Projects 1948 Chevrolet fleetmaster

thanks jefe. yea if youre rubber is really bad you might just have to replace, especially if you are trying to keep water out of the inside of your car and youre restoring the interior. sorry you got to go through that, mine were ok so I didn't price the rubbers. have you looked on ebay?

and thanks roadster. that hole is to put a support link or bar bolted to the back of the plate bracket to make it sturdy. its a good thing, cause it means I can bolt something cool back there, give me a week and youll see what I mean and that back up light is a guide b-31, common with a lot of pre 49 cars, I even seen them on fords and hudsons. guide wasn't only chevy it did all makes and models. but this you can find on ebay for really cheap sometimes. this one came original on mine. I like it cause it looks cool and is original for 48. the switch for it goes on the firewall where the steering column comes out, when you put it in reverse, a lever on the column hits the switch but theres a universal kit you can find on ebay for it that will work on it too

and yea monkeyspunk that I know of 48 is still crank start. even if you have the t bar with no crank hole the splash pan has a channel groove where the crand would run through and the pulley has the teeth for the crank spokes. I have it cause I thought it would be cool to crank start it at times, really trip people out cause that's pretty prehistoric when it comes to cars. even in I love lucy which is made in the 50s they make fun of the crank bar

and yea, itll be running very very soon. very soon. the upholstery I did myself, thanks. to pick up upholstery its easy, for some reason it comes natural to women. some of the best interior shops ive been to for supplies have women doing the work. I had a girl of mines dad teach me. hes been doing interiors since the 70s in east la. all I had to do is see him do it once, then I was able to do it on my own and have on my own since. the fabric I got from sms fabrics which has a better selection than Hampton coach just google them. and they mail you samples before you buy. but as for learning, some community colleges have classes, but a lot of people I know just got the machine and learned right off youtube, and is where I learn anything when im stuck. everything is on youtube. you can get lucky and pick up a upholstery sewing machine for under 500 bucks table and all, just make sure its a walking foot and try to find consew, juki, or pfaff. mine is 50+ years old, works like new.

 

The problem with ebay on the rubber is nobody really parts out used rubber. All the ebay stuff I've found is pretty much new stock sold by the same vendors I can order from.

I'd love to find solutions for generic stuff and might be able to use some of that but most of what I need is designed specifically for the car and it makes alternatives to the expensive stuff unlikely.

I'm all ears for suggestions if anybody has them.

 

Have you done the toner on your wood grain yet? I'm dying to see the finished product.

 

If you have any decent swap meets in your area, that's where I would look. We've managed to find some decent weatherstripping over the years from swap vendors getting rid of project cars & extra parts. As long as is tagged & bagged you can usually find what you need in a couple trips. If you're like me though, patience isn't a virtue

I can scope out some stuff for you Jefe if you'd like.

 

Words I thought I'd never type:

Thank you MonkeySpunk.

I really appreciate it. The two things that are going to drive me nuts are beating Steele prices on the rubber and doing a factory reproduction of the interior upholstery.

I'll PM you my contact info.

 

PM sent too. No problem, Jeff.

 

monkeyspunk is right, I forgot about that. when I go to swapmeets they have weatherstripping by the roll and universal rubbers. glad he was able to bring that up and help you jefe. also I know some upholstery supply places sell them by the roll too. I was told to take mine to the one I go to and theyd help me find one that works for my doors and trunk but not sure the prices they run. but glad he was able to help you If I wasn't able to. that's cool all 3 of us are building 40s rides, I just realized that =)

got my mirrors in the mail today, theyre repops but the cool ones that don't have the screw showing on the back of the mirror that connects it to the bar and its a curved arm mirror









and I finally put the toner on the woodgrain on the windows. it made the woodgrain look more realistic and deep, doesn't look like just print anymore looks like wood now. I used the dark toner not the light toner and I got exactly what I wanted, to look dark like stained wood. I wanted that because now it matches the flat black and doesn't look out of place and 3 tone. and if you look at the pictures, the darker it gets, the blacker it looks so at night itll look black like the roof and fenders but from a straight angle you can see the woodgrain

 

tomorrow I spray clearcoat then Thursday I wet sand, buff and polish and its done. while I wait for the clearcoat to dry, ill start the woodgrain on the dash and inside window frames. those im using the LIGHT toner, which will be lighter than the outside window woodgrain. did other small things too to wrap things up on the car, I put these metal panels in that I forgot about



and put the bumper guards on it. again not rechroming them flying them as is

 

Well, 2 of us are building 40s rides. One of us has one sitting in his garage...

