, and some special trim pieces to make it stand out. I also put the stainless steel trim on the grill and Tom got some Coat M on the body of the wagon. By the end of the day Alicia got the sign lettering done on the wagon and it looks great!

Tailgate looking beautiful

Some pretty sign lettering

1 more day...and a long night

Wednesday

Today I sprayed the whole body of the Ultravan except the roof, since I wasn't tall enough even with the ladder. Tom started spraying the aqua on the wagon. The roof of the Powell was made with some sort of plastic or vinyl so the difference with the truck and wagon was another row of seats in the wagon, the the exo-skeleton to make the covering for the wagon. Today was a lot of painting and last minute details. I also got some doors painted after I worked on them with primer and a skim coat of body filler.

They look like vehicles!

2 more days...

Tuesday

Tuesday, well we're running out of days very quickly. I sanded down one of the doors on the wagon. We had sprayed some sprayable filler which sands remarkably well. The door should now be ready for primer and then paint. I sprayed DP primer and coat M on the tailgate for the wagon and the headlight bezels. I also sprayed some coat M on the bedsides again and the back of the cab. I left to spend some much needed time with my mom, and napping. I came back to the shop around 8 to do some more painting on the inside of the cab after Tom undercoated the whole thing. After I got back I also noticed Tom had undercoated the wagon, which also has fenders and a hood being fitted to it. Nothing major has been put on the Powell's so there isn't any pictures today, unless I put the one up of my white hair after I had sprayed for two days. I looked older than my mom, but wiser at least.

3 more days...

Monday

Today I wet sanded the bedside and sprayed coat M on it. I also wet sanded the yellow on the quarter of the truck. We got the other engine and both flywheels today so now we attached the bell housing and next is the transmission. Merrill and Don started the front suspension on the truck and more gingerbread stuff got done today. Mainly we have to work around everyone working and spray the bodies. Tomorrow I'm going to wet sand the bedside and some of the volunteers can start laying in the oak bed liner.

Coat M on the truck. Tom said I have a natural talent. So I guess I should keep up with this. I like making things shiny.

Sunday

Today was kind of uneventful on my part, however when I came into the shop in the morning Tom had sprayed the yellow on the roof of the truck. All the little gingerbread things are getting done everyday. We got one of the engines in, and one of the volunteers started putting it all together.

I checked in on my car today and helped the mechanic with the timing gears, chain and harmonic balancer. All looked well so we decided not to change it. Routine check up from there, brakes, new brake fluid, oil change, tune up, blah blah blah.

I put the number decals on the odometer after I took it all apart. Kind of scary since I have never taken one apart before. Wet sanded a little bit but didn't paint anything.

John, Dave and Ted putting the engine together.