A fun day today. With the engine removed it was a great time to spray the engine compartment. We masked it off "old school" with tape and newspapers, and Steve shot it with a nice coat of gloss black. It just looks so damn nice and clean in glossy black. We also picked a color for the car ... A heavy metallic firethorn red. It was a good day to spray the dash, cause over the next few weeks the engine will go back in, and having the dash and wiring in place will make that go easier. If you know 53 Fords, you know how much this dash has been modified! All the heater and fresh air ducting also got a coat of black. Its nice to finally see this car coming back together instead of further apart. Here's a shot of some of the ash trim next to the chosen red metallic. It really looks great!
Holy crap! I won! Chaz, you're gonna love that color. It's really something in the sun... I hope I get to see the wagon in person sometime.
Been outta the loop the past few weeks but I am really stoked to see some color being applied to the dash,you guys just constantly keep raising the bar for all us wagon guys. HRP
Things are starting to go back together. I had the heater core rebuilt because I just didn't want to take the chance of it bleeding out on a new carpet. We installed all new gaskets as well. (damn! gaskets are expensive). The car will run a 12 volt system, so I installed a new 12 volt motor on the squirrel cage fan. The unit looks great now, and should function beautifully. We are cleaning up the bodywork around all the door openings in preparation for painting the door jambs. This prolly isn't necessary, but when you enter the car you can see these and we wanted it to look nice. Also finished the alteration to the tailgate opening we started a few weeks ago. Its now ready for paint. Steve and I color sanded the dash and got it ready to install all the new gauges next week We dummied them up so you can get a feel for the new look of the dash. This doesn't look anything like a stock dash anymore, but it still has kind of an older feel to it. We really like it, and it polished out nicely. The mahogany veneer has arrived, and Nick will start on that next week. Oughta be awesome....
We haven't cut the veneer yet. Nick being of the cautious sort decided to cut posterboard patterns for each piece. That way we can lay them out on the veneer to get the best grain match from panel to panel. a good idea for sure. This is a photo of the pattern on the rear quarter We got the speedometer put back together with its new graphics. The stock one had black background with white graphics. We inserted mahogany panels into the old gauge openings to keep with the woodie theme. It looks pretty classy in our estimation. We decided to wire the dash before installation to make it a little easier on the backs of us old guys.... Then we took an hour off to go and visit a local car show.
I like what I'm seeing,the Mahogany inserts in the speedometer cluster is really thinking outside the norm,and Nick is using the old noodle with making a cardboard pattern. Looks great thus far. HRP
We are still hard at work on the car, just not much has been picture worthy, Nick has been busy making patterns, Steve has been working on wireing the dash, Chuck has been working out some final flaws in the rear gates, and I have been fitting the rubber gaskets to the heater and smoothing out the door jams. We are going to make a big push in the next couple of weeks to get the final blocking done so we can get some color on the car, then we can get the vener attached.
Its been a bit since we last posted but work does continue. It's just a bunch of little crap that has to be done before we shoot color. Steve is wiring the dash, and there's a lot there. The kit is a rebel wire kit. I've never used their kit before, but it is going along pretty well. Here's a photo of the dash from the front. Most all the bench work is done and the dash is pretty much ready to install in the vehicle. We placed the fuse box behind the old now unused speaker grille. That makes it easily accessible if need be. I finally broke down and filled the last of the old rear sliding window notches. This is four feet of upside down welding. I hate when welding sparks are raining down on you. I wish we had a rotisserie, but then I'd have to store it somewhere when not in use. Dana taped off the engine compartment so we can spray the final coat of primer over the entire car. That should be next week. We really want to keep the old steering wheel, but the horn button was trashed. Tried finding another 53 button, but they seem to be made of unobtanium. Nick spent a lot of his day trying to straighten out the old one. Its coming along........slowly. At least its round again!
Looks good Chuck, Here's the horn button you need when Nick gets the metal ironed out. HRP http://dennis-carpenter.com/horn-button/p/FAD-3627/
Don't know how I missed this thread all along . . . Love this project! Since everyone has voiced opinions, I'll join in - acknowledging that I firmly believe cars should be built to suit the owner, not the masses. Really like the color choice. I think it will enhance the depth of the mahogany. Not feeling the vinyl top. I understand the concept behind it, but since this is a phantom advancing the true woody forward, I think the psinted top follows the concept. Sort of like filling the top on an early coupe. I like others idea of wire wheels, but am going to throw in the idea of factory T-Bird wires. Kind of plays into the factory phantom vibe. To me Kelsey's backdate a car that is conceptually an advance. I'd go narrow white walls. You are on the right track using automotive finishes on the wood. My history is in wood raceboats. We long ago adopted catalyzed automotive finishes for clear parts. Harder, lasts in the sun, no color change with age, and you can sand and buff it. Buff that mahogany and it comes alive! Can't wait to see it completed!
Yeah Danny, I'm in love with that 50th anniversary badge for the horn button .Ours is in OK shape, and we might re-use it rather than buy new. I wish we could find the chrome bezel somewhere. this one is pretty hammered, but if we have to I think it can be saved.. Just a hella lotta work. Nick just moved into metalwork mode until we are ready for the final wood. He's doing great!
I don't remember the exact part number, but I got it on a website called PartsDeal.com. The photo looked right and I took a stab at it rather than pay a crapload at carpenter. It fits perfectly.
Today was the day to put our final coat of primer on the car. One final blocking next week and then PAINT!Steve started spraying on the roof from a ladder and worked his way down.... Lotsa roof. Nick continued to try to save the horn button. Infinite patience with a Dremel tool and a tiny grinding disc. When the entire car was primed we attached one side of wood trim and pushed it outside for a photo. The bodywork took forever, and its probably not perfect, but this is no showcar.... It'll be a fair weather driver.
Wow,this is a shot we have been waiting for,seeing the wood trim attached really gives a good idea of how far you guys have come. HRP
Well, we actually got to shoot some color today! We base and clear coated all the openings in preparation for next week when we paint the entire body. This is the first "complete" paint job we've ever done .. Usually we are just painting the main body and not all the openings. This is a time consuming process to prep everything to spray.... Here's some photos... To say we're excited doesn't even begin to describe how happy we are to get to this point.Next week we'll paint the body.. Stay tuned...
Chuck, I know you guys are stoked!,it doesn't take a lot of color to get the juices flowing and man that color looks good! HRP
Paint Day!!!!. We are not professional painters (or professionals at anything else) but we decided to do ALL the work on this car ourselves. We've read everything we could find and talked with some pros.. We can do this. I spent a few days getting the car taped off and ready to go for today. We'll just paint it out in the main shop. ( We don't need no stinkin booth!) Here it is ready to go. Steve, our official triggerman started on the roof and worked his way down. The roof will be vinyl, but the vinyl is water resistant, NOT waterproof. So the top got 3 coats of color and two of clear. The rest of the car got 3 coats of color and 4 coats of clear.By quitting time the car looked AWESOME! We couldn't resist holding a piece of the ash woodwork up against it to see how the two contrasted..... PERFECT as far as we are concerned.. There is some orange peel to the clear, but it will color sand out.
Chuck,you once said I was raising the bar on building a wagon,you guys have moved it way up. The paint looks great as does the teaser showing the wood. HRP
The Jalopy Journal
