Done photo. 5 months start to finish car.

[paintdudeluke]

And this was when the prev owner cleared all the crap off of the car so I could see it for the 1st time. This is where it sat for almost 10 yrs.

[paintdudeluke]

This is a perfect example of what I call a "daily driver resto". In 5 months I took an $800 lost cause and turned it into a cool daily driver for cheap. I did not get fanatical about any aspect of the car. Everything I did was about a B grade if inspected closely. The body work is pretty nice, but far from show car. The interior? Kinda weak, but looks really nice at a glance. The new parts are of course new looking and the point is that a car is more than the sum of its parts. If everything on the car is a B, as a whole, its an A-. At a 4way red light it totally hogs all the attention unless I'm parked next to a Ferrari, and I'm in it for about $3000.

This was fun, fairly cheap, and quick. That's what made it a cool project, not getting stressed out over all the nit-picky crap. With stress, all the fun goes out the window and project moves way too slow to be enjoyable. Just keep it rolling and don't trip out trying to make any part of it "just perfect" Always move along to the next glaring problem, not zoom in on minutia, you can always come back around for another pass of refinement after you have a cool ride that's relatively clean.

I went to a small car show yesterday and the car got as much attention as the show cars with groups huddled over the car loving it. I wasn't even part of the show collection and never popped the hood. Final thought. If its not fun its not worth it. Don't make it a chore. Don't pay for labor, pay for tools.
Peace

[kev]

. Don't pay for labor, pay for tools.

I second that statement.

Great looking car too!

[Weelan]

Wow, Way to go man. You have a great looking car! And good job keeping it so inexpensive!