Projects Edith d' Plymouth: restyling my P-15

Not much is getting done on the car at all now. My mom is in the hospital for the third time in three months & between that, household stuff & work I've been spread a bit thin.

In my spare time I continue de-rusting various parts & I found out that a wire strung with cheap Chinese sockets makes one hell of a sacrificial anode. ;-)

With continuing practice I'm getting better with the torch. I built myself a nice rolling worklamp so I can see at night, and I did some serious sweat soldering when I moved the water softener to make more room in my garage. The garage is slowly becoming more of a shop & less of a cluttered mess. The rolling tool cabinet I built is working out well. My tools are much more organized and it makes a huge difference when you're working and need to find something.

I may live 400 miles north of Blownfuel, but I still live far south of the snow belt. I inherited like 6 sets of snow chains with extra parts, links, chain tools, emergency chains & I'll probably sell them off , but for now I've finally sorted through all the tools and parts I inherited from my dad. Lots of useful stuff & I'm thankful to have it; but now WTH will I do with a gas fired Army Jeep arctic engine heater? LOL

It'd make one helluva flame thrower exhaust though...

 

Thanks, but don't expect too much. I'm just a hobbiest with limited resources and I've been out of circulation in the car biz for a long time, so no real connections except for the HAMB.

We're still swamped at work plus my mom has been in the hospital all week so I've been visiting her every day instead of working in the garage. Virtually nothing has been done on the car except to de-rust some various brackets & fender braces in the hot tank.

Here's a few photos of the rolling tool cabinet. It's made from some old 1940's steel kitchen cabinets that were hanging in my garage when I bought this house, and the base from an old 48" printer, & some various bits. Paint, casters, handles, rubber mat on the shelves and top...so far I've got $100 in this thing somehow. I keep all my welding stuff here plus grinders and sanders & various other tools and supplies.





There's supposed to be a rack on each side & some chrome handles, but I haven't put them on yet.

I also built this dent knocker attachment for my slide hammer, after I put a little dent in my OT driver.

I'm still thinking about fender skirts and whether I'll run them. I came up with a neat shape to make flush skirts, but the rear fenders will need a lot of work to trim them & create the flanges. Somehow I don't think the 2 years I told my wife this would take is going to be sufficient to really finish the car.

 

My mom's back home & doing better, and things at work have let up to the point I'm not working on Saturdays (at least not this Saturday) so I finally got out to work on the car a bit. One of the big problems this car has always had is the door locks. Only one had a key & the other one was broken off on the back side & thus worthless. In addition both of the retention screws were just rusted solid. I had put oil on these for years & they've never loosened.

I decided that brute force methods were my last resort, so I took a drill and grinder to the lock until I'd carved off enough brass that a dent puller would yank it out.without harming the door..



I tried to drill the screw out, but it's hardened bronze and dulled bits in seconds. Finally I drilled the cylinder out to 5/16" and started cutting sideways with a Dremmel & carbide burr until I'd removed most of what the screw lands against. At that point I screwed in a 3/8" self tapping bolt to my 1lb slide hammer, and successfully yanked the lock.

These were not so easy to butcher as modern pot metal locks. The lock was solid "white brass" and carved away OK, while the screw was work-hardened bronze and was hard to even grind with a tiny stone.. I basically cut deep into the lock and ground off the tip of the screw so the lock would slide past.

I want to remove the other lock, but they're expensive and the passenger's lock still works, so It's difficult to convince myself that it's worth it., but that means I'll be masking around the lock instead of having a smooth door to paint.

It took several hours of diddling to remove the driver's lock, but I can get the other one out in a hour, knowing what I do now. Of course the retention screws are still in there, so I'll need to tap a new screw into each housing from inside the door (You access the stock screw from a hole in the door stile.) Here you can see that I've completely ground through one side of the lock. You can also see the crack on the square-drive "socket", which was split open & stripped when I bought the car.
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I've been de-rusting parts every night in the de-rusting tank. I had a lot of special bolts and car stuff that got wet some years ago. Really wet.... LOL


Think this Ford pulley can be saved?

 

The Ford pulley is bubbling away, and I got the passenger door lock out without struggling. The secret is not to grind or drill the set screw, but to simply bust off the tiny stem of the housing it screws in through.

Of course I'll need to retain the lock by another means, but I don't see an issue brazing on a little stub, then drilling & tapping it. Hell it could just get epoxied in as well.

Anyhow the lock was undamaged, and I saved several hours compared to the first one.

I got the body around the passenger side windows cleaned up nicely with scotchbrite wheels, and thinner, then shot with clear paint. Since I run the risk of the body rusting up before I can paint it, I'm reduced to painting it in small bits as I go along, then stripping it all again before the epoxy primer.

It actually rained here twice this weekend, so that stopped me from painting any more. Temporarily I shoot the bare steel with spray can grease to protect it. If it's dry tomorrow it'll get washed and clear painted.

