Cool Desert Nights - 2011

The weather could not have been better and we had a record turnout of 801 entrants.

Once again Gerri and I entered both the 1963 Corvette and the 1957 Nomad.

Dennis and Annette K. brought their 1933 and 1956 Chevy's.

Ty thought we should showcase the undercarriage since that's where a lot of our effort has been.  We put a couple rims under the tires and set several mirrors under the car.  It worked great.

There was a lot of interest in the Corvette all day long.

Everybody loved the engine.

This year was the largest crowd ever.  Thousands showed up.

Interesting vehicles included this pick-up truck sporting twin turbos AND a blower.

Jeff B. brought his custom painted lawnmower.  This thing brought more smiles than anything else at the car show.  Hundreds of photo's were taken and the kids especially loved it.

How about this custom 53 Buick Skylark.  This was my favorite and it was for sale.  I checked my wallet but I was shy $70K.

OMG!  Is that our Corvette in the winners parade?  Yes it is!

For the second year in a row we won Best Work in Progress.

It was a great weekend at Cool Desert Nights but the absolute best part occurred after the show.  We had trailered the Corvette to the show Saturday morning but I decided to drive it home afterward.  I drove it through town and out on the highway for a total distance of about 5 miles.  This thing is outrageous!

Passenger Door Alignment

Dennis S., the previous owner, had bagged and tagged 4 shims for the lower passenger door hinge and that is exactly what it needed.  When we moved to the upper hinge we found that it needed adjustment in the other direction.  The only way to do that is to grind away some of the thickness of the hinge and that's what Ty is doing in this picture.  He found my biggest grinder and started to "align" the door.  It turned out very nice.

About a 1/4" in thickness was removed.  Here Ty is using a 6" ruler to locate high spots.

After putting the door on and taking it off several times we ended up with the best fit possible.  All the hinge bolts were tightened and the striker plate was installed.   Now it was time to start working on the body.  The majority of the passenger door fit very well with exception to the area shown below.  In this picture the door is aligned properly, it's the fender that needs work.  The fender was purposely built "fat" when we repaired the A pillar.

After using a  burr grinder to reduce the fender height, the area was masked off then fiberglass was cut so that it would span both the door and the fender.

Resin was applied then worked into the area until everything was saturated.

Several hours later the fiberglass was cut at the door seam then sanded until there was a smooth transition between both pieces.

The same process was used on the side of the fender.

I primered the area but finishing work still needs to occur. 
Compare this picture to the one above.  It's a nice improvement.

Cool Desert Nights is next and this will be the 3rd year our Corvette is entered.  This year we can drive the Corvette so it will be off the trailer during the show.  Should be fun.  Stay tuned for pictures!