My dad's story goes something like this...
The Delta 88 was the first attempt at restoring an old car, when that was done, it felt like something was lost. Refinishing a car was a great accomplishment. We both then decided to try with another car. After cruising through the local paper once again we found another car advertised for $900.00. A 1971 Olds Cutlass S. It was in relatively good shape. It had a strong 350 rocket engine, but as with the Delta 88, it had this putrid orange color. Once the stripping began, we discovered that the original color was a metallic dark yellow. It was better than that orange, but the plan was to make this one fire engine bright red.
Weeks went by and little by little the car started to take shape. Most of the old bondo was stripped off, and the highly rusted areas around the wheel wells and the rear of the front tires on the fenders were reformed. This time we tried something different. Instead of fiberglass filler we used liquid metal. A combination of aluminum and lead. This stuff you had to work fast with because once you added the hardening agent, it set up within a minute. So whatever you had to fill, you did it the best you could. If you missed, you would wait, sand it down, then mix up another batch and finish where you left off. Once it was all filled and sanded, this stuff was not going to come off. I remember screwing up and having to take this stuff off. A hammer and chisel had a hard time.
This car did not have a vinyl top. It was a 2 door hardtop, and we were trying to decide on whether or not to put another top on it. We decided that the top could always be added later, so no top! This car came out nice. We traveled around as with the Delta 88 to all of the area boneyards looking for parts. We picked up an olds 442 rear bumper, and some other trim parts. I had a set of Keystone Classic mag wheels that we were going to put on it, but I think that we found a whole set of Cragar mags in a yard somewhere that we decided would look better.
This was going to be dad's car, but just as we were putting the final touches on it, my sister was in the market for another car. So dad decided to let my sister have it. She loved that car while she had it, and it was a real looker and moved out really well. Well, my sister was going to school in the evenings after a while, and of course would drive her baby all the time. One night while going to class, she was behind some other cars at a red light near the entrance to the expressway, and some asshole in a Mercedes plowed into her from the back going at least 35mph. Knocked her into the car in front of her which knocked that car into the one in front of it! A giant 4 car chain. Needless to say, there wasn't much anyone could do to fix this car. It was totaled! Now she was on her own to get another car.
Meanwhile, I left for overseas, and dad got his new baby. A 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS 396. I believe it ran around $4000.00 and was in decent shape. I guess the owner was trying to restore it, but had to get rid of it for some reason. There were extra parts and stuff, but this car needed a lot left to finish. For a good couple of years, dad did not really work on the car. He decided he was going to go completely 100% original with this car down to the last nut and bolt. He searched high and low, found a bunch of contacts in the area, and worked up his stockpile of parts. Once the majority of the parts were acquired he would begin. He figured he helped his kids with there cars, now it was his turn, and our turn to help.
There wasn't too much we helped with. He became really good friends with a bodyman who worked in the same company as my mother, and between the two of them, they did pretty much all of the work. We just helped out with some sanding and undercoating, and detailing later on. The parts pile was slowly dwindling down as they were needed. The gauge / clock cluster was sent out to be reworked with all new internal parts, the dash panels were all replaced, he had one of the seats reupholstered, new carpet, new chrome OEM trim and mirrors, the bumpers rechromed, original mag wheels, etc. The list goes on. Once the car was finished body wise, it was time to tweak the engine. The manifold was changed, the heads were ported and a fresh valve job, rebuild the carb, etc. Not as extensive as the Delta 88, but enough. This car is a winner.
Check out the pictures, it was appraised at $20,000.00. It is virtually a "brand new" 1969 Chevelle.