Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jul 20, 2011, 1:03 am
This picture is the parking lot of Southside Plaza in Richmond, VA. Taken on March 6, 1958
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 24, 2011, 1:57 am
It’s been a while since the last post on the ‘65 Buick Wildcat. The chassis is now ready for disassembly. Before we started taking it apart, we took a lot of pictures to help with the assembly later on. The chassis will be taken clear down to a bare frame. The suspension will be rebuilt, the fra...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 19, 2011, 12:45 am
The work continues on the Chevelle. I’m not a big fan of sandblasting exterior panels so we continued sanding the old paint off with the National Detroit 8″ sander. We also started the repairs to the trunk floor. The left quarter panel with the paint removed. The roof was also sanded. Note t...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Apr 24, 2011, 11:55 pm
Guest post courtesy of moneysupermarket.com Image courtesy of christopherallisonphotography.com One of the most challenging aspects of classic car restoration is the removal of rust. Many restoration products involve removal of rust from large portions of a car’s bodywork, and there are a numbe...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Apr 6, 2011, 11:44 pm
Here’s some more progress on the Mohs Ostentatienne Restoration. The body has been block sanded and primed and is about ready for paint. A good side shot of the car sitting in primer. The car is now in the booth, masked up and ready to spray. After the car is masked, it’s wiped down with a...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Mar 13, 2011, 9:41 pm
Next up on the build up was the front end, hood, fenders, etc. The fiberglass fenders were a little different for us to work with since they were fiberglass. They saved some time since there was no rust to repair but they did not fit as well as an original metal fender so they took more time to fi...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Feb 13, 2011, 7:10 pm
In this post we’re getting very close to having the car completely assembled. There are still a few detail items that will need to be finished later, mainly hard to find items that we are still looking for. The main goal in the last month of the assembly was to get the car drivable so it could b...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jan 25, 2011, 12:33 am
In this part we removed the front grille, radiator support and front fenders. While really looking the car over as we take things apart we found a few hidden surprises. We also started stripping off some of the old paint with a National Detroit 900 8-Inch Mud Hog Sander The front grille and radia...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jan 5, 2011, 10:59 pm
More pictures of the restoration. The primer on the body is now being block sanded. For those that may have missed the first part of the story on this car, here it is again: The Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan was brought to Jay Abitz and his auto body class at Freedom High School in January of ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Dec 19, 2010, 10:43 pm
Now that the engine is installed we can start the assembly of the front end. We worked several days just getting the windows and the convertible top operational because of the hydraulic system. The original hydraulic pump that I had rebuilt just didn’t have enough power to make it happen. By the...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Dec 6, 2010, 11:16 pm
Once the body was removed from the chassis it was time to start getting the chassis ready. We took a lot of pictures of the engine and also parts of the chassis such as brake line routing. It’s a good idea to take a lot of pictures. I myself tend to get busy and forget to take them as often as ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Nov 22, 2010, 11:08 pm
More progress on the ‘49. The Merc 255 flathead V8 engine. The rebuilt engine arrived and looks great, it’s dressed up quite a lot more than it was originally. Here we’ve installed the flywheel and now installing the pressure plate and clutch disc. If you look closely you can see that ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Nov 15, 2010, 11:57 pm
The high school students continue the body work on the Mohs Ostentatienne. A student uses and air file to sand the body filler. Block sanding the body with a long block. Students remove the remainder of the blue paint with razor blade scrapers.
