The Snowball Saga - '68 Standard Revitalization Project by Blitz

5 minute(s) of a 767 minute read

Little progress update. Since I did the pinch weld blackout and floor overspray hiding project, I was reminded of how much ugly overspray remained in the front wheel arches. See a reminder of how bad it was in post 238. This was bugging me, so I finally got it up in the air with the wheels off and went to town. Started by cleaning as best I could with an aerosol can of paint prep stuff (like a cheap wax & grease remover) and various brushes and rags, and that removed some of the white overspray on the suspension. Luckily I was able to clean up the silver portion of the upper control arms. Everything else would just have to be painted black. Once again I used the VHT Rollbar & Chassis satin black paint. By being careful with a piece of cardboard in one hand, and by masking various holes that led through to the engine bay or grille, I was able to do this pretty easily without getting black paint where I didn't want it. Quickly after painting, I made sure to wipe off the brake lines, fuel lines, etc with paint thinner to let them show and look like things were done in the right order. Much better now! Glad to have this done and looking somewhat presentable again.

Aside from that, I made a wheel decision. I had been thinking that the Legendary GT5's were just going to be temporary, for display and pictures. Once I put the wheel lip mouldings on and switched back to my factory wheels and hubcaps, I had to admit that it looked kinda dull, and let down the rest of the car somewhat.

I will say it was nice to see it this way again, though, since it's how it always looked from the beginning, and throughout my childhood. But I just couldn't do it. Seeing the 2005 date codes on the tires clinched it too, I had to at least get tires. And after 51 years of this car's life, and the whole restoration it went through, I thought it really deserved to be dressed up a little. So I bit the bullet and bought the GT5's and BFG's from Don. I will be hanging on to the factory stamped steel wheels and hubcaps just for posterity.

Next little backtracking project was to remove the side mirrors and quarter panel emblems & reflectors to prep for some final paint detailing. There's still some significant orange peel and finish issues in some spots, so I'm taking it to a detail guy to get that stuff wet sanded and polished out. Here's an example. You can also see that I opted to leave the door panel in place and use a piece of wire as a snake, so hopefully I can thread the remote mirror cable back in without removing the door panel.

Finally, some fun. I got to take it on an actual drive the other night after work, which is probably the longest and most fun drive I've gotten to do so far. I headed out to Brian Aust's place in Silverton, along with Darrell N., to do a little vacuum toubleshooting on Brian's GT, and to generally nerd out about cars and have a good time.

Brian lives in the most idyllic place in the world, so naturally we had to take some sunset pics. These are just from my iPhone, and I was kicking myself for not having my real camera with me. Will just have to go back and do it again, darn...

It's nice to be at this stage where I can start to enjoy it! This month is going to be expensive though, with the wheels, detailing, and I'm planning an AC upgrade kit as well. But it's really close. I'm looking forward to the day that I can get my fancy camera out and do some real photos, and I should be able to do that within the next couple weeks. All for now!