Carl 61 Fleetwood Phyllis

[Clewisiii]

I will never actually use this. But it is restored and looking beautiful. I just need to determine where to stick the Follow Jacking Instructions sticker.

[James Landi]

As you intimated, this design puts unusual strain on front and, to a lesser extent, rear bumpers and can distort the alignment and in instances where the underside of the bumper is compromised by rust, literally crush the point of contact. Additionally, they must jack high enough to get a flat tire off of the round, so the jack gets tippy and therefore dangerous.   

[Clewisiii]

Working through stripping paint from cowl chrome. These will be part of the next batch of chrome.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Heres a nice Fleetwood from todays car show.

[James Landi]

Carl, my '61 model 62 convertible had its chrome plated cowl painted over chrome! Over many years of ownership, chipping paint revealed the chrome beneath the paint.  Any idea why the chrome was hidden?  James

[Clewisiii]

Carl, my '61 model 62 convertible had its chrome plated cowl painted over chrome! Over many years of ownership, chipping paint revealed the chrome beneath the paint.  Any idea why the chrome was hidden?  James

They only wanted the grill reveal to be bright chrome. But since it is all one part they painted the rest.

[James Landi]

Thank you Carl for the clarification. For 6 DECADES, I surmised that the cowling in exposed chrome was meant for certain up market models, and less expensive ones had the chrome hidden and were painted over.  Your explanation makes total sense.    James

[David Greenburg]

'60 was the same way; the parts are all chrome, but then painted body color, leaving only the "slits" chromed. When I had mine painted, I spent a ridiculous amount of time with x-acto knives and green painters tape taping off those slits.

[Clewisiii]

So I had never finished painting the underbody of my car. I decided i hatwd the POR15 red oxide topcoat. It was like spraying yogurt.

So I cut out a section of the original red oxide from a scrap door and had it color matched. I had half a gallon made to spray my underbody and inner fenders. I will try to spray it this weekend.

[Clewisiii]

I just got the call. My first batch of chrome is ready. But they close in an hour and they are two hours away. Closed next weekend for the holiday. So I will pick up in two weeks.

[Clewisiii]

Man. I should have just had that paint mixed long ago.

So much easier to spray.  Tomorrow i might be able to start removing the rotisserie.

[Clewisiii]

It will be so nice sanding down this body. At least sanding and priming is free. I have been slow mostly due to costs. But those costs are slowly collecting behind me.

[Clewisiii]

I cannot wait to get that firewall painted.

This frame is just waiting for the body to be installed on it.

[Clewisiii]

I think I am going to take a vacation day on friday to celebrate getting that first batch of chrome back. It is a 2 hour drive there and 2 hour home. So that is half the day there.

The first batch was 43 pieces. But some quite small like the radio buttons.

The next batch is currently 20 pieces. But on average larger but simpler shapes. I want to stay at the same price as the first batch. So I will bring some extras to drop off if the 20 piece quote comes in cheaper.

[Clewisiii]

I am preparing to go to the chrome shop on friday. I am trying to decide what extra to bring depending on what my quote is for the window frame.

The last time they said their minimum on a small part was $50.

I am not sure if these fleetwood hashes would be minimums but if they are that would be $600. I have nearly 2 sets. But there are 3 sizes I will need to verify a complete set




Not sure what these washer escutcheons would be. I have new nozzels. I should be able to plate with the brass tubes on.

[Clewisiii]

I picked up my first batch of chrome. Latter tonight I will unpack and inspect it all on a protected table.

But I also dropped off my second batch. All window frames, cowl, and a few small pieces. This came to $5900. I had to hold back on the Fleetwood hashes. They will be $720 for the twelve.

They are currently running 7 months out. So I will not expect these back until mid summer.

[Clewisiii]

Well there is $6000 in chrome. Mostly due to intricate shapes and pits that needed to be repaired.

I still have a lot of painting to do on these. Faceplates, inside ashtrys, inside vents.

They restored the brush chrome parts except for the sides of the seats. Since it was inset we decided I would paint them to dull the finish.

I am happy. This was a Michigan car and it sat for 30 years with the windows cracked open. So there were to many pits for me to be happy before.

[Clewisiii]

I need to sand the finish flat on the veneer and apply a final top coat. But these are looking good.



I was hoping to get lucky and have the door pull lenses drop in to the new chrome. But I will need a little adjustment.

[Clewisiii]

Well I have all those door pull lenses in. They hold nice but I want to put a touch of epoxy on the insides to lock them in.



I need to figure out what to clean this chrome with to prepair some of the parts for paint.

[Clewisiii]

Back to this debate.  Now that the chrome is done, it is time to paint the speedometer surround and the radio face plate.


I have bought many different paints. And I guess in the end it wont matter since they will match. But my two originals side by side did not match, and they do not match my parts car. I kind of like these end two.


My originals had a brown tint that I am not sure if that was just age or nicotine. But it was brown even under the protected areas.  My parts car is mostly just a grey.  Here are the original two.  If you have thoughts let me know.