As with some other areas on the car, one of the previous owners decided to do some "work" with a paintbrush and spray can in ALL the door jambs and trunk jamb areas. SOOO....I had to go back and redo all of this, since the colors were not even close to the body color. I still have to do the trunk jamb and the lower portion of the drivers side quarter panel where the marker light is located. I think I'll wait for the trunk until I get a rubber set. I need to replace all the weatherstripping due to dry rot....particularly the two front doors and the trunk. I'd love to keep the trunk rubber intact, due to the good fit and the original paint daubs can still be seen at the top center, but there is a bunch of brushed-on paint splattered all over it, so off it goes! Man, this car runs good!!
I can see your point. Hey how about some pics of the sloppy door jam and trunk work the previous guy bagged you with? Nothing like before/after shots, although your "after" photos are mighty impressive... :TU:
Sure thing...the trunk is really the worst part of it, aside from the outer body parts being slathered with rustoleum.... I'll get a few pics up tonight.
Trunk jamb and underside of the lid....YIKES As you can see, replacement rubber is a must. I ordered a full set from Steele last night...that one hurt the wallet some more. Since I am swapping the rear bumper, I will pull the taillight assemblies and bezels and clean & repaint them....while I'm at it
Looks like a really handy person has been at it with the cans.. Probably had too much beer when doing it too.
Too much beer is one thing, but having a couch in the garage with a belly full of beer is a sure fired way to not get anything done. Beer stayed, couch went. Back to work. Oh, yeah. That car still looks great, Adam. Every time I look through this thread, I wish I would have taken more time to clean up and paint my engine compartment when I had the engine out. The original plan included it, but I needed to get the car back on the road. I wasn't planning anything near as nice as what you've got going there, but it sure would have looked better than it does. That kind of thing just makes the car much more enjoyable to work on, too. Nick
Trunk jamb and underside of lid are finished. Looking at the "after" picture of the trunk lid, there's a bunch of dust where I wiped half of it down...that's not permanent - don't freak :eek2: I didn't paint the entire underside, so I just feathered in the new paint. It looks nice. It's always nice to have clean door and trunk jambs. Lots of folks overlook these details when they clean up a car....and it makes all the difference in the world. I ordered from Steele because I had been told it was the best. Well, the trunk rubber is no better than the Metro stuff, and Metro is less than HALF the cost!! For now, I will have to slam my trunk closed...because as usual, the rubber is much stiffer and doesn't lay in the channel as well as the factory stuff did. It eventually settles down, but it takes an entire season.
Another sub-project finished! The rechromed bumper fits like a glove, and it was easy to align. All the plastic parts have been cleaned and repainted before I bolted them back on. I just wish I had that rear body molding that I was promised 4 months ago. I think something happened to the guy that I was trying to buy them from uzzled: I had to completely repaint the right quarter extension due to a chemical spill when I had them sitting on the floor. The stuff splashed all over the right extension and immediately dissolved the paint. :shock: :rant: But, it looks ok now.
Wow, looking good. :TU: It looks SOOOO clean, mainly by the taillights and plastic behind it. :Brow: Think I should remove me bezels and clean the tail lights too. Stoner's invisible glass, best stuff out there. :grin:
Man, I go away for a week or so and you go and get rid off anything I could harass you about! :rant: :laugh: Looking REAL good, Adam! :TU: :TU: :TU:
I'm sure you could find some doozies on this car, still. The undercarriage was undercoated some time ago with a black goop...and some of it still feels wet ou: But at least most of it's still black:laugh: First show this weekend!!!!
Adam, If you ever feel a need to remove the black goop underbody coating, let me know. I'm in the business of selling specialty solvents to military, aerospace, and utility markets, and can steer you to some relatively safe degreasers to do the job. A lot of cars were treated with asphaltic compounds that do indeed remain gooey so that they are somewhat self-healing when damaged. Roudy
Thanks Roudy...I'll keep you in mind. 2MNYKARS, I think I'm going to surrender this one to the garage spot:grin:
I took the car to its first cruise over on the other side of the river in IL last night. It had good reviews from other club members and strangers alike. I still have a lot of work to do before the "really big shoooow" in a month. It runs excellent, though! Never skipped a beat or ran hot...just like it ran before I pulled it apart. I feel like I could drive this car to CA if I had to.. Of course, I'd have to charge the A/C :grin:
Did some more detail work tonight.... I worked on the upper cowl area and replaced the rubber there, as well as cleaning up the rest of the dirt and crap that has collected in there for the last 35 years. I thought the vinyl top could use some help.. The white specs are actually little green bugs that have decided to make their home in my garage tonight. Ahhhh, the fun of working in the garage at night.....a few june bug bombers and misc flying insects crawling up your legs finish the night off well. Now I have to do the other half. :rant:
Nice work Adam! Attention to detail is the key to a nice car, and by the looks of it you have a gold one.
I've been itching to do this for a while...but was unsure of the outcome. I think I like it. I will probably go with the standard whitewalls, though, if I do find a good set of wheels for this car. For now, these stay on. I'll take it to Rochester like this... The convertible really hates me now:grin:
