The Goldcar Story, cont.

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

Removed the passenger front fender today to finish welding and ready for final fit. Finished the lower radiator support bar today. Still waiting on our jewelry from the machinist before I can finish the side pipes and upper engine panel on passenger side. I really thought we would have heard something by now.

Maybe a nice surprise with a phone call Monday to pick it up. Well bummer, Ron called to tell me I ordered the wrong flex pipe. Sure enough I did. Wet back read the “looks like Stainless”…hidden in the description made of galvanized…dam! Oh well back it goes and order the real stuff!

8/16
Jack Kelly our machinist called to let me know our “jewelry” was ready. Can’t wait to see it finished! We mixed up some epoxy resin and our Kandy paint on some scrap aluminum to get an idea of how it might look when we mix up a batch and pour it in the grooves cut in our aluminum plate. Here’s just the mock up…wow! Just what we pictured.

Sand blasted the back of the front bumper today and made the center bracket for the rear bumper. Once completed, I’ll sand blast the back of it and the bumpers will be ready to go back to the chrome shop for finishing!
Ron worked over the weekend once again. I expect he will have the passenger body of the car in primer by the end of the week! Detail things are starting to get finished. It is really starting to come together so much nicer than I ever imagined!

8/17/21

I Finished the lower radiator support bar and have all of the pieces cut and ready to weld and finish the passenger side engine panels. It’s going to look bad ass when we’re done with the fake exhaust pipes. Made the rear center bumper mounting bracket and ready to weld. When done just sand blast the back inside rear bumper and we’re ready to go back to the chrome shop to make them pretty once again. Ron continued with the body work on the passenger side, welded on the rear fender and helped me in between.

8/19/21
Finished rear bumper mount and passenger side engine panel. Removed rear bumper. Ready for the chrome shop as soon as we get some dry weather so I can sand blast the back of the bumper.

 

[bob w]

What a big project. And definitely one of a kind. I hope you have a video of it rolling down the street.

 

[kenny c]

Coooool![cl[P[P[P

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

Put the hood back on today and getting another step closer.
Wow! I almost shed tears today just staring as it comes together. Starting to see the fruits of our labor blossom.

Ron continued welding on the fender, rear bumper bracket and finished the front engine panel. I’ve got some grinding to do and make the final bend on the front tab for attachment and finish. We’ve still got some work to do on the windshield frame. The chrome shop appears to have bent the rod that connects the top and bottom sections of the windshield. Not to mention some slight misalignments when it was first built. When we originally built the windshield the panes we installed were plexiglass. We’ll get it figured out. As Ron often says, “we only have solutions”.

8/20/21
Finished the week off with completing the sand blasting of the bumpers and ready to go back to the chrome shop to make them look pretty. We had to change the position of the front nut to align the bar in the proper position for the lower radiator support bar. Ron expects to have the body in primer by end of next week. Passenger rear fender needs some small adjustments and finish welding. Already in body plastic and could be in primer next week too.

8/23/21

Took the bumpers to Wells Bumpers in Collinsville, OK. Looking forward to seeing Joe’s work.

8/24

Ron continued welding and finishing the passenger side body work. I completed initial prep of the engine panels, drilled and taped the holes where we plan to fasten and built legs for the sand blast cabinet.
8/25
completed caulking seams, cracks and holes. Finished passenger side radiator support, mounted new dimmer switch and extended the wire pigtails so we don’t have to tear the carpet up to connect later.
8/26
Ron continued work on the passenger side rear fender. Our next to last fit and the next time we can finish the running boards. I made the final fit and glued in the driver side inside panels. Made new spacers for the alternator and got rid of the washers. Aligned the alternator to better trail the water pump and crank pulleys. Primed the rear running board sheet metal. Made the patch plate for the fuel tank and fit the new filler tube in place and ready for final fit and weld it and the patch in place. Cut new rubber strips for the fuel tank upper supports and straps. We’re moving avidly towards paint prep. We’re knocking off small detail items moving closer to the finish! We can hardly wait.
Hard to believe another week is almost gone. It has been such a great time getting the opportunity to rebuild the Goldcar for my third and final time. I couldn’t have found a better mentor than Ron Ruggles to take the Goldcar to the next level of refinement!
8/27
The long awaited day, time to spray epoxy primer on the rest of the car! Ron’s getting things ready to spray primer and the remaining engine side panels.

We’re in epoxy primer!

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

9/10/21
A ceremonious day of our journey, the last piece of sheet metal has been cut! The passenger rear running board is done. Thank you Ron!

