Along with the nuts, bolts and screws every other shiny piece was rusty or had alot of pits and surface rust. With this car, you can't just go into Google and input the year, make and model then every restoration piece comes up. You have to be a detective and try to figure out where that piece came from and the size you need.
For instance - The hood latches need to be replaced. Not only were they rusted but one of the springs had busted. I thought they were probably similar to a 1930's car so, I ordered a couple of different kinds from Speedway Motors. Nope - They were not from a car but from a Boat. And, these 2 little latches were quite expensive. I ended up buying them from an ebay store and saved about $20 each. So - you can probably imagine how expensive they were, if I was excited about saving $40. We have been spending quite a bit of time in the boat store or on boat websites. The new hood bumpers and gas cap are also from boats.
The grille is from an Oldsmobile Cutlass "S". You would think with us being involved with the Oldsmobile Club we would be able to find a new grille. Nope - Those were not as popular as some of the other models so, none of the restoration places have them. We found a few on ebay but they were wanting over $200 for just one side. After further inspection, the grille was not as bad as first thought. It has a few cracks, which can be fixed with glue and it's still pretty shiny. It's the black that was the problem. With allot of masking tape and black spray paint, they look really good now.
The hood ornament is from a Ford Granada. Again, ebay people were wanting a ton of money for ones that didn't look quite as good as the one I have. Someone had a new one but you would have thought it was plated, for the money they were wanting. I started searching for hood ornaments, to see what else is out there. I stumbled across an Opel hood ornament on ebay. $8.00 - I bought it. I liked the lighting bolt and I think it will look cool on the car.
This is just a few things - the list goes on and on.
Friday, March 18, 2011
From Repair Shop to Interior Shop
We picked up the car from the repair shop. A friend of ours met us at the shop and we placed it on a car trailer. There is still allot of gravel on the roads, I didn't want to take any chances.
The shop replaced all of the rusty screws and bolts, along with doing all of the other repairs. It sure made a difference in the look. They were telling me about all of the issues they ran into with the rusty pieces. The bolts on the rear bumper snapped, as they started to remove one of them and it fell on the ground. Seems a bit dangerous and I'm glad it's fixed now.
They replaced the weatherstripping and the webbing between the fenders. It was something I asked if they could do because you could tell it was really brittle.
Since the car was in fiberglass colors, we tried to match them as close as possible. It is now painted with Ford Blue and Chrysler Tan. I have the color codes, in case it would need a a touch up.
It looks really great and I can't wait to see what it is going to look like with new interior and new shiny bits.
The shop replaced all of the rusty screws and bolts, along with doing all of the other repairs. It sure made a difference in the look. They were telling me about all of the issues they ran into with the rusty pieces. The bolts on the rear bumper snapped, as they started to remove one of them and it fell on the ground. Seems a bit dangerous and I'm glad it's fixed now.
They replaced the weatherstripping and the webbing between the fenders. It was something I asked if they could do because you could tell it was really brittle.
Since the car was in fiberglass colors, we tried to match them as close as possible. It is now painted with Ford Blue and Chrysler Tan. I have the color codes, in case it would need a a touch up.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Pictures, Pictures
About a week after dropping of the car, I started getting pictures of the progress. It's amazing how quickly they were able to fix the fender.
A few weeks later I received pictures of the car with primer. It is going to be great when it's finished.
When I got the car the right fender was really damaged and scraped really good along the length of it. They have been mending the tears and fixing all of the cracks.
The car looks like Frankenstein, with all of the stitches.
A few weeks later I received pictures of the car with primer. It is going to be great when it's finished.
Off to the Body Shop
We are off to the body shop - Bundled up and ready to go.
It's 12 miles to the body shop and since there is no top, I had to bundle up like I was going to the North Pole. Gloves, hat, scarf, hood from coat, blanket on my legs. It was quite a site. I am sure people were thinking that I was nuts.
Every time we stopped at a light, I tried to warm my face a little. It seemed like it took forever, even though we made really good time.
When we pulled in, I started removing some of my outerwear since I was not going to need it for the ride home. We did the final walk around the car and headed back.
When the guy went to shake my hand, it was still freezing. But, the car is ready for it's face lift.
It's 12 miles to the body shop and since there is no top, I had to bundle up like I was going to the North Pole. Gloves, hat, scarf, hood from coat, blanket on my legs. It was quite a site. I am sure people were thinking that I was nuts.
Every time we stopped at a light, I tried to warm my face a little. It seemed like it took forever, even though we made really good time.
When we pulled in, I started removing some of my outerwear since I was not going to need it for the ride home. We did the final walk around the car and headed back.
When the guy went to shake my hand, it was still freezing. But, the car is ready for it's face lift.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Getting Ready for the Body Shop
We decided to take off as much as we could, before taking the Bearcat to the body shop. Since there was so many rusted pieces, we were hoping we could save some money by removing some of the larger pieces.
With screwdrivers and pliers in hand, we started working on the car. Some of the parts came off without a lot of trouble but others, well they just wouldn't budge.
Joe had to help me with some of the screws on the luggage rack. They were rusted and I just could not get them started. Some of the other bolts were so rusted, it took both of us to get them out.
The headlights would not come off. We are going to ask the body shop to cut them off. There were a couple of other pieces we had them to remove too.
We took off the parts that were glued on, which we are going to replace. The running boards left a little residue but with a little sanding that came off.
Well - 4 hours later, we had a lot of pieces off.
With screwdrivers and pliers in hand, we started working on the car. Some of the parts came off without a lot of trouble but others, well they just wouldn't budge.
