Another restoration added to my list, 30’ Chevy 4dr

[TexRiv_63]

Chris, best wishes on a full recovery. Pretty much everyone in the world right now is subject to an unbelievable amount of stress and each has to find their own best way to deal with it. The restoration work and problem solving you share here is remarkable and useful to all.

[chistech]

Installed some parts that were previously restored by the owner.

[chistech]

Did some work on the new front fenders we were able to find. Did some tin knocking, filing, and welded in a patch so they’re ready for the painter. The new Waldrons exhaust system came in and it was mounted up. I also test fitted the fenders along with splash aprons and running boards. All alignment looked good so final sheet metal assembly should go well. 
 

sorry for some of the rotated pictures, I took them with my cell phone and for some reason it rotated them.

[chistech]

Mounted up the running boards and splash aprons to make sure everything lined up. Installed all the fender welts also so they’re already made up for the final assembly pulled the fenders back off so they can go to paint. The gooseneck was weeping slightly so I drained the radiator and pulled it. I put the bottom on my disk sander and found the bottom was really corroded and while the two bolt locations were the first to show contact, the front and back edges were hardly touched so I sanded the bottom down until all the corrosion was gone then lapped it on a piece of glass to make sure it was perfectly flat. I made up a new gasket and applied black permatex then bolted it down. Reinstalled the upper hose. I pulled the temporary bottom flex hose and installed the metal elbow and two short hoses that make up the bottom line. The original elbow was rotted and currently the reproduction elbows are unavailable. I found that Onan RV generator exhaust parts are they same thickness and diameter piping plus they make a tight elbow that is basically an exact match so I painted it up and installed it all.

      Before I left for Florida for Christmas, I dropped the painted wheels offfor pinstriping and I picked them up today. Chased all the studs to remove any paint or rust then installed the new tires and painted rims on the wheels. The owner had been restoring this car for years and was systematically getting parts done and that is why things like the wheels, tires,rims, splash aprons, and running boards are already restored. The rim nuts were modern tapered 7/16-20 lugs so I chuckled each one in the lathe to remove a considerable amount of the taper so there would be much more contact on the faces of the wheel to rim lugs. Installed the wheels on the chassis and then rolled the chassis into my enclosed trailer where it will wait till the sheet metal and body comes back. Will be getting the interior soon and will start evaluating the condition of everything and what will need to be done.

[John S.]

Ted, I'm glad you are back, wasn't the same without you. Great work , as always.  I love the way the Chevy is coming along. John

[BearsFan315]

Looking good as always Ted

[chistech]

Not to have people think something serious happened to me or I haven’t been doing any work on things, I’ll give you a quick rundown of the last few months. The biggest thing at the time, which happened about a month before my son got married, was to find out my employer of the past 22 years, has decided to go in a different direction and announced they would be fazing out the complete outside sales and service division, about 200+ people, some being terminated immediately, some on January 1st, some on May 1st, then the few remaining on June 1st. I’m in the May 1st group but I’ve never been without a job since I was 13 and here I am, just turned 60. The money isn’t an issue with severance and a stay on bonus but I wasn’t planning on retirement yet and what really bothered me was the hundreds of customers I had built a relationship with, who trusted me or my tech, to keep their packaging equipment up and running usually within 24hrs notice. 
    A discussion immediately started with my wife about going into business again for myself,(I originally had an independent service company and my employer found me, had me do some service, then hired me to build a machinery program, sales and service). So you can see I had a lot of stress going on with work, not wanting to let my kids worry about me, plus being in the same house with the “skeletor” ex wife during my sons wedding was probably why I suffered the GTA . Opening my own businesses after May 1st is a no brainer because I already have the customer base, equipment and vendor support in place so now there’s a lot to be done with accountants and lawyers in the next month or so. My wife is concerned that I’ll have enough work which I know I will but I’ve decided to incorporate my antique car hobby into my business making it official. I already have the car customers (I had refused many cars in the past year or so) and the car supply vendors so it’s a no brainer too. Because I do a lot of wood work I invested in some new, larger equipment to make the job easier and  faster. I was able to start on a complete rewooding of another 32’ Olds DCR that I’ll have coming in later in the summer from Syracuse NY. I got about one third of the body wood, including the involved B pillars finished already based off my original wood from my own DCR. When the body gets here, I’ll be repairing the body sheet metal with patch panels then the body will be completely nailed on and finished when it heads home. I also have other 32’ wood ordered so it seems my body wood business should kick off just fine and I’m glad I upgraded my equipment.
       So everything was going well with my future plans, the body for this 30’ chevy and all it’s sheet metal went to the painter, the chassis was finished up and stored in my trailer, and I figured I’d start on the interior once the weather turned slightly warmer as I’m restoring the seats as they are, and not recovering them. They need some cleaning, removing of mice nests, repadding, tightening, etc., plus the owner wants buttons added. Who ever made the cover upholstery made it incorrectly as there is no vertical pleats but the owner is fine with that. Using my Chevy upholstery  information guide, I placed the buttons in the factory spacing. It does help add a better look to the cushions. 
    In the middle of all this, after going two years without catching Covid, I got it. While I’ve felt much sicker at times in my life, I’ve never felt stranger than I have the past 6 weeks. No real cough or shortness of breath but low grade fever, severe eye headache, and nausea. Extreme fatigue to the point eating made me tired and I could wake up, have some soup, then have to go back to bed and sleep another 6-8hrs. The real issue I had with this virus is the brain fog and anxiety it caused. I had to read things many times to comprehend them and any sort of technical questions got me quickly frustrated and kind of angry. I found myself, when I wasn’t sleeping, up and pacing the room, feeling useless and confused. The symptoms are definitely not natural. I’m not vaccinated so my immune system went to work naturally and was able to fight off everything the virus sent my way. I was tested for antibodies and my numbers came back very high which the doctor said is great so nature seemed to work it’s course.

