Only a Few Days Left…

Hey everyone…  so, before I get to the status update I’d like to send everyone our hopes for a quiet, peaceful and enjoyable holiday season!

Now, to the fun stuff!

This past week has been a whirlwind of final assembly on the Chevelle.  First up is the installation of a new windshield and back glass.  Tony knows a shop that does a modern install job with these classic cars to make sure there are no water leaks and most important, a tight fit with the new chrome window molding.

And in those pictures you can see where we are on the paint job…  YEP, the wet sanding and buffing is done!  Tony is planning to lay down a deep wax job on the paint before the end of next week and that will mark the final work on the paint.  In these next few pictures one of Tony’s guys is working to complete the front clip with the new grille, the headlights, side lights, bumper, etc.

Not too shabby, eh?

This next batch is a walk-around of the car, showing various angles of the car.

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Yep, that last picture was taken by Dina as Tony was explaining to me what work they did on the interior package tray before the new glass was installed.

In my last post I mentioned I had a surprise for you regarding the trunk lid… well, here are pictures of Tony executing an idea I had while sitting at a red light over a year ago…

Yep… I decided in my quest for a cleaner, more modern look to the car that I would not be replacing the original nameplates and insignias after the paint was done.  Instead, I had this crazy idea while sitting at a red light behind a Chevy Avalanche.  I was daydreaming and realized if you rearrange the letters in “AVALANCHE” you can spell CHEVELLE (well, if you buy two sets of letters).  So I did… I went to one of the Chevy service departments and bought them.  When I arranged the letters on the kitchen counter the first time, I knew I had a winner on my hands.  The kicker is in the last picture above…  on the passenger side of the trunk lid, I had Tony install an “SS” badge straight from the latest 5th generation Camaro SS trunklid.  I feel this is a clean and simple way to put the name back on the car but with a modern, “official” look since the letters are genuine GM parts.  I can honestly say I have never seen this done (and I subscribe to a LOT of muscle car mags!)  Hope you like it!

SO…  next week is Christmas here in the States.  Tony is taking a few days off but the BIG surprise for me was what happens after Christmas… Tony will be delivering the car this coming Thursday to M&M Automotive where John will be installing new stainless steel brake lines, a new American Autowire complete wiring kit, and some other minor adjustments and tweaks.  We’re literally one or two work-days away from Tony’s work being 100% done!  That means the car could be off to Top Gear Motorsports by mid-January for the new engine and transmission install!

So, to wrap up…  Dina and I wish you all a great holiday seasons and our sincere thanks for following our Chevelle story this year!  We’re hoping to have the car back by the end of February essentially complete minus the interior so we have a few more months of updates ’till that point… stay tuned for more in 2013!