Since I'll need to go back over some random blemishes in the otherwise lovely metalwork, the clear paint lets me see what's what until it's perfect.

 

That sheave might look worse than it really is. Was it wrapped in paper or something?
As long as the pitting is not severe then a couple coats of paint should brighten it up. If you need to save it, and if the pitting is really bad on the belt contact surfaces, then consider filling the divots with something like JB weld.

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It's really just a test piece. I want to see how bad the rust really is under there. It's from a '57 Ford 223 pickup as I recall. Perhaps someone here will want it.

Anyhow, it was in a metal bin of parts that were in a box under a tarp that collapsed in a heavy rain. I didn't realize they were out there in my junk pile, and they sat in water for years.

Unfortunately some of them were still wanted for another project so I've been going through them to save the needed bits.

The de-rusting seems to be going OK, but I need a more efficient setup before I get to the good stuff.

 

Well the rust is off & I don't think anybody will want it. The rust pits are enormous, but clearly rust free.
Before & after:


I'm afraid with the recent family issues and my own workload, my time to work on Edith has been very limited. In fact she has some new rust that I was lax in preventing. Of course, in the middle of the worst California drought in 100 years, it rained 3 times and the humidity on my patio went to non-desert levels for several days. I had shot most everything with clear paint, but it was too thin in places & there was still rust under some & it grew. Some spots were just bare metal & I had shot 'em with spray-can grease. When I saw what was happening, I greased the whole body with white grease & a rag.

Rusty signs of recent neglect. This is pretty much the last paint on the exterior, except the jambs. Half that rust has appeared since the previous sanding. There's more here & there too. ;(


I was able to put in a few hours last night with the angle-head & coarse Scotchbrite. I cleaned up most of the side window reveals & shot some clear Valspar satin on them. Shoulda been gloss but I grabbed the wrong can. Sure glad to have those door locks off!




Every Plymouth coupe gets these stress cracks on the doorpost.
The driver's side hasn't "presented" yet.


The passenger side's isn't obvious:

But in the right lighting:

See that crack in the crease?
It's been there 30 years now, & that's how long I've been wanting to weld it & reinforce the door posts.

Oh, & if it's not obvious now, I've decided not to cut the top off & build a roadster. I don't know why, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

 

I bought some casters and lumber and built a cart for the doors last night. I wanted something that would protect them & make it easy to move them about and sand & prime etc. I'll take the doors off tonight & post some photos of the cart all loaded up.

Because I'm welding around here, I was really going to build this from steel, but in the end I decided that it wasn't worth it, and I won't have to weld on the doors at all AFAICT.

I've discovered that two of my original wheels are ruined from rust, and I know one is bent, and 2 are off a Ford (!) so I'm planning to buy brand 5 new wheels. So far I'm not to fond of the available styles, as regarding how they'd look on Edith. I'd like to do something custom with the wheels. I have an idea that might work & I'll post it up when I have some photos.

 

OK, I got the finishing touches on the door cart, and finally removed the doors.
The door check device is welded to the door post, so I drilled out the rivets where they hinge, so only the bare knuckle remains on the door jamb. Well, that & the hinges which are still attached. All the bolts came right out without a fuss.



So here's the first time Edith's doors have been off since the 70's, and those hinge pins are shot, so I'll be drilling out all 4 hinges for new pins.

 

Lookin good!

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Thanks Yeti. Notice the sound deadener (undercoat) sprayed under the cowl? Where there's none, there's ugly rust from condensation. I'm going to have to roll this shell over to get at all that. There's no rust at all inside the doors, but there's a little more like this inside the front fenders.

I'm not sure how much I'll be cutting out of the floor yet, but it's probably gonna be 4x what I think. LOL

 

You certainly gets points for perseverance.... Oh yeah, health and family come before projects so the voyeurs will just have to wait...

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My wife wanted me to junk this car out 20 years ago. I've been stalling her that long.

 

As it turns out the hinge pins are not just worn, they were literally falling out! or "falling" up. (...rising that is) until they were half disengaged from the knuckle. No wonder the doors were flapping up and down. I think the door latches are going to work much better once the hinges are fixed.

Saturday, I managed to get the driver's side hinges off, using just Liquid Wrench and a hand impact driver. Unfortunately the passenger side is more rusty, and 5 of the 8 screws were stuck fast. Anyhow I just shot some more oil on and spent some relaxing minutes stripping paint off the jambs with a grinder & wire cup.

Sunday I hit them again, but they're not budging. I'd had a busy day already (cultivating my trees & then skating with my daughters and granddaughters) and I knew I was too tired to continue when instead of thinking, "Oh boy, time to get out the torch!" I thought, "Oh hell, now I gotta drag out the torch."

The torch cart is parked 5 feet from the car. I love my torch. I was just not in the mood.

And that's how this work is for me. If I'm in the wrong mood I'll have difficulties, do a poor job, make mistakes, and generally f-up. When I feel like that it's best to walk away, even if I don't return for 25 years.

