lancemb Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Thanks Doug. With those drums it's good to buy them when you see them if they're not cracked up and are reasonably priced! Incredibly, the NOS drums were a couple of the many great parts that came with this car. The extra stuff I sold already more than paid for the missing stuff I had to find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 15 hours ago, lancemb said: Assembly is underway. Note the NOS Delco front brake shoes. I also have NOS front aluminum drums that are going on it (I will probably never find another pair). Also fitted with NOS ball joints. I did the same thing on my convertible...probably should have saved the parts for a car that I actually drove. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 1 hour ago, old-tank said: I did the same thing on my convertible...probably should have saved the parts for a car that I actually drove. I hear ya. Thing is, I have so many NOS parts I've collected for the outside I figured I'll try to make it as authentic as possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Frame and suspension is finally done and rolling, and I'm pretty happy with the results! The body and underside was also blasted and primed. Since this car won't be worked on until completion right now, I wanted to leave the dash in place. Therefore, most components stayed on the firewall for now. I also asked that a portion of the original paint be kept on upper quarter to aid in matching later. Tomorrow morning I'll try to assess how to proceed, and to what extent for now. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Is this car a factory heater delete vehicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnD1956 said: Is this car a factory heater delete vehicle? Yes sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Some more pics of body. Other than the obvious rust at front of rocker area and typical rear quarter rust (which isn't horrible on this car), there are just some pinholes that appeared which should not require a full patch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 A couple more Underside of trunk lid after repairs Inside trunk 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 Car has been back on its frame for awhile, but will have to come back off for finishing the underside. I had to cut it off for now. Back home in the garage resting. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 (edited) Well, my luck may have run out on this car after hitting yet another snag. I went to install the trunk hinges and tension arms, only to discover that each hinge is missing one of two little arms needed to keep it stable. The opposite is missing on each one, so I could make one good one out of the two but need at least one. So far, my usual sources have come up short. If I can't get these, I can't finish the car. I can't find anybody locally who can fabricate them, either. If anyone reading this can help, please advise! Edited October 13, 2020 by lancemb add pic (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I'll have a look in the shed Lance but believe I left those on the Limited parts car when I scrapped it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 59 minutes ago, dei said: I'll have a look in the shed Lance but believe I left those on the Limited parts car when I scrapped it out. Doug, unfortunately these are convertible only! I will probably have to fabricate the missing pieces, but they are beyond my available tooling and I can't find anyone locally thus far that can do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Pictures? Unique to 57? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 2 hours ago, old-tank said: Pictures? Unique to 57? See my post above for a picture. Guessing 58 is same but not other years, but haven't confirmed in parts book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireballV8 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Hi Lance I just sent you a PM. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Even if '58's are the same Lance, I can't help you this time as they went with the car. Here is a not so clear picture if that helps you at all. Here also are a few pictures of the Special convertible that you might be able to find and adapt. Goood Luck there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, dei said: Even if '58's are the same Lance, I can't help you this time as they went with the car. Here is a not so clear picture if that helps you at all. Here also are a few pictures of the Special convertible that you might be able to find and adapt. Goood Luck there. It appears that 58 convertible not same, and it is 57 only. Parts book seems to confirm that so this is a one year only part, convertible only. Ultra rare! I am going to try calling another place today. If I can't find someplace locally I will either contact a lead @FireballV8 gave me or make the pieces I need myself somehow. Edited October 14, 2020 by lancemb (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 11 minutes ago, lancemb said: It appears that 58 convertible not same only and parts book confirms that, so this is a one year only part, convertible only. Ultra rare! Wow! Sounds like the same thing with those ball joints for '57. Makes one wonder why there was no standardisation to save money doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 45 minutes ago, dei said: Wow! Sounds like the same thing with those ball joints for '57. Makes one wonder why there was no standardisation to save money doesn't it? Yeah, well I guess with some things GM was making enough money back then that they didn't care. But, there may be some logic here. Convertible needed hinge that didn't go back as far, to make room for convertible top when folded. I wondered why they didn't just use the convertible design on all cars then. After becoming familiar with the design though, it's a more complex design with more opportunities for failure, and would cost more to manufacture. So, it is probably sensible in this case, but doesn't help me at all 60+ years later! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Great news today! I got my trunk hinges back from rebuilding today, and I believe they are BETTER THAN NEW! It has new brackets fabricated (2 were missing) and all new rivets as well as custom-made mounting pins. I highly doubt the tolerances were this tight when new! I am extremely happy with the results. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Desert Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) On 11/20/2020 at 5:33 PM, lancemb said: Great news today! I got my trunk hinges back from rebuilding today, and I believe they are BETTER THAN NEW! It has new brackets fabricated (2 were missing) and all new rivets as well as custom-made mounting pins. I highly doubt the tolerances were this tight when new! I am extremely happy with the results. Looks like you created some more "luck" for yourself after the initial amout ran out! Edited November 22, 2020 by High Desert (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 On 11/20/2020 at 7:33 PM, lancemb said: Great news today! I got my trunk hinges back from rebuilding today, and I believe they are BETTER THAN NEW! It has new brackets fabricated (2 were missing) and all new rivets as well as custom-made mounting pins. I highly doubt the tolerances were this tight when new! I am extremely happy with the results. Looks like the worlds worst vise-grips 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 45 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said: Looks like the worlds worst vise-grips Wow. Bowl of spaghetti?😜 Ben 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) Today I finally got the hinges on. The pins that hold them on are held in place by metal tabs punched out of the hinge box. Since I think these will come out again, I didn't want to bend the tabs back in and create extra stress on the metal causing them to break. Therefore, I used pins that have cotter pins on the end for now. I have a bit of slop in the pins, but I think it's just because the temporary pins are a little too small; I'll have to verify this. Otherwise, the hinges themselves work great! In addition, I recently had another bit of amazing luck in that I found a correct trunk lid; actually, it found me when I wasn't even looking for it! This was a bit late since the heavy repair had already been done to the other one. However, that one still needs work to finish and this one will probably take no more work to fix than finishing the other one. It's still rotted on lower edge, but is substantially better than the original was to begin with and will be much better fit and quality when done. So, for now at least I have a functioning trunk lid! Edited November 29, 2020 by lancemb (see edit history) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 (edited) Nothing has happened on this car, but I did receive the leather and vinyl from SMS! I ordered it early while they had their 19% off sale. Edited February 8, 2021 by lancemb (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smartin Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 SWEEEET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 A little bittersweet, but it's off to the next owner. It is staying in the U.S., and the new owner has the resources to get the restoration going again full speed. It would be a long time before I would be able to finish it I'd realized, and I just don't want a non-running project taking up space in the meantime. I'm happy to have brought the car a long way and transformed it into a viable project, though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Sometimes you just have to do what has to be done. Good luck to the new owner... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireballV8 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 It is hard to sell it, but you did save another 57 Roadmaster Convertible. I am glad it found a good home. I'll send you a PM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 The car has come a long way in 13 months. Some things should be black that aren't, but it's out of my control. Overall looks to be getting very good treatment! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 8 hours ago, lancemb said: Some things should be black that aren't, but it's out of my control. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smartin Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 There are some things in the engine compartment that are body color, and should be black. I think the guy thinks it's a Cadillac. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 42 minutes ago, EmTee said: ? The radiator drip pan, the mounting pans on the firewall for the brake booster and blower... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Lance, is this your car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted April 6, 2023 Author Share Posted April 6, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, EmTee said: Lance, is this your car? It used to be. I sold it early last year. I thought it would be interesting to follow up with pictures of its progress though since they are being provided to me. It gives me a sense of satisfaction that all of the time and money I put into it to save it from the scrap heap has paid off, and another one will be on the road! Edited April 6, 2023 by lancemb (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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