     So these last few days I’ve gotten out of the house and I’m getting somewhat back to normal.  I’ve been working on this 30’ upholstery and getting some yard work done by trimming up some trees and vines encroaching badly on a side of my back yard. Well today I’m paying for installing the buttons and pulling the upholstery tighter as I can barely move my neck! Don’t do anything physical at 60yrs old for 6weeks and your body goes to crap! Little by little is how I have to get back into it. By the way, did I mention that I have shoulder surgery scheduled for April 13 to repair a 1 1/2” tear in my rotator cuff tendon! Yup, another small setback! In the future I will be posting less and less. I found I like not feeling like I have to post or to deal with some of keyboard professors who tell me I’m wrong even though I’m actually doing it, not just reading it somewhere and talking about doing it. On another thread here I read about questionable authenticity of a particular car and all the authoritative statements but in the few short years I’ve been in the antique car hobby, I have more questions about the authenticity of people in the hobby, and the people posting then the cars they’re posting about. From people working to try and buy my 32’ olds out from under me, others telling me they had the parts I needed but wouldn’t sell them to me, a guy at the Hershey show yelling loudly then pointing out something on my car he INCORRECTLY thought was wrong, to others here who make authoritative statements as fact but refuse to acknowledge when their “fact” is wrong! When I make a statement about my friend purchasing a Duesenberg at the recent Amelia island auction, instead of a positive comment, a smart ass comment about having a re-upholstery party was made! Really, that’s the quality of half the people posting these days and those same people want to question how good the cars are? That’s a joke! I don’t really care if people like me and I don’t need to fit into those cliques where it seems the most important asset is how plastic and fake you can be. I’d rather have a Ford with a chevy engine than a make believe friend with an ascot and a love myself attitude. 
      With all that said, to my real friends here that follow me and would like to keep in touch, send me a PM and I’ll get you my phone as I’ll only visit these forums infrequently in the future. I’ve already got a lot of work lined up from real, every day customers wanting good honest work done so my old school attitude doesn’t seem to be hurting me. Sorry for the rant but the Covid tired me out enough that I just read things and barely posted. It allowed me to sit back and really think about all the crap I was letting bother me and then I felt I had to comment on. I’m no longer wasting my time. 

[bob staehle]

Ted

Hope you health improves and your shoulder surgery goes well.

I can assure you there are a lot of people on the forums that have enjoyed reading and following your restoration posts.

    Bob

[GARY F]

I am glad you are on the mend. I have been following you for a long time and enjoy your projects.  I would never give negitive  comment. As the old saying goes if you have nothing nice to say dont say anything at all.  

