Day 3....progress????

What did they do all day out in the garage?
Although pictures won't say it all, here is a list of what they accomplished today and in the last three days while Grandpa and Gary worked. They have worked hard, I am positive there are muscles that hurt, I know there are tired bodies. I think they are happy and pleased with the progress they have made, actually getting farther than they anticipated.

It is true..."many hands make light the work"!

Today:

Finished the slats on the roof

Mounted the back doors

Trimmed front doors and they are ready to mount

In the last three days:

Slats on the roof

Installed all the metal hardware

Readied (the mounting holes had to be drilled and they had to be filed)

and mounted all the hinges for doors

Assembled all the panels and attached them to the frame

As Grandpa went off to bed tonight, he talked about this being a dream come true...

He is like a child in a candy shop with this car. It has been fun to watch the excitement.
Thanks for the weekend, it was fun to have you here.

Day Two and the progress

At the end of Friday night here is what these two men had accomplished. You may find it hard to see the progress, but I will help point it out. They were exhausted by the end of the day. It is truly a project that requires hours of work, but may not much progress sometimes. Grandpa told me this morning he loves to work, I believe him...he said "The day I quit working I will be dead". We laughed and said, "No, the day you die, you will quit working!"

Below you will notice the black topped screws, this is what Grandpa has been working on all the metal parts and assembly. I believe the box is all secure at this point on the frame.

Maybe hard to see, but you will notice the black bracket in the center, part of the door latch. The black bracket in the left hand corner. There is also a black brace, bracket along the wheel well. and up the sides there is a brace to hold the wood box to the frame.

Here you can see the hinge for the back doors.

This is a top view of the TOP! It is almost complete. You are able to see how the slats had to be bent. An old iron, wet clot and some clamps. I see glue was probably used and some screws.

Once again you will notice black headed screws...holding the assembly together.

I am hoping tonight to have a large picture fest out there and lots of explanation from Grandpa and Gary. I will post again tomorrow.

Grandpa Arrives

Gary's dad (Grandpa) flew in Thursday morning. Gary arrived with him back at the house about 11:30. Anxious to see the progress, they made a beeline for the garage. I think he was impressed, surprised, she truly is much more beautiful in person that pictures could ever express. I heard the word beautiful pass over his lips more than once. Not sure who was more pleased with himself, Gary for a job well done so far, or Grandpa at having thought to create this masterpiece with his son. Here is what Gary had accomplished when his Dad arrived.

Remember those front corners, all cut and rounded. Sanded to a smooth finish here is the left side and below is the right side, which gives a better view of the work.
These next two pictures show the top or roof. You can see slats being added to either side. This is a long process. Each of these slats has to be hand bent and attached to the bows. After this step then the top is ready for the vinyl.

Here is a close up of the slats attached to the bows. At the front they angle down towards the front of the car. It is quite the process to install these.
The two of them spent all day, long into the evening out working on this car. Grandpa did all the metal work, the box is all attached together and Gary worked on the top. It is remarkable to me how hard this grandpa can work and how much he can accomplish in a day.

What's in the box???

What is in the box?
I don't think you will be able to guess which car part arrived in this box! I will give you a hint....It is black, and it is soft.

Okay it is the roofing material. Here is a picture of it after it had been laid out flat in the family room and then rolled on tubing to keep it as flat as possible.
It is very interesting. I could best describe it as a type of vinyl or naugahyde. It is textured with long lines running parallel to the long sides. It has a foam underlining that is a separate piece. There is also a black liner that I am told will go in the inside, to make things look good....I love the wood look myself.

Well Saturday here is what she looked like late in the morning. Front view:

Side view:

The dust is our fault, the garage is dusty with the wood shop in the next room. Also Arizona is dusty and dirty, and it has been extremely dry lately. Well Saturday was a hard day for Gary. He made what he thought was a huge mistake...it all ended up being just okay though.


These long top sides have taken him hours, literally hours to make. He has had to custom make each and every cut, some cuts taking several times to be exact. You see this is not a kit, nor do they have instructions or a pattern. They have pictures from another that has been restored (apparently there were only a few of these made, not sure on the exact number). They have reproduced this car from the pictures.


Here is a picture of the top front side. It runs the full length of the car. Well Gary went to make a cut in the front part of this piece and cut it wrong...30 hours down the drain. He was so distraught and frustrated with himself. Not only that, and this I don't entirely understand, but he now lost an angle and felt like it would be next to impossible to reproduce this piece. Well after much consideration, he did patch and glue (doesn't every piece of art have to have some sort of imperfection...And this is truly a work of art!) Well here is a close up of the "mistake". Can you tell? I had a hard time finding it, it will be just fine I think.

Next he glued the top part together in the back and sanded it. This raw maple wood is beautiful, just absolutely beautiful with it's soft subtle grains.



A close up of the details at the back corner.

This is the front header to the roof assembly. It was a piece that was purchased.

Here it is laid up where it will go. The "corner" or area where the side and front meet have to be put together, rounded and sanded.

Lots of hours getting everything just so. Accuracy is a priority, and it takes time. This has kept him busy and he has thoroughly enjoyed every minute...well almost every minute...there were a few minutes of stress on Saturday.

Upon my return....Here is what I found!

Sides complete and attached temorarily to the frame!

Check out the detail! All the trim was hand done, cut to fit and screwed on.


The front side door, and a close up to show off the details.

The inside of the front doors. See all the screws which hold all that molding and trim on. No glue used when applying the trim pieces.

Here is the beginnings of the roof. He has all the bows cut and is placing them. These pictures are a bit more difficult to see the detail.
This is taken looking up through to the ceiling of the garage.



This one is taken looking more through to the front.

*Note: Band clamps are a temporary feature just used to hold everything in place until it is properly attached.

And last of all Grandpa's little helpers, Ty-kell and Sophie.

January's Progress

Sorry it has been so long between posts, I took off for a week and went to help our daughter with her new baby. Before I left, I did take some pictures, I just didn't get them updated on the blog.

Gary has been busy with this project, he works in the garage nearly every night to finish this up. Here is a picture of the blade he had special made to do the finger joints on the fenders.


Here is a fender that is finished ready to be assembled onto the side.


A close up of the finger joint


Here is a side in the process of having the trim attached.


The side with the fender attached and more trim work being done.


Pieces for the top or roof, all pieces have to be varnished where they touch, this is to completely protect the wood from the elements it will be exposed to.


Close up of finger joints. These were all individually done.


I will post tomorrow what I found when I got home...stay tuned you will be surprised!