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The resurrection of a 1950 Crosley Hotshot


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I am starting on a project of restoring a 1950 Crosley Hotshot that is beyond bad. When I got it someone had started the restoration of the car and didn't do me any favors as they had used galvinized furnace ductwork for the patchwork.:mad: The car looks to have been sitting outdoors for many years, being neglected and forgotten, left for dead. I picked the car up in West Virginia, and that was a trip in itself. I think someone was trying to tell me to go home and leave the car there as we got lost serveral times using maps from online.

Now most of you know that Crosley's were not built the same way a Chevy or Ford was and they were not perfect when they left the factory. In looking at some of the original welds and placement of panels I can see that the car wasn't built with exacting accuracy, dimensions are different from one side of the car to the other by over 1/2" in several places.

Crosley hotshots are rare enough that I feel this one is worth bringing back. Most of the metal that needs replaced is flat and shouldn't be too hard to replicate. The first part of the restoration is with the rear section of the car. To remove it I drilled out about a dozen aluminum pop rivits and lifted it from the frame as it was not bolted down. The spot welds that held the center section to the fenders were rusted away to the point that a few tugs on the panel and slicing the two welds on the support brackets and it was free from the rear fenders. The trailing edge of the rear floor section needed replaced and a welded in. The entire rearward floor area that extends to the rear bumper will be replaced with a new piece made from scratch. Several areas of the fenders where they weld to the center section were rusted out and repaced with new metal and welded in. Tomorrow I hope to prime the under side of the rear panel and rears of the fenders as they will not be able to be painted once the rear section is welded on, then I can weld the rear panel back in place.

Hope you enjoy the thread.:)

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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I thought I would give a little history of myself and Crosley's. My dad was into antique cars when I was very young and I enjoyed helping him work on and restore his cars. When I was 15 he asked me if I would like to buy an antique car and of course I said yes. He told me he knew where there was a 1951 Crosley wagon for sale and we could go look at it if I wanted to. He said Crosleys were not that good of a car and maybe we should keep looking. We went to look at it and I liked it and bought it with my grass mowing money. Dad and I restored that car and serveral years later I bought my second Crosley, the 1946 sedan at a local auction. Then many years later, after I got married, I got the 1949 hotshot at the national meet in Wauseon OH. Then came the 1950 pickup in bad shape that found me, then the 1951 station wagon, which was in an estate sale, then the 1952 Super Sports, that the guy came to me asking if I would be interested in it, which I knew about from the time I bought my first Crosley. The 1950 convertable was from another Crosley club member and then this hotshot. It seems like once you get one Crosley you have to have more. Crosley's seem to grow on you, the more you have the more you want. Of course in with the Crosleys I have other cars that I like too.

Yesterday I replaced a few sections of metal in the rear panel and then primered areas that will not see paint when the car is put together.

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I have been busy with real work, making money to fund the resurrection, but have been able to get a few minutes in here and there. I have set the rear center section in place to test fit it and patched a few of the lower inner fender pieces. I don't have my camera here so the next time I do I will get some pictures for everyone.

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Dale, glad you decided to take on this challenging project. I had looked at the pictures of it when it was offered for sale and I could tell the pictures were not showing all the problems, just from a few little details you could see that left big questions. You're right with only something like 2500 made over 4 years we should dry to save as many as possible. You are digging right in and making great progress. Planning on showing at next years Crosley Nationals?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Work is progressing on the rear section of the Hotshot. I was able to weld the center section in today. I also sprayed a coat of sandable primer on the the inside of the center section. The next project will be making the new rear floor section that extends from the existing floor to the the rear bumper. Also the front part of the inner fenders need some replacement metal work. Have I mentioned yet that this car is in very bad shape?

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I hope to have the rear section ruffed in by next weekend.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well progress has been very slow, but progress none the less. I have replaced the rusted metal at the front part of the rear section that leads down to the floor area. I also ground off some weld at the edge of the rear fenders, preparing it for mating with the sides of the car. I still haven't made the rear floor panel as I need to get metal, hopefully by the end of this week.

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A friend of my Dad by the name of Cal Burtner had a restored Hotshot and I believe it was salmon colored. That was a sweet little car. He also had a garage full of Bantams. I can't wait to see more good progress on your car. John

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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More progress, the lower fronts of the rear fenders were rusted away so new metal was fabricated and welded in place. Slowly but surely the thing is looking better.