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Nov 9, 2010, 11:48 pm
More pictures of the car prior to the restoration. Rust in the floor under the rear seat. It actually looks worse than it really is. Most likely caused by a leaking rear window. Rust in the trunk floor above the body mount. This is a comon rust area for the Chevelle and GTO’s of this era. ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Nov 3, 2010, 12:28 am
Here’s a short video sent to me all the way from Essex, UK of a restored 1961 Ford Consul Classic. As quoted on the youtube page “This car model will be featured in the new film ‘Made in Dagenham’ about the Dagenham Ford Motor Factory. 1961 Ford consul Classic. Made in Dagenham Ford. First...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Oct 14, 2010, 11:57 pm
The Merc is coming along great. We have the hydraulic firewall pump all plumbed at this point and ready to test. Once we get the engine installed and the rest of the wiring installed we’ll be ready to power up the car and see how it works. All of the window switch bezels were sent out and ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Oct 6, 2010, 11:16 pm
Just wanted to post a few pictures of a 1966 Chevelle condenser that I have been searching for months to find. Finally found a well known salvage yard that said they had a good one. Still it took months to get it. I received an email a few days ago with the sales receipt that stated 1966 Chevelle...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Oct 4, 2010, 10:10 pm
More about prepping a bumper for chrome plating from the folks at Hotrods We had a strike put on the bumper and you can see how much smoother it plated next to where we started sanding with 320 grit right off the bat. We 320 grit and 400 sanded. now she is ready to polish. One final wet down to i...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Sep 27, 2010, 12:19 am
The work continues on the trunk floor and the outer skin of the trunk. This shows the poor fit of the rear tail panel to the original rear bumper filler. We had to do a lot of messaging to get these panels to fit together nicely. The trunk lid was installed so that we could fit rear tail panel...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Sep 19, 2010, 10:54 pm
Next up on the car was the glass. The old glass was removed from the frames and sent to the glass shop to be used as patterns for the new glass. The stainless frames were dropped off at the polishers. The rear quarter glass, note how the frame hinges so that the glass can be replaced. The doo...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Sep 12, 2010, 10:37 pm
Greg Spradlin creates automotive artwork of classic cars, muscle cars and hot rods. His art work has been featured in many magazines such as Hemmings Muscle Machines, Rod & Custom, Hot Rod and many, many more. Greg has also created artwork for many individuals and businesses. Ed “Big Daddy”...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Sep 1, 2010, 11:59 pm
The rocker panels have been fully welded on now. The body is getting stripped of the old blue paint so the body work can begin. Here’s the left side rocker panel fully welded into place. The finished right side rocker panel repair. Stripping off the old layers of paint. Stripping the ol...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Aug 23, 2010, 1:19 am
Here’s another great product from Surf City Garage. It’s called the Shine On Package which consist of Nano Seal Protective Coat and Nano Shine Glaze. We tried these products out on a ‘69 Camaro that came back to our shop for some detail work prior to the Kansas City Goodguys Mid...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Aug 18, 2010, 11:52 pm
After the welding was finished on the outer quarter panels, inside the trunk floor and the inner wheelhouses we had a few items to take care of before the body was unbolted from the chassis and installed on the rotisserie. A rust repair patch was fabricated and welded in place on the right side l...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Aug 5, 2010, 10:09 am
Here’s a few pictures of the dash partially assembled and installed in the car. The chrome plating around the small gauges is original. The speedometer bezel was plated as were all of the small rectangle nameplates. All of the gauges were disassembled and cleaned.
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Aug 3, 2010, 11:54 pm
We still don’t know what the word “special” written on the back of the dash means. We still felt it was important to put it back on the dash. Probably because it is a mystery. It was written with white chalk and as soon as we started handling the dash panel the lettering started...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jul 28, 2010, 12:40 am
The guys at Surf City Garage sent me several products to try out. The Hot Rod Protective Detailer was the first product that went out to the shop to try out. We use and rely on detail sprays when we are getting a car cleaned up and ready for customer pickup or delivery. Since almost all of our w...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jul 21, 2010, 12:48 am
For me the re-assembly is the fun part. During the assembly process there is always always a lot going on. I get started on one project and then I need a special bolt or screw and have to order it, so that part gets set aside until the parts arrive so then I’ll start on something else. By t...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jul 12, 2010, 11:22 pm
After cutting out the old rusted rocker panels, the Freedom High students have now started fitting and welding in some new metal for the lower rocker areas. On the left side of the car the sheet metal is tack welded onto the body. The front still needs trimmed to fit. The new metal was clamped ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jul 6, 2010, 12:18 am
For Gaza’s antique auto aficionados, car conservation is a labor of love By Karoun Demirjian, AP Friday, July 2, 2010 Gazans stage first-ever display of classic cars GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In this besieged land where every bumpy road quickly reaches a dead end of fences and walls, vintage c...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 30, 2010, 12:00 am
The 1966 Chevelle SS restoration continues. Here’s more shots of the car when it arrived for restoration The hood and inserts are in nice shape. Some of the chrome and stainless trim needs some attention. The drip moldings had been previously removed and a little rough. The car came from ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 24, 2010, 11:01 pm
It’s been quite a while since our last post about how to get a bumper ready for chrome plating. The work shown here is not for average plating job but very,very nice plating. After knowing the amount of work that’s involved you will understand why chrome plating a bumper costs so much. ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 21, 2010, 11:05 pm
Next up was the repair and replacement of the hydraulics. No it’s not a hydraulic jumping car that hops to music. The hydraulics on this car were all installed at the factory. The hydraulic pump runs the convertible top, the four windows and the front seat. I finally got back on the hydra...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 17, 2010, 11:59 pm
This video is from the era of the cars we enjoy today as antiques and classics. By one of my favorite artists John Mellencamp. When we listen to the stories of our older family members we learn how tough it was for a lot of people back in the 30’s and 40’s. Still, life seemed so simpl...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 16, 2010, 12:16 am
The work by the students continues in this post. Sanding, grinding out old body filler, cutting out rusted areas and welding in new metal. Plastic was used to protect the top material and the glass. Preparing the body for new rocker panels. Body work on the right fender. Note the massive gri...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 11, 2010, 7:07 am
This is a great video. It’s already been viewed over 6 million times so if you have already seen it, ignore this post….but for those who haven’t I think you will really enjoy it.
