[Vic1947]

Thanks guys for all the Happy New Year wishes. So far - so good!

I spoke with the owner of a shop in Iowa about my "Paint Your Wagon" situation. Unlike the local shops that specialize in custom work, they'll take in a project at any stage of completion. I clicked on their FB page and their work looks nice. Only problem is, they're booked up until late spring. My first thought was, the time frame is a deal breaker, but upon further reflection, I decided there was no reason I couldn't modify my work flow to fit their schedule. So I called them back and have a place in line.

What I'll do is complete all the body work and then paint areas like the firewall, door jambs, inner fenders and dash. I can go ahead and build the exhaust system, hang the EFI gas tank and rear mounted battery box, run brake and fuel lines, build the console and a host of other tasks. I'll set the body on the chassis and take it to them when they're ready. That way, all they really need to finish out are the exterior panels. They said it would be no problem to mask the chassis and etc. If I do my part correctly, it should turn out okay.

I've been making progress on the body panels as you can see from the photos. The firewall is pretty well done as well as the outer door skins, the tailgate and the jamb areas on the driver side. Still a long way to go. I've already used up almost 3 gallons of filler. Most of it ends up as dust in the trash can. My arms and shoulders are getting a workout.