[Laughing Coyote]

Ted,

Don't bury yourself too deep in all the work.  Make sure you have sometime for your wife, kids and you.  It's all balance.  People that do good work will always be busy.  Keep doing what you're doing and you will be fine.  Glad your getting better and hope all goes well with your future endeavors.  And fly a couple of those RC planes for some stress relief.   Take care my friend.

[chistech]

1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Ted,

Don't bury yourself too deep in all the work.  Make sure you have sometime for your wife, kids and you.  It's all balance.  People that do good work will always be busy.  Keep doing what you're doing and you will be fine.  Glad your getting better and hope all goes well with your future endeavors.  And fly a couple of those RC planes for some stress relief.   Take care my friend.

I actually went RC flying yesterday! I’m looking forward to working only on the week days rather than nights and weekends when I work on the cars. Incorporating the car and machine service together my plan is have it a more 40hr a week business so I can spend more time enjoying myself. 

[John S.]

Ted, cool is the rule. You are there. John S.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

Ted,

      We have never met, but you are a lot like my dad. I’m hoping to some day though. He was a perfectionist when it came to his trade of being a mechanic. He always done it his way which was the right way no matter what others said. He taught me a lot as have you. I’ve enjoyed your work ever since I joined this forum. I for one will miss your posts. Mike

[Gary W]

Hi Ted!

As someone who has learned so much from you, and followed along every step of the way, I can honestly say your posts were never a waste of time.  

I know the dedication it takes to document every step with photos, spend all night organizing, re-sizing, posting and explaining..... And I thank your contributions.

 

Good luck with the shoulder!

Your friend

Gary

[Terry Harper]

Ted,

 

Please keep us posted on how things are going along. I have really enjoyed following your projects. Good luck with the business venture. I am sure you will do well! 

 

Best regards,

Terry

[chistech]

Picked this up from the painter today. Tomorrow it will be on the frame.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

That looks awesome!  Mike

[chistech]

30 minutes ago, Mike "Hubbie" Stearns said:

That looks awesome!  Mike

He’s a younger guy who’s clean, no drugs or alcohol who loves doing the work and he’s really enjoying these old cars. The best thing is he gets the work done. He had the body for maybe 5-6 months but I always get a body to the painter way before I need it. Well, like most of us, he got Covid which put him back a good month so I’m very pleased that he gets the car back to you in a respectable time frame. The doors will be done mid week. 

[Chipndayle]

Ted,  there are a ton of us who have followed your work over the years with great admiration.   Sorry to hear about all the issues, but I'm glad you've figured out the way ahead.  Good luck with the shoulder surgery and the new business! 

 

All the Best, Chip

[John S.]

Chevrolet looks real nice Ted. Beautiful work all round. John S.

[chistech]

Installed the body on the frame earlier this morning with the help of my neighbor and my two post lift. 1.5 hours and it was on along with getting the oil line run through the cowl. It’s not bolted down tight yet and won’t be until the doors are on and body shimmed. Really nice when I have help and things go so much easier!

[chistech]

Put in a 12 hour day today. Dash installed, cowl lights, motor control cables, coil, radiator brace, floor pans,tool tray nailed down, floor boards drilled/cut out for shifter/emergency brake handle, wiring all connected and secured to the backside of the firewall, steering column mounted to dash, and the wiper motor installed/connected. The car has come a long way this weekend.

[JamesR]

That's beautiful! What a fantastic color. This has to be a very encouraging part of your restoration. The steering wheel is awesome, too.

[chistech]

With my surgery only a week away, I’ve been doing al the heavy yard work I need to do like fertilizing, putting out porch furniture, getting lawnmowers squared away, clearing downed trees and burning brush. Fitting in the car on the rainy days and most nights. Got the new rubber parts in so I installed the windshield gasket set ,installed the windshield, installed the regulator board, and the nicely refinished garnish moldings. The windshield gasket set needs to be cut just right so there’s no gaps and it takes time to do it right. Adjusted the down pressure and got a good seal on the bottom edge. Rebuilt the wiper motor and got it running excellent so installed that with the wiper arm. The windshield raises and lowered perfectly.