Just about finished with fuel tank. Adjusted the tank straps and installed new rubber top and bottom for tank rests. Our hose works great connecting the inlet into the fuel tank neck.

Completed final fit on engine panels.

“Drum Roll”….We have all of the car together for the first time since taking it apart.
Inside panels installed and ready to go to upholstery in October. We got the rubber mat out for the driver side that will cover the running boards for a teaser of what’s to come.

Rubber mat in place and rear passenger running board installed. Final fit with rear passenger fender and passenger front ready to be welded and body plastic applied.

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

With just a small amount of metal work left on the hood, we’re starting to transition to full time body shop from fabrication. Probably a good time to he gone since my body work skills are “shall we say, somewhat lacking”!
9/20
Heard from Ron, just finishing up the patch on the front of the hood is all that is keeping us from a complete car. Long time coming but we’re getting near the end. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
9/29/21
Spoke with Ron last night. We have a whole car! Just finishing up the hood with metal instead of using fiberglass cloth to prevent potential cracking. Ron thinks of everything to insure a nice future life without issues! You’re the best Ron!

9/30/21
New pics from Ron on the new metal work for the hood extension. We had to move the radiator forward about an inch which caused a mismatch between the hood and the grill. (As if it matched before.)

For fear of the possibility of cracking Ron chose to repair the hood with sheet metal patch panels. Only the best is barely good enough! Looking great.

10/3/21
Hood patches completed. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

From Ron:
“Might not look like much but, it took 18 pieces to form the hood patches. Tomorrow it goes back on the car for the support and latch pin brackets. Then back off again for finish welding and filler. I'm tired.“

It will be as perfect as it can be when he’s finished.

 

[kenny c]

Nice![cl[cl I didn't realize the windshield frame was attached to the hood. Cool idea.

 

[Goldcar1967]

Gold car Story cont.

10/9/21
Ron’s got the hood latch mounted to the hood and started welding the pieces that were tacked in place last week.

10/18/21
Back from our trip. Ron has the hood looking great. All of the parts we have made and reconstructed are all in place. It’s looking great. Finished up some loose ends today getting the car ready to travel to the upholstery shop in the morning. Moved things around a bit so I took advantage of getting a couple pics before we load up in the morning.

10/21

We’ve been working on the two test panels we made a few months back. Finished prepping and we have base coat down. The panel on the left is Solar Gold and the left Zenith Gold. Next comes the Kandi. Each panel was divided into thirds. Then sprayed both base coats with 3 coats, 4 coats and 5 coats of the Brandywine Kandi with 4 coats of clear. Mind you, this is before the finish buffing.

Seeing the actual color today just brought the car to life. After today I can see it clear as day when complete. Interestingly enough, I was watching a show that had a 1960/70’s car with double diamond stitching on the seats which just completed the process. Tomorrow we buff it out and take into the sunlight to make our final choice combination of color. Just to give everyone what we’re talking with regards to time, from the prepped panels, which we had already made, it took 10 hours start to finish on these two panels. Any of the combinations I saw today far exceeded my expectations. What can I say, all 6 shades were absolutely stunning. WOW, I think this is the perfect paint choice but requires a lot of time and effort to get to the final product.

10/22/21
Wet sanded and compounded our test panels. Afterwards a finishing glaze. It only makes it harder to pick one color combination from the 6! Ron caught me working today. Hard at it buffing one of the test panels after wet sanding each panel. Thanks to Ron’s expertise and teaching me how to prep/buff the panels. These panels are smoother than a baby’s butt and look incredible. 15 hours of time +/- but are they gorgeous! Frame-able pieces of art per our resident artist in one of the other businesses located next to the shop.
I thought the Solar Gold would be the best choice before spraying the Kandi. However, once it was completed the Zenith Gold base was the better choice for our taste with 4 coats of Kandi and clear. Wow!

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

10/27/21

First parts of the dashboard in primer today. Ron is finishing the Tig welding on the dash. I prepped and sprayed primer on the glove box lid and the ash tray.

10/31/21
Welding completed and starting prep work on the dash while the car is at the upholstery shop. Ron got the patches welded and body plastic worked then primer on the corrected and bare metal. It’s starting to come together very nicely. The trim we made to enclosed the speedometer has added a very nice finishing touch. Previously, I had a thick piece of upholstery welt to hide the imperfections. This time it looks like it was made that way from the factory….because it was! Hahaha!

