Projects 59 El Camino.. Build Pics

Still amazes me, how the rust slides off and the metal is still very nice. The windshield garnish mldgs took a beating w/o any gl*** in the Elky.

before pic of the 2nd set of t/gate hinges..

This mldg was the worst of the lot of 'em.. Sihilling polishing made it beautiful. I brought more mldgs w/ me to turn in, and picked up the 19 pcs plus the four rr t/light hsings (straightened & anodized).. Next I need to buy clecos and the tool!

 

Cleco's are the handiest metal tool I own. you will not be sorry about buying them. Spring for 20-30 minimum. you will find all kind of interesting ways to use them.

 

Harbor Freights less than a mile down from me. I will go in the morning. Thanks for the info!

 

Cool Stuff! Thanks for posting!

 

Just looked through the whole thread. LOVE the 59's, beautiful cars. Cars looking good, and your having fun with it. Thats what it's all about. Keep it up.

 

1961, 348 stroker (408ci.) with 94's and a WEDGE bellhousing
Genny is an nos 1959, 40 amp police issue

 

I was telling my Dad earlier, I will have gone over the entire car myself. Each plant worker only has one operation to complete. Granted, they build a vehicle every 14 minutes. Restoring a car yourself, for yourself, is a lot of fun.

 

The stories I hear about W motors, are always in high regard. Very Cool!

 

I started w/ blk primer. Then I used Lt gray primer. Easier to see where I'm at, when sanding.


Had to sand these pieces, the rust came off w/ the grinder easier than it would have w/o soaking at all.

I have to match the Impala/Psngr Car(Red Primer) rr corner valance, to the Elco/Wgn rr corner valance.

I plan on making both openings the same. My Dad says no one will see them, but I need to make 'em both, the same. Probably going to make my own openings.. Some call it "mickey mouse" others call it "custom" Depends where you're working I guess, Major Car Dealership, or Hot Rods Shop.

 

"Some call it "mickey mouse" others call it "custom" Depends where you're working I guess"

And the people that are right call it doing dam fine work.

 

Appreciate the positivity, I need to lean a little more that way myself! B)

 

I did a lot more spraying & sanding, today! In between waiting for each coat to dry, I was workong on the firewall.

I am so glad the clutch head screws holding the wiper motor, came out! No resistance, really.

I have a lot more holes to weld closed. The holes for the inner firewall insulation plugs, for instance. Any other stragglers, will also be removed..

The mixing station in the garage

Some grilles that we've collected..

 

I was looking at my Grandmas '76 GMC Sprint.(My Uncle has always pulled the maintance on it) when I noticed this cool little space that's usually unused!

I might incorporate an idea or two from this..

Still cleaning parts..



The door gl*** and windwings showed up today, it's tempered gl***. I'm happy


I need an automatic column shift ***embly.. mines is a manual set up. I need to find, or make some shift linkage. Probably make a bell crank set up.

The firewalls primered, the roof is metal finished w/ no filler at all.. primed, blocked & waiting for paint.

The most valuable friend when dry sanding.. a welding rod bent in half, to slap the ish off the paper! (I love this picture, my Dad's first pic using my phone.. he isn't “the most technologically advanced.” but he did good)

Happy St Patty's day..

 

Stripped both upper door jambs, under the backside of the roof and the top part of the cowl. 3M paint & rust wire wheels make my life easier.




No rust under there, really. Very grateful for that


A trip to the paint store tomorrow, for some more primer. Then I will strip & prime the dash.

Slow but sure, this will get done!

 

Looking good.

 

Hey mister, can you do me a favor, could you take a picture of the bottom door hinge pocket so I can see what's going on? The bottom bolts on my driver's door hinge are broken off, I gotta figure out the best way to get to em to fix em.

Thanks a bunch, you've been a huge help already.

 

Hope this helps.. I took a picture of the psngr side. I can take one of the otherside, no biggie!

 

I was outside still, so I took the wind wings out..

I got sun burned today.. Mid March is my favorite part of the year!

 

Gracias Hombre..

 

I'm amazed.. this was all in the bellhousing, too! It came from the (incorrect) bench seat that was in this thing, that I s****ped a couple days after I got the Elco. I threw away the wiper washer resevior also.. It didn't look like it belonged on the car. Hated myself, once I found out it was stock on the deluxe 2 speed wiper system.

It has hydraulic lifters.. so I'm going to keep it & build it

Pulled out the '89 700R4 today.. start tearing it down. It's soo windy today, I can't spray any primer. Never know what I'm going to be doing around here. As long as it's related to the '59, I'm going forward. I'm off to the paint store!

 

Welded the mat fastener holes up. I had a magnet holding one of the small pieces of sheet metal, from the back side. I don't understand what happened, but it wasn't welding correctly. Very weird!

 

Stripped the upper dash, the lower is going to be covered by the dash trim.



Cleaned up the firewall after welding it up, yesterday. It's ready for paint, now

 

Yes! The Smuggler's Box, great idea. Never know what stuff you can stash in there.

 

Thank you for the pics, they help.

 

It probably weld better with a good clean ground & the welded areas ground clean first just a thought Danny.

 

I agree, an I did that. Yet I've never experienced the way it was acting where I tried to use the maganet, to hold the little sheetmetal patches. I will ask a good friend of mine who is a professional welder.

 

Magnetic fields cause havoc with mig welding, just tape the patches in place and a quick zap will hold the patch, the tape will hold long enough for that.

 

Thats how I do it as well, works great.

 

I made that call to my friend, "A magnetic field in the weld preparation of mating steel components can cause arc blow." The ground should be brought as close as possible to the magnetized area to be welded.

The magnet pushes the charge away when trying to weld!

 

Or at least keep my glove box tidy. Stereo components could be fit on the p***enger side, also! MP3 players make CD changers obsolete. If you can control the CD Chngr, you can control a MP3 player.