Making progress on my '54 Sixty Special

[RobertM]

This is my '54 Sixty Special I've been working on.  The car had been stored in a garage and hadn't been driven since 1988, and I bought it from the 2nd owner in 2011. The car had only 61000 miles on the odometer, and the document trail indicates that to be accurate.  Brakes and tires all around, a fuel pump and a tuneup and I had it on the road in less than a month. 

In 2014, I did a complete mechanical restoration.  The engine and transmission were completely torn down and rebuilt, and everything under the hood was repainted, replaced or restored.  It has been a joy driving it since then. 

She's a nice 20-footer, very straight all around, but significant blemishes once you get up close. That includes a pretty poor '80s paint job with overspray on all the rubber.  The car was originally Newport Blue, but was painted this alternate light blue, and that paint job had deteriorated significantly.

This year I decided to take the next step. Fresh paint, chrome and stainless are all in progress, and the interior will also be done within the next couple of years. First, here are some recent pictures of her "before".  The last 3 pictures are the front clip before during and after the mechanical restoration.

[RobertM]

This past March, the first order of business was to strip all her jewelry off.  I took a week off of work to get it done, and that still wasn't enough time. The windshield trim was finally the one thing I couldn't get to, so I left that for the body shop to figure out.

The build sheet says she was shipped to Ohio, and she moved to Connecticut in the 80s.  Having been a northern US car her whole life, I was pretty certain there would be rust gremlins. Boy was I right, and then some.  Look at that front fender, almost rusted in half under the trim.

[RobertM]

Both rear corners were also gone, which had been hidden by the stainless trim, and the bumper lip edge of the trunk was completely toast. 

Fortunately, the floor panels and trunk floor are solid, probably as a result of the tar undercoating that covers the underside of the vehicle. That stuff is difficult to get off, it took me days to scrape it off of the gas tank when I repainted that a few years ago. You can see in the picture of the front clip  in the first post that the tar undercoating was also halfway up the firewall.  Big fun.

[RobertM]

So the next order of business was to sandblast.  You can see the original Newport blue around the window edges. 

And a whole lot more rust came to light.  There was bondo bubbling up under both headlights; the bump-out area of the exterior rocker under the rear door was swiss cheese; more bondo at the bottom of both front fenders. And even more bondo was found on the mating surface for one of the fender skirts. 

But...In for a penny, in for a pound. I couldn't quit at this point.

[RobertM]

This level of body work is way beyond my skill level. It took me a while to choose a shop. Word of mouth led me to Carolina Auto Body in Pittsboro North Carolina. I dropped the car off with them in June. To this point, i'm extraordinarily happy to have been introduced to them.

All 4 corners needed new metal. You cant go out and buy patch panels for these cars. They did an awesome job fabricating and the repairs.

[RobertM]

Paint is in progress. I wasn't a big fan of the color it had been painted in the 80s, nor was I inclined to go with the original color (Newport Blue). Instead I have decided to go with another color from 1954: Cobalt Blue. Turns out to be a great choice. I am loving the fine metallic and it really pops in the sun.

[Steve Strickland]

Bob,

Great pictures! I am loving your color choice as well. I have a 1951 that came in the lighter Corinth Blue and I have changed it to Bolero Maroon with the top in Argent Gray.

What color interior will you be going with?

Thanks for posting.

[Bentley]

Bob,

I like that color. When I had my car painted, I changed the color too. I didn't like the original color, and thought if I'm going to spend all this money on body and paint work, I'll get a color I like.

[RobertM]

Bob,

Great pictures! I am loving your color choice as well. I have a 1951 that came in the lighter Corinth Blue and I have changed it to Bolero Maroon with the top in Argent Gray.

What color interior will you be going with?

Thanks for posting.

I've spent more than I intended this year because of all the extra bodywork needed, so I'm going to hold off on the interior for a bit while my wallet licks its wounds.  My plan is to stay with the same as original. Trim code 83, blue V-crest with dark blue broadloom bolsters.  It should go well with the dark blue exterior paint.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

I've spent more than I intended this year because of all the extra bodywork needed, so I'm going to hold off on the interior for a bit while my wallet licks its wounds.  My plan is to stay with the same as original. Trim code 83, blue V-crest with dark blue broadloom bolsters.  It should go well with the dark blue exterior paint.

I feel your pain! And great job BTW with all you've accomplished!

\m/
Laurie

[Bill Young]

Excellent color choice and I would stay with the blue interior also. Bravo !

[RobertM]

The grille is ready for wax and reassembly.

[RobertM]

The grille was fun to put together. What an improvement.

[RobertM]

Metal and paint are finally finished and it looks awesome! There are a couple minor touch-ups that need to be corrected (1 chip on a rocker and some other stuff to buff out), but all in all I am really impressed with the work. Now it's my turn to get to work, but I get the fun part of putting back all the chrome and stainless.

I dont have the funds to finish the interior this year. We did replace the carpet, paint the dash and the metal door panel parts, but the rest will have to wait until next year. Reupholstering the seats are going to be a huge expense. They are definitely serviceable until then.

All of the new metal work looks incredible. Gaps/seals/fits are spot on.. I couldnt be happier.  It's hard to believe the bottom of all 4 corners have new metal. The skirts and the moldings fit and line up perfectly.

[RobertM]

I havent been able to get much done the past few month, but i did manage to get the front bumper and grille completed over the weekend. Brackets etc were sandblasted and painted, most of the fasteners were replaced,with stainless where possible. Hopefully I'll have some time to get it back on the car soon.

I added a before picture of the grille The transformation is quite nice.

[spolij]

Robert looking good. Did you have the bumpers etc  rechromed?

Did you have much trouble with broken bolts while removing stuff?

[RobertM]

All the chrome and stainless are re-done. Cant wait to get it onto the car. 

I didnt really have any problems with broken bolts. The bumpers came apart very easily. The clips for the side moldings are pretty much shot but everything else held up nicely over the years.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Robert,

Looks beautiful, and like a 1/4" stack of hundreds.....

[RobertM]

I haven't been able to do anything in a couple months due to a busy life and crappy weather. I did get to clean her up today and start to prepare for the next step. Just clean water and a towel to get the dust off and inspect.  I'm really happy with the bodywork and paint. A (not so) quick final color sand and buff is in the works, then chrome and stainless are going back on very soon!

[35-709]

gorgeous looking paint job!