Visit to the body shop

It is spring break here (I work at a University) and while I don't have the week off, I decided to take a small spring break and so took the afternoon off. The weather was nice--it was partly cloudy and in the low to mid 60s. So after a quick drive through Finley National Wildlife Refuge to get a last good look at the Dusky Canadian Geese before they finally pack up and head back North, I stopped by the body shop to check on the progress of my car and to let them know my final color selection. They were working on the car--making sure the panel gaps were perfect--so I snapped a couple of pics.

 Above is the front edge of the driver's door. Unhappy with the gap, they added a thin sliver of metal and had just finished welding it in place. I have to admit that their welds are much nicer than mine, and I'm very pleased with the door gap now. I hadn't said anything, but that gap had been bothering me. These folks do good work.

The last time I saw the car the hood and the passenger door were off and they were working on the edges--again making sure the shut lines (the gaps between the panels) were even. It doesn't look that way in the pic above--but that's just the different colors throwing things off.

The plan remains the same: They will finish up the work on the shut lines and then get it in for another coat of primer. Then they'll block sand it (multiple times) and paint the jambs--the door openings and the inner fenders and firewall. At that point, they'll take off the dog house (the front fenders/hood assembly) and deliver it to my house. I'll install the front suspension I just rebuilt, install the engine and transmission, and return it to them. They'll then reassemble the dog house and paint it.

Looks like I'll be very busy in the near future.