1958 Limited Four Door Riviera

Discussion in 'Projects' started by Smartin, Jul 13, 2008.

  1. Sergeant Major

    Sergeant Major Biggest Nut in the Can

    Siempre Hay Esperanza! THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!!!! Don't give up now..shessshhhh... ya got an audience on this one... I just gotta find my popcorn...:TU:
     
  2. 66electrafied

    66electrafied Just tossing in my nickel's worth

    Looks like the standard rust pattern for one of those late '50s beasts, - keep at it, it'll be a gorgeous car! It's definitely not "part-out" material!
    It's when you see the same type rust covered up by bondo after you've given the previous owner a big cheque that you want to cry...
     
  3. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    It's better that it's out in the open anyway...how good are you at cutting and welding? You seem pretty talented. I'd have a hard time parting it because of rarity; you can fab most of that stuff and the rockers are probably available...that's the one piece of most 50s cars that is!
     
  4. quicksabre

    quicksabre Well-Known Member

    Adam,
    I've saved several that were in that catagory. I have 100s of pictures showing these repairs that I go back and look through occasionally. If I had truly seen just how bad some of these were from the start, I wouldn't have gone through with it. But in each case, I already had alot of fab time in on it. Your patches look good, and they will keep looking better and going in faster as you discover various time saving methods. I like seeing that I am not the only crazy one saving stuff like this. Keep at it. Treat each section that you rework as a project of its own so that you are continuously completing smaller projects. For the most part though, a larger patch is less work and provides better results than several smaller ones, even when you are replacing some metal that doesn't need to be. The multilayered repairs are the worst, along with the inner doglegs, at least they were for me because I wanted it to be built just like the factory did it. But the vision of the completed metalwork, even in primer, keeps me going.
    Another thing that helps me a ton with these long drawn out fabrication projects is to have a totally fun project going on the side, like a mild 455 buildup or a tranny or something. I even found that taking a complete break from such a project every now and then did some good, as long as I was at a very good stopping point.
     
  5. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    Agreed David...I've basically replaced or patched 50% of the sheetmetal on my off-brand (family heirloom) and I haven't touched it in weeks. Luckily, I have 3 other oldies to keep me occupied in different ways!
     
  6. quicksabre

    quicksabre Well-Known Member

    Yes, you've got to have some fun stuff going on if possible. I just started on my fourth 4X8 foot piece of body/floorpan sheetmetal. When I bought those several years back, I thought it would last for life. But the fourth piece is my last one! And I've already had to replenish my stash of the thicker stuff that I use for body braces, etc. I keep saying that I'll start with something nicer, but as in your case, one of my most recent was a family heirloom the my dad bought brand new(the 69 Camaro). It was the first car I've done that you could actually buy repro stuff for, but I sent much of it back due to low quality issues and just made my own panels.
     
  7. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    I hear you on the panels...they're terrible...the quarters I bought for the Mustang basically needed to be reflanged (which sucked getting everything to line up), and I had to section one because it was actually a bit tall. I wish they still stamped reproduction sheetmetal in America...Unfortunately, when you live where we do, rust is generally just part of the deal...I guess we're keeping one more on the road!
     
  8. Buick Kid

    Buick Kid Well-Known Member

    Seeing that car makes me happy that my '57 is a Texas car... I hate working with rust, but I think you should keep plugging away on that thing, it will be a sweet ride and you won't regret it.
     
  9. poison heart

    poison heart Well-Known Member

    Yeah, we got it nice here in Texas especially if you like old trucks. Old trucks sitting on farms all over the state. Buicks are a little harder to come by though.
     
  10. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Couple little things today..

    I (my upholsterer) got fabric samples back from SMS for the interior....everything is exactly correct. Totally floored me to see those swatches of factory fabrics. So, we're off to the races there. Kinda workin' backwards with getting the interior done first:laugh: but I'm in really good hands with that part.

    I tackled another section of floor under the rear seat. This is probably one of the most difficult spots on the floor (minus the front where the body mounts are)

    It was tough to get that curve right. (you can see where it doesn't exactly match toward the center of the floor)

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Dug in deep today...lots of cursing and breaking bolts. If I break more than 5 bolts in a day, I must be making progress :puzzled:

    Front clip came off today...

    [​IMG]


    Ugh...both sides are like this. I think I can repair this pretty easily, though.

    [​IMG]


    I have always wondered why these cars didn't have much for a wheel house. The biggest reason for the rust in the photo above is for that reason alone! Look at the crapola built up on the headlight housing!

    [​IMG]


    Ta daaaa! Only took me 4 hours. :Dou:

    [​IMG]


    Parts is parts..

    [​IMG]


    These are the broken fasteners I could actually find in the piles of dirt and rust under the car. This is all from today. I know I broke more than this.
     
  12. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Forgot to attach the photo of the broken bolts...

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Hood came off today...

    Can you believe I had to cut off the freakin' hood bolts?? I can't catch a break with these things.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. poison heart

    poison heart Well-Known Member

    DAMN! How did you cut them off?
     
  15. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    Actually, the rust in front doesn't look too bad...not too many hole. I HATE broken bolts though...not much to do about that...get out the drill and tap.
     
  16. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    The bolts on the drivers side came out just fine, but the ones on the passenger side started spinning the nuts on the other side of the sheet metal. There is no access point to get to them, so I had to use a cut off wheel on the heads.
     
  17. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Adam, have you considered sending the car out for soda blasting? Its a little expensive, but it might be worth it in the long run. At least you'll get to see exactly what you have to work with.
     
  18. Elf

    Elf Elf

    Lookin' Good! It took me many years of chipping away at my '58, and it is worth it.
    :TU: Jan04#01.jpg
     
  19. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Jason - as soon as I get the body off the frame, I'll see what it'll take to get the car blasted. I have a neighbor that had it done to his Mopar, and has a contact.

    One bolt at a time!
     
  20. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    I check in on this thread periodically to see the progress. I don't know if this car is a little worse than you expected, Adam, but I will give you encouragement by the fact that I have had to deal with a lot worse - not by choice, though. I am surprised that there is not a '58 parts car available somewhere in the southwest, at least to offer some rust-free parts shipped, etc.

    I know it is a cliche to acknowledge how cars are not built like this anymore, but it is so true. Man, look at all that chrome. Wow. I bet the suspension came up a few inches with the bumpers and doors off.
     

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