Back to getting smaller jobs out of the way so that the project can come together without being bogged down with tedious jobs.  I found a couple traction bars that I had that needed sandblasting, priming, painting, installation of new rubbers and new u bolts for installation.   I love the look of them on the back of the leaf springs.  It is very period correct for fast cars in the day.  They are aftermarket and not factory but I am not too worried about that.  I seen on Barrett Jackson Auctions a 1970 black Eliminator had a set of red traction bars on it and I really liked the look so that is the color I went with.

I removed the side glass and the window felt from the passenger door so that I could sand properly where the window felt, or whiskers as some call them, lie.  I am replacing them as I am also replacing the weatherstripping around the doors and the roof rails.  The prices for these items sure have gone up.  The wiskers that are fixed to the inner door panels are in decent shape even though the kit I purchased includes them new with new staples.  Did you hear that?  New staples!  No thanks.   This is a definite tedious job to replace those whiskers with staples and no staple gun strong enough to pierce steel.  They have to be drilled and fit and folded with pliers…….once again…..not fun.  My interior panel window felts are in decent shape, although I haven’t looked and I doubt I will look.  I just don’t want to ruin the month.  I used a scraper for the inside of the door to get the loose waterproofing material that falls off in pieces to the bottom of the door.  I  coated the metal with rust conversion spray and let dry thoroughly before applying the gravel guard.  Once the door is painted after the body work is completed I will reinstall the glass.  The mechanism for the window was cleaned with scrub pads and wire wheel on a bench grinder to get old grease and such off.  I could barely open the window with the hand crank.  The cleaned mechanism will be greased before installation.

I took the two side marker light assemblies from the quarter panels and restored so that they too are ready to go when the painting is complete on those panels.

The rear quarter panel and inner structure was worse for wear on the passenger side.  A new trunk drop off had to be installed and pieces placed within the wheel tub where the road salt and rocks pound over the years.  I ordered the trunk drop offs for both sides but these are generic aftermarket and were not long enough.  We decided to just make a one piece from new steel instead.  This just means that a few recesses that were placed in the piece were not going to be present.  This piece is only visible from the underside of the car and it will be undercoated when finished anyways.  Aftermarket sheet metal is not usually great for fitment on all vehicles.  It just takes time and patience and a hard knee to bend the form needed.  This was a slow process as each piece had to be formed and welded into place and in order of ease of accessibility.  The bottom of the quarter had to be made by hand since these parts are not available.  A whole quarter panel is now being made for $1600 USD but I only require small sections to repair this vehicle so that would not be feasible.