Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

[76_TypeLT]

I met the owner of the car shop last Friday and we talked for a solid hour. We talked about stuff other than my 76 project, which was good. This goes without saying, but this guy loves cars. I don't really consider myself a "car guy" like a lot of the great people on this site. I am just a dude with a 76 Camaro that wanted to do something cool. But that chat with the owner really reinvigorated me to get back after it, regardless of whether or not I hire them to finish my project. So that was a positive to come out of it. I taped my updated to-do list on my tool cabinet doors so I can start knocking out a few items. It's depressing because there isn't THAT much left to do relative to what HAS been done. But I can only look forward.

He'll get back to me in a week or two with a "soft" bid on the work I am requesting.

 

[Happy_Dan]

Aaron, just let me say this. I did a lot of work on my 73 then started to feel like with all I had going on, I would never get to finishing it. The rust was mostly addressed and it was about putting body panels back on and doing body work. That was so much work and took me so long, I was just done with it.

Now, it's about 3 years later and I am totally bummed I let it go and didn't finish it. It will be worth the wait if you can that. I am really glad to see you back at it at least mentally ready. I think you will find the cost prohibitive to have someone else do work so if it's too much, just take your time even if you spend one hour here and there. Someday you will have time again and you will wish you had the project to work on.

 

[TeamDoty]

Hi Aaron,

I'm a fellow '76 LT owner... very new to the forums. You've heard it a million times... "I wish I had never gotten rid of that car". I'm one of those. I sold off a '69 in 1992 and have regretted it ever since. Life quickly got in the way of me getting another car, and I am DEFINITELY a "car guy" so the pain of the past 30 years (almost to the day) of not owning some classic has been rough. I think you're making a wise choice. Hire out some stuff and get that boost you need to get that machine back on the road and enjoy owning it AND driving it!

 

[carcrazed]

Get er done!

 

[76_TypeLT]

So I stopped by the shop a few weeks ago to ask the owner if he took a look at my "wish list" and he said he hadn't (he was out of town ). I still haven't heard from him. So I called another shop that I have driven by a 1,000 times that is actually closer to me. I always assumed it was just a paint & body shop (they have awesome classic cars parked out front) but it turns out they are a full service shop. I spoke to the owner and he seemed willing to take a look at my wish list and submit a bid. He is familiar with the first shop and said they usually send LS resto-mods like my 76 to his shop, so maybe this will be a better fit.

In the meantime I have been doing work on the 76, mainly getting the door and trunk seals finished. I had a trunk seal dry fitted that was too stiff (trunk lid would not close) so I swapped it with a super soft Metro seal, which is much better. I am finding that more work is done than what my last "to do" list indicated, which is nice. So I will keep knocking items off the list as time allows.

 

[Da-bigguy]

It's great hearing from you Aaron!! I hear you on family and other things taking priority over our cars. My eldest daughter just started university this past August and my youngest will be heading there in three years!

My Camaro is still a pile of parts in my garage but I am hoping to get some work done on the body in the coming couple of months, assuming of course that I don't get sent overseas for extended periods of time again! What shop are you looking at? Awhile back I checked out Texas Hot Rod Company on Hufsmith-Kohrville Road, just north of Spring-Cypress and he gave me an hourly quote that seemed really good at the time. When it comes time to get my bodywork done, I'm going to check with him again. His website does say he will do full restorations but mostly seems to be bodywork and paint which is what I'm looking for at the moment.