Fixing up a '71 Grand Safari

The car is looking great Brandon. April looks really pleased too! You, on the other hand, look like you need a couple days good rest in a warm house,lol.

When I pumped gas as a teenager, I remember my paws getting almost froze in the bitter winter weather working outdoors so know what you're going through.

Thanks for the update!

 

LORDY you are THIN!! I'm so jealous over that fine ride of yours! I cant wait to it on the road!

 

Brandon, that paint job looks WAY better than driver quality, and a huge part of the reason is all that amazing, painstaking prep work you have done! WOW!!!!! Coming from me this will sound weird, but it's almost a shame to cover any of the paint with woodgrain. The occasional non-wooded big wagon can be done to look exceptional IMO if you at least use chrome wheel arch moldings, and optionally, bright rocker panel moldings as well. Holy rebirth of a Grand Safari Batman!

 

Looks awesome, Brandon!!!

 

This just gets more incredible with each picture! By the time you are done, your 'driver quality' Grand Safari is going to be better than as built! It already is! Great choice on the colour. I am in AWE of your talent and patience! keep up the great work!

 

Well that just looks amazing. I love it. It's funny you should mention the cost of the paint materials. I just bought the works for a 5.0 Mustang. I think I got about half of the material you did. That's a big car! Those guys look like they laid down a nice paint job. Of course, the "paint job" is only as good as the prep work. You have done a fantastic job on this car. You should be proud. Your wife sure looks happy with the results too. I can't wait to see the next phase of this car's rebirth.

 

GREEN UUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH i hate green! But i must say once the woodgrain is on there thats NOT bad i like it! And not a show car? i think when your done you'll have PLENTY of rubberneckers twistin heads on this one! GOOD JOB!

 

Thanks everyone. I'm very anxious to see what it will look like with the doors on and the woodgrain applied. I'm curious to see how all the colors will look together.

Mike, I definitely could use a rest, and a nice day or so that involves not looking at a station wagon.

Brandon

 

Wheel Well Water Sand

Today was decently warm so I took care of a few smaller things. First up was getting the fender wells cleaned up. First I scrubbed them with soap, water, and a brush. Then I hit them with some sandpaper and water to get them ready for some primer.

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Then came the high heat primer.

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The first gloss black can I used wasn't great and the second one I used eventually stopped up completely before it was even half empty. I had to wait until I went to town to get another can so that I could finish the job.

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I also finally got around to painting the door jamb strikers.

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The spacers were not all the same thickness so I wanted to make sure they went back on the door they came off of.

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While at the bodyshop it was recommended that I coat the patch panel with a special rust preventative substance that came in an aerosol can. It sprays out in liquid form and leaves a film over the surface. They advised me to spray it and let it run down behind the brace. I continued until it began running out of the bottom, under the brace. This area should be completely protected now.

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Here's half a garage full of parts anxiously awaiting to be turned back into a massive station wagon.

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Cool beans Brandon, your engine building bud is gonna be on hand when you first fire up your 60 over 455, right?

Non roller cam engine, I imagine there's a procedure to "break it in" correctly at first fire?

You've prolly already planned for all this, I'm just being blabberty probably?

 

Very impressive work going on there, you'll be itching to get it back together & driving her.
A tip with those rattle cans is to put them in a jug of hot water for a while, thins the paint a bit & brings up a better finish to

 

That's interesting about the paint cans, I'll have to give that a try next time.

Gary won't be there but we coated all the parts of the engine each with their own specific break in substances. For the cam, lifters, etc. We also primed the pump for quite a long time to get oil everywhere. It should be good to idle as soon as it starts.


Brandon

 

I LOVE seeing people this hardcore about what they are doing! MOST people would skeet some body color paint over those inner fenders and call it toast.
THIS is is the art of automotive lovemaking!

 

Trimbling

There is a big box a trim that has been taunting me from the side of the garage for a couple months. Each time I walk though the garage it whispers, "You know, eventually you're going to have to clean us. Each and every one of us." Then is laughs like the bad guys used to in movies from the 1980s.

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I stopped driving The Blazer a while back because just a couple days after the whole heater core incident it started leaking anti-freeze once again. This time I traced it to up near the water pump. It was either a lower hose or a the water pump itself. I need to get The Blazer going so I can haul some things so today I figured out that it was the water pump itself. After I fixed our gazebo roof that was damaged in the tornadic winds a couple weeks ago I removed the water pump. It just so happens that two different people came in to the parts house today and bought the last two water pumps for a Chevy 350, so my friend there said I would have to wait until tomorrow. I could have bought one from Auto Zone or the other place but I truly despise those companies and their company ethic so I stay away from them as much as possible. Also, I called the upholstery shop today because he was supposed to have called and determined if he can get the materials to put the headliner in The Clam but he also runs a towing business and apparently someone broke into his tow-yard last night and stole something out of a customer's vehicle so he had to deal with the police all day.

Before all this I got a call today from the machine shop that has the head I bought for my '31 Chevrolet. I saved birthday, Christmas and gift money for over a year to buy this head and today the shop called to say they checked it and it has at least two cracks in it. I had intentions of going over and removing the head that's on my '31 now but if the new one has a crack that puts me in a situation. My dad's boat is out in the weather because there is a '75 Corvette where it used to be because I had to make room in the barn for a workspace to work on The Clam. The end result of all this is that if the '31 is sitting there with no head that means I can't move it out of the way to put the boat up, which I plan to do as soon as the ground dries. All of this basically means that the most efficient progress I could make today was starting on that dreaded box of trim.

I set up a high class, mobile, all purpose trim detail shop right there in my driveway. You can observe the kitty litter soaking up the coolant under The Blazer, evidence of the fun I had with the water pump, giving a nice ambiance to the park bench adorned work space.

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I believe while this car will be a daily driver these details make the difference between a decent looking car and a good looking car. When it is all together and finished the polished brightwork may not be something a person will consciously notice, but it will give an overall greater appearance that those who see it will subconsciously be aware of leading to, in my opinion, an overall much better looking automobile.

For the aluminum pieces I would first wash them with water and then clean them with polish. For the chromed metal pieces I would first go over them with fine steel wool and then come back with the polish. I didn't bother taking many pictures because once you've seen one pair of dirty chrome pieces look shiny you've seen them all. The end result doesn't show up on camera quite as well as it does in person but it at least gives a small idea of the difference.

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I didn't finish all the pieces today as the air outside began to get too cool and I could tell that if I stayed out any longer I would be asking for a sore throat. Fortunately my super amazing work station is, as I mentioned, mobile, so I moved it into the garage to finish up a couple more pieces and then packed it up and called it a night. It was very nice to work on something that involved getting to sit down for a change.

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God is in the details!! THIS is a man who understands the difference between nice and OUTSTANDING!