The “Trailer Queen” is soon to be on the road …

The “Trailer Queen” is soon to be on the road … scheduled to be on the road August 28, 2008.

Finally, after close to 3 years of restoration, she will finally hit the road. It’s a Beautiful thing!!

Engine --- FINALLY

Engine ---- FINALLY

The engine finally assembled and polished.

Now the Hard Part --- Buffing the paint

Fred (in the background) started the tedious task of buffing the paint to a glossy shine ... wow what a job!!

FINALLY Paint!!

Great shot of the Trailer Queen fresh out of the paint booth

Intake Manifold Installation Complete

Finally, the engine is complete!

Intake manifold installed and ready to make some awesome “Low end” power

Jimmy was attempting to add humor to the picture by writing “Ford” on the carburetor

Funny guy!

She looks ready to "Breath" fuel again!

Intake Manifold replaced

I purchased an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold ... low-rise and dual-plane.

Need - Low-end torque to improve QUICK throttle response.

Had to replace the single plane intake manifold. Two reasons,
the manifold was too tall ... about 1/4 inch and ...

I want low end torque!!

Door Latches

I removed the door latches ... WOW were they dirty!! I should have taken a picture of the before. Had to sand blast and clean clean clean .......

Perfection Collision Center - Jimmy Edlin

Jimmy taking a break .... WHY!
The *Trailer Queen* needs attention!!

Drivers door

As you can see, the drivers door had several "dings" that required a little filler and plenty of sanding!!

Drivers side sanding

Drivers side sanding - big job!!
Had to tape off the window area to avoid having to clean the interior

Driver's side Quarter Panel diff angle

Closer look at the quarter panel

Driver’s Side Quarter Panel

Sometime long ago, the quarter panel was repaired.

Jimmy, being the expert in auto body repair, noticed the seam was visible. I sure didn’t see it until Jimmy pointed it out. So, we decided to grind down the area to bare metal and repair the seam.

The trailer queen looks like Frankenstein’s bride!!!

Front Fender View

New Fenders!!

Installed NEW fenders to insure the lower lines matched the door panels
The right side fender!
Found an original GM fender ... so I replaced the aged bondo'd fender.


New Left Side Fender


The original fender had some damage to the lower back side. Who ever fixed the fender did a horrible job with the patch panel. The lower line did not match the door panel.


The fender line was an 1/8th larger than the door lines ... looked real bad!

In the Paint Shop

Installed all the steel prior to sand & paint. The fenders were painted with a primer and installed to insure a proper fit.

Looking more like the Chevelle I use to have 26 months ago

Jimmy playing games with the Trailer Queen!

While I went to my car for my camera, Jimmy thought the Trailer Queen needed to dress up with a Pizza Hut sign. Funny guy!!

….… I may need to use the sign after we reviewed the paint bill!

Finally in the Paint Shop! Front View

Here is an interesting look!

Just checking to insure the new front fender fits properly … like a glove and looking good!!

Finally In the paint Shop!

On October 10th, the “Trailer Queen” finally made its way out of Kurt’s shop and transported to the paint shop! Jimmy Edlin from Perfection Collision Center will apply his “magic” to repair the floor pan, fix all the door digs, scratches and pin holes the Trailer Queen received while at the Kurt’s shop.

…. Here she is being stripped of her chrome so we can begin to remove the clear coat.

The Baby is Born - part 2

Adjusting the idle and mixture settings

The Baby is Born!!!

After waiting for over a year, the 454 finally took her first breath of fuel!! It was a beautiful sight and the sound is AWESOME!!!

Front View