Working on the tailgate, every bolt was rusted solid, three broke, had to drill 'em out, pain in the ass. Lots of rust discovered after blasting. I had already fixed the inside, not pretty but functional, it's hidden by a cover anyway, which is in great condition. My buddy works at a machine shop and he metal braked the repair panel for me so it was straight, I couldn't have cut and made a flange this good with my meager tools.
All that hunching over to weld, grind, bash, cut and repeat is killing me, but it's getting done. I'm gonna do the tailgate opening now, it's thankfully very solid and needs only a little rust repair.
yeah whats up w/ all the el caminos being red/white...mine had that color combo and my buddy picked one up last month that is also red/white...nice progress...
The back of my 37 cab had an old self-service aluminum sign pop rivited over some serioulsy oil-canned, brazed over shit original metal. I welded a new hunk in and oil-canned it less so i feel better. The p/o had covered the rivit heads covered in fiberglass mat. I cried.
WTF, i thought you were going with pink? I love it when they swear it's a "Rust-free California car"!
I made a patch and put a little handle on it so I can hold it while welding it on. More cancer Cut it our, replace it, repeat, forever and ever!!!!!
mines been in cali all its life and it definetly wasn't rust free...its gettin the though...the bed is next..
I have not escaped the bondo abuse either.... Plan on drilling the rivets out of some doors of a complete van in a scrap yard near me. Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Doors, tailgate, shaved, all rust repaired and ready for high build primer. I'm really happy with how they came out, although I did have to cut the inner skin out to hammer and dolly the passenger door. I used very little Bondo, I'm getting better at this stuff.
Things are bad, back here, the roof is much better than expected but the parcel shelf and glass flange are totally shot. I told the wife about it and since the windshield is a goner and the shelf will have to be rebuilt, she said, "why not chop it, you've been talking about it?" So here we go, diving in deep. Does any one know Paul Cepeda? I'd like to bust his chops, but it doesn't look too hard, the stainless would be difficult, but I'm gonna do it.
I rebuilt these cab corner doohickeys, they were rusted bad, I couldn't find a good pair to save my life so I did the best I could withe what was left.
2/4 door hardtop and convertible glass is 2" shorter, I'm gonna need the shorter stainless, I found the top windshield trim but I'm gonna need the A pillar stuff and the back window and cab trim trim will have to be lengthened. The cab top trim will need to be stretched too. The back glass will be laid down. Wish me luck.
The inside of the tailgate surround was in great shape needing only a couple of patches, some areas on this truck are good, others are just horrible.
I just sold a '59 2 door hardtop parts car to a guy, it had a full set of hardtop windshield trims. I could give you his number if you want, he's the master of '59 parts and everything is for sale. He's got a bunch of parts cars too that he'll cut up and send you pieces of if there's stuff you need. Let me know.
ya know I've been looking at the hardtop trim, it's all totally different, I think there's no choice but to modify the originals. I got a windshield, it's being delivered today, damn good price too. I'm gonna start this chop this weekend, I'll post pics of everything.
you are a braver man than i to take on project like that! nads my hats off to you sir! you have taken the bull by the horns and pushed him back! you have come this far, its just a little further to the end, i say keep up the great work! i know i couldnt do what you have done!
I had the money to buy a nice, finished car but I would never have been happy, I can't leave anything alone, I hate stock, I gotta make it mine. It's really not been that punishing, I can see the end. The sucky part will be the block sanding, I hate that, but I really, really enjoy doing metalwork, and body mods in particular. I'm working the chop in my head and come Saturday, the first cut will be made, I gotta couple o buddies coming over, we'll make it a party.
The Jalopy Journal
