Day 12 - 8/5/11

Today is kind of an extension of yesterday, cleaned up what we took off. Got the rear bumper looking pretty good, I'll have to polish it in the next few days. This is how far the car is going to be taken apart.

Used an impact on the lower bumper brackets, then nicely took the taillight housings and wires out.

They're taking a break.

Just about to do a little washing on the bumper. Quite dirty.

I need to wash the filth off the underneath.

Washed the dirt off, then used some Meguiar's polish. 40 years old looks brand new again!

Makers polished, bumper guard rubbers taken off, on the list to polish!

Parts table, going to polish the rear bumper tomorrow.

Day 11 - 8/4/11

It's been awhile since I posted stuff up, I haven't stopped and lost interest, it's just hard to post up on the day it happens. So, today we focus on the rear end of the car. Before my dad got home I unbolted the marker lights and bezels. Then, we hadn't planned on it, but I decided to take the rear bumper as well. Since it sat under the pine tree, there was build up of unwanted debris and filth.

A little before shot.

Got both out! I'll clean around the body where the bezel covered it.

Last shot before taking off the lower body panel.

Well, one bold came out, and the other broke off. It's in kind of a tight and angled area so we tried to drill it, but no luck. Time to break out the air tools!

Got the lower body panel off. Next, the bumper!

Came off pretty easily. That's it, no more bumper for a while!

Turned the flash on, kind of dirty!

Unbolted the bumper guards off before I brought it back into the garage.Taking a look at the bumper, I don't really want to, but I think I'll take off the tail light housings to be able to clean it more thoroughly.

Got the housings unbolted, it looks like part of the mounting brackets will have to come off to take the housings completely out. Done for today.

Day 10 - 8/3/11

More cleaning! Today I unscrewed the grille and tried to take it off, but the bumper was in the way! So I thought what the hay, lets take off the bumper!

More steel wool magic.

Shot before we took off the bumper.

Got the bumper taken off!

Finally! The grille can come out!

Getting a breather outside.

Taking the headlights out. We'll need to replace them with halogen blubs anyway.

Good chance to wash the body where the bumper hides it.

Washing up the grille.

Time to wash it and polish it. You can see where the bumper guards were.

Whoops!

I needed new tires anyway.

Day 9 - 8/2/11

Today I got some smaller things done. It all counts! Took off the VIN, took off the shifter handle and worked on some moldings.

Drilled out the pop-rivets on the VIN so we don't bend it while working around the windshield.

Tapped out the shifter so I could pop the non-stock knob off to replace.

Has some funky designs on the tip.

Last of the moldings to come off.

Did a quick scrub down of the moldings before polishing. Easier to wash them now than later, it's not fun to polish out water stains.

Why hello there!

It's crazy what steel wool can do!

All polished! Done for today "it's very early in the morning."

Day 8 - 8/1/11

Today is the removal of the windshield and headlight switch. Its kind of tricky to take out a windshield without breaking it. You can even break it putting a new one in!  There is a spot where water seeped in between the glass and left some bubbles. Also, a big chip where right where the driver sits and the blue on the top of the glass faded to brown. Even if we do break it, it would look better and more 'clean' to get a new windshield.

Last shot before we take out the windshield!

Beating out the lower windshield resting brackets.

Giving us a fight.

Using some steel wire to cut the rubber.

Team effort.

And she's out!

Up and over.

We love rust!

Taking out the worn headlight switch.

Done for today!

Day 7 - 7/31/11

Today is kind of a small update but a small update is better than no update! In this project, there is endless cleaning. I noticed that the trunk jams were filthy. Didn't take any pictures but I cleaned the door jams and around the hood as well.

Before

After

Quite dirty.

Good to go.

Filthy

All clean.

There's that the 40 year old paint!

Finally cleaned behind the emblem.

Good time to clean behind the handles as well.

Day 6 - 7/30/11

Today my dad and I went to All American Classics Auto Wrecking. We went to look for roof sections out of other cars that weren't rotten like my car's roof around the front and rear glass. We did find some candidates that look like a good option at this point. We did some research there and the same year Monte Carlo has the same front and rear glass. This will be a good advantage because Chevelles are more expensive and 'sparse' compared to Monte Carlos. Another thing that's nice is that they have 10 to 12 Montes waiting to be chopped and used there.