Customs Family 1st! Time to change the easter egg for Detroit Auto-Rama!

Good job!

--mika

 

Skirts were a thought as was a visor, but chose not to do either. Time and cost were factors. I think I could always try them later. The paint materials, tires, and the chrome are gonna hurt. Here is the final end to the pink! My dad has this old wand spray gun to get into tight places. It kind of puts out a 360 degree pattern. You basically put the tip all the way down in the firewall and then squeeze trigger and pull up...worked really well...Oh, and next time I am brining tin foil to cover wires and hoses....

 

No more Pink!

 

Time flys when you having fun, and it was time to get the olds back home yesterday....I think 17 days till Detroit! I can't thank Steve and Mark enough for letting me work on the car in their shop, use their stuff and knowlege. Also all the guys for giving me a hand. I know that alot of people are against clubs, but we have these 2 new projects with iminent deadlines ( my olds and 'Blew By You') ,all the extra hands and ideas really help.....and make it more fun.

 

Absolutely incredible how much you've accomplished in such a short period of time. You have taken a very "dated" car and transformed it into a head turner!

 

Hey Don, killer job!!

You mentioned having to buy tires... I have buddy that manages a Discount Tire. He hooked me up big time for my tires on the 64 LeMans when I had to have them in 2 days for the HotRod Power Tour.

He was at the airport getting ready to board a plane for his honeymoon and still on the phone finding me the right rubber - what a guy!

Call Matt at 630-428-0178, he can do a "Write and Send" order... get you a killer deal on any tires (or wheels) in the U.S. that you can then pick up at your local Discount Tire.

hope it helps - I'll look for you in Detroit on the 7th.
Bob

 

Thats badass Don......it's like a whole different car. I love the grill and headlight treatment.

I say 52 olds hubcaps.

 

Thanks guys! I will have to look at the 52 caps, I think they look like the ones that Danimal offered? I have the tires, got them in the mail last week, thanks tho! I am going to start on the rims/tire combo in the am.

 

nice transition. How about a set of 57 Lincoln caps (smooth with a rimmed center) or a set of 50 something olds caps with a bullet

 

I'm with Denise: '54-55 Fiestas.

 

Fiestas are killer but does anyone have a set for him in 17 days? I love them myself, also the straight 54/55s without the flippers are cool, with the 'earth' centers. I've got a set of those as well, Don.

Let me know what you need.

 

I wondered how you were going to take care of the firewall. Very clever little sprayer...I doub't many here have one.
Rock On Don

 

Looking good, can't wait to see the finished product in Detroit!

 

Meeting night we painted my garnish mouldings. I forgot my camera, so I used Steve's again. We also did alot to Steve's Gasser, and Brians daily truck to get it ready to tow the FED to Detroit. When I get the picturs, I will post them.. We also painted the wheels. I dismounted the tires and sand blasted the rims earlier in the day as well as moved the car around and got it up on jack stands... I also seam sealed all the new joints under the car. On Tuesday I painted all bare metal with rustoleum and then used this old rubberized undercoating.

 

Don that thing looks SOOOO much better with the new paint. Can't wait to see it at Cobo in a couple weeks. Good luck the rest of the way, you'll make it.

Eric

 

Yesterday, I also mounted the tires and ballanced them. Paint was still a little wet, but less than 2 weeks! I am still fighting with the hub cap thing. Probably will until I get the Chrome and set the car on the ground. Here are a couple options I have here now. I like the 57 caps, but they would require a method of attaching them, and also there are no holes for the valve stem?

 

When I got the car, it never had rocker sill plates. I never could find anything for it either. I used some 80's plastic thunderbird ones. Well, I am not doing too much to the interior, but the tbird sill plates had to go. I looked on the internet to see if anybody re-produced them, but could not find them for a model 66. My neighbor stopped by to check out what I was doing, and I told him of my hunt for sill plates, and he goes back to his garage and pulls these out and says he had them for a project and they didn't work....So I beat the dents out of them and cleaned them up with a scotch bright, and screwed them down. Quick and cheap. Now, I know they are not super old, but they are better than the plastic ones!

 

Today was spent doing one of the hardest parts of the job so far. The window trim. A few meetings back, Jim stripped all the paint off of the stainless trim. Well, the previous painters sanded the trim so the paint would stick better. It worked cause it lasted some 18 years! So I had to sand the stainless with 400. Then I hit it with 2 different polishing abrasives on the cloth wheel. The hard part was putting them back on the car without chipping the paint. This process involved a rubber mallet, ice pick, and pop rivit gun, and lots of masking tape. I am waiting on the chrome to finish the windows.

