These before shots demonstrate the 60-60 rating, it looks good at 60 mph from 60 feet away. This car is going get a complete frame-off restoration.
The
stainless steel rocker panels were covering extensive rusted areas. This
will all have to be cut out with new metal welded in place.
With
the body off the frame, repairs will be much easier. The frame was
sandblasted and painted. The front brakes were converted from drum to
disc while the body was off.
Some
of the structural supports needed to be rebuilt. There is not much left
of them after spending many winters in a salt environment.
Mounting
the car body on a rotisserie make repair areas much more accessible.
The bottom of this car was also sandblasted and then coated with pick-up
bed liner. The bottom is now impervious to rock chips.
The next four pictures show some of the metal work involved to repair the rusted panels.
The body is in hi-build primer ready to be block sanded.
The
fenders were test fitted to the body before committing to paint. It is
important to get a good fit now rather than trying to fit them after
they are painted.
Re-assembly
time — the fun part when things are going back together and one can see
the fruits of the hundreds of hours of labour.
This
is the assembled vehicle. It just needs the interior and some chrome
trim installed. This car was painted pearl white which really adds depth
and emphasizes the body lines, especially in the sun.
