Historic Road Racing

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.

Appearing on pit lane, very much effort has went into the Pontiac to make it look exactly like the original racecar. There is a 1970 Cuda also racing in the series, made to look like Sam Poseys car but unfortunately it did not contend this weekend.

Here is Roberts Alfa Romeo Giulia tucked between a Mark 1 Escort and a Volkswagen Golf. He did very well all weekend, racing in the highly competitive 1.6 liter class.

Console

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!

More paint prep

New pics from the bodyshop. Things are coming together on the nose of the 'Cuda. The fenders are straight...

The last wrinkles have been treated.

Driver side quarter.
Sadly that pretty much wraps it up until september since the bodyshop is closing down for summer holidays. They will be back on the job with new energy at the end of august, I hope it won't take long from then...

Fit and alignment

After quite a while, the 'Cuda is coming together again and looking somewhat like a car once again.

The hood, the front fenders, the panel that's in front of the hood and the front valance are bolted to the car to check for imperfections in the surface - yes, there are plenty - and for fit and proper alignement.

All of the spots that need attention are marked , so the finished surface will look good.

Paint preparation

Things may seen a little slow here now and then but currently, many hours of work are being put into the bodywork of the 'Cuda at the shop.

The roof has been sorted out - there was a slight dent popping out near the rear window - and the quarters have recieved a first going over.

Passenger side door and quarter after the first round of fílling and sanding.

Off for paint

I had Ernst and his exquisite "Schlepp-mich.org" service take the 'Cuda to the paint shop today. Riding in style! Hood, fenders and other bits that need color are already there, now the rest of the bodywork will be straightend out and painted.

One more shot on the highway. I was lucky to catch a day without rain, one of the few in this rather wet year around these parts.

Looking back

I've decided to go with the additional passenger side rear view mirror. The car was originally not equipped with one but I do not want to miss the comfort and added safety of such an option.

Made a template to find the correct location for the mounting holes, taking the driver side measurements.

The flange compression insert nuts for the new mirror installed.