Just turn your oil well back on. lol If you don't watch out that DeSoto will be finished soon. Looookin Good!!!
Thanks, sure wish we had a few... The car is moving along pretty well; just wish I could sell my '53 Ford Victoria mild custom to help with the expenses.
Rainy day down here so I decided to make a new spring for the door opening handle. The old one had broken and the handle would rattle. Seems like about 20 years ago a pal gave me a spring winding setup so I put it to use. All is good now, plus we got a really good soaking rain which we really needed. Old broken door lever spring. This is the new spring that I made. Another shot of the new spring. Here is the spring installed on the door handle lever.
Great car and work !! This weekend I saw a 58 chrysler two door hardtop in similar condition to yours.. I am enjoying watching this one!
Made the trip to the plating shop this morning and brought back some pieces. All the parts look great.
I had an e-mail about the spring winder I used to make the replacement door handle spring, so I thought I would post a few pictures of it. It is called a Porter Spring Winder, model P-2 and came with mandrels for making springs 1/8" to 1-1/4" diameter in 1/16" increments. You can make either right hand or left hand wound springs, either compression type or torsion type.
Dang , Bill I hope you didn't have to sell both your kidneys to pay for all that chrome !! I think that spring winder is just to cool !!
Hi Kyle, The spring winder really works well. The guy who gave it to me said they bought for one job and then nothing. So he thought it would have a good home over here. If you ever need it, you got it. Yep, I think the second kidney is in jeopardy. I am taking the remaining 20 or so pieces of stainless trim to them tomorrow. I thought I could do a decent job of polishing them myself, but after comparing my polishing to theirs, I very quickly realized that I am way out of their league.
Body of the car has been primered and guide coated for long board work. It has been raining down here the past few days and probably will rain off and on for the rest of this week so no paint until next week.
Man I wish the Studebaker would have been that rust free, that being said I cant believe you ruined that car by painting it should have left it original
Reassembled the front and rear bumpers today. All ready for install on the car after paint is completed.
Good day today. Received a bunch of seals and weather strips as well as a anti-sway bar assembly. In addition to that, the painter put on some base coat on the doors, trunk lid, hood and a few other parts. So things are moving along.
Both Mopar and Ford used a color combination of coral and charcoal, and it is the most beautiful tutone of the late '50s, IMHO. The combination was used on the Dodge Royal Customs, or some variation. I think your choice to keep the coral and white will be perfect.
Picked up the last of the stainless trim from the polisher this morning. Hopefully, the painter will be finished with the painting this week or next, then installation will start on all the chrome and stainless parts.
Car has been primered and long block sanded. Presently applying seam sealer in the drip rails and other areas on the body. The doors, hood, trunk lid, plus a number of smaller pieces have been painted and clear coated. The main body will be painted with the color coat and clear coats next week and then wet sanded and buffed along with the other parts that have already been painted.
I thought I would not need to replate the front end pot metal pieces, but after looking at them up against the newly plated and polished parts I had to bite the bullet. I took those parts plus the moldings that surround the interior of the windshield to the plating shop this morning. So the bleeding has not stopped. BTW, if anyone happens to have a great condition plastic insert for the front hood molding, please let me know. Mine is OK, but has some cracks in it.
The white portions of the car have been painted and cleared. All of that is masked off and the painter is getting ready to apply sealer over the primer followed by the coral base coats and then the clear coats. Hopefully, by Friday, the clear coated car will be ready to cook in the sun followed by wet sanding and buffing.
Coral and white base coat as well as clear coats now applied to the car. It will now cook in the Texas sun until Wednesday or Thursday of next week then wet sand and buffing.
My Firesweep did not come with a anti-sway bar and I was able to get one from a vendor out in CA. I'll have to weld a pair of brackets on the frame and get some new bushings, but hopefully I'll have it installed soon after the paint is done.
Gotta say those shots of it in fresh paint are the most convincing argument against original paint and "patina" I've seen in a long time! Looks really stunning!
Great picture story, Bill! ...and good judgment on repairs. The paint process was quite extensive, and the results speak loudly in its favor! The pictures' chronology and groupings are just like we were there...very professional. Boy, I like that spring bender! Thanks for the walk thru...great job!
What a Great car to spend your Oil $$$ on. LOL It is hard to beat a late '50's Mopar. What a great color combination.