Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Refresh my memory, how much horsepower is in this project? It just has get you in trouble all over it.

Now that the body is on for the last time & locked in position I can do a few things that were hanging...

The rear bumper isn't a part of, or body alignment isn't dependent upon the studs for mounting it. I've only been running the "overriders", but the bumper's been in bubble wrap for months.

I had to cut new (longer) all-thread pieces, drill out the (as supplied) holes, but fitting the rear bumper was a non-event.

 

Since it's crappy & rainy, spending lots of time in the shop giving the Roadster a once-over, and some final assembly that couldn't be done until the body was locked in position.

During the "gel-coat" phase, I made up some inner splashguards for the forward part of the rear wheelhouses. These blocked about 70% of the crud from being flung up under the doors and in the rockers. The lower 30% I couldn't do, as the body would dictate the final size & shape. 

Now the body is bolted and riveted on, I was able to make up the last little filler piece, and caulk/silicone the gaps.

This should (?) keep about 99% of the water/crud/mud from entering the body under the doors.

Now that the paint has reached "full cure" another item got knocked off the list... "Clear Bra" film.

The front area of the rear fender flares is notorious for collecting rock chips. (When I delivered the car to Jeff, he noted to me there were several dings through the gel-coat and into the 'glass already!)

I wanted to cover the rear flares, behind the rear wheels, and the tops of the doors. (You're always hanging your elbow out since the cockpit's so narrow, and I wanted to keep watches, buttons, sunscreen, whatever off the paint!).

There's a shop just a few blocks away from me, and I brought it over to them for an estimate. They agreed with my "needs", but recommended covering the entire door to avoid a horizontal (and really visible) seam where the door breaks downward. Their spitball estimate was $600 to $700...

The material is available all over Amazon & Ebay, but not in the widths/sizes needed for a large area (like the doors). The online stuff is pretty much in 1, 6, 12, 18 inch widths, and varying lengths.

I called the guys at "Finishing Touch", explained what I needed and wanted to do, and they agreed to sell me the film... no pleading, bribing, just "What size?"  I gave them my dimensions, they altered them to fit the size of material they had on-hand (oversize a bit), and told me it'd be about $125. SOLD! I drove the Roadster over there to pick the film up, we verified the dimensions, they cut my pieces, and every guy in the shop came out to gawk at the car!

(I bought the genuine 3M "Pro-Series" film. The stuff is about 1/32" thick!)

I highly recommend watching a BUNCH of YouTube videos about doing this. It's really not too difficult, but the videos reveal several tips-n-tricks that really help. 

This car has more compound curves than Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell combined... If I can do this, a Chevelle would be a cake-walk!

The "Dans" at Finishing Touch are great people.

They have done almost 100% of our PDR work for close to 20 years.

We have not used them on the clear film much as our current Vendor is still taking care of us.

Looks great!

Karl