1941 60S Restoration

[Paul Phillips]

Time to slow down a bit and get a blog started.  Thanks to Ken Karrer for the prompting!

Attached are a couple pix of the car as I bought it last year.  A good 10-footer for looks and mechanically doing very well.  Formal conversion was done long ago, and was at least redone sometime in the 60's. 

I started this winter looking at how to address some of the cosmetics, hoping to do mostly touchup, maybe panel paint the trunk lid and one of the fender extensions.  Reality showed that was a bit optimistic.  Starting with a fender extension, it was apparent that the car had two black repaints on top of the factory Oceano Blue.  More paint was not an answer without stripping off the layers.  I could do that selectively if I stayed with black, but I kept thinking about how good the car would look in Oceano Blue.  The top was also coming unsealed around the door openings, so that would take attention.

Getting close to the 'deep end'

[Paul Phillips]

Beginning exploration of the formal conversion was next.  The interior garnish for the rear window was real wood, and seemed to be press fit.  Careful prying allowed it to slip out of a press fit.  The headliner was tacked around the perimeter beneath.  A bit more careful prying had the tacks out of the way, and a view of how the window was done.  See the pix below.

Conversations with an old-timer in the trim business revealed that the formal top material was actually a Chrysler interior vinyl material from the early 60's, not an exterior material, and the seams were not properly sealed.  His best reco would be to start again with proper materials, so they could be truly weather sealed.  The old top could be a pattern to help with the amount of taper needed in the center panel, so when stretched at the back during install, the seams would be parallel.

Around this time I started investigating the method details for the formal conversion (see posts in Technical section).  Fortunately one of the threads there led me to some true expertise, and I found that there were special order codes on the build sheet.  X-1329-5 meant that my car was special ordered paint, using the Oceano Blue all over, instead as the lower with Crystal Blue upper, as I had thought from the body tag.  Maybe that was why the tag said the color was 63A, instead of just 63 for the normal 2-tone?

[Paul Phillips]

Decision time - its either go back to the original idea of touch up & minor cosmetic repairs, keep the car out of the rain, and think about a restoration later - or jump on in now.

We'll see over time if its worth it, but I decided to do it now.  Even better, the shop I would want to work with agreed to let me do a lot of the disassembly and chasing of details, so there was a cost-avoidance opportunity.  We decided to do a frame-on, bare metal repaint approach.  A budget was developed and agreed with the shop, to be reviewed periodically.  I stocked up on various sizes of plastic bags, big rolls of yellow body tape, Sharpies,  and made a travelling toolbox.  The shop cleared space over the next couple weeks, and we drove the car for the last time (for a while).

Time for disassembly to begin.

[Paul Phillips]

Major disassembly started on March 5, 2012.  Day one yielded a false sense of how easily and quickly this would go.  The plan was initially to remove & document everything starting from the front and rear, working inwards.  Starting with bumpers & brackets, then gravel guards, next grille, headlights, etc.  All this came apart without a broken bolt or stripped thread or rounded off nut.  I could think what a miracle the WD40 was, but in reality, it was just false sense of what was to come!

Included are some sample photos, I have many more if documentation of these areas are helpful, just ask.

[Paul Phillips]

More photos of day 1

Starting to note things to replace, like the corroded fasteners, terminal strips

[Paul Phillips]

Still day 1.

Someone wasn't too careful with clearances on the last repaint - note how the grille was rubbing on the front fenders.  A few samples of leaves from last Fall to add to the archeology. 

Next started de-trimming the hood

[Paul Phillips]

more day 1 - parts are starting to stack up.

Views from below & inside - happy to see things in a reasonable condition so far.

[Paul Phillips]

Starting day 2

This is a good time to document how and where things go together.  Examples such as right cowl area, the working end of the goddess and latch mechanism (is there supposed to be a torsion spring here somewhere to hold it up when opened?

[Paul Phillips]

Day 2

Details of the hood latch, first fender off.

[Paul Phillips]

Day 2

Details of left & right firewall-cowl area - hood springs & hinges, electricals, heater connections.

You may notice the hint of the original Oceano Blue coming thru the thin black on the firewall

[Paul Phillips]

Day 2
The good, bad & ugly

With the LF fender off, the lower cowl area is revealed.  Looks like this area has escaped the repaints and not seen light since its day in the factory.  A bit dirty perhaps, but amazing how it cleaned up with a wet towel.  A great example of Oceano Blue paint, as Cadillac intended it.  (C)Archeology is fun today!

Then there is the first nasty corrosion point - the lower edge of the cowl is pretty crumbly.  Later I will see how the area was full of crumbled insulation & dirt - a perfect place to catch what leaded around the A pillar or windshield over the last 71 years.

[Paul Phillips]

Day 2 conclusion

Right fender removal revealed another untouched section of original paint, the cobbled battery box replacement, and a peak under the seal on top shows what they failed to remove in the repaints.

Still holding on to that false sense of how well things are going.

