1971 Demon, FC7 Plum Crazy

[CFD244]

Ya, I don't know how people do it, sending their car to a company for a restoration and watching the bill climb by the thousands every week...

View attachment 1716461841

Mine climbed by thousands with me doing all the work.....Purchased the project for $4500 because it was an original H1, ended up 40k into it....most of the labour my me.

My car was as rough as your car originally (no insult intended). Pretty much needed EVERYTHING. A couple of donor cars really helped along the way.

 

[tom999w]

Or sending their car to a shop with a big up front deposit and have it sit forever not getting done then have to go pick it up take it to another shop.

The way yours was rusted out very few shops would even take in a project like that. Probably ask for a 25k deposit up front ....

Ya, I'm sure everyone knows of a shop that let the car sit outside for a year, or went out of business and then the car got sold for junk.

I have a Yenko that's in worse condition than this Demon and the guy wanted $20k up front, haha... A Yenko would be worth it though, but a slant six Demon wouldn't be a wise financial decision to sink $20k into...

 

[tom999w]

Mine climbed by thousands with me doing all the work.....Purchased the project for $4500 because it was an original H1, ended up 40k into it....most of the labour my me.

My car was as rough as your car originally (no insult intended). Pretty much needed EVERYTHING. A couple of donor cars really helped along the way.

Is the labor factored into the $40k?

 

[CFD244]

Is the labor factored into the $40k?

I paid labour for the engine machining, headliner install and front and rear glass. Oh, and some sandblasting.

My buddy shot the paint. Probably less than 5k in labour total.

Mind you, the goal for my car (nice driver) may have been different than yours.

 

[tom999w]

Today when starting to work on the firewall I got carried away and gutted out the whole dashboard. Most of the parts can be re-used, they just need to be cleaned and lubed. So I'm trying to put organization to the mess.. Next is to match the wiring to the factory electrical schematic and see what wire goes where.

 

[Captainkirk]

Today when starting to work on the firewall I got carried away and gutted out the whole dashboard. Most of the parts can be re-used, they just need to be cleaned and lubed. So I'm trying to put organization to the mess.. Next is to match the wiring to the factory electrical schematic and see what wire goes where.

View attachment 1716462045

I'm sure you know already that once you start removing stuff you just can't stop. And you also know that you wind up with parts stacked everywhere, over, under, in-between and upside down. Your only hope is to keep the ball in play and don't stop. Subscribed!

 

[tom999w]

I'm sure you know already that once you start removing stuff you just can't stop. And you also know that you wind up with parts stacked everywhere, over, under, in-between and upside down. Your only hope is to keep the ball in play and don't stop. Subscribed!

Ya, after owning many old cars I've learned from (bad) experience that all the parts will fail sooner or later. So while the whole car is exposed, it's good insurance to go over every part and make sure they're working good before buttoning everything up.

 

[Big.J.007]

Stay after it..

 

[tom999w]

Yesterday was the first frost at my house in upstate New York. That's a sign that the outdoor Demon work may be winding down for the year until about March, when things start warming up again. It's no fun to turn a wrench when you can't feel your fingers. To speed up progress before snow comes, I took off this weekend to work on the car all day Saturday and Sunday. Typically me and the wife take weekends off to disappear into the Catskill Mountains and bike, hike, boat, camp, etc.., but I want to get the meat and potatoes (firewall patch and rolling frame install) of this car done before the end of the year. All the rest of the work is cake.

 

[tom999w]

I was thinking to move the Demon into the heated fully equipped garage for the winter, but then realized I don't have one.

 

[tom999w]

So I'll have to settle for the busted paved driveway.

 

[tom999w]

Which is a huge step up from where the work usually gets done.

 

[mygasser]

could you not get a temporary garage put up for winter work?
neil.
canvas garages - Google Search

 

[tom999w]

could you not get a temporary garage put up for winter work?
neil.
canvas garages - Google Search

Ya, that would be awesome to have, but in this area you get taxed heavily for one of those, even if it's temporary. My nephew got one for his 1959 MG resto and the town almost doubled his property taxes... Instead, I was just thinking to find a rich friend, and park the car in his garage for the winter...

 

[tom999w]

The new repro glove box was delivered yesterday. It seems very slightly thinner gauge than the original, but still matches up pretty good.

 

[tom999w]

The nose got delivered this morning (both front fenders, fender extensions, grille, front bumper w/ mounts, lower valance panel, hood latch shelf).

 

[limegreen70]

The new repro glove box was delivered yesterday. It seems very slightly thinner gauge than the original, but still matches up pretty good.

View attachment 1716464979

I just bought one yesterday. What company did you get yours from?

 

[tom999w]

I just bought one yesterday. What company did you get yours from?

I bought it from TNT Auto Parts in Michigan. There were a few other options, but this was the least expensive. I originally wasn't going to replace the glove compartment, but figured since the heater enclosure was removed from the firewall, it's better to replace the glove compartment now because I don't think you can install it from the front...

 

[tom999w]

Now working on cutting out the rusted areas of the firewall and replacing them. This is one of the two patches that were cut out to be replaced. I'm going to butt weld them, so no ugly overlapping. Butt welding is alot harder than overlapping, it takes alot of cut/fit, cut/fit, cut/fit... This is more difficult and time consuming than replacing the whole rocker panel was..

 

[Big.J.007]

Yep, but looks so much cleaner..

 

[jrc4y4]

What a project you’re tackling! Keep it up.

 

[tom999w]

The two firewall patches are roughed in, now have to finish welding the butts and clean up the welds..

 

[tom999w]

What a project you’re tackling! Keep it up.

Actually it's super easy. The hardest part is finding time to do it. Now that the days are getting shorter in the northeast and daylight savings time is coming next weekend, that will pretty much destroy any chances of working outside on the car after my office job; because I get out of work at 4:30 pm and it will be dark at 5pm. So the project will soon have to be wrapped up and wait until March to finish it.

 

[Big.J.007]

That'll work man! Looking good.

 

[tom999w]

Then after the firewall is done, the frame will be prepped and test fit a few times to be sure that everything is lining up correctly (frame to firewall to engine enclosure to frame rail connections to kframe alignment) before welding. So far everything has been surprisingly plum. But I did notice that due to slack factory tolerances, there is slight leeway when installing body parts, which is nice for a newby like me.