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1947 56C Project "Can't finish unless you start"


jackofalltrades70

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Guest shadetree77

Awww c'mon Matt. You can charm her into it. I convinced my Mom to let me store cleaned and painted parts in their spare bedroom.:D

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... Wifey says the painted parts are NOT going in the living room.:P...

Gosh, the painted parts would look so much better in there than the unpainted ones, but if thats her preference, why argue? Chances are the unpainted parts would have less oxidation inside the house with the heat on. Your wife is a real sport about this stuff... LOL

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Warped pontoon is now "officially" un-warped! Now just need to drill out some spotwelds that popped loose in the un-warping session and re-weld. Then a skim coat of filler and that is that. A little wet sanding and glazing filler for scratches and I'll be ready for epoxy primer. I's gettin' really excited!!!!!;)

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Back in the garage for 1.5 hours tonight. Pontoon spotwelds drilled out, and re-welded. Skim coat of filler applied. I have to find some rubber washers tomorrow so I can finish aligning the front and bolt it down tight. A little more sanding here and there and I'll make some more filler primer fly. Going to have to bring my vette out of winter slumber. It's blocking the door for the buick. Gonna have to move it outside and blow it off and wet sand..........More to come. Matt

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A little sanding here and there on the pontoon. A little filler primer to fill some heavier scratches. Started the painstaking organization of the parts that need to be taken to the chrome shop. Inevitably, some of the parts will have to wait until winter time as the funds just aren't going to be there all at once. I am going to do the parts that are big and functional on the car. Some of the trim items and handles, etc. will probably have to wait. I will take it all with me to see what the price will be so I can send my wallet into sticker shock. Will have to see.

A little more prepwork and then I'll roll her back out of the garage to see in some better light and give her a good wet sanding and rinsing off. She's really dusty right now. Matt

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Moved her back around in the garage and backed her out today. Cleaned all of the dust off the car, and fit the pontoon on the passenger door. Finally it is back in primer and looks good. Going to have to work on the front end sheet metal alignment some more, now the hood isn't centered and I don't know how I "hosed" that up. Fender seems low on the passenger side too. GRRRRRR! Still, all in all, every time I do anything to the ol' girl, she's closer to being done.

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Well, here are some pics of progress. Wet sanding my way around the car. Still have to adjust more on the front fenders. Drivers side low, passenger high and the left/right isn't correct yet either.:mad: It's really starting to look like something and I'm getting anxious to paint. Still, taking my time is better.

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That car is so cool! Is it a good idea though to wet sand the primer? I thought the primer was supposed to have some grit to it so the top coats stuck better? If you make it too smooth then there is nothing for the paint to stick to.

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That car is so cool! Is it a good idea though to wet sand the primer? I thought the primer was supposed to have some grit to it so the top coats stuck better? If you make it too smooth then there is nothing for the paint to stick to.

I think it depends on the primer, but I use PPG DP50 & always wet sand before color coats. Usually a dry knock down with 320

followed by a wet 400. I follow up with 2 lights coats of PPG sealer before color.

Makes for a nice smooth substrate for the color and clear coats.

mike

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I am wet sanding with 500grit. I cannot feel the imperfections still needing repair without the water and sanding. I've handled too many hot castings over the years.

I have some more repairs to do here and there, especially on the front driver fender.

Will probably pull the hood off tonight after sanding other half so I can work on the fender alignment some more.

Thanks for all of the kind words guys! ;)

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Hood is back off of the car. Worked more on the front fender alignment. I am getting closer!! I hope that tomorrow I can finish the front end sheet metal alignment and bolt everything tight. More sheet metal persuasion is to be had on the front drivers fender, one of the short pontoon extensions behind the drivers door, the fender skirts and interior garnish. If I really settle down and get-r-done, I would hope I can lay all of that to bed before the end of the weekend. If that is the case, I'll go pick my final color and buy the epoxy primer.

Note to self:

Order new paint gun!

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Guest Rob McDonald

MATT, you said earlier that you'll probably go with dark blue, to complement your bright red interior. Lovin' it! For '47, Buick offered Nightshade Blue and Canterbury Blue. Both are metallics (their paint codes include "luminescence"), so they might look a lot better in reality than on the attached colour chart. Are you thinking of one of these or do you have something more creative in mind?

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Rob,

In late 47', Buick offered a blue paint called "regency blue" which is also a metallic color. It is very dark. Tha ppg paint code is 10417 and is not a current paint code. With the help of another member and 47 RM convertible owner, we have found a paint code that is close.

Now to my current situation, I'm not the best bodyman in the world. On top of this, cars in the 40's had wavy panels from the factory.

So, I've been checking out a white paint with red pearl in the clear coat.

The body lines are pretty straight and door gaps are fair. The lighter color will help hide the imperfections in the panels.

Comments?

Criticism?

Remember, I am going to drive the hell out of this car and enter it in local car shows. It is not a 400 point car, nor will it ever be while in my possession.

Tonight I managed to finish up the front end sheet metal alignment. I am quite happy. Just one more tweak on the passenger side tomorrow. I also found a few more dents and persuaded on them with hammer and dolly. Tomorrow should be skim coats of filler on a few spots and some more sanding and filler primer.

