Projects 1948 Chevrolet fleetmaster

I personally wouldn't polish rattle can paint...

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Been following your 48 since you started. I had a 47 Fleetline Aero Tudor Sedan in 55 while in HS. Always wanted another and a good Friend had a 48 Fleetline he had bought out of Kansas in 80, a 46,000 mile all original. Well I finally bought it about 10 years ago and am finally going to get it down here to Mesa from Alaska this summer.
Am going to woodgrain the dash and window frames etc as you did. Will buy the deluxe kit from the folks you bought it from so let us know when/if you contact Dee to see if the same deals apply, more than happy to mention you as the person I got the info from.
Also plan to do the dashes in my Deuces and 34 too. Gotta love that woodgrain, yours looks fantastic!! Any additional tips/suggestions you may provide would be appreciated by all of us. Thanx, Davey

 

that's awesome davey, and you got a good score. whats cool is youre getting a car you had in hs, itll bring back alot of memories =) youre not the first to bring a car from alaska, so its not impossible or hard but a process. and yea have dee hook you up on the kit, hell get you extra inks, toners and plates and an extra roller. when you do get your car, follow my thread on some of the things to do and any questions feel free to ask, im very glad to help =) and the woodgrain will look great in your deuces and 34, you have a very impressive lineup. im here to help with the chevy whenever you have any questions

was waiting for this, 47 feet of windlace I needed so I can put my headliner in. its on now, watch the huge leap forward the car is going to take in the next few days =D

 

First rule of HAMB should be "I've never done it before and I was scared so I just did it."

Incredible what you're accomplishing here.

And I would also like to get the Dee hookup on the wood kit.

 

I have yet to put windlace on my car, but I'm interested in getting those lowrider style dingle ball tassles...would I put that in place of the windlace? Or do I still need to get windlace.

 

noo, thatll take the place of the windlace, did that on a few cars and on my 65. you can get them cheap on ebay that's where I get mine. I like them because they are vintage custom, like Viking hubcaps and tru spokes. out here in so cal what im seeing more now too is the furry dashboards, just like the 60s it looks cool when you see it in person. pontiacpiano, if youre really interested in starting to spray, buy the eastwood concours gun, its the one I used for all my jobs and itll spray from high build primer to base coat to clear coat and with the 2.2 tip even spray flakes. the gun only costs 145 bucks but the best part is it works off a 110 volt common home compressor as long as the tank is atleast 30 gallon which is average home compressor ranging about 250 bucks. so for 400 bucks youd be doing home paint jobs that look like shop paint jobs with practice. you can see what ive done, watch what im going to do to the 65 and 59 with that same gun.

and yea jefe, sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith. the only missed opportunity is the one you didn't take, the only failure is not trying

 

Think you can PM me a link to a good post on ebay for the dingle balls? Also, in the near future I'm definitely getting some type of good spray gun and compressor and such. Probably after I graduate.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...ge+balls&_nkw=fringe+balls&_sacat=0&_from=R40

get the 1 inch ones theyre called fringe balls

 

not much done today, still feeling hung over from Saturday night. so I took it easy but prepped for the next stage. took all the stuff out of the whole interior and cleaned it up to get it ready









that peel and seal on the floors lasted through 2 hot summers and 3 rainy winters, and still stuck on as tight as the day I layed it. stuff really works. now the inside is ready for the next step, these were the before pictures.
also all my trim is back on the car and the windshield wipers. the car from the outside is complete just missing the spotlight that im putting on then I put the dash back in



have to clean and grease this thing up tomorrow, its the front seat tracks

and redo the gauges, that will only take a few min

now that the car is complete from the outside, I wash it for the first time ever tomorrow finally! all 3 of them are dirty going to spend a bit washing all 3


its all going to go fast from here, its all install work now no more restoring

 

that was quick, took a min to clean the back of the gauges up but gauges are ready

this had me real worried, I didn't see any listed on ebay or in my early chevys parts catalogs so I thought I was screwed to pay a lot for used ones, I got a quote for a pair for 150

some super glue took care of it, took about 5 min too. might repaint them an ivory color maybe, or woodgrain them they look dull that color also to hide the repair

so saved me some money, and time. back to work on the car now

 

you should consider using those as molds to cast new ones. Here's a link to a place that sells casting supplies.
http://www.alumilite.com/index.cfm

 

Brand new for $33

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/8700/Chevrolet_Plastic_Plate_Behind_Choke_Throttle_Tan.html

I'm really digging all that woodgrain!

 

Just finished reading the whole thread, love it. The graining looks great, never thought it on the outside would but damn it does. The rochester carb if you are wondering is for 49-53 usually for the 235ci and yes the other carb is missing the linkage from the choke plate it is an s-shaped wire with two clips that hold it on. Have you test fired the new motor yet? Do you still have the truck bellhousing? if you want to sell it PM me.

