Thursday, February 9, 2012

-=Projects and Changes...

I had some recent changes in my career, this is part of why I have been really busy lately and not actively blogging.  I have moved locations within the same company (on trial basis / likely to be permanent).  Part of the reason is the '57 project (pictured to the left).  Another part is my skill set, I am well versed in diagnostics.  Along with the skills I can help teach some of my fellow techs, there are some things I maybe able to learn from the seasoned techs at this location. 

Now the fun stuff, the '57 is a project car we have building from the ground up literaly.  It's reffered to as a resto-mod, being it has an LS1 engine from a 1999 corvette, and features a multi link rear end with a Ford 9inch diff.  I started a little over a year ago with a bare frame that we had prepped with custom brackets for the powertrain, acid stripped and then powder coated.  I installed the complete drivetrain, suspension and brake system.  This was all done while I was working at my previous location.  During this time the body was being acid stripped (actually the 2nd body the first was in much worse shape then expected after being stripped), and body work was started.

After I completed building the rolling chassis, we had the frame moved back to the body shop.  For a while I had little interaction with this project, the body was still on a rotisserie it had new floor pan, trunk pan, firewall, quarters and more.  It was more new then old body panels.  After the body work was finished, and the shell was painted, the body and chassis were mated (I would say reunited, however that would be inaccurate as this body was from another vehicle, an ex drag car from the 70's called the strangle hold it actually looked pretty cool when it rolled into the shop).

Now that the body is on the frame, and the front clip has been installed it's my job to take over on the wiring, plumbing and mechanical details.  There is alot more work envolved with a project like this then most people realize.  Not only from the body work perspective, but the mechanical and electrical systems.  The wiring alone is a big project, the engine has it's own wiring harness, the vehicle has it's own, and the climate control (yes this car has an electronic climate control system) as well.  And they all must integrate together to properly function.  Most of this is upto the installer as to where to mount, route and connect items.  So there is alot of thinking involved.

This is still a work in progress and has been my main focus for the past couple weeks, I hope to have it up and running withing a week.  There is still many items that need to be addressed, once up and running it will be shipped over to the upholestry shop for the interior work, then back to our shop for trim and finishing up any left over details before deliverd to the customer.

So for now settling into this shop and completeing this project are my big priorities.

Thanks for Reading!

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