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 9, 2010, 11:56 pm
Singer, songwriter, musician….Pink has been seen driving around Hollywood in a green Chevy convertible. One website claimed it was a 1957, another site said it was a 1954 but it’s obviously a 1959 Impala Convertible. I think it’s pretty cool that she does drive around in a classi...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 7, 2010, 11:42 pm
After the floor repairs were finished it was time to work on the back part of the car. The trunk jambs were all rusted as well as the complete trunk floor. The rear panel below the trunk lid was purchased new from EMS and the rear bumper filler was purchased off of eBay. A lot of time was spent we...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Jun 3, 2010, 12:21 am
Here’s an update on the 1949 Mercury Convertible progress. The lower quarter panels are now installed on the car. They have also been color sanded and polished. It’s finally starting to look like a car again. The left side quarter panel is also installed. The heater control valve ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 27, 2010, 11:28 pm
A father and his son stand next to their early seventies Buick Skylark during the oil crisis that started in 1973 when OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo on the United States. The embargo lasted until March of 1974. The sign says “Beware we’re loaded for bear” Original caption: Countr...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 27, 2010, 1:03 am
Color sanding is the the method of sanding the final coat of paint to remove the “orange peel” look. This final coat is usually the clear coat, but in some cases it can be a solid color without clear coat. Polishing is usually done with a machine polisher to bring the paint back up to a...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 24, 2010, 11:28 pm
Now time to show of some of the students who did a lot of hard work. Grinding out the old body filler…an all too familiar smell. Notice the rocker panel was removed at this time. Rusted area above the tire has been cut out for repairs. One of the students cutting some metal for a rusted...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 23, 2010, 11:24 pm
After the lower quarter panels were removed for paint. The upper quarter panels were color sanded and polished to a high gloss. The lower part of the panels were re-coated with a final coat of Zero-Rust. The splash shields were also installed with new rubber seals. The left quarter panel after ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 18, 2010, 9:34 pm
After we finished up the fit of the rear valance it was time to get the lower quarter panels wet sanded and painted. We wet sanded the panels while they were bolted up to the body. We used 400 grit on a sanding block with water. The right quarter panel hanging in the spray booth. The left qu...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 12, 2010, 1:25 am
This picture was taken by Roy Erickson in February 1966. Roy was a professional photographer in the Ft. Lauderdale area. He was affiliated with the Best of Broward magazine for over 10 years. Note the hot dogs steamed in beer and of course the classic cars.
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 8, 2010, 1:48 am
From March 21st though June 20 the “Allure of the Automobile” is being held at the High Museum in Atlanta Georgia. They have on display eighteen rare classic automobiles, such as a the 1938 Hispano Suiza H6-C “Xenia” , a 1937 Bugatti Atlantic, and a rare example of a 1957 Ja...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - May 6, 2010, 12:10 am
Here’s part 4 of the hot rod and restoration build tips courtesy of Hot Rods Fein built the first known power tool in the late 1800’s and they are still at it today. This osculating tool with scraper attachment removes old undercoat off easily. Save your palms from carpal tunnel. When ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Apr 29, 2010, 12:55 am
If you are looking for sheet metal repair panels for 1949 to 1951 Ford cars, my company Classic Body Works makes some of the “not so common” pieces. We hand fabricate apron panels, cowl patch panels, fender corner panels, and lower “A” pillar panels just to name a few. E...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Apr 26, 2010, 11:51 pm
For the shaping on this panel I used several tools such as a shot bag, a large wood mallet, a wheeling machine or English Wheel, a Lancaster type shrinker/stretcher combo, a bead roller,hammers and dollies and of course a welder. All of the welding was done by oxy-acetylene torch. A good view of ...
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Steve N. posted an article on Auto Restoration 101 - Apr 24, 2010, 11:33 pm
The rear valance panel on this car was pretty much destroyed and non-repairable. From what was left of the pieces that remained, I was able to fabricate a template or “buck” to shape a new valance out of steel sheet. HERE in Part 2 is what the panel looked like when the car came in fo...
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