05/14/22 UPDATE

Stopped in the shop this past week to drop off the trim that Bill wanted to have for the roof rail, quarter window and body side molding. Found it all but the quarter window trim, so I still need to dig that out of my new stuff if I can't find the old ones I took off.

On a positive note, they are still working on the Torino body and it's really taking shape. Bill wanted the trim to confirm it is all going to fit up nicely as it should. Here are a few pictures of the work being done....

and he even got the pass thru plate welded in.

She's coming along slowly, but at least it's getting done!!

Stay tuned for more.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

04/27/22..... PROGRESS!!!!

Well popped in at Moore's Body Shop on my way home Wednesday and was greeted with a surprise.... work has begun on the Tomato!! Seems the GTO that is in line before her has had some frame damage and is off at the frame shop being repaired and looks like it's gonna take a while to get it straightened out, so they started working on the Torino.

They pulled the doors and front sheetmetal to begin working the body and Bill noticed something didn't look right about the driver's side rear quarter. After comparing it to the passenger side, he found the quarter was bowed in about an inch and a quarter above the center of the rear wheel opening!! Seems the replacement of the quarter panel had been botched at some point in the past, so his first order of business was to split the panel open and work the panel out to where it should be and closed it back up and finessed it.

So work is underway and it looks like I MOVED IT TO THE RIGHT SHOP and I'm eager to watch her progress back to perfection!!!!!

Don't touch that dial.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

New shop parts inventory....

Well on Saturday, I popped in at the new shop to do a complete inventory of everything we pulled out of there last weekend and it appears we got everything except for the front wheelhouses which are now at the old garage for me to pick up.

Pulled everything out of the car to get a look at where things stood and it looks like I got a LOT of rework/clean up to do to get her back to where she was two years ago, but Bill assures me once he gets rolling on her, she'll come together pretty quickly.

But what really broke my heart was how nasty the engine looked.... 😭

Since my trunk was full of other stuff, I left all the loose bits to pick up later in the week to start redetailing everything.

FUN FUN FUN

Stay tuned!

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Finally a 2022 UPDATE......

Well after months of trying to get the car back together enough to get it moved to a new body shop, the impossible HAS BEEN COMPLETED!

First I want to thank my brutha Jim Conley for lending a hand getting the Torino ready to move. We got the hood strapped down and the car off the skates just as the rollback arrived for the move. Winching her up on the deck, transmission fluid started leaking out of the transmission. At first we thought the rear yoke seal was the culprit but once the car was up on the truck, we discovered the speedometer cable plug was gone and the B&M transmission fluid was coming from there (looks like I may have lost a couple quarts??).

Once she was choked down on the rollback...

off she went on her journey to the new shop. Luckily it was a beautiful day so we didn't have to worry about rain/snow/salt/etc and the trip was uneventful.

Once at the new shop, she was offloaded and we pushed her into her temporary position awaiting her turn for resurrection.

After seeing the car close up after over a year, I was shocked by her appearance! When the car was originally delivered to the first shop, you could have eaten off of it, but now it looks like a 20 year old abandoned barn find project! She's covered in sanding dust (expected), cob webs and surface rust has started on the raw metal surfaces where the phosphorus protectant coating was scuffed (?) away. Also the interior is covered in sanding dust as well and appears to have gotten wet as the dust is spotted as if misted with water, so the climate in the garages wasn't maintained very well!

With the car now at Moore's Body Shop, I will stop in one evening next week and we'll discuss what the plan of attack will be. I'm sure ALL the previous work will need to be stripped back down to bare metal to insure all the new work will be in flawless. Bill Moore, the shop owner, said it would be OK for me to go in whenever they are there and initially do an inventory of what is present to insure everything is there and then begin cleaning up the ole girl so she's not quite as nasty looking!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GLAD THE NEXT PHASE IS UNDERWAY!!

Keep watching!

ZEBRA 3 OUT