Even more red paint!

[John Mcgraw]

I finally got the chassis for the 59 up and rolling around. I got all the polished aluminum clear-coated with Glisten and all the fasteners are fully polished Stainless. I found to my dismay, that there is no source of High-strength metric fasteners in stainless, so I have converted almost every single fastener on the C4 running gear to fractional sizes. The bushings were fairly easy to bore out, but I still used a bunch of Helicoils on the castings to change the threaded hole sizes! Totally Stainless makes some really great looking bolts, but you sure can invest a lot of money in bolts when you start down this road!
I spent all day yesterday and today, smoothing the 4L60E trans and shooting 3 coats of single-stage ureathane on it. the photo hosting site does not do justice to the gloss or color of this paint, as it really barfs up the look when it shrinks the images.
I hope to have the Engine and trans back in the chassis by next weekend and then I can start to really concentrate on the body.
The guys at Wise-guy seats should have some seats available by the middle of Jan that should give the proper look of a C1 seat with the comfort of a modern seat. It will also lower my seating position approx 2.5 " which should really help on the head clearance when I have the top on. I am really getting cranked to get this thing on the road!
Here are some pics: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=434006

Regards, John McGraw

 

[paintdaddy]

Absolutely beautiful!BTW what is Glisten?

 

[67HEAVEN]

Beautiful :eek Me likey!

 

[John Mcgraw]

It is a moisture-cured two part urethane that is made by POR. I had tried almost every clear coat that I could think of and was not happy with the finished look. I had all the parts clear powder coated and ended up stripping it off because I was unhappy with the way it clouded up the shine of the polished aluminum. I tried the Glisten as a last resort on the advice of a friend, and now a believer! It takes several days to cure to a rock hard finish, so you have to handle it carefully for a couple of days, but the end look is one where you do not realize that you even have a clear-coat on top of the aluminum! It can be brushed or sprayed, and my friend says that it lays down real nice even when brushed, but I have only applied it by spray, and it sure looks nice!
Regards, John McGraw

 

[John Mcgraw]

67,
You know it looks real similar in tone to your color. You sure that you are not hiding a Mopar secret on your car? LOL
Regards, John McGraw

 

[Mac]

What a beautiful chassis and, I've got to say, I've never seen a transmission painted but it's a great idea as a way to give extra detail and easier to clean.

I particularly like the picture of the chassis with the 59 in the background.

I found to my dismay, that there is no source of High-strength metric fasteners in stainless, so I have converted almost every single fastener on the C4 running gear to fractional sizes.

I've sourced high-strength metric in stainless here in Canada. Most of the applications I've used them for were smaller fasteners so without checking the catalogues, I can't promise all sizes but if you run into another application where you want to try, send me an email with your specs and I'll check my sources.

 

[67HEAVEN]

67,
You know it looks real similar in tone to your color. You sure that you are not hiding a Mopar secret on your car? LOL
Regards, John McGraw

My painter says, "Let anybody try to duplicate it using V---r Red. Ain't gonna happen!"

I like my painter.......

 

[JonM]

Beautiful :eek Me likey!

No Kidding...:duh

 

[John Mcgraw]

Hi Mac,
My original intent was to sand and polish the entire case of the trans like I did the suspension, but I just didn't want to pull the entire trans apart just to polish the case. I pulled the bellhousing and tail shaft housing and ground all the casting marks out of them and just hand sanded the main case on the bench with the internals intact, and then painted the case.
This is a first for me as well, but has become the norm for the street rod guys. Almost all the neat early model street rods are painting the trans and engine to match the car color giving a real monochromatic look.
If this trans didn't have only 15K miles on it, I might have pulled it apart to freshen it up and polished it in the process, but I was sure getting tired of sitting in front of that buffing stand for hours on end.
The monochromatic look is really starting to grow on me, and when it is accented with the occasional chrome or polished part, it really makes it pop! There comes a point where too much chrome or polished billet just becomes a jumble of glare, but used in moderation it reeally accents the look. I started to polish out the rack and pinion unit , but decided to paint it, and when I saw how good it looked with the polished stainless lines, I began to see the light! I am planning on doing the entire underside of the car with the same red with only the occasional polished stainless accent to break up the red. I think that with polished exhaust, fuel and brake lines, suspension and all the fasteners, It will be just about the right level of shine.
Doc, at Totally Stainless tells me that they are now stocking the high strength stainless bolts in most of the 8 and 10 MM lengths with more to come, so I will probably continue the use of these beautiful bolts on the engine. They kind of have a hook on you when you start to use them because of the unique small hex head on the bolts. You end up using them in places where high strength bolts are not need , just to keep the same head style. The standard strength bolts have a full-sized head but are a fraction of the price of the high strngth ones! I would hate to admit to you how much I have invested in bolts already!
O well, time to get back to work, this thing ai'nt gonna finish itself!
Regards, John McGraw