   The doors came back today so I installed the new charles in the doors, screwed on the door checks, and fitted the sashes to the glass. Installed the glass and cut the upper seal channels to better seal the tops of the windows rather than use the original flat felt. Masked off the roof edges and put my nailing guides in place with finish nails then cut the heads off to point them. I also received the roofing materials so I put the denim down on the slats. I work from the center out after tacking the sides and ends by using the finish nail pins so it’s nice and tight to help stop roof ballooning. Tomorrow I will cut and fit the padding so I’m ready for the roof. Stripped the remnants of the last roofing material off my stretching frame and temporarily clamped the new roofing material to it. Right now it’s too cold to get a good stretch and hopefully in the next few days we might get some warmer weather with sun so I can put it outside to warm it up. I only clamp it at first then when I’m satisfied with the tautness, I staple the perimeter about every three inches to put it down on the roof. I will also start bending, drilling, and countersinking the screw holes in the molding for the SS # 4 wood screws I use to fasten the moldings down. 
     I also installed all new ignition parts and tuned the motor so it’s running great. Test fit the new floor mat also to have a look. Coming along every day.

[chistech]

Today I continued to get all the prep work done to put the roof on. Using the bender I custom built, I bent the rear roof curves in each side of the aluminum moldings. After bending the curves, slowly moving each molding over jeans covered leg, I duplicate the gentle curve of the roof front to back until the molding sits nice on the roof. Using the finish nail alignment pins, I line up the molding on the nailing area of the roof and mark where each finish nail lines up on the molding. Holes are drilled at each nail location then the molding is put in place over the nails. Using my nailing guides, the moldings are marked for where to drill for the screws then the holes are drilled with a wire drill right into the wood to make the go in easier and straight. The holes are then countersunk for the heads of the #4 SS wood screw with the countersink I specifically ground to clear the upper part of the molding. There’s not a lot of room for error on these moldings so special tools are needed to make the job easier. I drill, countersink, and install screws three spaced holes at a time making sure the molding is straight and continuing to lay flat. All screws require some bar soap to get them into the new ash. No soap and your bound to strip out the fine Phillips screw head. With both side of moldings completely screwed down and even across the rear of the roof, a small piece needs to be fitted because the moldings are not quite long enough to get each piece to meet at the rear center. About 9’ is needed for each piece but due to modern shipping constraints, the moldings are manufactured at 8’. Again, using the finish nail guide pins, a piece is cut to length using a fine razor saw and two holes are drilled to fit it down over the guide pins. Once in place, the locations for the screws are marked then drilled. Of course, screws go to one side of each oval hole while the other end of the hole is where the tacks or staples for the roof vinyl goes. All this is marked out on my nail guide so screws aren’t put in the wrong places or nails put where screws need to go. With both side pieces and the one center piece all installed, and fitting correctly, all screws and moldings are removed from the roof for later. 
     Moving on to the front molding, the center is found and a 49” piece of molding is drill then countersunk for the screws. This molding goes on with the fold over toward the rear so rain isn’t forced in while driving. The very end screw hole must be drilled at this time as it’s almost impossible once installed and the end bent down as the fold-over piece of the molding makes countersinking impossible. With the front molding in place and looking correct, like the sides, all screws and the molding is removed for later. All the moldings will get red padded and Prep-Sol so they ready to be painted.

     To do these roofs with the aluminum moldings is an involved process that takes a significant amount of time but when done right, yields a great looking roof. When doing a reroofing installation using the aluminum moldings I used to quote people $1250 to do the job including the materials. My prices will definitely be going up based on today’s costs of materials. 

[bob staehle]

Ted good luck tomorrow 

[chistech]

I’m home from my surgery everyone and things went very well. I have some arthritis but not a lot for my age. He removed a spur, some debris, reattached my rotator cuff tendon and was also able to reattach the bicep tendon that had been torn off a long time ago. He said I should have a very strong shoulder for a repaired shoulder at least. I’m currently sitting here typing with my right hand with the nerve block medication still working and an ice pack on. My shoulder. The ice machine cuff decided to leak all down my back forcing a complete change of clothes!😡 I’m dry now trying to find the cheapest way to either fix this machine or get a complete new one through my insurance. 
 

On the chevy, I had swaged all the moldings down then masked the roof of and painted them yesterday.  I haven’t been out in the garage since.

Edited April 13, 2022 by chistech (see edit history)

[Laughing Coyote]

Glad everything went well.  Take it easy and you will be back at it in no time.

