Body off, aluminum marked, & wheels ordered

With the body buck complete, it was time to move the body off of the chassis this weekend. I kept an eye on the weather, because a tropical storm in Mexico had been causing high winds. Saturday morning the weather was perfect, so I called Ryan over to help Zac and I move the body.

(Click photos to enlarge).

While I unbolted the body from the chassis, Ryan and Zac moved the buck into the back yard.

The plan was to get the body buck in the backyard, wheel the chassis out to the front yard, lift the body off, lift it up and over the fence, and place it on the body buck. This is because right now we don't have a gate large enough in the front yard to wheel the car through.

Lifting the body is definitely much easier with three people. Ryan was at the front, Zac was at the back, and I ran around the outside while they lifted to peel the sides up and over the chassis, and to make sure it didn't get hung up on any parts of the frame.

The guys getting psyched up for "The Big Lift."

I managed to get this photo while we were in the middle of lifting the body over the fence.

The body safely resting on the buck.

It was much easier to move than expected. Later on we put a stabilizer bar in the cockpit, and tied the body down to the buck. I didn't want to risk it blowing off in high winds. Zac and I then pushed it under the porch for storage.

I'm thinking a few patio chairs and it would make a nice table.

That would be the dining room window it's next to. I can now gaze out the window at breakfast or dinner and see my car's body.

Once the body was off, we wheeled the chassis back into the garage. 

The almost naked frame.

  

The next step was to go through and mark all of the aluminum where it contacted the chassis, and where the panels overlapped. I marked the overlaps of interest with a letter on each side, then an "O" for over and "U" for under. I started with A, and by the time I was done I ended with AT.

Marking the panels. Zac loves that he can sit on the fender of his '57 Chevy and work in the engine bay. I joked that I can do the same thing right now and sit on the frame rails.

There was lots of crawling around underneath to do the markings on the underside. Advantage #1 of being a girl...I'm smaller and fit under there easier.

An example of all the markings. The kit looks like it's prepped for surgery.

After I finished all of the markings, I took a bunch of pictures with my camera to refer to later on when the panels are ready for assembly. I'll spare the blog readers that volume of pictures. The next step will be to remove the panels and put them in the attic for storage, where they can't get damaged. It's amazing the amount of disassembly, even on the complete kit, that is required before you get to the assembly steps. I have yet to install my first part, but I figure this prep time and attention to detail now will pay off later when I'm staring at a panel wondering which way it goes.

Today I also ordered my wheels. Wheels are one of the first aesthetic choices for the car that has to be made. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and it helped to attend the FFR car show at Huntington Beach earlier this year. I was able to compare the looks of several different types of wheels, and took a ton of pictures to refer back to later on, which I pulled up and reviewed today. I kept going back to the look of my favorite set.

The final choice: Mustang Bullitt wheels in Anthracite grey, size 17 x 9 purchased from OE Wheels.

These had previously been on backorder, and when I checked the website today, they were in stock. So I went ahead and placed my order. All four wheels will be 17 x 9. I thought about 17 x 10.5 on the back, but I just don't care for the deeper dished-in look on the rim that the 10.5's have. My current thinking on tire size is 245 up front and 275 in back. 
I won't be purchasing new tires for the wheels yet, since I won't need good tires until the car is in the go-cart stage. I figure, why purchase new tires only to have them sit around for who knows how long? So my plan is to buy a set of used, cheap take-offs to put on for now, then switch them out later on (which may be a year or so down the line...who knows). Hey, it works well in the motorcycle racing world, so I figured the same idea will work well for my car.

Today I went to Ace Hardware and picked up Rustoleum hammer paint in dark grey for the engine bay aluminum panels. I think the grey will go nicely with the gloss black frame and tie in well with the Anthracite color of the wheels.