Found a Bodyman?

I went over to the garage today with my crank and case to talk to Chuck about possible local machine shops. He basically said there wasn't one that could do it (capably), and I was best off sending things out to one of the reputable shops in California. He recommended Ollie's, and I've read other good things about them, so I think I'll go with them. Getting a crank reground and hardened will run me around $400, so I hope it just needs polishing. They are quite reasonable on rod reconditioning (plus magnafluxing) at $25/each. All in all, I'd rather do the engine right and then not worry about it. They said they will have about a month turnaround, so I may have time over this break to tear apart the old '59 engine that came with the car and see what it is really made of. Or if I don't do that, at least I'll try to stop some of the oil leaks, paint things, and get it running well on the engine stand. I think I'm going to sell it to defray the other bills...

I asked Dee again about getting some help on the remaining bodywork. I'm just not confident enough to go it alone on the door repairs, the lockpost, and the nose. He called up Don Mills, who is in Lexington, NC. Don has done some other local 356 bodywork that I've seen and it looks good to me. I talked to him and he said he had some free time coming up in January, so I think I'll get the car shipped over to him so he can work on it at his house whenever he has time. I would really like to have the bodywork done by end of January or at latest February, because I feel behind on it already. Don seemed like a nice guy, I'm looking forward to meeting him.

I took a little bit of time to grind off all the visible body filler on the tail of the car this afternoon. It was visibly thick, and I wondered (jokingly) if it had been put on with a mortar trowel. After I got it all off with the grinder (using a 3M green bristle disc, which I highly recommend for stripping!) I quickly realized that the damage wasn't too bad, really. At least not compared to other parts of the car I have worked on! Basically just a bad dent that had been pulled out quickly, not carefully, and then "smoothed over" with a lot of filler. Pretty amateurish, I would like to believe I could have done it quite a bit better. Anyway, we'll get that part fixed more properly with the rest of the bodywork.

I should have an update Monday or Tuesday, after I talk to Don again. I should call Frank Gibson as well and touch base with him...

Posted by pbrown at December 16, 2004 09:35 PM