Firsthand hands-on time with Paul's 1963 was great! To be at this point now, in the bodywork stage with a professional that will treat this T34 like it was the 20+ year project that it is, is totally inspiring!
When I first saw his T34 it was perched up on four jack stands in about 1/3rd of the building space. Jimmy does not usually do this for other restorations, but he had moved 2 other cars outside to give the T34 enough room to work effectively. The once-red-primer body was now a delicious mixture of colors: green, orange, white, and red. The previously restored pan was positioned vertically on its side and covered to keep it nice during the sanding & prepping work.
They had already completed the bodywork on the doors (typical check strap dents) and hoods and they lay beside the T34 in gray primer, ready to paint. The T34 body was in very good condition, and Jimmy commented that it was "as good as Jon's T34 in many places". But with 100,000 more miles that Jon's and a life in the snow there was a bit more rust.
The lowest edge of the nose section, where it touches the spare tire well, was the worst rust with pin-holes across the width of the area. The rusty area had been completely cut-out & replaced with fresh metal. No bondo here now and no signs of any previous rust. You can see the results in the before & after pics.
 Before |
 After |
The front wheel wells had been badly beaten by years of driving with chains, so Jimmy spend some time pounding those areas clean again. The rocker panels look pretty clean as do the wheel well sections, typical areas of rust for T34s.
The rear panel had several large dents near the license plate area as well as badly misshapen metal at the lower valence. Jimmy felt that it would take too much time (ie labor hours) to repair effectively and not see the waviness in the flat rear panel. So, as fate works out sometimes, I had a spare NOS rear panel section that came with my Cabrio project parts car (that 1966 345 sunroof) parts. So I brought the panel to Jimmy and he began to laugh ... asking how many people in the world had ever seen an NOS T34 sheetmetal panel and whether we'd ever see another one again! He truely does appreciate the rarity of the T34 ...
Jimmy said the T34 bodywork would take a couple more months to get it perfect but that he was impressed with the straightness & condition of the metal vs what he saw in the photos Paul gave him to inspect the T34 initially.
More pics when the NOS rear panel is installed ... And Paul, I gotta say just how excited I am to see your T34 get to this point! I see light at the end of this tunnel ...
LEE