 

I was looking through the thread and forgot to respond....I don't know what the car looks like in the sun yet, so I might be crazy like you say...All I can do is tell you what we did. Stripping it to bare metal was not an option. This car, as do many older street rods especially with molded fenders, has a substantial layer of bondo everywhere! I did not have the time to start over, nor did I want to spend the time if I did. We used a DA sander and sanded the scallops off of the car. Then, where needed, put a thin layer of icing. Then sanded out with 80 grit, then 120. Then it was ready for primer. We used a catalized primer. Block and repeat. Before paint, a catalized sealer coat of primer was also applied. The paint itself is a 3 step process with a base color, then a top color, finally with a clear. In the light of the shop, and outside on a typical NE Ohio winter day, I can't see the scallops! So I have my fingers crossed!

 

Looking good Don!

 

The color is perfect for that car.

Looks wonderful.

-W

 

Don you guys have come a long way from the 90's back into something more contemporary. I love it! Hope to see it in person someday.

 

Wow, that car is really coming along. Good job in doing so much in such a short amount of time.

 

Looks real good. I dig the color you guys chose...and the car looks SO much better now.

Check out some 53 Olds sombrero caps. You'll like them.

 

Havent updated in a while, been busy! Here I am installing the stainless that goes around the side windows. This is probably the hardest part of the job so far. I used an ice pick and a rubber mallot. All while trying not to chip the new paint...... The fuzzies are pop rivited through the stainless and the body. There was some rust on the insides on the doors so I put grease in there before I put them on. Then I put the glass back in the rear side windows! That was fun!

 

The interior is something that in a perfect world I would change, but it is still in good condition, comfortable, and at least not sculptered! I wanted to make a couple small changes to help it tho. First was the garnish mouldings. I always wanted a car with chrome garnish mouldings. This car is not gonna either! Way to much money!!! So I chose to paint them. At one of the meetings Dan pulled off all the cloth material that was glued to them. Portage Trim did the interior year ago, and as sore as Dan's hands were, they did a great job. After all the glue was removed with laquer thinner, I sanded the garnish mouldings down and put a seal coat on them....I could not pic a color, so I decided to splurg and got some of that Kosmic Krome from House of Color. I was hoping it would look close...First you paint them glossey black. Then apply the Kosmic Krome, then a dusting of clear, and then another coat of clear. I took pics on steves camera, but he is really thrashing on Blue By You and I don't want to bother him, so I will post them later. Here is the finnish rear window moulding.

 

Man That car is bitchin...cant wait to see it next week!!!

 

I got the chrome back the other day.......always with a fast build there is drama, I know the tv shows add drama, but in real life they happen too...It all stared when I got a pm from Sazall.....he had a NOS #2 grill bar for me on the cheap...It had been steped on. Mine was pitted pretty bad so I got if from him...When it arrived, I was really happy.....It just needed some tweeking.....So I stuck it on the living room rug, and put my foot on it and slowly pulled it back into shape on the right side...It really looked good, but not good enough...the left side just needed a little adjustment. So I just used my thumbs....Snap! I broke it right in half!!!

 

That was a couple weeks ago....I got the chrome back the other day. He welded the grill bar back together, said the other one was not very chromable. He has been doing my chrome for years, so I trust him...does it at home then takes it to have dipped. No show chrome,( his claim) but somewhat affordable in these times. He chromed (polished) the wrong side of the vent window shades. So he had to re-do those. Got them back yesterday! Unfortunatly, the chrome is starting to crack on the grill. He said that it shouldnt have done that, and he will do it over....just not till after the show. Today I found that the windshield wiper transmissions are junk, trying to get all the pits out, he went through the casting on the top of both of them, to where you can see the chain...Looks like I will be needing alot of rainex for the trip to detroit next week!

 

Over last weekend I painted the back sides of the chrome to protect it from rust. Then spent time putting the bumpers together and on the car. I also finished putting the window stainless on....With out a doubt, the hardest part of this car....I used c clamps, wood blocks, and a rubber mallot....still not enough...Dan stopped by and the 2 extra very strong hands got it done. Last night my brother in law came back over and polished the car. I think the color changed again! Now I really have to be carful! I spent time converting the tail lights over to 1157 bulbs. Today, I dug myself a deeper hole! I cannot run hubcaps on it. At least the ones that I have at my disposale...I decieded to run spider caps. This is a problem as the s-10 wheels are not right. So I called up my buddy Martin and asked him if he could stop by sometime that day so I could pulle the eom style steel wheels off his S-10 and trade them back to him....They are pretty rusty and needed to be blasted. Naturally I was running low of black beauty in the blast cabinet so off to the paint supply....They can't carry sand anymore!!!!! I ended up finding some 36grit aluminum oxide, worked great but too expensive! Next was finding some spider caps. I have an original set here, but they were ford bolt pattern....I called Eric at Riley and he also only had ford...I told him of my problem. He said to give him some time....He called back and said they were on their way 2nd day air. Thanks Eric for going way beyond that extra step! After basketall, I stripped the window garnish mouldings. I will post some more pics when I remember to bring the camera in from the garage.