Bleach Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I am truly impressed by the amount of effort and care that is going to this restoration. In essence a badly decayed car was literally turned into an enormous jigsaw puzzle. This puzzle that is composed of missing and damaged pieces is slowly becoming a masterpiece in reassembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 The first step in the floor pan on this one was to align and fasten what good sections of floor to the mounts and structure to act as a frame to holt it in place while we made repairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Some areas were more grim than others. remember though, what we have left is rust free, sandblasted, epoxied, sealed, pure steel. It's just full of holes with some sections missing. all we have to do is fill in the blanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 inch by inch, section by section, rib by rib we fabbed patches and rescued ribs from other panels and jigsawed our way to structural integrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 there was much tacking and pre fitting and measuring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I was missing a rib i did not have so i further modified the bead roller to let me offset the step rollers to make ribs. some of the pictures are blurry , sorry. Then i cut tapered and welded and ground the proper termination to the rib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 that first rib worked well so i fabricated a rear floor pan section for the big missing spot on the other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) Cut, weld, grind, fit, tac,k weld, grind. As seen in the second to last picture I often overlap and screw two panels together and run the small airsaw through them both to do a "double cut" to get two perfectly matching panels to weld together. Edited December 21, 2011 by foxhole (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Out with the old and in with the new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Remember that first lonly little rib we rolled out? now it has a home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) I could go on like this forever but for the most part the rest of the floor repeated the fabricating and saving rib process and butt welding them in until we had a complete welded ground pretty much metal finished floor pan. The floor is comprised of seville, biaritz, some four door, some sections we purchased from ebay and some homemade. If i recal correctly 67 pieces between the firewall and back of rear seat. Edited December 21, 2011 by foxhole (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I redesigned and double boxed the seat risers to help stiffen the body across the X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Any updates on this project? You really hooked us with your amazing metalwork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I'm also wondering why there is no further report on that job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Best guess the customer stopped paying the bills. No disrespect whatsover meant or implied. I see many, many hours of work done with many, many still to go. Takes an understanding customer to follow thru on such a demanding project. Nice work in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike brady Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I too enjoyed following the progress of this restoration, the fine work and detail. When I read the RM results of the Arizona sale in January, at which a '57 Sold for $132K, I too assumed the owner had a change of thought. I hope my assumptions are wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob McDonald Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Wow. It's nobody's business except that of our correspondent and his customer but I did notice that, back in early December, they were "3 or 4 thousand hours" into this project. In my part of the world, that translates as $300,000 or $400,000, which is twice or three times the value of a really nice '58 Eldo ragtop. Disturbingly, at that point, all they had was a large pile of small bits and nothing that one would actually describe as a car. But then the owner supplied another pretty fine looking Cadillac, that I'd be happy to have as-is. His hired craftsman immediately reduced that to another heap of metal scraps. Oh dear. Patience is a virtue until one reaches a certain point, when medication is clearly required.Let's just hope that Foxhole is saving up another flush of photos, showing him re-pixelating this marvel of metalwork and shots of it rolling out of the paint booth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 Wow. It's nobody's business except that of our correspondent and his customer but I did notice that, back in early December, they were "3 or 4 thousand hours" into this project. In my part of the world, that translates as $300,000 or $400,000, which is twice or three times the value of a really nice '58 Eldo ragtop. Disturbingly, at that point, all they had was a large pile of small bits and nothing that one would actually describe as a car. But then the owner supplied another pretty fine looking Cadillac, that I'd be happy to have as-is. His hired craftsman immediately reduced that to another heap of metal scraps. Oh dear. Patience is a virtue until one reaches a certain point, when medication is clearly required.Let's just hope that Foxhole is saving up another flush of photos, showing him re-pixelating this marvel of metalwork and shots of it rolling out of the paint booth.To be clear it wasn't 3000 hours to bring it to the point currently shown but to the point of almost finished. The car had been painted for almost a year when I started posting pictures. It's busy season right now and I'm working 12 hours a day, no time to hang out on the Internet with a shop full of cars to Finnish for show season including this one, a 38 v12 Packard, 70 monte Carlo, 67 Canso, 64 elcamino, 68 ranchero, all in final assembly stages. Internet will have to wait till I get a bad cold or the weather turns again. I have a hard drive full of build threads to post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 To be clear it wasn't 3000 hours to bring it to the point currently shown but to the point of almost finished. The car had been painted for almost a year when I started posting pictures. It's busy season right now and I'm working 12 hours a day, no time to hang out on the Internet with a shop full of cars to Finnish for show season including this one, a 38 v12 Packard, 70 monte Carlo, 67 Canso, 64 elcamino, 68 ranchero, all in final assembly stages. Internet will have to wait till I get a bad cold or the weather turns again. I have a hard drive full of build threads to post.I await said hard drive of build threads as a child awaits Christmas. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob McDonald Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 FOXHOLE, it's great to hear that this amazing restoration is much further along than the pictures so far indicated. Please post when you get time to breathe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazA Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Hi foxhole,Any updates on this project? Pics and story in thread is great. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 Hi foxhole,Any updates on this project? Pics and story in thread is great. ThanksYes it's done, finest 58 eldorado in existence I belive. Even better than the 55 sun valley I built that won the AACA grand nationals. Stopped posting due to negative commentary and criticism from some of the last few posters. It left a bad taste in the mouth of the owner and I felt it best not to continue. Just because someone chooses to strive for a level of perfection that most can not afford doesn't mean it's a bad idea, in a perfect world we would all go this far.i will talk to the owner and see how he feels about capping this thread with pictures of the final product. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazA Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Ahh, OK...was paying attention to mostly your posts in the thread and skimmed over some of the others. As someone who has been learning how to do bodywork over the last few years (latest project a 66 Caddy vert), I thought your work was amazing Either way on the final pics, glad to hear the project is completed! Fantastic. Thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model56s Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Foxhole, I would love to see the final pictures. Thank you for posting this inspiring project - so many people have no idea about such craftsmanship, among them I count myself.Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I'd really, really, really, really (repeated many times), like to see the rest of the build photos. The detail and level of effort in the work was very inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 I do join the last comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I too would like to see more pics of the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 as requested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Gorgeous, thanks for posting! It is a real shame that negative comments costs us a chance to see this thread updated in real time. I would have loved to have seen the gradual transformation of this masterpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 The customer has said it's OK for me to finish the build thread, I may have time in the fall, just in the process of launching a new company so I'm pretty swamped. I figured I'd at least post up some finished pics for now. That way as I post the rest of the build everyone can be content that it has a happy ending, even the haters. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model56s Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Thank you, Foxhole. I am looking forward to the remainder of the build thread. Superior work!Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazA Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Wow..awesome!! Thank you for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 A Few pics from the summer. Won every show it went to. Best in show all the way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 What a fabulous example! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thanks for the pictures! Congratulations for the results in the shows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model56s Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Stunning. Thank you forposting these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thanks to you and the owner for the willingness to share the finished photos of a very grand automobile.I hope you are able to share more examples of your awesome craftsmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 What a fantastic car foxhole! I really enjoyed seeing your ingenuity regarding the duplication of some of the factory-specific bends. So many people, most of whom never see this, simply dont understand the work done to these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhole Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 Almost ten years now since it was finished and looks just as good as the day it left. I’m happy to say the customer shows this car nearly every weekend through the season and cruises it every Friday Saturday and Sunday all summer long. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnut4life Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Unbelievable work foxhole, you are a master of your trade and I tip my hat to you. What a gorgeous car that is, absolutely stunning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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