As asked I will post a few of my other Crosley's in the next couple post. Thanks for asking about them.

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My first car was a 1951 Crosley Super Station wagon that I bought when I was 15 years old. I restored the car with the help of my dad way back when and then I restored it again about 10 years ago. I still own it and I got it out a few years ago to take a few pictures of it. Sorry it is dusty.

Another of my Crosley's is a 1949 Crosley Hotshot with four wheel disc brakes. This one was restored by me and my two step daughters about 12 years ago.

Crosley's become an addiction worse than any other car I know of, once you have one you must have more. The only good thing is they are smaller than most cars. As of right now I have 8 Crosley's.

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Today was the day to make the rear floor panel for the rear section. I cut it from 18 gauge metal and bent it to the same dimensions as the old one, less all the rust. None of the original holes for mounting the rear floor to the upper rear section lined up and none were symmetrical from side to side as usual with a Crosley. It is now vice gripped in place while I make sure everything is where it needs to be. Once welded in I hope to get the rear section back on the frame to start on the floor and sides of the body.

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Thursday was the day the rear section of the car was reunited with the frame. The rear floor section has two mounting holes and that was lined up with the two holes in the frame and it was bolted to the frame. The front section of the car was not bolted down so I found the two mount holes and bolted it down so it is now lined up with the frame. What better jig than the frame to get the body lined up. I did have one problem in lining things up, the front passenger inner fender extention was not in the right place and was over the battery box making the passenger side high. :o Once this was found and removed, the body came into alignment very nice.

Friday begain by removing the furnace tin from the floor and sides and see what needed done to join the front of the car to the rear of the car. The outer floor supports were rusted away and new ones were cut and bent and welded in. I sure wish I had a larger brake... As you will notice the floor supports only go back about 36", at that point there is a frame support and also an angle iron that will be support the side panels.

Today I continued to work on the outer floor supports and thenlooked into the floorpans. Of course I just went to my local Crosley dealer and picked up a new set of pans. lol :rolleyes:

Lots of pictures today.

I hope everyone is enjoying my post.

If anyone has any Crosley parts let me know...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not much to report on except a few purchases at Hershey for the project. After walking the flea market for two days I did come up with a pair of restored headlight buckets with trim and one wiper motor. I also purchased a hood for the hotshot that was delivered to my flea market space by a fellow Crosley club member on Friday in the pouring rain. One other item that I did purchase was a 1/4 keg for the gas tank for my 1950 Crosley pick-up truck. It will be mounted in the bed of the truck and will actually hold 1.25 gallons more gas then the original tank. I know it is not original, but it will look cool. Work has been put off as prior to Hershey I was getting jobs done so that I could go and now I am trying to play catch-up on my day job as I took the week off for Hershey. Priorities, work first, play later?? I have made one side of the floor pan and I am waiting for the metal shop to get more 16 gauge metal. I will get pictures of the floor progress up shortly.

I have included a picture of my purchases at Hershey and a few pictures of the 1950 Crosley tow truck pickup truck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Work on the Hotshot has been slowed to almost a standstill as I wait for my metal shop to get metal in for the floor. I also am prepairing for winter and getting all the cars and toys put away safely for the cold weather. I did make a few welds on the floor supports on the passenger side. I hope the metal shop gets the 16 gauge metal in soon so I can continue to progress on the replacement of the floors. I have also been working on the engine for the 1950 Crosley truck. The engine blew a rod bearing while towing the Ford motorhome out of the muddy field at the Crosley Nationals and has been out since July. Attached are the pictures of the floor supports and the engine rebuild, along with one of my other cars, a 1966 Ford Mustang. This car was bought in June of 1980 and was the second car I ever bought, the first car being the 1951 Crosley Super stationwagon. I still own both cars.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally progress to report, the metal shop I was using failed to get more 16 gauge metal in so I found another source for it, the only problem is that they will not bend the 90 degree bends on the end. I picked up a piece of 16 gauge 3' X 8' today and traced the passenger side floor onto the new metal and cut it out. Feels good to be at it again.

While I was waiting on metal I did make the repair to the lower part of the kick-up on the front floor on the passenger side.

