The Aquamino gets interior, 59 ElCamino

It all started out because I wanted a car that didn’t leak. I have never had a hot rod that didn’t leak, my 55 Stude, Model A, ElCamino, etc, all leak. It wasn’t a big deal in Texas but now that I’m in Chicago it really sucks when things are wet. After 50 years all the gaskets and hoses were rotten, shrunk or destroyed to the point they leaked, BAD.
My Simple Plan seemed simple enough.
- Pull the glass
- Paint the glass channels and anywhere gaskets go
- Put it back together.

The sad news is I had to sell my Dragster to finance all the paint clips, interior pieces, etc. And my wife and I paid for part of a great Vacation trip out of it.


As I started disassembling everything I decided it would be a good idea to paint the dash and package tray at the same time, since the glass would be out and all….. Well since I was doing all that, might as well do the roof too..
The Roof
Pulled the glass and all the stainless, found a little bit of rust under the rain gutters, not as bad as I was expecting though.

Then a little paint archeology. Someone referred to it as a gobstopper roof…. Primer, Original Forrest green, Primer, aqua, primer, primer again. Most of the car also has a layer of baby blue.

 

Distraction #1 Cup holders
I find these distractions happen quite often, I think I have a little bit of ADD.
I like to be creative and have been scouring the swap meets for the perfect cup holder…. I ended up with a decent set of 65 Impala Tail lights. Well I’ll let the pictures talk for themselves….


Cup holder turned into a console, which has been named the Screaming Robot, for obvious reasons.

 

Back to the roof, some minor imperfections and a lot of sanding with a 12” block.

 

Not usually my style, but I am so diggin' on the screaming robot!!! Shame about the dragster though.

 

Next step was the package tray, it was covered in rust and adhesive from someone gluing house carpet onto it at one time. I was amazed at how poor it looked with the factory spot welds all over it. So I had some fun with a hammer and dolly and a skim of filler.

 

that console rules. great idea. I bought a horrible plastic one at wal-mart so I'd have some cup holders in mine..

 

The console is great!

 

Distraction #2 Stupid roof drains
GM apparently had a hard time sealing the glass on these cars so they put rubber drain hoses to direct the leaking water into the fender well. There is a set on the dash, a set on the package tray, and a set under the stainless behind the back window. The back window ones go INSIDE the car and dump into the fender…. These were brittle and broken and apparently a big reason my floor was filling with water… I decided to remove the rubber and drain them out to the bed with metal tubing.



These are on the outside and collect all the water off the window, stupid design.
Some scrap metal and steel fuel line to the rescue. (NOTE: I removed all the coating off the steel tube before welding)




Yes I cleaned the hell out of everything before I welded it in It also got a coat of shiny paint so it should keep from rusting again

 

The Dash.
Obviously the 59 Chevy has the best looking dash EVER… Nothing tricky here, just had to fill a couple holes. I contemplated filling the speaker hole, but might use it for a speaker later.

 

The rest of the paint work included the A and B pillars, all the door jams and doors.
Stripped everything to bare metal, Sealer, surfacer, lots of sanding, paint, and clear.





Cut and Buff is your friend.
I am not a painter……… But after my buddy Rocket showed me how to cut and buff, I pretend to be. I have painted a lot of things and just left the as painted finish. Now I can do so much better

 

Re assambly included a quick buff of all the Stainless trim, and there is a lot of stainless trim.

New gaskets for the glass and doors.

One of the few things I farmed out is the glass install. My buddies over at Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle gave me a recommendation, and Dan was over 2 days later. It took 3 hours to install front and back glass. The SS trim on the back was a real challenge.

With all this done It would be a shame to not complete the interior. This was really the end game. We use the ElCamino to tow our 1946 Teardrop trailer and have done several big road trips, after 2,500 miles in a tin can I really wanted insulation, carpet, new headliner, etc. to make it a little oasis.

I contacted Ciadella Interiors and started the ball rolling. More on this later.

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiice!!!! Dig that console cupholder!!

 

Very nice work done to your Elky. So you love to sand and buff now? Try one of these.www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-pneumatic-polisher-kit-99934.htm

 

I love the console! Great work.

You should've called me for the glass. Elizabeth and I had the glass intalled my '59 in 30 minutes each.

 

very cool, very cool indeed...

 

Very, Very, Very COOL!

 

Screaming robot indeed.

Do his eyes light up?

 

The console is utterly brilliant and the rest of it is too.

 

The cup holder/Console took on a life of it's own. I was posting facebook updates over about a month and a half while working on it.

I'm not the best gas welder, but did OK. The "Nose" on this guy really gave me trouble. Reminded me of Michael Jackson it went through so much welding But I did make a really cool ball nose Hammer/Dolly that I have used several times since.
Underneath the light housings is a bracket that holds a foam coozie so things stay nice and cool.
The shifter boot is just mocked up right now, I am having difficulty figuring out a pattern for square hole to round shifter that sits on a slant....

Every time I look down it stares at me and screams AAAAhhhhhhhhhhhh.

NO cheesy lights, in fact I wanted to paint the red parts aqua, but Cariann wouldn't let me.

 

Great post ! Giving me a lot of info for my '59 Elky project , and I too love the console , but mine is auto and I have under dash A/C unit sitting there . Keep up the inspiring work .

 

very nice build, good metal work on the console!

 

Love the screaming robot!!


and I'm glad you kept the dash color, I love that blue. My 59 had the same color.

 

Very nice work and final results. I like the console also, had the same problem in my 59, I used a cheap plastic thing not even 1% as cool. I agree those drain tubes on the front windshield and rear window area are not a good design. Had the same dry rotted hoses you did, although my solution was new rubber hoses. Keep up the good work.

 

I never noticed the tab for the shifter boot ring looks like a tooth... Ha Ha

 

This one will never be as low as your 60!!! I'll have to dig out the pictures from Austin with the car in the back.

I did replace the windshield and inside back window drain tubes. Had the glass guy squirt in some additional sealant into the gasket, it helps but the design is prone to leaking no matter what you do.

 

Your old gray/white Studebaker is in Grand Prairie. I see it every time I head over to my parent's house.

The Elky is looking great. Good decision to sell the dragster to cherry out the El Camino.

 

Every time I see a '59 Elk thread I have to post this picture - just killer on the Buick Skylark wires and yours has the right kind of color too. Wish I had not sold mine a few years ago....

 

Thanks everyone.
As soon as I get my pictures in order I'll post the actual interior stuff.

 

Damn, Tyler.....its looking Awesome.

I'm running along the same lines on my '59.
but I'm painting my dash "Dr Pepper" green with blue/green pearl.
I have a long way to go.

 

Wow Tyler! That thing looks awesome! What's the low-down on your suspension set up?