The Admiral's getting paint.

[Ripinator]

The Admiral is home with a new coat of paint. He looks great. There are a couple of minor flaws that will probably go away when he's cut & buffed in a couple of months. But I came in under 4K for the job including materials.
Very happy. NOW........ I have to detail & reassemble in time to hit the road on the 14th.

Mighty fine, Wil. Mighty fine !

 

[bluefury361]

Day three of the reassembly of the Admiral went pretty well.
Both bumpers back on, all the door handles and locks installed, The original right side mirror cleaned up better then I thought it would, hood and side emblems installed. all but the driver door interior trim and hardware back in, ( I'm waiting for the NOS driver manual door mirror).
Tomorrow I'll get after the grille, headlight doors and side moldings.....

 

[bluefury361]

I ran across another wagon anomaly today. The rear side marker reflectors are unique to a wagon. I found the bezels were screwed to the body but thought the reflectors were the same.... Nope. The snap in clips are in a different location. This would be the case for early cars as, in January, they started using screw in lenses.

 

[1978 NYB]

Wow! The Admiral is looking very exceptional!

 

[Zymurgy]

Now you have enough on so you are legal. Looking good.

 

[live4theking]

Will,
It sure is coming together nice.

 

[66/440]

Day three of the reassembly of the Admiral went pretty well.
Both bumpers back on, all the door handles and locks installed, The original right side mirror cleaned up better then I thought it would, hood and side emblems installed. all but the driver door interior trim and hardware back in, ( I'm waiting for the NOS driver manual door mirror).
Tomorrow I'll get after the grille, headlight doors and side moldings.....

Looking real good!
Had a Deja Vu/ pucker, moment when I saw the shot of the front end. It brought back memory's of lots of those with lights on the roof in my mirror.

 

[bluefury361]

Today the grille and head light doors, body side moldings and the Driver door mirror went on. I was able to desolve the old anodizing on the grille and side moldings with a drain cleaning product called "guaranteed". Someone posted a U-tube link about it a while back, so I tried it. It works great, but you need a GOOD pair of chemical resistant gloves or you might be looking at skin grafts.
Once stripped a polishing with "Bright Boy" made everything look OEM. Fingers and hands are sore now, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow the wheel opening moldings, driver door trim panel and wheel covers, then an oil change and service and the Admiral will be ready for service.

 

[detmatt]

Looking top notch Will!

 

[1978 NYB]

With taking the anodizing off...does that mean it will tarnish pretty quickly and you'll have to polish the trim often?

 

[cantflip]

With taking the anodizing off...does that mean it will tarnish pretty quickly and you'll have to polish the trim often?

It will give him something to do while he's at the campgrounds shooing away the riff raff...

 

[tallhair]

Looks pretty mean like this Will

 

[65Fury440]

Looks pretty mean like this Will

Agreed. This shot captures all the right attitude. Congrads, you guys should be happy, looks amazing.

 

[live4theking]

Sweeeeettt....

 

[Zymurgy]

Nice that is the money shot for me, getting the grill back in place.

 

[bluefury361]

With taking the anodizing off...does that mean it will tarnish pretty quickly and you'll have to polish the trim often?

It will have a tendency to dull sooner. Not a real problem. A good carnuba wax will bring it back and help protect it. It beats the cloudy/milky look of the old anodizing.

 

[rapidtrans]

If a car doesn't qualify for "survivor" status i'm fine with cleaning it up to look as close to new as i can. Even if something needs to be repainted, plated etc. I'd still use the original parts where ever i can. I keep the drivetrain strong and reliable. Cosmetics is just a fun saturday project. Funny that a 50 yr old car keeps me feeling younger.