Project- Bills Buggy

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Just got back from the garage a little bit ago and thought I would share tonights progress before heading to bed... we again test fit the outer wheel house and trunk floor extension. then before any welding we placed the quarter on to check other areas of alignment and such.. In the pics are Bob and Little John (another important member of the team) test fitting the quarter.. after they were satisfied with fit and alignment, Little John went to work making the outer wheel house permanent.. Then for fun there was a little autograph session that will remain as a 'time capsule' moment, since it will never be seen again after the quarter gets hung... it was a fun and productive night.. more to come this weekend..
 

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So... it has been pointed out to me a time or two over the past 7+ years that there are never any pics of me working on the Buggy.. lol.. always everyone else.. this probably has something to do with the fact that I am the only one ever operating the camera.. Usually while people are involved in parts of the project that I have no clue what I am doing I start snapping pics.. there is one pic of me that my wife took way back when the engine compartment was getting painted that had me in it working, but I couldnt find that one.. anyhoo.. Friday night while I was grinding all the bad stuff out of whats left of the passenger side rocker box, someone actually decided to snap a couple of pics.. so.. heres proof I actually do work on the car LMAO..
 

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It's going to be a sweet ride when your done....
 
So made a little progress on the Buggy last night.. the gang all assembled for some cold ones and resto work lol.. I got busy finishing the cleanup on what was left of the passenger side rocker box (refer to the above pics lol), Ed (the rock) who brought back my 8.75 center section and axles got busy putting the front of the motor back together.. it was leaking oil around the harmonic balancer, turns out there was a groove wore in it.. wear sleeve fixed that.. I assisted him for a while after I got done cleaning the rocker.. (well assisting in this case meant continuing to hand him parts LOL) ..

Next Bruce and Bob got started rebuilding the rocker box.. the last pic is the finished product.. It aint pretty but it doesnt have to be.. it all gets covered. It just needed to be solid.. I think it turned out great.. a couple things to finish with the trunk floor extension and the Buggy is just a quarter panel away from being closed back up again LOL...

Hopefully we get started on that this weekend, or maybe even put the rear end back together.. who knows.. it feels good to be making steady progress..
 

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Well, its getting close.. this Tuesday we make the new quarter a permanent part of the Buggy.. Last night we got the motor all back together and buttoned up... finished off the new rocker box with seam sealer, primer, and some buzz bomb paint to keep it in good shape... then we test fit the quarter one last time.. it looks good to see her closed up again.. More pics to come this week.. oh yeah.. before we test fit the quarter, Brucie decided to add one more message to the 'time capsule', just in case.. LOL .. enjoy
 

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Great work. when you said you went to the nationals, Did you mean Carlisle PA.?
If so if you get it done hope to see you there this year.
 

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Great story and great work

Have fun with your ride

Thank you very much! and I intend too..

nice ride,it sure burns rubber :yawinkle:

greetz from Holland

Thank you.. She does smoke 'em off nice.. and greetings to you as well


Great work. when you said you went to the nationals, Did you mean Carlisle PA.?
If so if you get it done hope to see you there this year.

Thanks and I was referring to the Mopar Nationals in Ohio.. If you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it! ..

Looking good. I'm not far from u. McDonald

Thanks.. where exactly are you located at in relation to Pittsburgh?
 
Just a few pics to update the progress.. We started making the new quarter a permanent part of the Buggy this week,... and we will be finishing that tonight.. I even get to try and learn to weld a little.. Like I said at the beginnig of the project, I have no problem getting my hands in there, getting dirty and learning new skills.. Pics of that to come this weekend.. enjoy these few for now..
 

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Things are slow at the moment.. Got the qaurter all welded in solid.. we've been just basically tweaking differant things.. I hung the 69 fenders I have for the buggy just to see them.. they need alot of work but in the long run it will be worth it.. I also ordered the headliner, vinyl top, and rear window rubber (from steelerubber.com) and my friends picked up a front windshield rubber at the columbus ohio swap meet last weekend.. things with buggy are moving along.. more updates to come..
 
