A selection of photos collected over 7 years of construction...                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ... stay awhile! stay forever!!

Acquisition and Tear-down

Carpool DeVille, circa 2008.

Back in the day, we just drove it around.

Preparing for an interior-ectomy.

Gross.

Brakes OK? No.

They don't call it a Sawz-All for nothing

Ahh.. so much better without those ratty seats.

A beautiful canvas...

It feels like much has been done. It looks like there is oh so very much left to do...

The top of that wheel well will have to go.

And that thing there...

... that goes too.

Reinforcement

Sixty-plus feet of steel tubing went into making the Carpool DeVille rigid enough to withstand the weight of a hot tub.

Those rusty floors kind of look problematic.

Tub Construction

Have a close look at the interior....

Yes, that's plywood. This plywood formed the proposed surface of the hot tub.

The seat was removable, and we dropped it in when the car needed to be moved.

Another angle.

Cutting all of these pieces was quite a challenge.

We're placing MDF against the plywood to create a negative image of the tub.

A lot of MDF was needed in many complicated shapes.

We used packing tape to keep the glue we used to assemble the MDF together from sticking to the plywood.

The mold with gelcoat sprayed on and the first layer of thin "bridal veil" glass laid.

After drilling some relief holes and using compressed air, we were able to separate the tub from the mold.

Wow! It looks great!

Removing the PVA release agent was time consuming.

Et voila! It fits!

Cut outs for jets, steering column and access hatch complete

Test driving position.

I just love that new-hot-tub smell.

Test Firing

The "Ladies Auxiliary" pump installed with jets plumbed and ready to run.

Phil wires up a pump. The first of many.

Tank, distribution manifold, pump and valves in place.

Success! 104 degree tub water!

Body Repair

After stripping the paint away, these body panels showed tell-tale signs of damage.

The rust begins on the back side when trapped water cannot escape. The damaged areas were cut out.

New metal was cut exactly to fit the damaged areas.

MIG welding was used to fully join the new and old metal.

The welds were ground down flush.

The finished product!

Small holes for unwanted trim were everywhere!

They were simply plug welded closed.

The body tub was stripped and sanded by hand.

Paint

This Camaro was the inspiration to chose a light metallic blue colour for the Carpool DeVille.

The homemade paint bay.

Carpool DeVille after a lot of body work, sanding and primer.

Venkman, Stantz, Spengler (Forster, Lahey, Weicker)

The body surface was sanded smooth to 800 grit.

The repaired areas are straight and smooth.

Nice panel alignment!

The fender skirts and other small parts were hung separately, and referred to as the "Low Hanging Fruit".

Attaching the panels and getting them straight was a big undertaking.

Our beautiful light blue basecoat.

Phil layin' it down.

First coat of clearcoat.

Engine

Installing new exhaust manifold gaskets ought to keep the 472 a lot quieter!

The exhaust system was updated with a new muffler and resonator.

Gasoline safety.

The engine block freshly painted in robin's egg blue.

Front view of the engine mounted on the frame.

Passenger side view of the engine mounted on the frame.

Frame

The chassis was rusty, cracked over the rear axle, and in need of reinforcement.

Suspension

Body Drop

Roll Cage

Bumpers and Trim

Restoring a Cadillac requires polishing a zillion pieces of chrome.

We scored this rear bumper on Craigslist for $150. It happily replaced our rather beat up POS bumper.

The front turn signals are works of art, diecast, plated housings that are delicate and hard to assemble.

Time has done a number on this trunk lock escutcheon.

The front of the Carpool DeVille!

Model airplane enamel was used to restore it to its former glory.

Composites

Duncan, whittlin' away.

The plug for the starboard "shore" component that sits between the tub and the body.

The negative mold of the starboard "shore".

The plug for the custom dashboard.

The mold for the rear spillway which catches overflow water from the tub and directs it to the overflow tank.

Molds are surfaced with a sanding primer and treated with a high gloss finish.

IN DEPTH: Touchscreen Frame (just about everything we built for Carpool was this painstaking, but surely you have a life to be getting back to)

It begins with a block of rich mahoganu (sp.)

Then we route.

Like this...

And like this on the other side, to bring down the thickness of the mahoganu.

Something gives...

thusly.

Fit Check with the Samsung Tab 3.

Would you touch this screen?

Best to drill the holes now.

And the notches for sundry Tab inputs.

Fit check encore.

Time to rig a jig for the jig-saw.

Frame front.

Frame back.

Sanded. Soon to be coated with automotive-grade clear-coat.

In-situ.

Foam tape.

This goes here.

That goes there.

... et voila!