Here we have another beautiful muscle car,  Our friend Dennis’s 1971 Chevelle Convertible. Dennis is the long time owner of this classic, and it has seen many changes over the years, its a big part of his family, and it even influenced his Sons to follow dads steps by buying chevelles themselves.  The car was in pretty sad shape when it came in, it suffered from extensive rust in the Quarter panels, wheel houses, and floors, but surely was nothing we couldnt handle. We started by stripping the car down of all bumpers, trim, glass, and interior, then begain working on the body of the car from the front to the back working one panel to prefection at a time.  Stripping the front fenders and doors, we found a few rust spots that needed attention, some cutting and welding and we were back on track. With the front end metal work done, we dove inside the car, replacing the floor pans with fresh metal, then we moved our way into the trunk for the same treatment with a brand new trunk floor.  With a sound footing in the car, we could begin on the rear quarters, We started by removing them and begain metal work on the wheel houses, They dont make new wheel houses for a Convertible car, so we had to modify coupe parts to work with our convertible. Once that was set, we set them in place and begin fitting our new quarters. After a ton of cutting, welding, fitting, and testing, we finally got all the metal work done, and had our panels and gaps lined up perfectly, and it was time to break out the body filler to straighten out any imprefections. With all the body work done, and our panels fitting beautifully, it was time to prime the whole car with high build primer, and block sand it down for that arrow straight finish we desire, We did this process 3 times to get our old muscle car looking better then it did in 1971. After all that hard work, we wet sanded the whole car down and layd our new grey paint on with the classic black stripes.

Here We have Carol Gehrins 71 Monte Carlo, The Car came into us so we could restore the whole frame and related components, and clean up the engine and firewall, without touching the exterior paint of the car.  The First thing we had to do was to dissassemle the whole interior and prepare the car to take the body right off the frame so we could really attack all the floors and frame rust and rot we had to deal with.  After we had the interior out, we worked our way up to the front, removing the whole front clip, and getting the car ready to remove the powertrain, and clean and fix the firewall as well as clean and reseal the engine and transmission, that is in perfect working order.  Once we had all the driveline and interior off, we focused on taking the body right off the frame. After Removing a few rusted and broken bolts, we were ready to lift the body right off the frame and really get to work. We started by removing all the old brake and fuel lines, that after 30+ years were shot and brittle, and we began to dissassemble the front suspension to replace it for the same reason. Once that was all set, we sent the frame out to be sand blasted, to remove the years of caked on junk, and to get nice clean metal back so we know what were dealing with. A few days later we had the frame and suspension back and we were ready to start the hard work. Years and years of New England winters took its toll on the frame, and it left it with a few spots of thin metal and a few rust holes. Welding has come a long way since this frame was built, so we went over the whole frame, and Boxed the complete center section for much added Strength and durability, This will really help make the car handle, and get traction much better then it did before with the old flimsy frame. A Few days of welding and Fabricating later, and the frame was ready for a nice coat of rust proof black paint to keep the rust from ever  comming back. With all that hard work out of the way, we started to bend up some new Brake And Fuel lines, We chose the coated brake lines since they resist rusting far better then started issue parts, and will insure a long lasting Job. With our lines run, we could start getting to work on the  suspension, Replacing all worn out components, and making the car handle like new. Once that is complete we took our power train, and started to clean and degrease it, and prepare it for fresh paint and gaskets to make sure out nice paint  doesnt get ruined by a leaky motor.  Once the engine is complete we will focus our attention on the firewall and underhood details, and drop the body back on the  frame. Stay tuned

While not car news, Nothing is more important then family, And when you have an amazing singer and song writer like my sister, Barbara Lombardo you have to spread the word on her newly released Album. Im very proud of all the long time hard work she has put into her music, and am proud to show off all her talents, Here she is with one of her new songs Barb. For more of her work, check out her website, and dont forget your copy of her new Cd!  http://www.barbaralombardo.info/