Both floors now are cut, bent and test fitted and I will make sure all dimensions are correct before I begin welding them in. Enjoy the pictures.

Once everything is a go for welding I will drill 3/8" holes in the floors and "spot" weld them in to the front kick-ups, rear kick-ups and floor supports.

I hope everyone is enjoying the resurrection of this Crosley. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Dale

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Today I took some measurements and all looks well to begin welding the floors in. I had to add to the floor support that I installed earlier, this will take it to the end of the side panels and where the rear quarters start. An angle iron goes on the rear quarter and down through the floor to tie everything together and make it nice and strong, but more on that later. One thing I did was measure my good Hotshot and found that the sides are different lengths on each side, left side was 3/4" longer than the right side. No surprise there, typical Crosley.

Hole are all drilled for the spot welds on the passenger side floor. Hope to get it welded in tomorrow.

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A milestone happened today, the front half of the car was connected to the rear half with the passenger side floor being welded into place. The "spot welds" worked great and now need grinding to smooth them up, remember all of this will be covered with a rubber floor mat. I will continue installing the floor and adding to the floor support on the drivers side. Thanksgiving is here and my daughter has invited us to her place for dinner, she lives in Maryland so I will be off for a few days. You know how it is, anything for a free meal...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!:)

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Back to work on the Hotshot after a nice Thanksgiving break with the family. The drivers side floor was welded in and the tunnel for the driveshaft was bent, 16 gauge metal doesn't like to bend real easy:(. I need to remove the tunnel and flange the lower edge so it fits flush with the 90 degree angles from the floor sections, one inch of the tunnel will hang below the floor level to duplicate the original. Then I can install it and weld it into place. It is almost looking like a car again. :D

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Today the passenger side was installed after being cut out and the top rolled slightly. The bottom edge was bent at a 90 degree angle at the metal shop. It still needs welded on along the bottom and rear but for now I will leave it the way it is. The rear fender needs patched before I weld them together. It also needs stiffeners and mounts for the dashboard added to the insides of the panel. It is really starting to look like a car again, at least till I lift the body off the chassis when all the major metal work is completed to work on the chassis.

Is anyone looking???:confused:

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Little baby steps were taken yesterday. Made the brace for the windshield and dash for the passenger side panel and installed it. Still have to make the brace that runs under the door opening from the front of the panel to the back, but my bead roller does not have a big enough die for the brace. I also cleaned up some of the welds on the drivers side floor while it was nice and easy to get to. I need to think on it to come up with something comparable. Then laid out the pattern for the drivers side panel and cut it out. Today I am working on installing the drivers side panel, should be done with it today if all goes well.

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Got some more work done on the car today. I finished trimming and adjusting the drivers side panel and then used the bead roller to put a flange on the top and front edge of the panel. Drilled all the spot weld holes in the lower flange and rear flange and it was ready to weld in place so I began welding it in and now the car has both sides and a floor. There is more welding required on both sides but it is getting closer to looking like it should. I got a few full body shots of the car so you can see the improvements and see the whole car instead of just a small section.

Tomorrow's job is to make and install the brace on the drivers side for the windshield and dash and continue welding in the panel.

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Hi Dale. Following your post - more metal work on a little Crosley than I figured on!!!!! Will put in a plug for Vintage Truck magazine; the Jan/Feb 2014 Issue, Volume 21 Number 6 has an article on a 1952 Crosley Panel Delivery owned by a fellow named Dean. A "Super Special Delivery" with quite a bit of history about Powell Crosley, Jr. hisself! I'm more into his radios than his autos, EH!! Keep us informed.

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  • 2 months later...

Have been working on the customers truck and it is nearing the end of what I will be doing to it. I have started a small job on the Hotshot, not having the proper steering column, I have dismantled a sedan column and will be sending it to my local machinist to have him cut it down and make it the right length for the hotshot.

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  • 6 months later...

I hope to be starting back on the Hotshot soon. The Mack is just about done, was away at the paint shop for a while and now it is back getting some finishing touches to the wiring and miscellaneous things. Here is a picture of the 1927 Mack as it is today. It should be leaving very soon.

The Hotshot hasn't had any work done to it in almost a year, I am anxious to get back to it and get the bodywork completed and then lift the body off and get the chassis ready.

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