The resurrection of Rusty, the '59 Sport Fury convertible

Awesome - looks like you will need to re-do the trim holes on the passenger door.

 

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't mind having a spare or two, but these are convertible only as they are longer, and thusly nearly impossible to find.

---John

 

With a little luck, I'll keep having time to proceed. Don't see too many roadblocks ahead now.

 

Thank you!

Finally, seems like I am getting somewhere.

Yes- all trim holes need to be relocated, as all body parts I am using were for different models.

 

A lot of convertibles did not use rubber mounts Packard was another.

 

I dug out the deck lid I had saved several years ago, it was the only one I had ever found without a rusty lower lip. I stripped off several layers of paint, and gave the underside a light blasting to remove surface rust. There were several gouges in the bottom edge that I could not remove with a stud gun, so I cleaned the metal and leaded them in. The only way I could have gotten the gouges out would be to de-skin the panel, but since it was the only one I had, decided against it.

 

There were numerous small dents over the top of the lid, from heavy objects being set on top, or a heavy hand when closing the lid. Also, one very large low spot directly in the center, where someone had climbed on top. I used a stud gun on most of these, as many were not accessible from the bottom, and tapped the high spots down while keeping upward pressure on the low areas.
Next, was to lay a heavy coat of primer on the lid, then block sand. I sprayed a guide coat to find any flaws, luckily just minor, and used 'Red Lead' [spot putty] on them. After sanding the excess off, I then primed and block sanded the lid again, and finding no variances, I wet sanded with 400 grit.

 

On to the hood-
I found the straightest hood I had, then went to the task or removing the heavy surface rust from the top, lightly sandblasted the underside, then acid-etched it with phosphoric acid. Although appearing straight, there were a few dents and low spots to deal with. Also, nearly all the bolts to fasten to the hood hinges had been snapped off years ago, and the rear brace spot welds had quit doing their job. I re-welded the brace, and then removed the broken, rusty bolt remains by setting a small nut over the broken studs and welding them together. All came out easily then.
I then did the necessary bodywork and block sanding to get the surface nice and straight.

 

Out comes the black paint-
I will paint everything separately, then assemble when the body is completed.

 

Your perseverance is creditable. That is a ton of work.

 

You've got on hellava lot more patience than I have.

Congrats on all the work you've done getting that car back into shape.

 

Amazing work! I love me some MoPar's, especially finned convertibles’! It's great to see long forgotten junk yard gems breathing new life.

 

John, I believe that's a '59.

Can't wait to see your latest updates.

Danny aka '57burb'

 

On to the doors- they were pretty straight to start with, although the one had some rust coming through where the weatherstripping held moisture, and the other had what looked like a bullet hole on the bottom surface. Most likely, it was a previous owner's attempt at adding a water drain hole. These I welded up, and smoothed out. Lots of block sanding followed.

 

I painted the inside of each door, then painted the exterior of each a couple days later. A storm was blowing in, and the temperature began to drop, so I fired up the old smudge pot to heat things back up.

 

Are you going to add back a drain hole? I don't know when the factory stopped adding them, but I know the often got plugged and led to rust.

 

There are five or six factory holes that were plugged with leaves, they should function fine being clean now.

---John

 

That is some smudge pot! What is the fuel?

 

I use a mixture of waste oil and old, varnished gasoline. t actually burns clean when you have the flue set correctly.

---John

 

Painted the inner quarter panels, underside of the dash, trunk and cabin floor.

 

Weather was 82 degrees with no wind yesterday, so I painted the remainder of the body. Came out pretty good, but I will cut and buff the paint before installing any trim.

 

I can't recall if you mentioned it already, but do you plan on 2-toning the car? It has been great following this thread, very inspiring.

 

Thanks!

The exterior will be solid black, not two-toned.

 

that is some project. I got worn out just reading about it.

 

I've been trying to follow along with your progress on this job, but I don't remember any mention of your planning to paint it all black. It should look pretty sinister done this way. Kind of like what Batman would drive on his days off.

 

Can we all have a ride in it when its done.

 

Man, you're my new hero! Absolutely fantastic, awe inspiring work.
Congratulations!!

George

 

Simply amazing!!!

 

Thanks for sharing this build.....really inspiring and totally amazing! Best to you man!