Against my better judgement, and putting my own T'bird project on a back burner (again) for a while, I tackled a project for one of my trailer pals. It's a '59 Edsel Villager wagon, that he wants to take from a 50 footer, to a 20 footer. The project quickly got out of hand when I pulled the lift gate and tailgate to paint them, and found the entire rear of the roof skin, 3/4 of the roof skin above the drip rail, and ALL of the rear quarter rear frame tops were rusted away. The lift gate drip rail had been packed with bond, and the sides had cheap aluminum duct tape with a skim of what looks like Alum-a-lead over. Not good. I have to have it "done" by next Saturday, when he's coming over to pick it up. It may be in color, or more likely will still be wearing some primer, for the summer, until he brings it back over for real repair to both lower quarter panels and a complete paint job, but for now, fixing the worst is the priority. 3M "Panel-Bond" is my new best friend. This couldn't have been saved without, or at least, would have days of work and equipment I don't have. The self tapping screws seen in the roof panels above the drip rails are simply to clamp them in place while the adhesive sets.
Wow. Wish you was one of my buddies. Ha, I wouldn't make you work near as hard, My bucket is near that rusty. Good luck Ill be ready to see more progress on the T. I know I've drifted a bit from my '53 after finding some rust issues on the wishbone of my sand rail to the extent the CV joint is rubbing and I grounded it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yeah, it was kinda scary. I'm used to Michigan cars, which rust from the bottom up. This one is rusty from the top down. He had a pair of slip over rocker panels for it that I installed too, and used Panel-Bond for them as we'll. I LIKE the stuff! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Still working on the Edsel, but it's much better. Took quite a lot of finesse at the right side roof/drip rail. Lacking a brake to make the patch panels, there was a little discrepancy in the profile (I made the 4 2 foot long pieces, using my wood stove and some lengths of 5/16" angle iron as a brake), which meant lots of work with gl*** reinforced filler then a skim of lightweight 3M filler over that to get the character line perfect. Almost ready for primer, and then color on the roof, rockers and tailgate...
I'd hate to be the buyer of that thing when it comes up for sale. Some cars just need to be parted out.
Really Pasadena? When it's done, it'll be good for decades more fun, at a used Toyota price. Not everybody can afford rust free cars to start with, and for what he'll have in this, even after paying me, he'll have a nice old wagon he'll enjoy for a long time. There's a place for drivers, and it's a cool old wagon. Don't be such a downer, dude... Brian
It's coming back later this summer for some work on the doors and the left rear quarter, but my buddy is thrilled with his parts car. Bigger project than we anticipated, but it's looking good, and he'll have fun pulling his vintage 1959 "Mobile Traveler" trailer with it. Brian
Must have lived near the ocean during its life,for some reason cars that spend time near the oceans tend to have rust in the roof. Definately looks much better now.
The Jalopy Journal
