Sometimes life's a bitch. I found that out by trying to install the passenger side door handle. It just wouldn't fit right. After several attempts, I inspected the new handle and found out that it was assembled incorrectly. The red spring was not in the correct position, clearly seen in comparison to the old handle on top. It wasn't easy to adjust the spring since it's one tight spring, but I managed in the end. 
Finally got the hood inserts mounted back on the hood. I searced forever for the small screws until I found them...
I finished off the passenger side tail light before lunch today. Since the gasket sealing the light was missing I had to fabricate a new one before the lens could be screwed on the housing.
Mounted the driver side rear light - as with the side markers, it is a rather complicated incorporating the lens, a chrome frame, the painted bezel and the light housing itself. came together nice though. The lenes have survived the last 40 years really well, I believe mainly because they are recessed so far back so they are well protected.
The first part of the driprail is also installed. Some cleaning was necessary as these pieces are the originals.
I picked up a trans-am style spoiler on the moparts board. Should take care of the downforce on the front end. I still have to check how it looks on the car as the front valance is not fitted yet but the quality of the spoiler is very good.
Against all reasonable advice, I did the blackout behind the grille. While standing back from the front of the car, the light paint shines through the horizontal bars of the grille on both sides of the radiator. Because of this, the cars originally had these areas blacked out.
I spent a lot of time masking off the area that wasn't supposed to be painted, taking care not to miss anything and get black paint where there shouldn't be any.
Added the 'Cuda badge to the tail panel. I don't exactly know where it should be so I went with the pics I could find and put it where I thought it would look good. The trunk lock is the original piece, cleaned up and in working order.
Mounted the bumpers on the 'Cuda! -The shiny new parts make a great contrast to the paint and really tie the car together :-)
It's interesting, the rear bumper really does not fit to the front of the car as it is recessed into the bodywork. The valance panels are still missing...
Installed the side markers. They are specific for the 1970 and '71 model years, after that they were of a more simple construction.
I installed the decklid, with the help of my fourteen year old daughter. Couldn't have done it myself, as the lid is quite heavy and it's impossible to hold it in place and insert the mounting screws at the same time.
Paint looks gorgeous!
I started on the driver side stainless trim on top of the door. Original piece of trimm, polished and mounted with new clips.
Finished off the hood pins. Probably not the most imortant item needing attention but as good as any place to start.
The hood bumpers are in place as well.
The first thing I started on, the hood pins. Beautiful work, not difficult, clean and you can see immediate succsess.
Finally freed from the restraints of the paintbooth, the 'Cuda is back home for final assembly! Michi and his brand new trailer made it possible
Freshly pained hood landscape:
A sneak peak into the paintbooth. The basecoat is on the 'Cuda, tomorrow the master of the spraygun will shoot the clearcoat. I have chosen to go without the vinyl roof for the time being, I'll see how I like the look with the outside paint and the red interior.
The fight against a ruthless illness has pulled my attention away from the 'Cuda for a while. I've spent the better part of the last month in the hospital, that required all the strength at my disposal. Thank's to modern medicine and the skills of the doctors looking after me, I'm recovering quickly and I'll be back on track within a couple of weeks. But while I was out of business, work continued on the 'Cuda. Here a few pics of the final paint preparation.
Since I'm back on the job and working on the Gross National Product again, so are the folks at the paintshop. The rear of the 'Cuda is covered in guidecoat, ready for final sanding.
As you can see, I had some time off for summer vacation. Beautiful lake, great weather, too much food...to sum it up: very exhausting.
Got some interior pieces ready for installation. Doorpanels, armrests and the console with lid.
The color of the sun visors needed to be changed , apart from that the previous owner of the 'Cuda found it a good Idea to glue a mirror on the driver side sunvisor.
I've had the parts for quite a while so I could fix the new visors quickly...
Since there won't be any news from the bodyshop for another month or so, I'll treat you to some small stuff. I redid the outsides of the taillight housings. I had them stripped of old paint and grime a while ago and it was hard to tell what color they actually had. From some other restorations I've seen, they seem to have a gold / copper tone to be correct.
Took a trip to the Slovakiaring, just across the border to accompany A friend for some historic road-racing. Historical racing delivers a wonderful atmosphere of burning rubber and high octane fuel ...(actually they all run on pump gas) and is a lot of fun to watch. A swiss fellow rolled to the starting line in this beautiful reconstruction of Jerry Titus' 1971Trans-Am Firebird. Fitted with a Pontiac bigblock, which would definitely have been beyond the rules back in '71, the big bird was the fastet car on the track.
I got hold of a red console from MCB Performance in Michigan. The original console was broken at the end and had numerous holes drilled into it by the previous owner. The new one will surely tie the interior together, as the Dude would say. You can tell it was designed fourty years ago by the complete absence of anything like a cupholder!
