Shell On Chassis, Body Work Continues

The huge news for today is that the shell is now on top of the chassis! It is by no means mounted, it's just sitting on wooden blocks, but this is a HUGE step, and is very gratifying to see it happen.

Before hoisting the shell onto the body, I had to do a little work on the engine to make sure the profile was as low as possible. This basically meant moving all of the cables and lines off the top, and unfastening a mounting bracket that holds the "home plate" in place.

Once it was in place, I had the opportunity to get some body work done. I'm stalling for time until Bo can come back to help address some of the problems I noticed once the shell went on, and this is the best way I could think of doing in.

Here's the gas cap area on the passenger side. I've already given it a lot of work, but it got to a point where it was too hard to access for me to be able to do the kind of precision work I wanted to do.

Here's how it looked after I laid in some putty. Still lots of work to do here, and I found a big dent/recess just behind the gas cap that I need to fix too. It's got putty in it in this photo.

One thing I hadn't really noticed before, as the passenger side of the car was jammed up against the garage wall, was this nasty recess along one of the seam lines. It looks like it's the result of a warp in the mold, or something being miskeyed, or an act of Gandalf.

Of course, I aim to fix it. It's too deep to just putty over, which means I'll start by doing a layer or two of fiberglass. It's great for building up deep recesses, and won't crack. If anything, it's going to make the body that much stronger in this location.

If you look at the first photo in this post, you can see the "before" of the passenger side fender. This was my second pass with the putty, and it had not yet been sanded. I took a swipe at it, and it's coming along really nicely. I'll need at least one more pass to get it smooth and level, but lots of good progress here.

Lastly, I did some more work along the main seam on the passenger side. I sanded down the ridges where I could, and then did a pass with the putty. I haven't sanded it yet, but you get the idea. There is still a LOT of work to be done here, but every little bit counts.

I'll have a new video up soon, showing the shell being lifted into place, so please keep an eye on my youtube channel. If you aren't subscribed, please do!!! :D

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheProjectWorkBench/videos