 

[Mac]

The monochromatic look is really starting to grow on me, and when it is accented with the occasional chrome or polished part, it really makes it pop! There comes a point where too much chrome or polished billet just becomes a jumble of glare, but used in moderation it reeally accents the look. I started to polish out the rack and pinion unit , but decided to paint it, and when I saw how good it looked with the polished stainless lines, I began to see the light!

I agree completely- too much chrome looks cheesy. It's much nicer to have chrome as an accent and a solid colour as the background. Besides, if you ever want to drive the car, paint is easier to maintain than chrome. That being said, your adventures with Glisten sound interesting. Hopefully, the Glisten will last well and be easy to maintain.

 

[JonM]

Absolutely beautiful!BTW what is Glisten?

http://www.harleysporhouse.com/pdfcat/glisten_pc_info_sheet.pdf

http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=246


http://www.prp-porstore.com/glisten.htm

 

[richscorvettes]

John,

It looks great! I agree that the right blend of paint and polished components is a great way to go. It takes a bit more thought and work but the end result is worth the effort.

I've also used Totally Stainless for 12 point bolts, etc. At the time we did ours he didn't have any metric bolts in that style although he said he was working on some. I guess I'll have to get in touch with him to see what he has come up with now.

Rich Lagasse

 

[IH2LOSE]

You know I am realley starting to get jealous here evry one is getting there projects in the home streach and I havent even got to the gate yet.

I mean I havent even found a car to start with on.

Looks great John.

 

[John Mcgraw]

Thanks guys,
I appreciate all the kind words!
Regards, John McGraw

 

[JohnZ]

I found to my dismay, that there is no source of High-strength metric fasteners in stainless, so I have converted almost every single fastener on the C4 running gear to fractional sizes. The bushings were fairly easy to bore out, but I still used a bunch of Helicoils on the castings to change the threaded hole sizes! Totally Stainless makes some really great looking bolts, but you sure can invest a lot of money in bolts when you start down this road!

John, ARP now has literally hundreds of metric high-strength stainless fasteners from 6mm to 10mm (new products for 2004). I know what you mean about "bolt" investments - I have drawers and drawers full of new ARP bolts of all sizes and lengths from my race car projects (not to mention more drawers full of Aeroquip fittings and hose), and I'd probably have a stroke if I added up how much money I had tied up in them! :eek

Your chassis looks fantastic!

 

[John Mcgraw]

Thanks John,
I stumbled accross the Metric stainless bolts on ARP's website yesterday. I figured that was probably what Totally Stainless was selling! The fasteners were not in the ARP online catalog yet but were listed under what's new section. I ordered a bunch from them, and they were almost a buck a bolt less expensive than Totally Stainless!
It doesn't sound like Doc is getting a good price break on the bolts yet. I like buying from them, but won't pay a premium price to do so. I thought the fractional inch sizes were expensive, The metric in similar sizes are almost 50% more! I guess it is simply a matter of volume that makes them so expensive.
I also finally got tired of the small images and running out of daily bandwidth associated with the free account a Village Photo, so signed up for a pay type account that will allow me to post more and better quality pics. For less than $4 a month, it will be money well spent!

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=434006

Regards, John McGraw

 

[JohnZ]

I've maintained a "pay" account at VillagePhotos for a couple of years - well worth the $4/mo. for unlimited hosting/bandwidth. They just killed linking for their "free account" customers the other day, as have most of the "free" hosting sites.

 

[Islander]

The guys at Wise-guy seats should have some seats available by the middle of Jan that should give the proper look of a C1 seat with the comfort of a modern seat. It will also lower my seating position approx 2.5 " which should really help on the head clearance when I have the top on.

John, if you think these...ehm, guys... do C2 seats please post contact info for them or send me e-mail. I can't find a website...

 

[John Mcgraw]

Islander,
Here is the link to their website.

http://www.wiseguys-seats.com/

Regards, John McGraw

 

[Islander]

Thanks John!