So I mixed a drink, threw some clean anodes in the de-rusting tank, and sat back to watch it bubble & rest my aging ass bone.

 

Well I haven't torched the hinge bolts yet. Still squirting Liquid Wrench and hoping for a few more days.

I did get the rear shocks off and the rear sway bar hangers as well. I also broke the spot welds and removed the battery tray, as the metal fender below was rusting through.

That battery tray looked petty pristine. I always kept the battery clean.


Better look again. Here's where even California cars rust out: under the battery.


OK, after removing the flakes, a big chunk of steel is toast. I'm not going to fix this yet, as if I convert this to a V-8 car, (as I hope to) I'll probably bob off the inner fenders a lot anyhow.



Not so pristine on the bottom, eh?

 

Not much progress here, but if I don't bump this from time to time I lose track of the thread.

Still de-rusting parts. I'm now working on a trailer, so I can haul the frame to be sandblasted. I bought a 32 gal bucket so I can dip the wheels. I've been saving these rims and the hubs for a long time. They're 43 years old & starting to rust.

For sacrificial anodes, I'm using the iron lams from an old electric motor core. They're very thin and have a huge perimeter. the perimeter is where the charge wants to spit off/on from any flat plate, so these things work really well, even though they are consumed quickly.


Here's the new 32 gal "tank", $13 at Lowes:


Dipping the first wheel. I'm using 4 of those lams on each side of the wheel:


15 mins later they're boiling pretty good.


I'm running this tank, plus a 15 gal tank with that rusty battery tray inside, using 6 of the same lams as anodes. Both are run in parallel from my 30 year old battery charger. She's kicking out almost 5 amps. When I was using hunks of thick steel and steel bars, I never got it to draw over 1.5 amps.

These things work amazingly well, and even when totally covered in smut like this, they are still spitting bubbles like mad.

 

I tried to run my second tank with my more modern (only 15 years old) fully automatic Ship & Shore battery charger.

I found out it won't "charge" the tank without a 12v battery in series.

I think it's because the tank is only generating about 1 volt, and the charger thinks it's too dead to charge.

The first trailer wheel came out pretty nice. I cleaned it up with ZipStrip & Scotchbrite & it's almost ready to paint.

I've had the wheels and hubs for the trailer I'm planning, for over 30 years. They're worth more now than I paid for the whole van about 1984.

 

Just a quick bump...

The work on Edith has been on hold for the holidays. I've got 5 stuck screws on the passenger door hinges, and I've been bathing them in penetrating oil for some weeks now. I trashed my old impact driver trying to take them out, so I did get a new impact driver yesterday & will try again today. I suspect that I'll just have to heat them with a torch to crumble the rust loose, but I'll try it cold one more time first.

The only progress has been to reorganize the parts I've stripped off a bit, and I've been trying to decide on a new shape for the skirts.

 

Great build! I also like your derusting equipment, I should do that aswell... have enough rusty stuff around, hahaha
Are you planning on cutting the wheel wells and inserting the fenderskirt or more like a bubble skirt that sits over the stock opening?I think the wheel opening would look awesome if altered the way you sketched it!

 

Thanks Baumi! I can't say it's a great build, since I haven't built anything on the car yet, but it's been a great disassembly.

I also set up a 55 gal drum & have all 3 on the same charger. I've been doing some old steel for a workbench, and various small parts.

I thought I wanted the fender to be joggle-flanged so it's stiff and so the skirt fits flush. The flange should be hemmed too, but that's a lot of work with the tools I have, and it cuts into tire clearance as well. I can make flush skirts much thinner if I use an external attachment of the skirt, disguised as a gravel shield and trim.

One of the joys of the P15 is all the stainless. Any new trim I want to carve or hammer out can be stainless and look right at home. I don't absolutely need to chrome things.

 

I must congratulate you on your perseverance and patience. This is going to be one awesome Plymouth. Keep up the good work!

 

Thank you Farmer12, that's very kind.

My plans for Edith are still in flux, but there's lots of work to be done before any real mods can begin.

I don't know where this car will end up, but in the end it will surely be unique in some manner or other.

 

How fast did your method derust that nasty fan pulley several posts back?

 

I think I let it go 3 to 4 days.

 

That sure beats scrubbing it with sand paper and a wire brush.

 

Ulu...When looking at your pictures of the dechromed & stripped front end, I wondered what it would look like if you used only the smaller stainless trim strips for your grille, and not use the wider pieces? Add extra small strips where the big ones were, creating a total of 6 to 8 strips. If you felt like it, you could cut down the wider mounting bases (or replace them with additional thin ones) for the sake of symmetry. I wonder if someone can photoshop the front for you.

Perhaps do just the opposite and use only the wider stainless pieces, discarding the thin strips and the mounting bases?

What about replacing the whole panel with a thin-bar stainless grille insert, vee'd outward in the centre to match the shape of the front end?

 

I've seen one done like that. Looked really good!

 

Did I miss what the de-rusting solution is? Just water?

 

How about some more information on your derusting set up.