(Words and photos by Kaleb Kelley) – It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update for Project Scamp, but that’s mainly because there were no updates to post. After nine months in the body shop, my baby is finally here. Len’s Body Shop in Durant, OK did a great job on my car. They don’t normally do this kind of work but Dennis and the crew there really did a great job for me. Dennis, the body guy and painter, gave the car the nickname Possum because he said that everything he thought it was finished, it would rear back up at him. I still don’t have the heart to tell him that it is spelled opossum, so my Scamp is officially Project Possum, forget the O. Check the back window for its calling card.

Now that the first phase is finished, my Hotchkis suspension install can begin. The plan is to handle the suspension install first (see what I did there?), without the motor and transmission in the way. I’ll be installing Hotchkis’ TVS setup for my car, then replacing the transmission cross member and torsion bars. I’ve been on the search for a rear end for the car and my dad helped me out huge by finding me one through a friend of a friend for my car. It is an 8 ¾ rear end from a ’71 Dart with 3.23 gears. He wasn’t sure if it has SureGrip and I haven’t gotten it up on stands to see if it does or not yet.

Once I get the suspension finished and do my measurements, I’m going to send the info to the guys at Boze Forged wheels to start cutting my 17” Protouring wheels. I’m still not sure what I will be doing for brakes because the budget is absolutely gone. That’s how projects go I guess. Hopefully soon I’ll have another update with pictures of the suspension install for you guys! I’m very, very excited about this. Also, I just passed half a million followers on my Instagram page, @ClassicsDaily. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go give it a peek. I plan to have the car finished this spring and have a month or two to work out the kinks before the Power Tour.

Last but not least, here is the rendering my man Tristan Pengelly did for me. I seriously dig it and I hope that my car looks close to as cool as it does in the rendering when I have it finished. If you’re looking to have a rendering done for your project, hit him up and tell him that Kaleb sent you. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram by searching for Renderings by Tristan, or contacting him via his website BY CLICKING HERE.

Here’s the Scamp in all of its freshly painted glory and the rendering’s at the end!