"The Beater Bee" becomes "The Better Bee"

[A12pilot]

Hey Jim! Thanks...but shhhhh....it's not the correct "402" pan as you know. It's the larger Hemi oil pan giving me that extra quart so when I romp on it, I don't suck the pan dry! But....I did get the bottom just misted with the engine paint and a few drips too! I don't know why everyone has such a hard time being sloppy with details like this. Sloppy comes naturally to me! Just look at my paint job.... Ha!!! Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago. No YYZ layovers just yet, but next year for sure. I do owe Dave Carson a burger too....so that'll be a great chance to meet up!

Cheers

Dave

[olredalert]

----Dave,,, Sometimes creativity takes the form of restraint, and you have practiced that so well. So many restorers over do things in the quest for perfection. I may be one of them, but you have mastered simply doing what the factory did. I believe its easier to over restore a car than it is to do it as the factory did it........Bill S

[RS_COPO_Canuck]

Originally Posted by A12pilot

Hey Jim! Thanks...but shhhhh....it's not the correct "402" pan as you know. It's the larger Hemi oil pan giving me that extra quart so when I romp on it, I don't suck the pan dry! But....I did get the bottom just misted with the engine paint and a few drips too! I don't know why everyone has such a hard time being sloppy with details like this. Sloppy comes naturally to me! Just look at my paint job.... Ha!!! Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago. No YYZ layovers just yet, but next year for sure. I do owe Dave Carson a burger too....so that'll be a great chance to meet up!

Cheers

Dave

Your secret is safe with me. But it is a deduction for having a longer oil pickup tube - Lol.
I did the oil pan drip thing years ago when I put a car through OE gold judging at the Nats. They didn't know what to make of it...until I showed them pics of how it was before the resto...and a few pics of some other survivors.
T.O. next year - cool! We can get Dave Carson over to my place and I'll cook up the burgers...and maybe wash them down with a canuck brewski.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Originally Posted by RS_COPO_Canuck

Your secret is safe with me. But it is a deduction for having a longer oil pickup tube - Lol.
I did the oil pan drip thing years ago when I put a car through OE gold judging at the Nats. They didn't know what to make of it...until I showed them pics of how it was before the resto...and a few pics of some other survivors.
T.O. next year - cool! We can get Dave Carson over to my place and I'll cook up the burgers...and maybe wash them down with a canuck brewski.

I want in on the Canuck burgers:-)

Ryan W.

[RS_COPO_Canuck]

NP - Someone needs to bring the Brazilian "beaches"

[Mr. Chevy]

Looks awesome Dave!! We will have fun at MCACN!!!

Rich

[A12pilot]

I'm not sure many know this, but I'm going to enter my car in a small, local event called the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago. This small, unknown show, has really been gaining popularity and I figured I'd bring my car all the way from Texas just for the heck of it . No awards or press or anything....just a few cool cars in a room. So with that said, here's some details I did on the Bee.

This first one shows the block bore size markings that were noted each cylinder to ensure the builder knew what size piston in relation to the bore side to get. These were done on the bare block then the hemi orange paint was sprayed over that. The survivor Bee I have pictured, really shows how thin the factory engine paint was since it's all but worn off of this side of the block.

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

In studying how the cars were painted, it was by two guys on either side of the car that walked the length of the car. If you can imagine standing next to a car and trying to paint it quickly, yet make it pretty, there are areas that won't get covered. Mopars were painted assembled so when the engine bay was painted, the underside of the battery tray, underside of the frame rails, basically.... anywhere that took a lot of effort to reach, didn't get painted. Fortunately with my painting skills..... it's VERY easy to recreate these sloppy steps!

Also notice the lower control arm. They were dipped in a bucket of cosmoline, a rust preventative, with a distinct dip line present towards the end of the control arm where the balljoint attaches. Since they were dipped, the runs run [runs run?] sideways.

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

Since the engine was painted either hanging on a chain, assembled minus the accessories, the oil pan shows light coverage and drips. Hey, if there's one thing I'm good at is drips!! Just look at the paint! anywhooo...now yes, I did use a little but too glossy paint since I wanted it to last a bit longer than the stock factory paint. But I think it was worth it. Also, since I three carburetors to mistune and leak fuel all over the engine, I wanted to make sure the paint would hold up.... and single stage works well!

Moving into the trunk, factory sound deadener was painted over. When the Bumble Bee sticker was added, the marker reflector hole was covered with the decal and a razor was used to slice an "X" into it, and then folded over into the hole. It wasn't trimmed neatly. After all... it's just a trunk!
Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

Along with that..... the trunk hinges were greased and then....yep..... the grease was painted over. I recreated this detail after I painted the whole car. Why? Easy....there is enough flaws in the paint already, that I don't need the extra help of some huge grease blop flying off the hinge onto the quarter panel while I'm painting it!

Bottom pic is before the tear down of the car showing variety paint on the grease.

Cheers
Dave