Things continue to go slow on the buggy at the moment... one of those lull's in activity where the rest of life keeps you too busy to make a ton of progress.. on the plus side, alot of the stuff I have ordered has come in.. and this week we are gonna start hitting it hard again. have a couple of little patches to get in place, then we start doing the body work.. getting the old paint knocked down, flinging putty lol.. etc etc.. our goal is to start painting the buggy by the end of April.. so.. I am keeping my fingers crossed.. lots of work to do before then.. at any rate, heres a couple of quick pics of me grinding welds down on the new qaurter.. (it is nice for people to be able to see me doing something other than taking pics and storytelling LMAO) ..
 

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finally got around to fitting my flip top gas cap on the buggy.. I think it looks wild.. now that I have that worked out, I have to take it all back off for bodywork and paint.. lol..
 

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Well, not too much new to report.. Got the gas tank back up in the car.. fuel line hooked back up.. all fluids changed, and shes back on the ground.. we will fire her back up and move her out for a short time of Friday, to clean up and organize some.. then she comes back in, goes up on stands, and the bodywork begins.. Still hoping to shoot paint late April... Wish me luck... lol
 
So... last night we fired the buggy up for the first time since starting this winters projects.. 30 seconds of running was all we got in.. there was gas POURING from the back of the carb.. and I mean pouring.. luckily we didnt burn the car or the garage down.. tonight we took the carb off (a Holley 650 double pumper) to investigate.. My one friend rebuilt the carb for me, felt real bad and was ready to make good on the whole thing, but, we decided to tear it apart right there.. lol.. turns out there was a slight brainfart (hey, we're all human) ..the back bowl had no gasket .. that explains that.. one gasket later, carb was back on the car and working perfectly... she was running like a raped date.. took her out in the alley and had a bit of fun.. it felt so good to hear her run, and get her outside, if even only for 10 minutes.. that aluminum intake, double pumper, and .355's out back now, the buggy is SPUNKY!! lol.. now that the fun is over, this week she goes back up on stands and the body work begins.. paint in a month ...
 
Been a little while so I figured I would give a progress report.. We have been moving along slowly but surely on the Buggy.. Been working on getting the bodywork on the new quarter done, and we seem to be getting close. Also we have been doing body work all over the car.. had to put a patch in the drivers side rocker panel. I also spent the better part of a week cleaning the front and rear window channels.. Whoever had this car before messed up the clips when they pulled the original vinyl off.. so.. they used sheet metal screws to hold the reveal moldings on!! (ran the screws straight down through the trim.. so I have had to find replacement trim) .. and to insure the car didnt leak, the FILLED both window channels FULL of at least two differant types of silicone.. dear lord what a mess.. at any rate, got it all cleaned out and got the channels into primer.. also sometime in the buggy's life, the trunk springs let go, causing two nice updingers at the base of where the vinyl top ends.. so that got fixed as well.. Hopefully this weekend the guy that does upholstery work in this area will be able to come and put in my new headliner and put on my new vinyl top.. I wanted to wait until after all the body work was done to do this part.. BUT.. with the way things are these days, I want to get it done while I have the money.. after those two things are installed I will put the glass back in and cover the top real good with plastic and go back to the bodywork and paint.. Hopefully things will be moving along even faster now.. enjoy the pics.. more to come.. Oh yea, I got my dash all out so i can give in a quick repaint while the glass is out lol..
 

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nice to see your work brother and you have a lot of fun wite your friends

Thanks... I definitely have always had fun with my friends.. they make the whole experience with the car something I will never forget
 
The new top is on and the new headliner is it!!!!

Just had to stop and give a quick update, and show a couple pics.. I took a bunch but this shows the progress.. finally was able to get everything ready for the upholstery guy to come and put the stuff on.. I have never seen a vinyl go on before, but man was it cool to watch. Chris (the upholstery guy) told me hes been doing this stuff since 76 and I dont doubt it.. from start to finish the headliner and and top were completed in just about 4 hours.. It was just alot of fun to watch... and to see it on the car just blew me away.. gave the buggy a whole differant look.. now, we put the new rubbers in, reinstall the glass, put the interior back in.. then carefully and completely cover the top and glass, and resume body work... paint still supposed to be going on at the end of may.. keep your fingers crossed...
 

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one more quick pic of the top after we closed the garage door and the lights hit it... its a little blurry (I was excited, what can I say? LOL)

what do you guys think so far?...
 

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