Mounting the Body to the Chassis

It's time to fit the body to the chassis.  We want to do this so we can check the fit on the doors, drip rails, hood, trim pieces, etc.  We will basically assemble the car, verify everything fits, then disassemble for paint.  In this picture I've drained the cooling fluid and removed several pieces on the chassis so the body can be installed.

Using the electric winch and body straps, we lifted the body off of the body dolly.

Ausy Pete, these are the shortened straps I told you about.  They work great.

We were very careful not to scratch the fresh paint in the engine compartment.

Minor modifications were needed because of the side exhaust.

The body was shimmed then bolted down tight.  It looks great!

Happy New Year!

Lets Paint

Safety first!

Protecting the tools and toys.

Exhausting the fumes through the doggie door.

I had to use an old siphon paint gun to spray up in the wheel wells.  A gravity gun, one with the paint canister on top, couldn't reach. 

These photos were over exposed in order to show the detail in the wheel wells.  The car is still green.

Only the wheel wells were painted in 1963.  The rest of the fiberglass under body was left unpainted. 

The engine compartment turned out exceptionally nice.

Everything looks great!

Merry Christmas!