By way of introduction, my '39 LaSalle Opera Coupe was waiting for me for a long time. I found her online a year ago and approached the seller late in the year. He was reluctant to come off his price, but after a lot of haggling, we arrived at a fair price and arranged shipment from an adjoining state to Colorado.
I'm a retired editor who pitched in with restoring my '55 T-Bird in the eighties, so at least I'm initiated in resurrecting old cars. After researching restoration prices, I intend to be totally involved in bringing the LaSalle back to the road. It'll have a new look, but it'll still be a LaSalle.
In brief, the LaSalle's engine runs (smoothly) and the body and chassis are solid. The exterior is unpocked, though there is surface rust front to back and some Bondo on the right rear panel. The area aft of the trunk has corrupted rust that will have to be replaced. Other than that, there are only a few square inches in the interior that'll have to be patched.
Virtually all its parts have survived. A miracle, I'd say. I'm missing only the radio (so what, I'm deaf) and the ash tray (non-smoker). The chrome is all there and in exceptional shape. I'll have to re-chrome the bumpers and a few smaller attachments. The dash poses a fun challenge that'll come later.
I selected the interior and trunk as my first phase because they looked like a bat cave that threatened an outbreak worse than the Chinese flu. Just recently, I completed the long task of removing the windows and all the furniture, and scraping, grinding and priming all the surfaces. There was not one thread of fabric or panel that didn't disintegrate in my hands. Only the front bench seat survived.
The next phase, shortly, I'll start by removing the hood, fenders and quarter panels to prime and paint in an exploratory hue, leaving the final two coats to a noted body man nearby. The doors and trunk lid will stay attached for the same treatment because they're easy to get at as is, plus I don't want to mess up their fit. It'll be body-off, with some reinforcement added under the interior deck.
The engine, radiator and drive train phase comes next but probably'll coincide with the body work, depending on the availability of My Man Max The Master Mechanic. Each element will be repainted or powder coated.
Rewiring follows, a plan that includes rebuilding the existing 6-volt system and adding a parallel 12-volt system to run a new assortment of gimmicks and tricks. Can this be done? Hope so.
The interior won't look like the old one, but it'll be one the LaSalle's designers would love. It'll be found, like some of our electronics, in one of the city's auto junkyards.
Do I know what I'm doing? Not entirely. Well, not hardly. I'm looking forward to getting help from you guys. You've already given me terrific guidance and tips. I'm grateful. Please be patient.
Richard Johnson
Colorado
Welcome to the club and congratulations on a well thought out plan of attack. That's going to be a great car when you're done. Good luck with it. Feel free to ask questions here, there's a ton of knowledgeable people who can help you with just about anything you want or need.
Rick
Welcome aboard Richard..
Your car looks like a great place to start....keep us posted on the progress...
Mike
Richard, Welcome aboard. Great car and certainly worthy of your efforts. As the saying goes, "plan your work and work you plan". Keep us posted. Harry
Congratulations on finding such a great car, especially one from Colorado. You sound like you know what you're doing and will have a great time doing it. Personally I'd yank those doors off in order to get a great paint job. Soak the hinge pins for a couple of weeks with 50% acetone-50% trans fluid and they'll come right out. Mark each so they can go back into their respective holes.
Spend a young fortune on the rubber and glass and do a first-class paint job and you'll be a lot happier than trying to save a few bucks here and there.
You can surely run a 12 volt 6 volt system easily enough but switching over to all 12 might be even easier.
Would like to see your ideas for an interior.
Work out some ideas for high visibility turn signals too and you'll feel better. You can even sock some H-1's into the headlight shell and use them.
Make it as driveable as possible. I put 110,000 miles on my '37 Opera Coupe with a flathead in it and now I'm rebuilding the whole car stem to stern with a 500" Caddy in it. I plan to put even more miles on it without the worry of vapor lock and overheating I used to experience.