Front Buckets... The Second Coming

When the fire destroyed the car a couple months back, I was so sad that all that hard work went with it. My wife worked hard on the front and back seats. I put her name on the inside of one of the buckets when she finished...

When I was going through the car after the blaze, I found that first picture of where I wrote the date on the floor. This was the largest piece that was left of the covers.

Fast forward to last week and she started the job again. Although she didn't do it all herself this time, it was nice she helped.

Though the headrests are not there yet, the seats are back where they belong. BUT now I have to switch that seatbelt as I put it in the wrong spot. Grrrrrr

Carpet Sections

Today's focus was to get the carpet in place. I had to locate the seat belt holes, and cut away around the dimmer switch, gas pedal, and the shifter area. Lastly I crawled under the car and poked a screwdriver through the holes where the seats were attached. My dad was up top marking where I needed to cut.

The little things

It's funny how all the little things that should just bolt up end up taking the most time. Getting the gunk from the seat tracks that the fire left for me was icky. I lubes it up and eventually things became smooth flowing. I'm still waiting on the headrest chrome, so those are hanging out until then.

I also put the back carpet in, drilled the new seat belt holes and found a couple old ones under the new floor boards.

A couple areas I had to go over again with the sand paper finally got tended to. Tomorrow I hope will bring less frustration with bolts...

Hot Enough

The last few days here in Michigan have been extremely hot. Heat index was pushing 110 according to the radio. However, I need to keep pushing to get the most out of my summer with the car. I took the last couple days to stay in and complete the seats, and now the console. Looking forward to this weekend to get back to the car itself. Good things are approaching...

Front Buckets

It was a bit more challenging to hog ring these seats this time. My hog ring pliers broke on the third ring, and then I had to use regular pliers. I danced with the seats for a bit, but got them covered. I still need to repaint the headrest and apply new chrome. It's nice to see them look like a seat again and not a burnt piece of toast.

Back seats and belts

I had forgotten how many little parts there were when putting the door panels back on. Everything went together, but some of the screws were fussy.

After the panels were in place I bolted down the seat belts and attached the back seats.

Headliner and Back Window

One of the things I dreaded doing again after the fire was the headliner. Luckily I knew the basics from before, watched a couple videos, and added some heat. I love the way it turned out. Again, not perfect, but pretty tight.

We also prepped the back window area and put in the window itself.

I also started putting the dash components back into the car. I put the front vents along with the apillars back in there.

Time to Stretch

After making the final sands on the fender, it went to rattle can primer. Car looks halfway normal again with the primer. Hard to tell the car went through a massive fire, unless you look at the stainless steel exhaust pipes.... bummer there. Any-who, the stretching began today. I have to say that this time through is going easier than before. I will work those wrinkles and work those wrinkles....

Photo update

From sanding the driver fender, putting the lower valance on, headliner insulation, and getting some parts from Marley, the 68... I've been running around with my head cut off. Little things are tying up my time, so to me it feels like nothing big has happened with Rusty. It was nice to drive it out to blow off the dust though. Horn is crazy loud in the garage too.