I started receiving more updates via pictures from Kings. At least it showed some really good progress taking place.
I took a trip over to King’s Auto Upholstery on 9 November 2012 to do a final inspection of the electrical, top and interior work. All I can say is that I was absolutely stunned at the quality of the workmanship that Freddie and his crew has done on a build this complex. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have any problems. There are a number of issues that needs to be corrected before this car is ready to come home. Freddie’s guys need to put an inner lining in the center console, one of the HID lights halo is not working on the bottom, and the sill covers need to be installed. There are other issues that came in do a detailed walk through of the car that Rick from Maryland Muscle Car will have to address. The rear left tire pinches the fender well opening. The front left wheel when turned completely right touches the outside corner of the fender well opening. The left door drops about 1/2” once it’s opened and the door has to be help up in order to close it. The fit of the left door is poor and the paint has already rubbed on the door jamb edge and chipped it off. Some gaps are as close as 1/8” of an inch and other gaps are over 1/4″. The right door at the bottom sticks out more than a 1/4″ and needs to be adjusted. The windows are so tight that the electric motor struggles to get the windows up. Not sure what I am going to do about the fender well opening stainless molding since mine are in bad shape and the person that was to fix it has not gotten back to Rick. I told Rick that I don’t want to waste big $$ on fixing moldings that are in really bad shape. So, I have been looking everywhere to buy a decent set of four for this car.
Lexus push start installed, Pioneer head unit installed, gauges connected, and AC connected. The door panels were prepped and ready to be wrapped in leather. The fabrication within the trunk started to take shape to house the dual 12” JL speakers.
Then the framing for the amps and the felt on the floor before the carpeting.
They also custom sculpted foam to for the rear seats to match the Tea’s Design front seats. The door panels were literally starting to take shape as well.
Another trick I wanted was the door sills to be illuminated with 4-4-2. Kings custom cut and made a pair of sills that did just that.
By December of 2012 the Olds was completed and shipped back to MMC.
The seats were covered in leather as was the rest of the interior and it started to look great.
Here she is in November 2012, nearly completed with the interior. The custom boot for the top even looks awesome.
By December of 2012 the Olds was completed and shipped back to MMC. Rick spent a couple of months on engine break-in, fit and other small detail work and I was able to finally go there and drive this beauty back to Lorton, Virginia from Hagerstown, Maryland. The weather was great and the ride include me with a grin on my face all the back home.
Of course nothing is ever perfect and there were issues. And John had informed me that he is fully retiring so he won’t be with MMC except to have his cars worked on there. So as some gremlins started to emerge I had to start looking for a shop nearby that I would trust this Olds with. Not an easy task and even when you think you have found the right on, it isn’t always so. More on that later.