Matt

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Matt;

My opinion is always that its' your car, and you can do what you like. With bodywork I've found the real talent and skill is patience to so the sanding/priming/sanding over and over till its' perfect.

Just do the best you can, paint the car in a colour you like, and have fun!

Keith

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If you are looking for a dark blue, and would consider a non-original color, then BMW Mini-Cooper has a great choice, IMO.

A lot of blue colors when in the sunlight aren't that nice, but being I am a blue fan, and my Limited is dark blue, then I am always looking for the right choice. I picked a Dodge dark blue, but in the sun, it isn't really my choice. Live and learn,,,,,,,

Just offering food for thought.

Wishing you well,

Dale in Indy

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Guest Rob McDonald
white paint with red pearl in the clear coat

Can't imagine what that looks like. Does it pick up red highlights in the curves? Your gorgeous Buick is one honkin' collection of curves, so that could be really stunning. Can you suggest examples of modern cars with this sort of coloured pearl over a light base colour?

Went Googlin'. Here's a blue pearl over white. Wow. Go out and play, Matt!

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Rob,

That is what I am suspecting will happen if I decide to do the red pearl in the clearcoat over white.

Today was a busy, busy day. I tweaked a lot on the passenger side and now I think the drivers side needs more tweaking. When will this end!!!!!!!!!??????? I was able to sand out the drivers fender today and it's primered again with several coats of filler primer. I decided to try putting the grill frame back on to help with aligning the front end.

I get excited every time that I put in a full day on the car. I was out there almost 6 hours. I worked on door gaps also by shimming body mounts. Getting closer and closer and I think that it might even be helping the fender to door alignments.

Probably no work on the car tomorrow as we are going to try to beat the heat at Hershey park tomorrow. Only 2 hours away and it is a great time for the kids. Hey, I'm a kid at heart.

Matt

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Hey guys and gals! Progress, Progress, Progress. When I woke up this morning, everyone was so worn out from roller skating last night and noone wanted to drive 2 hours to Hershey to get wet! So, I made breakfast, went grocery shopping and then worked on the car all day long. I got 10 or so hours in on the little girl today! I have a little more bodywork on the fender skirts, and one short extension. I finished up the trunk area and lid today, the rear filler (between car and bumper), drivers door pontoon, front end sheet metal is aligned (FINALLY!!!!):D:):cool:

I went around the car and applied the fun red stuff on all of the scratches I could find! I would hope that I can finish the bodywork tomorrow and sometime this week get to the paint gettin' place for the epoxy primer for sealing all of this garbage up. I didn't even roll the car outta the garage today! So wore out I only took one picture.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I know I did!

I might have a story and some pictures for everyone tomorrow, if I pull off what I'm trying to do. More on that later. Enjoy! Matt

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Well, I did what I said I thought I would and bought another Beautiful Buick. A 56' fo do Super. See my new thread in Me and my Buick. I didn't get much done on my car today, much more than quote the epoxy seal primer, the paint and clear. Now I'm set and can go pick up at the paint store when I'm ready. Tomorrow I gotta get the rest of the bodywork done so I can roll the car out of the garage and start cleaning it out. I have to put all of the extra parts away and junk all of the junk. My "new" 56 put a slowdown in my job today, but it's on the sidelines until I get done with the Buick. Matt

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Had family stuff to do this afternoon, but I still got the skim coat of filler put on all of the parts that required it. Tomorrow I should be able to finish all of that up, then Thursday I should be able to roll it back out of the garage into the afternoon sun to look for more problem areas. I hope I don't find much more. I guess I'll start organizing the garage and move some of the spare parts to the basement for safe keeping. Matt

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Ok, my day never ends. When I got home, I BBQed some chicken, ate dinner then I was off to the garage! Tonight was a "Sand A Thon"! Body is ready for epoxy primer/sealer. Still have to finish up some details on some of the bolt on body parts, but the door pontoons are finished and ready also. I still have to finish the fender skirts and short pontoons up and re-check the rear fenders and outer rocker panels that bolt on under the doors. The hood is half sanded and I want to finish it tomorrow and re-check the fit back on the car. Aligning the sheet metal has been a bear and I don't want to mess with it after painting, so better to check again. I just finished up at 9:30, so I've had a very complete day. No pictures yet. If I get my sanding done tomorrow, I'll start putting stuff away in the basement and cleaning up the garage for the "Turn me into a paintbooth" days to come. Matt

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Guest shadetree77

Matt, I may have overlooked this but what did you use for the rubber mount/spacer that goes on the bottom of the radiator? Mine disintegrated when I took my front end apart. I was going to invent something out of some rubber material I have because I couldn't find a reproduction anywhere.

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Matt, I may have overlooked this but what did you use for the rubber mount/spacer that goes on the bottom of the radiator? Mine disintegrated when I took my front end apart. I was going to invent something out of some rubber material I have because I couldn't find a reproduction anywhere.

Robert,

I just used some extra body mount rubbers I had and some steel shims. It worked out great. Matt

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