'66 Malibu N/SA

[Dave Muller]

Thanks, guys! I keep on keepin' on, one of these days it'll actually make it to the track.

[Alan Nyhus]

Nice build and good attention to detail! -Al

[RobbieRacer]

I was out at Dave's home last saturday and I must say his car is looking really good.He was wet sanding his car in 100 deg heat. Ugh. Tough Guy!! He loaned me a bunch of painting info so I car get started on my car. Thanks Dave.

[Dave Muller]

Yeah, I wish it was only 100 degrees!

I hope that stuff helps some, Rob. And thanks for not looking too critically at the paint! I still have to re-do a few small areas on the paint tomorrow, then I'll break to head out to Wild Horse with the Camaro. On Sunday I hope to apply the polymer sealer and start putting on the moldings and emblems.

[Dave Muller]

Progress is really slow at this point. Mostly my accomplishments in the garage are inversely proportional to the temperature.

I did manage to do another round of sanding and buffing, and now waxing the paint as well. So having that completed now I'm adding emblems and moldings. The trunk also opens via the key now, although that wound up being more of an adventure than it should have. Seems like nothing fits easily on this car.

This Sunday I tried installing the front bumper. I was having some trouble getting things to line up (of course!) but the thermometer had no trouble at all getting to 114 degrees about the time I gave up. I must confess I could also sense All Access calling me! Now that I know how to get that on the wife's Roku I can see that nothing is going to get done around here on Labor Day weekend!

Anyway I'll try again this coming weekend. I may have to do some hacksaw and welder work on the brackets to make up for earlier damage from a mild collision.

[Dave Gantz]

Don't beat yourself up, Dave. I am pretty sure that most people would not see any progress in the kind of heat that has been out your way lately.
"It's not just a hobby, it's an adventure!"

[Ed Carpenter]

Great build. I really like that year.

[Dave Muller]

Thanks, guys. The encouragement helps keep me going forward.

[Dave Muller]

I'm sure slow progress will be the theme for the next couple of months.

This weekend I got the rear bumper installed. That was easier than the front. I only had to cut, bend and re-weld one cross brace. The front brackets, I decided, just weren't worth the trouble. They are twisted and pushed almost an inch to the left side. I ordered new ones.

The taillight bezels are only in here for a test fitting. I have to remove the corner pieces to get access to their mounting screws. But I did also get the trunk weatherstrip installed.



The challenge with those taillight bezels is they use weird captured nuts that, as far as I can tell, are only available if I buy new bezels. But I think I can fabricate some using sheet metal, tin snips, a drill and self-tapping screws. I do have two of the eight nuts so I have an idea what they're supposed to be like.

Meanwhile I found that I have three door handles. Unfortunately only one fit properly, the other two have much longer actuating rods. It does seem like the one that I need will fit after cutting the rod down. I ordered the rubber gaskets for those, they should go in when those and the bumper brackets come in. I'm hoping by the holiday weekend, but probably not. Restoration suppliers aren't all that fast.

[Pinballer]

Originally Posted by Dave Muller

Thanks, guys. The encouragement helps keep me going forward.

Sometimes I think my build is slow going, there are a hundred little details I haven't even gotten to yet, but at least my car was mostly assembled other than a powertrain when I started so I had the benefit of seeing how everything fit together. Yours, being a basket case when you got it, has got to be twice the headaches. The taillight fastener and bumper bracket snafus are about typical of what you run into when you get it in pieces.

But it's looking real good Dave, just keep hammering away at it a little at a time. It will get there.
Behind you all the way!