So, after picking up the car on Friday October 29th, I faced the daunting task of final assembly.  Luckily my father was coming up this weekend to help.  We ended up spending 3 hours Saturday, 17 hours Sunday, and another 17 hours Monday trying to get everything back together.  What a chore!  Here are some highlights of the obstacles we overcame.

The passenger door was replaced prior to painting and had never been hung on the car until after I shot the jambs.  Of course it didn't fit perfectly.  We had to remove a shim on both hinges between the body and hinge.  Then,, once we had the door lined up, we installed the weatherstripping.  That, of course, caused the door to fit wrong again, argh!  I had to trim the weatherstripping down since the replacement door is slightly different inside (it's off a '75, and must use a lower-profile weatherstrip originally).  We got it all to fit finally, then installed the hardware and window.

Replacement driver side outer handle was the same story.  The rear stud mount was too long and the handle wouldn't fit flush to the door.  Out came the dremel, and all was well.

The car didn't have any outer bumper brackets when I got it, so I bought a pair.  Did they fit up on the first try?  What do you think?  An hour with a vise and pliers got them fitted.  The front bumper mounting nut broke loose inside the bumper when I tried to install the bumper bolt.  Major improvisation here.  Went to Ace Hardware and found a stud to use.  We managed to to get the stud threaded into the loose nut, then we mounted the bumper and secured the other end of the stud with a nut and lockwasher.

Otherwise uneventful progress on rear bumpers, front grilles, carpet, sill plates, etc.  The AstroVent cables were a real chore to attach to the underside of the new shifter console, but I got it, finally.  Mounted the park brake console and seats, then called it quits.

I took the car back to Dan Tuesday morning so he could sand and buff the final finish.  I got it back Thursday afternoon,  and what a difference it was!  All the orange peel had been color sanded away, and the finish was buffed out to a deep gloss.  I was told  to wait 6 months before applying any wax, so the paint can continue to cure, but it looks great anyway!

Then I started putting the rest of the interior trim panels inside.  I used a can of vinyl dye to freshen up all the panels, and it worked great.  So without further ado, here it is!