I'll get to it.

I'll admit I was nervous about the wood grain before you started but liked it when you put it on and now with the toner all I can say is "wow". Nice creative touch. One of a kind.

 

thanks jefe. well just follow how I did this one so far, you can do it on your own just get in that garage and start hitting it. remember its always progress forward not backwards. and yea the toner sets it off, but well see how it looks after the clear coat

 

I can't imagine the clearcoat doing anything other than making it look richer with more depth.

 

yea, let me know what you think. this is BEFORE I wet sand, buff and polish to take off any orange peel and shine it up even better. that's in 2 days when the clear coat cures

 

night shots. damn!

 

Sweeeeet.

 

read this from the begining , looking nice , love the woodgraining , somethign to think about in my Cheiftain think looks like a miniture Rolls ..

 

thanks guys. and don't be afraid to try it, that's why I did this I got a small influence from rolls and duesenberghs, classy elegant cars from the same era. theres going to be a small influence on the interior as well, youll see in a week.

its been 24 hours since I layed the clear coat, need another 24 to go before I can wet sand, buff and polish



so I had to keep myself busy for the day so I redid my fulton visor. used a bit of bondo on small dings and prepped it



primered it







bottom too





thought I was done for the day till I saw on the primer can its only 1 hour wait to sand and top coat so it was on







looks glossy right now, but will dry flat will match the roof and fenders



cleaned up and polished a bit the hardware

 

got this in the mail, test fitted it and it works so now the back up light will be functional

 

That little back up light switch is really cool!

 

I'm getting the electrical figured out on my 46 cadi, I haven't traced my back up wire yet to get it working but soon.
I like what you are doing, I hope my 46 cadi comes out as good
I really like your wood grain, good choice

 

thanks guys, and yea that switch is universal. the original ive seen hit 150 bucks for the switch alone not just the light. I got this one buy it now on ebay for 15 bucks it was only up for an hour. and hell yea russ, 46 caddy is one classy car. they had more options and were made with more luxuries so you got an excellent car to build.

wanted to paint a few things yesterday, but woke up to this, and its SUMMER. and it was hot the whole time. even now its still sprinking and gloomy



just glad this was able to dry out of the rain, put together it came out cool









and finally got around to putting this on


























im going to relax today, so tomorrow ill get back to work on it

 

Love the red on the headlights.

 

was that usually painted a different color or was it same color all the way around? I wasn't sure but I striped them red

 

the switch I got

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151081879395;jsessionid=926C896F239276CDD519D6359A5F7E22?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D151081879395%26_rdc%3D1

 

Isn't that piece originally chrome? I don't know for sure but I assumed it was one of your creative touches. As for what's original I'm the wrong guy to ask. All I know is its a really nice accent the way you've done it.

 

Very cool build . I love the wood grain, if you explained to me before hand I would of said you were crazy, but it works. Looks like a fun car to cruise or just look at I'm the yard!

 

thanks McNally. yea before I did it just in my mind I was iffy, It sounded risky cause I didn't know how it would have turned out since I never seen one or someone has done it. I got the idea though because the inside window moldings will be the same color, so it will flow from the inside of the car to the outside. ive done some things that I ended up just scrapping or redoing but this is one thing that came out fine =)

 

El Jefe,
On the 42 to 48, the headlamp rings where body color from the factory.
Gallogiro,
The red stripes are standard from 41 to 48 and it didn't matter what color the body was, it was red striping throughout. If I remember the story correctly, it was Harley Earl who wanted the red stripes because he said it would make the car stand out, even as it aged.
By the way, FYI, the bowtie on the hood should be blue and the Chevrolet letters red.

 

thanks for the info, dark or light blue? was that the only blue on the car?

 

Pat Ganahl will be excited ,,,thats going back to his roots in rodding,,,,