[Chipndayle]

That's great, Ted!   Take it easy and heal up.

 

All the Best, Chip

[chistech]

Roof is done other than a little clean up here and there. I can still use a spray can in my right even with the sling on. Nope, the wife wasn’t too happy and I got read the riot act for being in the garage. We’ll, at least my brother and neighbor pulled the masking and I just watched!😁

[JV Puleo]

That top looks fantastic...

[chistech]

Well, I’m on the slow road to recovery with my shoulder but I’ve been getting as much as a one to one and a half arm man can get done. I’ve done things like completely wire in directionals, installed the visor, cowl band, and moved on to some interior work. I had to order windlace from a well known vendor and it’s been nothing but a nightmare getting what I needed. First they sent one of the two sizes incorrect, then told me to send it back and they would resew it to the correct size. The error was still made after 5 different phone conversations to supposedly get it right. Then, after sending back the wrong size, and 4-5 more messages left, I get an email telling me the order has shipped. I reply to that email asking for the tracking and that they remembered that they also owed me three more yards of the size (3/8”), that I kept from the first order. I get an email reply telling me that I needed to send the complete order back so they could resew both the wrong size and the right size! I couldn’t believe it. My order being shipped email was just a lie to stall me and keep me happy I guess but me being happy after almost 5 months of this BS is long gone. I started calling leaving messages and emails immediately requesting the owner of the company call me. I did get a call back, but from the girl I’ve talked to numerous times. I told her I was very disgusted with their service and how can they get the order/info wrong after so many phone conversations. She said that she talks with so many customers and I cut her off right there. I told her if you can get the two lengths (yardage) correct for my order, which they did, but reversed the two sizes for the yardage requested, they must have wrote it down on my work order which means the size must have also been written down. After paying over $660 for two lengths of windlace, she actually had the audacity to say, “I’ll just send this wrong size back and YOU can resew it to the size you need.” Well, you probably know how that went over. After a “little “ discussion, she told me she would fix it immediately and get it out. I couldn’t believe it but the following day I got a UPS notification of shipment but I haven’t seen it yet! Ah, the joys of restoration!

     I did have some 1/8” piping and with the 3/8” windlace I received I was able to get the drivers door upholstered. I also got the windlace at the B pillar and door openings in. I put on the pillar cover upholstery from the upholstery the car owner had. I’m having to rework many of the panels because either the material is too loose or whoever redid the upholstery glued it in areas it shouldn’t have been glued. I’ve been checking the  upper/lower rear window and corner panels for fit and hadn’t noticed it before but ran into a fairly major issue. This car has had wood replaced and someone replaced the mid belt line wood that runs directly across the back of the body underneath the rear window. The wood underneath the window, starting at the drivers side was connected to the original ash piece that curves around the inside corner then connected at the passenger side rear corner with a new curved piece of layered plywood. The wood, being plywood is not my favorite choice of course but does work for the area. The problem is the board running underneath the window wasn’t cut at an even width with the passenger side end being 3/8” too wide and proud of the lower rear window wood but then to make matters worse, instead of fixing the issue, they compounded it but cutting the curved corner piece wider so it would match! As it was, the corner cardboard panel would not lay flat, had a huge gap at the bottom corner, and that gap caused the upper corner of the panel to be way up against the top edge of the crown rail wood which wouldn’t allow for proper nailing of the headliner. Out came my router and my belt sander. Two hours later the rear belt line is now correct and the panels fit as they should! Hot muggy day, sweaty with lots of sawdust sticking to you is just great!😁 

    With all that said, I’m hoping another 6-8 weeks it will be done. It would be less with a fully functioning shoulder but as long as there’s no more SNAFUs, it should be a realistic timeframe. Let’s hope! Here’s a few pic’s.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

Looking good. Keep it up. Mike

[STEVE POLLARD]

Ted - getting caught up with your posting... excellent work !  Glad to hear about your recovery.... 

