The Restoration Begins

The restoration is underway. 

I knew when I took on this project that it would take me a while to complete.  Between my limited time that I have to work on it and the financial resources that it will require, I estimate that this project is going to take me between two and four years to complete.  But I do what I can, and I enjoy it.

The exterior has quite a bit of surface rust, but structurally, the car is sound.  The frame has only surface rust, and is in excellent shape, except for some minor bending that was obviously a result from a mild collision on the front end.  With some applied heat and a hammer, I should be able to straighten that out.  The sheet metal has several places that will require patching, but for the most part, I'm happy with what I have to work with.

I began on two fronts: 1.) teardown of the engine compartment and 2.) cleanup of the interior and removal of parts (seats, etc.).



Exterior - 01/22/12 and 02/04/12

The interior was a mess, and I mean a mess.  I don't know the entire history of the car, but in the 30 years that it sat under that tree in Tennessee, someone had evidently used it as a place to throw partially full cans of oil, stain, varnish, and other items that shouldn't be thrown in a landfill.  I also found about two dozen mason jars that were filthy, but otherwise in good shape.

Back Seat - Can you see the mouse hole on the left?

I've heard stories of people doing restorations of old cars and finding treasures of old coins and other valuables.  My most valuable find (besides the mason jars) was a 1968 quarter.  Oh well. 


Battery split in half



Mouse nest

 The engine compartment had vines growing inside it.  The battery was split in half.  When I removed the valve cover, I discovered that mice had used the stuffing in the seats to build their nest.  I believe that may be the mouse hole in the back of the front seat in the picture above on the left.  I just hoped that the mice were not still there.  I'm glad I'm doing this phase in the winter because I'm convinced that in the summer this thing had snakes in it.

Yes, it's going to be a lot of work.  But, I feel like I'm off to a good start.  I'm documenting everything in pictures and video.  I am not going to rely on my memory to put this car back together.  I have developed a system for bagging, tagging, and documenting every bolt, bracket, and wire. 

There is another fun fact about this project that I am really looking forward to: I need more tools.

:-)