We have been sitting around looking for something to do to all out!
However, we didn’t eat the dust settle too much. Finalized the dash and everything in its place. Painted the old plastic trim rings with some new We ended up rebuilding both seats. I took them to super c sandblasting to get the rusty sear frames cleaned up and repaint them before going back to upholstery. We couldn’t believe these weren’t addressed by Matt.(Our upholstery guy) A text or phone call would work wonders. We are replacing broken springs, with the new side panels we had to cut the passenger seat down to clear for installation. We decided to narrow the top of the driver seat. Where grandpa narrowed the driver seat, he bent one side of the frame in about an inch more than the other side. Ron, my dynamic car builder and good friend, picked up on the discrepancy. Tomorrow we are going to correct that so the frame of the seat will be proportional. Also, rebuilding a new seat back spring frame. Once again, Ron ensures the details are done when possible.

Finished the seat rebuild and back to the upholstery shop with new black microfiber suede look fabric I was a little surprised to discover in the sunlight the fabric has a sparkle to the finish. I sure hope it still looks good or better than before.

 

[bob w]

Nice to see the car outside. The color is beautiful.

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

The end cap on the passenger side is in primer. The under hood will pop with the Kandi bordering each end with the polished aluminum cover.

12/31/21

“Happy New Year! Yep its gonna get cold but not in the shop. Come Monday I'll be switching to 400 grit wet sanding. I have already been around the car 4 times dry blocking. Just means that it's close to being gold car again.”

We’re getting closer!

2/14/22

Well we’re getting down to the short strokes and not much to share until we start making all of the pieces pretty! I don’t think looking at pictures of blocking and wet sanding will be of much interest. Ron is going back and addressing the finishing touches for fit and finish details on everything while we’re waiting on warmer weather and my return from my warmer weather destination. The cold weather has delayed and changed some of our plans.

Our 90 day repaint which turned into a rebuilding project has now reached the 21st month and getting closer to a reality. I’ll return early April at which time we expect to have everything painted and begin putting the Goldcar back together for my last time!

Our upholstery person has started re working the seats. I’ll update his progress as he makes progress as well as checking in on the chrome shop progress. We plan to be on the road again end of April.

My next entry will be in COLOR!

 

[Goldcar1967]

Goldcar Story cont.

2/16/22

We hit another milestone today. Ron was able to take advantage of the warmer temps and was able to start making parts pretty. I received these tonight. The two rear fenders going thru the transition from primer to Solar Gold base coat to four coats of Brandy Wine Kandi.

WOW!

 

[Old Iron]

[cl[dr[cl

 

[BillM]

Wow! That's some colour. Beautiful.

 

[Goldcar1967]

The Goldcar Story cont.

3/15/22

Come on Spring! This winter has posed some challenges to overcome and changed our plans. Our progress has slowed a little as far as being able to document with pics. I don’t think anyone wants to see the sanding dust. In addition, my winter absence has left Ron without an assistant. The good news is I’ll be back in a couple weeks and ready to get this project finished. Checked on the chrome shop and they are supposed to be finished on the 28th for me to pick up the bumpers and head light buckets. However, we have more pieces in paint and more on the way. The front fenders are finished and some of the engine side panels are not too far behind.

Also, a sneak peek at the seats from our upholstery shop. I hope I made the right decision with regard to look and material.

 

[Goldcar1967]

The Goldcar Story cont.

3/21/22

Looking forward to picking up the seats next week. Finally finished, I hope the new look compliments the overall look. First pick of the final product.

Scheduled to pick up the bumpers and headlight buckets Monday from the chrome shop. Looking forward to my return and getting this project finished and on the road for some fun!

 

[bob w]

This is one of the best documentations of a build that I have seen. Good write up, good pictures and a unique ride.

 

[Goldcar1967]

The Goldcar Story cont.

3/30/22

Finally back to work with Ron and busy once again. We installed the dash this week and starting to install wiring harness and wire the car while we’re waiting on warmer weather to paint. Picked up the seats today and installed in the car. Finally starting to put parts in that don’t have to come back out again.
What a treat!

I couldn’t resist a shot of the painted fenders all lined up and sitting on our home made stands. Getting steering column ready to clear coat then it goes in for the final install. We have a little more finishing work on the running boards, which I hope to complete next week most likely. One final polish session of the stainless outer rails then glue down the rubber mat.

 

[Goldcar1967]

The Goldcar Story Cont.

This is one of the best documentations of a build that I have seen. Good write up, good pictures and a unique ride.

Thank you very much Bob!

One day I expect one of my children or Grandson will end up with it for awhile and I’m hoping they will take the time to indulge themselves in all of my documentation so they understand how much work has gone into this car and perhaps have a greater appreciation. Also, for who ever gets it in the future will know how to find parts for the different systems.

 

[Old Iron]

I agree with bobw and the stitch pattern is unique.