 

 

 

Steve

[chistech]

Been getting more done. Finally got my corrected order of windlace in just over a week ago so I could start on the doors and the body interior. Hinges and latches came back from the painter so I got back to it. Doors were completely trimmed, garnishes installed, handles installed, then hung on the body. The body then got a final shimming to line all the doors up correctly. I’ve been installing what was left of an interior the owner had and I’ve had to make many adjustments as I’ve gone. It wasn’t a Hampton coach interior and it appears it was hand made by a trimmer who was unfamiliar with how the old chevy interiors were done. None of the panels fit properly, the material was glued to the faces of the panels on thin foam that made blind nailing impossible plus the needle pulls sticky adhesive through when setting the fabric over the nail heads. Every panel needed trimming to fit their respective position never mind trying to get them to fit inside the cording and windlace as they should. I don’t know how these panels fit or looked originally but they couldn’t of looked that good. After trimming all the panels, all the foam and adhesive was removed with air and a wipe with solvent. The panels were a text book reason on why you don’t use foam as it was all disintegrated and orangish curds are all over my shop floor. The lower quarter panels are supposed to have a slot cut in them to help form the panel over the body iron and I cut those in also. This area of the car requires a proper stuffing so the panel has a tight contact to the seat bottom sides but this couldn’t have been done previously with the glued material. 
      While I’m reusing what original mohair I can, there wasn’t enough to cover the upper roof panels and no vendor could make the camel (with a pinkish tone) so I ended up getting a darker brown. While it doesn’t match, it also gives a nice contrast both with the original interior color and the light gray headliner. Speaking of headliners, I bought the material and had the local upholstery shop sew on the listings to the measurements I gave him and installed it. Here’s some pictures of how the car is as of this morning but hope to have the interior finished up today and seats installed. We’ll see as it’s been hot and humid here and installing interiors while sweating profusely is a no-no.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I’m glad you are back to work. Hopefully all is well. I’m also glad we have people like yourself that can and do things right as well as know what not to do. It’s great that you are willing to pass things along to the others. Thanks again for all your contributions. Mike

[chistech]

Today I finished up the interior other than making a rear rug and the fabric trim around the rear window. The ash trays where installed along with the assist pull ropes. Seats were installed and bolted in. Overall I’m happy with how the interior came out. I was able to work out most the kinks from the old interior and make everything fit well. The contrast of the darker mohair around the back and top perimeter looks good between the gray headliner and the rosy color of the original interior. I’m glad I restuffed the seats as they feel very comfortable yet firm without dropping much from the bottom of the seat backs. Now to fine tune the engine, put on the fenders, hood and headlights so I can get it finished up. Getting the interior all done today was a great feeling as it was the last “big” job and the weather wasn’t really complying with that type of work. I leave next week for Lansing MI with my olds for the NAOC National Show and really want the chevy pretty much done. It will get some touch up, another buff and shine by the painter, and then pinstriping before it heads back to the owner. Of course I’ll give it a good shakedown before it leaves too.

[chistech]

With my doctor not clearing me to work with anything over 10#, my brother has been helping me with all the assembly. Yesterday we got the rear fenders on but had to really struggle with the passenger side. When I got the car parts, the owner told me the rear fenders had some work done and had a fair amount of bondo on the inside lower bottoms. The outs side surfaces of both looked great and with the car not being a show car along with a lot of money already spent by the owner, I felt using them was appropriate. We’ll it turned out whoever did the work, did not shape the passenger side fender correctly. Instead of the fender line moving up straight for about the first 6-7” and then curving to match the body’s fender well arch, they started curing the fender immediately from the front bottom edge. This was hard to see until I went to mount the fender. When I put the fender up where it should be, the four rearmost mounting bolts lined right up but moving to the front of the fender, things started going sideways. There where mounting holes in the fender including the area that had been repaired but when the bottom front edge of the fender was bolted to the rear of the running board at the outside bolt, the bottom edge of the fender was almost  3/4” at the innermost bolt hole on the running board with the fender about 3/4” away from the fender well in the center of the curve by the curved part of the rear door. (Sorry if that sounds confusing). Using a little brain power, a air powered cut off wheel, a floor jack, a shaped wood block, and a rubber mallet, we got the fender to have an acceptable fit. The inner metal of the fender that fits to the inner metal of the body wheel well was cut with the cutoff wheel enough to allow the fender to curve into the shape of the well while applying up pressure with the floor jack on that inside edge of the lower front of the fender that was hanging below the running board mounting flange. Using the shaped hard wood block, pressure was applied into the area that was away from the wheel well as the floor jack was raised, effectively curving the fender into the well as it should be and making the lower edge even all along the running board mounting flange. New holes were drilled and the fender bolted up. We made about six cuts, 1 1/2” apart and they all closed right up with the two bottom slots overlapping the one next to it because this is the area where the fender needed to have a sharper curve to make the front 6-7” straighter. It’s all bolted in and fits pretty damn well but the owner might choose to replace it down the road. The average person would never notice but a sharp eyed car guy probably would.