[Paul Tesone]

Paul - this is great stuff !!! Keep those pictures coming . I ,for one ,will be watching closely , having just gone thru with two cars what you are attempting . I can assure you that many readers enjoy and benefit from your postings even though you may never hear from them . Of equal, if not of more importance , your photos will document many things for the reassembly process which you may not remember months from now . Yes , it's likely to take much longer than you anticipate ; but you will be learning so much . One word of advice . If you have read the forum with any regularity , you will often see the issue of how to reproduce the original body color . Very often , the answer is " find an area that has not been affected by the elements and have it scanned " . Many times no such area exists , or it's not big enough to get a proper scan . It appears that you are very fortunate to have a large area of original paint that can be used for a scan and then used for comparison  . Whatever you do , DON"T STRIP OFF THAT PAINT until you're certain you don't need it anymore . Just my thoughts . Keep up the good work . ....Paul Tesone CLC #6876

[Paul Phillips]

Paul
Thanks for the comments, I am hoping others will enjoy this.  It is a bit interesting to try and write this from the mindset I was in 6 weeks ago as I play catch-up. 

I definitely agree about preserving those areas on the side cowls - they were well covered with protective tape soon after and my intent is to keep areas masked off during the repaint to preserve them for the future.  We went thru about 1.5 days of paint match trials with the PPG rep a couple weeks ago, and these areas were invaluable.  The original hue is not in the color palette for paint today, nor is the minimal level of metallic.  We think we now have the hue in today's technology w/o 'bass boat' metallic look or the dramatic color shift (flop) from face to side viewing angles; face is ever so slightly to blue, and the side is ever so slightly to green.  I am excited to see on more than a sample panel.

[Paul Phillips]

Day 3

Start off with removal of the hood.  This one definitely needs a helper.  Took the approach of leaving the hood hinges & support in place, unbolting the hood from the support.  This is easier than you might think, once the fenders are clear.  Two people can easily slide the hood off the support.

While at this stage, I used a scribe to mark the location of the hinges on the cowl and the spring brackets on the firewall.  You can see a scribe line inside the mounting hole in the 3rd photo.  I removed each bolt temporarily, scribed the hole, then reinstalled the bolt until all were marked.  Also scribed around the hinge plate.  These lines will be faintly visible after paint to guide reinstallation.

[Paul Phillips]

More day 3

Removal of hood springs requires a special tool and a helper.  This tool is not common in many shops today, but is essential for safe removal.  Sorry to not have photos, as I was involved in the process.  Tool is a long lever, probably 4 ft, with a pivoting arm attached.  The arm has a hook at the end that can engage the loop on the spring bottom.  Bottom of lever is wedged under a secure part of the body or frame, and lever is slowly pressed down to stretch the spring.  Your helper carefully guides the spring off of its bracket, then you carefully release the spring tension.

Note that 60 Special has a slightly different configuration of springs and brackets vs. the Fisher built cars, but the principles are the same.

[Paul Phillips]

Day 3
With everything off around the front end, it is a good time to take a lot of pix for documentation, but also to indentify work you need to do.  In this case, it was obvious that a previous owner did a 'paint freshening' on the engine from the top, but did nothing on the block sides.  Motor mounts are starting to fail, and are a 'must' on the list.  The blue silicone on the freeze plugs points to a need to replace them, too.  This may be the first time you get a good view of your master cylinder, and reinforced for me the idea that a safety-based conversion to a dual circuit would be good to add to the plan.

On the good side, the lack of oil leaks is a positive!

[Paul Phillips]

Day 3 was finished by beginning to document the door assembly.  On a Fleetwood-built 60S, this is particularly important, as the design differs somewhat from the Fisher approach, which is the one documented in most manuals.  It will I am sure be handy to have this later.

[kkarrer]

Paul,
       You're off to a nice start and you're doing a great job with the pictures.  You can't get enough of them for yourself and others.  Yes, the disassembly was the easiest and fastest part of the whole process.  Storing the parts becomes a pain as those panels really take up alot of room and they have to be protected while they're awaiting restoration.  You'll probably find that the battery box area associated with the passenger side fender is going to require a good deal of attention as will the underside wooden beams unique to 60 S, and the rocker panels.  Also, if you haven't done it yet, I found it wasn't necessary to remove the hood arch support up near the firewall.  Just remove the springs (and yes, speaking of springs there is one for the flying goddess hood ornament.  AllCads is one source and Charlie Babcock is another.) as this will make hood alignment ( huge issue with these cars) much easier later.  Those hood springs can be a problem too.  I blasted mine with glass beads and then opened them up using my engine hoist.  Attach the spring on one end with bailing wire to the hoist hook and then put a piece of 1" pipe under hoist legs at the bottom and attach the lower part of the springs to that and then pump that hoist handle until they open up.  It's the only way I found to do a decent job of painting them.  I'm hoping to get the front fenders back on my car this week.
Take care,
Ken Karrer 1941 6227D coupe

[Paul Phillips]

Thanks Ken!

Definitely agree on storing things, as I needed about 2 cars worth of space for the car and panels.  It got even worse when the interior parts came out.  I understand about the option on hood springs removal, but since the PO had dusted the firewall with black, I decided on clearing as many parts as possible as part of my prep. Others may not need this.

If you can send a photo of the spring for the goddess, that would be most appreciated.  There was one dangling unattached with baling wire, similar to the trsion spring for the gas filler taillight, but not obvious how it should attach.

BTW, loved the story about your media blaster experience today. I spent today cleaning small parts, fortunately no such surprises.