 

That's a good deal. The nice thing about casting them yourself is that you have a choice of colors other than tan. You could even use a transparent color.

 

On the website they also offer them in a brown color, (for 1942), but I agree it would look cool with a custom casting color.

 

There's the power of the H.A.M.B. for you.

 

heres some on Egay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1942-1945-1...AN-/330984179633?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:3160

 

thanks guys, and thanks crusty chevy. yea the carb is off a 235, I have the 216 one but everyone is telling me to run the 235 cause it breathes better. I do still have the bell housing, id mail it to you but I think shipping thru post office would be close to 20 bucks, its pretty heavy =b

and as for the radio bezels, turns out chevs of the 40s did have them. but I got some plans for these, youll see what I mean in a bit

long weekend, had a lot going but was able to get some hours in on the car. remember my windshield had bb gun hits, swapped out the whole thing and put new gasket and glass







car never disappoints, no rot around the windshield









and new gasket that holds the windshield molding. pain in the ass to put on, not hard but takes a lot effort to squeeze it on. also new center bracket gasket, center molding pops right on after. that was after I sprayed the channel with rust protector



















the windshield is a one man job, when you take the inside windshield moldings off, it falls back towards you, its not held on by the windshield channel lip, the molding is held on by it. and it folds a bit when it comes out from the middle so it only takes one person to take it off and put it on. but im going to use silicone when I put it back on just for extra security to keep water out

 

now remember I said I was afraid to wet sand and buff my clear coat? that's why I didn't take too many pictures of my dash after I clear coated it, it was full of orange peel and little peaks that felt like dirt under the clear coat. I was going to fly it like that cause I didn't want to ruin it but now that I know how to do it, I cleaned It up. this is how bad it was, look at the reflections on the clear coat and all the bumps in it like if dirt fell in it







and after wet sand and polish, look at the surface and reflections, on one you can see my finger reflection on the dash. looks wet and flat, like glass now

























tomorrow I hit the rest of the moldings too, and finish putting on the windshield for good. also tomorrow woodgraining the steering column and get the car ready to get the headliner in and put the interior in

 

That looks awesome!! What a difference!


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That dash looks like it belongs in a Rolls with all that shiny grain. Damn fine shine!

I love watching this car come together. Glass looks great, too.

 

I am subscribed . really like the wood grain

 

Night and day difference on the dash with the sand and polish.

 

thanks guys, and yea that's exactly the influence I have with the interior of this car, that of a rolls Royce or duesenberg. I have a book on classic car interiors from the teens to the 40s, and man are they elegant. so I took a few things I liked and made them on this one, like more woodgrain than usual on these, and the woodgrain steering wheel. theres more, but you guys will have to see till its done but yes im trying to give this car some of the elegance those have.

been busy last few days. got the hang of the polisher now im going hard with it.
before and afters

 

also, got my windshield on finally

now the last thing I had to grain

round 3

 

this is a MOCK UP, still needs wiping down and metal polished and some more paint here and there on the metal face plate, but so you get the idea of what itll look like. again not done, a mock up











not done, still needs wiping down and touch up more the metal face. youll see what I mean this week. but not bad huh

 

So boss.
You really are an inspiration, at least to me. When I get my car back in a few days from the shop, I'm going to finish up my interior, check out my thread if you want too! Started a new one a couple days ago.
Really can't get over that wood graining and how beautiful it's coming out. That's one thing I still need to do, clear coat the painted metal inside of my car, as well as put a nice clear coat on the paint outside someday possibly.

 

thanks Pontiac. spraying clear coat isn't as hard as I thought, its easy. I have a friend that uses a harbor freight gun to spray clear coat, the 10 dollar one with his home compressor. you should get it and get a quart of xtreme clear, its about 35 bucks and play with it from there. youll get it down soon enough then you can clear your whole car

took it easy today, drove out to truck and car shop this morning so when I got back I was tired and burnt out. so all I did today was put the toner on the woodgrain so I can seal it all up tomorrow with clear coat





put the weatherstrip on the trunk












and I got these today too. fuel filter and 0 pound radiator cap



tomorrow I spray the column with clear coat, polish up the rest of the woodgrain and install the drain hoses for the cowl and back windows so I can wash it finally

 

sprayed the clearcoat today, wasn't fun I had to spray inside the car and even tho I had the doors open it still clouded up inside the car. my arms were sticky and my eyes were burning but atleast I had a respirator. here it is clear coated, not done though on sunday I wet sand and buff
had to cover up what I didn't want overspray on

 

I'm very impressed with your wood graining! (Not so much before the polishing LOL.) I have my wife;s grand father's'46 Fleetmaster sedan bought new which will need the "treatment". All of her cousin's were going to "restore" the car by losing the engine (!) and removing the clock with a hammer.)Could you explain the wood graining process please? I have read many articles on doing it but that kit seems to be just too good not to buy.