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From: Dan
Email: Dan(at)byron.com (replace at with @ to email)
Remote Name: 24.118.197.109
Date: October 25, 2003
Hello I've posted a few other posts on this board. This place is great! I have a 58 wagon that I am going to get back on the road. This is the first car that I remember my dad owning and the first car that I drove when I was 8 year old. When I was driving, I don't think that I got over 30 mph (that was fast!!). I do remember every mile of that driving. When I got older and saw other cars that didn't use push buttons for tranny selection I thought that they were very wierd!! I cut my teath on this car. Driving and learning machanics. The engine has very low hours on a rebuild as also with the tranny. Last month, I got the car inside. I was not happy to see all of the rust that had formed in the 20+ years it had sat in the weather!! After pulling all of the brake parts off so I could get the cylinders freed up and rekitted (they were all froze up, got all but one unstuck (still working on that one, I'll get it, one piston is moving a little), I thought that I'd see if the old car would fire up. I knew that there wasn't any gas (that would burn anyway) in the tank and the battery was as good as a boat anchor. So I hooked up the 2 gauge jumper cables and dumped a little gas down the carb. A little cranking and I heard the engine rumble to life. That sounded realy good with the exhaust just ending off of the crossover pipe and in a metal sided polebarn. The speedo even works (I saw 20 mph) I had to do a couple more dumps (dribbles)down the carb, I couldn't settle for just one. :-) I had to stop there. The cooling system was empty. Just a little (maybe a lot) background. :-) Now, my question. This is pointed to you guys/gals that have done the restore yourself. When you sandblasted the frame, was there any places that you couldn't get into? I haven't had a chance to study the frame (it's 4 hours away right now). Were you able to get it all cleaned up? After it was cleaned what type of paint did you use? Next, on to the body. I plan on do a body off of frame restore. After each body part is cleaned up or holes are filled in with metal, and primed, do you leave it in primer and shoot the top coat when the car is fully assembled? Or do you paint each panel with the top coat before assembley? I'm also thinking about building a set up that I can mount the body on and pivit it so I'm not working on my back or standing on something. If I mounted a 2 inch pipe on the center of gravity on each end of the car would the body (without the frame) be able to suport it's self? I saw/read that someone welded braces in the door openings. Anyone out there build something like this or have experience in this area? Any one have a good sorce for replacement body panels? I would like a place that stocks all of the pannels and ones that fit without having to be modified! Thanks for your input! Dan
