Re: Henry's 55 Constellation

Posted by Cli55er On 2014/8/2 12:29:07

Thanks everyone!

Mike, does this car start with a C or a P?

Howard, I wish I could help, if I was closer I'd probably by at your house a lot just trying to soak up your knowledge.

the rust was not that bad on this car. I did have to replace the bottom of the passenger's door, rocker, and floor. the rest was just surface rust.

basically I took an orbital sander and some 360 grit and sanded the whole car lightly to get all the years of nasty off and to get to the good paint under that. all that nasty was surface rust and I was surprised the paint was under it cause you couldn't see it at all!! then I sprayed RAW Boiled Linseed oil all over the car and let it dry many weeks. this keeps the rust under control, blocking any and all moisture and sucking it out as well. basically coats the car in a rubberized shell. (thanks to Stephen for this idea)

then I cleared the whole car with Eastwood euro clear. then let that set for many weeks. then started sanding from 180 grit up to 4000 grit. after that I will use a heavy polish, then light polish, then Nu-Finish as a final stage. (I prefer Nu-Finish to any wax out there and it last a VERY long time and doesn't melt off the car in the hot Texas sun)

I appreciate the comments about it being art, I feel like if I put this much work into it, it should be something worth it. I have seen several cars at carshows that have the patina look and some that have been cleared. I have only seen one other car that had the colors to pull off a deep mirror glazed finish like my Packard. it was Fantastic looking....blue and brown rusty....and it was a wagon. it was great! I think his was a professional job though. not a flaw in the paint....mine is a 20 footer to not see the flaws in the paint....but hey I did it myself and save a ton of money.

The idea from Ross on the brake lights will save me another 250 bucks! thanks Ross!

all of the money will pretty much be in the interior and the soft seals....about 4500 i'd say for all that to be done and that is with me installing the seals myself. i'd say 2500 for interior work and 2000 or so in seals from steele.

after I get done with the paint I will start polishing the stainless trim, hopefully I wont find that as tedious as the paint sanding.

after that I will take the fenders back off and put everything on the firewall, etc....including restoring and installing the dash. then fenders back on.

then on to the interior work and seals. along with wiring.

thanks everyone for following along. I wish it was street legal......gonna be another couple years I think.