Day 130/131

I'm working on body work on the body!  Slowly but surely...

Day 129

Today I did some more blocking on the driver's side door.  I spent about 4 hours on it.  It looks better than it did.

I started by using a longer block which will hopefully reduce the waviness in the panel.

The end result.  Still some high spots.  Not sure if the glazing putty will take care of it or I should skim another coat of filler before.

Getting some more supplies tomorrow and then onto the body.

Day 128

Good progress today.  I got the passenger door all fixed up and ready for filler primer.  It only required some work on the bottom edge where I had welded in the patch piece.

The driver's side door is another story.  The bottom cleaned up fine, but that little wave in the door panel itself has been a pain.  I've got it blocked down to look decent.  I still need to come back and do a proper job filling the low spots.

If you look hard enough the dark (not grey, those are highs) spots are lows and have circles around them in pencil.

Hopefully have that door done in a day and then move onto the body stuff.

Day 127

My hand hurts!  I think I have carpel tunnel, or something like that.

I finished up the hood.  It was the most sanding I've done so far so it of course made a mess.  I had to do the lip on the inside edge of the hood and then all the little bumps and dings on the outside.  The bottom nose of the hood required the most work.  But shaped and sanded it to look original.

Overall turned out pretty good, should be ok once I get a skim coat of the body glaze after all is said and done.

Next will be the doors.

Day 126

Today I finished blasting the wheels.  They turned out pretty good.  I am going to repair the hub cap retaining tabs and then do a final finishing and blast on them.  They had a couple bends in them from some curb rash, nothing that a hammer and dolly can't take care of.

Because I was continuously blasting for such a prolonged time and that this nozzle hasn't been replaced since the blasting gun was new...I ended up with a blow out.

The performance of the gun started to suffer and I wondered why.  When I stopped to remove the rim, I found the tip had been eaten through with the glass bead material.  Pretty crazy!  I had a couple spares so it didn't hold me up much :)

And finally I did a little bit of filler work on the deck lid.  This was probably the least labor intensive part I've done so far.  It was in really clean shape.

Next step will be the hood and doors.  Then onto the body work on the body itself.

Day 124 & 5

Yesterday I was able to finish up the body filler on the other front fender.  They turned out nicely.

Here is a picture of the tie rods (and clean nuts/fittings) from the previous post.

I also mounted my spare set of tires onto the pan and got my original wheels/tires demounted.  I started sand blasting them and they turned out pretty good.

It appears I have 4 of the 5 original wheels that came with the car, date stamped 8/58.  The 5th wheel is a 10/59 stamped unit that is identical in every other shape and form.  Not sure if I'm going to look hard for the 5th wheel, we'll see.

Spring has sprung!

Day 123

"It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!"       NOT.

Today I worked on the driver's side front fender.  I took my time and was a little more liberal with the filler today.  I found before I applied it too thin and by the time I sanded it flat it was through to the metal.  It ended up being a thin layer after all, and I still had to apply three different times to get good coverage, but I'm learning.

What I've found also is that if I plan on covering a small area I have to extend the filler fairly wide out from the area in order to get enough coverage without sanding through.

It'll be smooth even if someone looks underneath! :)

I spent 5 hours on the one fender today.  But I'm much happier with how it turned out than my first rear fender.  I still plan to mount them to the body and do one last coat of filler before I do the glaze (thinner, runnier filler to cover minor imperfections).  This way I can blend the fender lines with the body lines and make it look good!

Yesterday, I picked up some lights on Craigslist to help my paint booth situation.  I got them for $120 which I thought was a pretty good deal considering they retail for $250.  They were used in an exhibition booth at a conference in town and are in nice shape.  Should help cure my light problem!

I've also been organizing a cleaning the last little bits and pieces I'll need for reassembly.  I cleaned up a fuse box and junction boxes used in the electrical system.  This involved taking pictures of the parts, putting them in a de-rusting solution, and then finishing them up in a bath of vinegar to get them shiny and sparkly again.

Drying overnight.

I also cleaned up my original tie rods as I'm thinking about using them.  We'll see.

The engine has been running well since I tuned it a bit. I am finding however that it appears the carb to intake and carb body gaskets are leaking leaking a yellow residue over time.  I think this is also causing some leaks in the system which make it run poorly after several cycles of running.  A have a pair of gaskets and am going to try and put the gaskets on to see if they help stop the leaks.  It's really just been a pain.  Small leak, poor starting, running rich, all things that are a pain in the butt!

And finally, I sent my locks off to the locksmith in Pennsylvania where he is going to key them all the same to an original keyed set I found online.  I'm also having a couple spare keys made.  Should look and work excellent!