SM: End of the body work session

In February 2011, work is almost done, I just have to put the wheels back onto the body and get it back home.

This time it was mainly about finishing work.

Here are some pictures:

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Some other areas needing attention

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Then comes the time of finishing work before painting

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Also, a second sandblasting has been done, with a finer grain…

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… here is the result inside the car

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First coat of black paint underneath…

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… and a primer coat elsewhere

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Application of calking between all body panels

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Application of the final color inside the trunk…

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… then inside the engine bay

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A gravel-guard coat underneath…

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… I was not sure about applying a gravel-guard but this car will not be a show car, I’ll drive it, so protection is required

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The final gray color is applied everywhere…

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… so now comes the time of the exterior color, on a part of the engine bay

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I hesitated for a long time about applying the exterior color because I was not sure about the color itself…

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… so, as I was not able to decide, I simply kept the original color “sable métallisé”

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The result is nice, isn’t it?

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Separation between the gray and “sable” colors seem good to me

Here is the end of an important step in this restoration but unfortunately everything has not been done for budget reasons. Significant work is still needed on the rear fenders and the roof, but I’ll be able to start reassembling many parts.

Some visitors of this site ask me how much this restorations costs. I don’t make the count because it’s difficult and it would show how crazy this kind of project is 😉 But for your information, note that the cost of the body work shown here is 17300 $ !!! So can you imagine the total cost of the restoration? We speak here only about the body itself, we are still far from final painting, which will require again a big budget because body panels will need a lot of metal work and preparation.