Joe had to help me with some of the screws on the luggage rack. They were rusted and I just could not get them started. Some of the other bolts were so rusted, it took both of us to get them out.
The headlights would not come off. We are going to ask the body shop to cut them off. There were a couple of other pieces we had them to remove too.
We took off the parts that were glued on, which we are going to replace. The running boards left a little residue but with a little sanding that came off.
Well - 4 hours later, we had a lot of pieces off.
New Brakes and Transmission Leak
The brakes were spongy and I wanted to be able to stop. So - we took the car in and had the brakes replacement. Since it's an older car, it took a couple of days to get it back.
When we were at the brake shop, we discovered a transmission leak.
After the brake shop, we headed over to the transmission shop. We got an estimate of under $100 so, we left the car.
The next day we got a call that it wasn't as easy as they first thought. Since it was a custom frame, it was difficult to get to the leak. They had to drop the frame to work on the car. Out $100 estimate turned into $1500.
$1800 later - The Bearcat had new brakes and one of the leaks fixed.
When we were at the brake shop, we discovered a transmission leak.
After the brake shop, we headed over to the transmission shop. We got an estimate of under $100 so, we left the car.
The next day we got a call that it wasn't as easy as they first thought. Since it was a custom frame, it was difficult to get to the leak. They had to drop the frame to work on the car. Out $100 estimate turned into $1500.
$1800 later - The Bearcat had new brakes and one of the leaks fixed.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Can't Reach the Pedals
Remember in one of my previous posts that I couldn't reach the pedals. Kind of a problem when you are trying to stop the car.
I could not get the seat to move so, I went into the house and brought out different types of pillows. Big ones, small ones, combination of pillows. I tried a little bit a everything. I just need a way for my back to be supported enough that I could reach the pedals.
All very experimental and at times really, really frustrating.
I tried a small 10x10 pillow - It was not big enough or solid enough to keep me sitting forward. Then I tried the 10x10 with a neck pillow. The neck pillow kept sliding so, that didn't work either.
So - I tried the big green pillow, which used to be on my bed. It's a 20x20 and did the trick. Picture this, every time I got into the car I had to adjust the pillow just right so, that I could reach the pedals and not have an aching back by the time I got to where I was going. If I followed Joe, he had to wait for me to get situated. (He was very patient) Half the time I was readjusted it at the next light. Should I say trying to get it readjusted before the light turned green.
BTW - The brakes are a little squishy and the steering wheel shakes. That is a conversation for another post.
I did this for awhile, with an aching back and standing on the break pedal to get it to stop. I decided to start looking for a seat slider on the Internet. There had to be something out there because the pillow is just ridiculous. The Bearcat was at one of the shops, getting one of it's things repaired so, we couldn't measure the seat.
When it got back - I had Joe take the seat out of the car so, I could scrape off some of the rust and mildew off the seat. Do you know what I found.....A seat slider. It must not have been used in years because it would not slide, no matter how much pounding we did.
Joe took it off the bottom and used some de-greaser. We let it sit and did a bit more pounding and it finally started to move. A little more de-greaser and more pounding, it finally came off. We cleaned the heck out of it and sprayed it with a bunch of WD-40 (great stuff). It will finally slide, with a lot of coaxing.
When we put the seat back in the car, it will not slide with someone sitting on the seat. I think it's just too far gone. You have to adjust the seat outside of the car then climb in. Climbing out is a little tougher and pretty funny to watch.
I can finally reach the pedals. I put the green pillow behind the seat to keep the back up because it rocks back when you hit the gas. (The joy of older cars).
I am still going to order a new seat slider.....
I could not get the seat to move so, I went into the house and brought out different types of pillows. Big ones, small ones, combination of pillows. I tried a little bit a everything. I just need a way for my back to be supported enough that I could reach the pedals.
All very experimental and at times really, really frustrating.
I tried a small 10x10 pillow - It was not big enough or solid enough to keep me sitting forward. Then I tried the 10x10 with a neck pillow. The neck pillow kept sliding so, that didn't work either.
So - I tried the big green pillow, which used to be on my bed. It's a 20x20 and did the trick. Picture this, every time I got into the car I had to adjust the pillow just right so, that I could reach the pedals and not have an aching back by the time I got to where I was going. If I followed Joe, he had to wait for me to get situated. (He was very patient) Half the time I was readjusted it at the next light. Should I say trying to get it readjusted before the light turned green.
BTW - The brakes are a little squishy and the steering wheel shakes. That is a conversation for another post.
I did this for awhile, with an aching back and standing on the break pedal to get it to stop. I decided to start looking for a seat slider on the Internet. There had to be something out there because the pillow is just ridiculous. The Bearcat was at one of the shops, getting one of it's things repaired so, we couldn't measure the seat.
When it got back - I had Joe take the seat out of the car so, I could scrape off some of the rust and mildew off the seat. Do you know what I found.....A seat slider. It must not have been used in years because it would not slide, no matter how much pounding we did.
Joe took it off the bottom and used some de-greaser. We let it sit and did a bit more pounding and it finally started to move. A little more de-greaser and more pounding, it finally came off. We cleaned the heck out of it and sprayed it with a bunch of WD-40 (great stuff). It will finally slide, with a lot of coaxing.
When we put the seat back in the car, it will not slide with someone sitting on the seat. I think it's just too far gone. You have to adjust the seat outside of the car then climb in. Climbing out is a little tougher and pretty funny to watch.
I can finally reach the pedals. I put the green pillow behind the seat to keep the back up because it rocks back when you hit the gas. (The joy of older cars).
I am still going to order a new seat slider.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)