I'm at a point where I'm relatively happy with the drivetrain on my '50 Shoebox, now it's on to bodywork. Looking for a bit of advice on the wisest approach. Current state: fully painted, no visible rust, plenty of small dents, clear indication of old (bad) bodywork under paint. I have no idea how many layers of paint are on her, but the most recent is what seems to be a garage-type paint job. It's holding up well - no cracking, peeling, flaking, etc. My plan: fix all dents, re-do bad bodywork, minor body modifications, repair any imperfections I come across. Unknowns: It seems that almost the entire inner side of each body panel, the floor, the roof, and almost everything "inside" the car has either been treated with a rust converter and/or sprayed with something like a bedliner coating. Do I remove ALL paint because I don't know what exactly exists underneath everything? Do I spot repair and only re-prime repaired areas and plan to lay new paint over what exists? What kind of considerations should I take for the rust converted/bedliner covered inner panels, floor, and roof? Leave them be (since they seem to be relatively "stable") or try to remove that as well and find out if I can get to good/bare metal? Thanks in advance for help and ideas!
once you start sanding obvious problem areas you will have a better idea as to what you are up against. Remember, it is all of the prep work that makes the final paint job look good. do not cut corners. Need to grind down/peel up multiple areas of interior sealers to again see what may be hidden. lots of work but, gotta do what ya gotta do Sent from my SM-G930V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A good looking driver. I plan on driving her in summers, going to shows here and there, but not looking for "concours quality" or whatever version of that applies to an intermediate level custom.
The stuff on the inside, which will be covered with trim, should be fine. I would probably want to strip the entire outside, and repair metal as needed, then do the necessary body work and prep with the recommended primers (probably epoxy first, then urethane high build) and paint. This can take years to finish if you dive in and do it all at once. If you want to drive the car as you work on it, then do one panel at a time.
Inspect for safety. What you are looking for is structural stability. Ask yourself this....if this car rolled over, would it stay in one piece? Some of the period advertisements show the structure of these cars.....They were really robust in how they were built. Is that structure still there? Everything else is foo foo stuff. Going by your avatar, if the car is structurally sound I would find good trim.....chrome bumpers grille ext ext...... Not to hurt your feelings but a modified 50 sedan is not a high dollar car. It is real easy to drop 10 grand in just a paint job. You have to look at cost vs gain. What I mean is you could put 20 grand in a car like that real easy and at the end of the day, it's still a 7-10000 dollar car. Right now I would make sure it's safe. Get some driver quality bright work. Get the interior nice....and drive it.
It can be a big can of worms. Again there is the cost vs gain.... I would be real conservative..... Example..... Many cars have been sandblasted by their owners so they get it home....It needs everything, they can't do it.... 2 years later the rusty hulk is hauled away for scrap. Don't bite off too much at one time. A man has to know his limitations.
To get a possible idea for how much paint is on the car find any easily removed piece of trim, take it off and compare. It seams on a lot of cheap resprays they musty mask the stuff off and go to town. When I did this on mine there was a noticeable ridge and some of the areas I have stripped down have 1/16th to 1/8" of paint on them. It's almost like looking at the rings on a tree Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Two ways to think about this . 1. everything there is primer and roughed in body work with highs and lows. Work your ass off to get it flat and straight and then seal it and paint over it. Hopefully all your work pays off and it lasts without going screwy before it's sold - This would be the used car quicky fix approach to turn it and make some money. 2 the reality of it everything there is unknown and considered trash. Strip it off and do it right. You'll never get out of it what you put in. It's easy enough to do it one panel and section at a time.
Dustless Blasting will show all of the old girls flaws without warping the metal. I have used it on 2 vehicles and was happy both times.
I think one panel/section at a time is definitely the way I'll go. I want it done right, so (of course based on what I find with the first panel) I'll probably strip it down so I know exactly what I'm working with. I'm not sure there are any soda blasters in my area, so I'll probably go with chemical stripping - which I've done years ago so I know how terrible it can get...but it's effective/less costly/not damaging to the metal. I'm thinking I'll leave the inner steel as-is (coated in bedliner or whatever it is) unless I see dangerous/unacceptable areas - then repair/replace as needed.
by the title I thought this would be one of those "would you rather" things! Joking aside, I would say if you are going to keep it strip one panel at a time make repairs and prime you would be surprised how fast you can work around the car. and you will be able to drive it. And YES I would strip down to bare steel.
I'd check to see if the interior metal seems to be solid under whatever was sprayed or rolled in there. The bedliner stuff can lift off just like paint can, if what's under it is rusty. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
I would strip it. I'm doing the same on a 55 Cadillac I just bought, lots of surface rust and dents. I'm doing it one panel at a time as the panels are giant.
I can't figure out if your shoebox is a driver, and if you're interested in it for that purpose. Like the man said, they can be money pits. I owned one of those and had to chain it to a tree to keep it from waking me up and saying, "Let's go somewhere." As to the question of paint, I mostly saw the hood as I was piloting it across the South. Maintenance was like preparing an old WII bomber to fly the hump or take another shot at Stuttgart. The designers at Studebaker designed the forty-nine for one of their own who was trying to get a job with Ford. To me they are homely to look at. But, as drivers are roomy and have enough trunk space to haul a coffin around. You get my point. Fancy paint makes a beater too nice to drive. And, my favorite of all of those rides was the one Robert Mitchum drove in Thunder Road. A bootlegger car being the ultimate '49-'51. Unassuming and runs like a scalded-ass ape. Maybe I make my point and maybe not.
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