      We mounted the hood and adjusted the radiator and radiator support wishbone to get a good fit.  With the two rear fenders mounted and hood in place, we mounted the fronts which fit perfectly which was a relief after that rear fender. The front radiator apron was mounted, headlight bar, headlights, then I attempted to mount the headlight stanchions but the stanchions came up about 1/8” short to to the bottom of the nut. The headlights have a special nut that the stanchion slips over then slides down to be fastened to the top of the radiator apron. The headlights each had a lock washer and the special nut on the stud but I believe there should be a cupped flat washer on each also. The cupped washer would fit over the bottom ball socket in the headlight bar that the headlight ball fits into, then the lock washer, then the special nut. This cupped washer would add an additional 1/4” or so to the length of the tightened assembly which would still allow the stanchions to be slipped up the nut, positioned in place, then slid down slightly to the top of the apron while still being captured by the bottom of the special nut. Looks like I’ll be making something up on the lathe tomorrow! I am gone most of next week at the NAOC a national meet with the Olds so I’ll only have a few days to clean it up and shake it down. Of course all this depends on the registration being done by then but the owner is working on it. We’ll see how it all plays out!

Edited July 31, 2022 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

Got the headlight stanchions figured out this morning. Turns out the cup washers I was looking for were on the headlights but I was putting them on the top of the headlight bar, under the ball of the headlight bucket. They’re supposed to go under the bar with the ball of the bucket sitting by itself on top. Hey, I was tired yesterday and the day was long, hot too! 😄 I used a hardware kit supplied by the owner to bolt the sheet metal and other items to the car. This was a commercially available hardware kit and what really drives me crazy is the carriage bolts with all the numbers on the heads. They really look lousy and are used in very visible areas like the headlight bar to fender and the fender support to the outside lip of the fender. All the carriage bolts got spun in the lathe while the numbers got filed off the heads. Some 320 paper cleaned up the file marks, then all got primed and painted. I just couldn’t install them as they were!

       The special nut needs to be put in the top of the stanchion with the lock washer then the cup washer on top. The assembly gets put under the headlight bar then the nut is turned from underneath the bar to thread onto the headlight stud. This assembly makes for a lot of variables because you have to keep the lock washer in place along with the cup as you put it in place so the hole in the nut, lock washer, and cup washer stays lined up. To complicate it even more, to keep the base flange of the stanchion from collapsing, two washers are required under each hole so moving the stanchion up under the bar while trying to slide the stanchion in place at the base, which barely clears the top of the apron is a job that requires about four hands. My solution to this problem was to use my thin CA glue that I use for my RC plane hobby to tack glue the thin washers to the bottom of the stanchion. Glued one to the stanchion at each hole, then glued the next washer on top. With that solved, I then used a 7/16-20 bolt to hold the cup washer, lock washer, and special nut together as an assembly. With the base of the nut in the top of the stanchion, I put the cup washer up under the headlight bar, then put in the two flange screws to hold the base in place but didn’t tighten them. Lifting up on the stanchion to keep pressure on the washer assembly, I unscrewed the 7/16-20 bolt, then put the headlight in place while turning the nut from below. This actually went pretty smoothly and I simply repeated the process for the other headlight. I did grind the paint off in the contact areas and added a coating of conductive grease to assure a good ground. 
     So the lights and stanchions are on. Aligned and working correctly. I also made up small rubber blocks for the hood latches so the latches would apply the needed inward pressure to keep the bottom of the hood up against the cowl and radiator shroud as it should be. I notice many 30 Chevys are missing these rubber pieces.  I added the shifter and emergency brake lever boot so all that is left is the rear window trim, the rear rug (which has to be made up), stamping and installing the new sill data plate. Just about there.

Edited August 1, 2022 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

Got the 30 out today, washed, and buffed out any areas that needed it. It still needs a final buffing by the painter but I wanted to get it shining for a outside photo op. Took my Olds out of the trailer for a little antique car show of my own.