Re: 55-56 Caribbean Series Paint Application

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2015/7/1 10:35:25

Esquireman:

You've seen my Esquire hardtop in person. Since that time I have been amazed to uncover all the detail taken by the previous owner who painted it in the MES color sequence to please his wife. Just as Ross has said, the tri colors stop at the door jamb when he painted it, himself, over a weekend 46 years ago. He also said that he went to a lot of trouble to procure the Goodyear Hyplaon vinyl material for the top. As long as the top and paint look as good as they do now, I'm not planning to touch a thing.

Part of that joy I take is because he went to the trouble of procuring NOS trim back in the late Sixties when it was still available and selling at bargain basement prices. Headlight surrounds for $13 that went into NOS new front fenders that sold for $50 apiece! His only regret was that he didn't buy more for his other V-8s at the time. At one point he had six around the house, all running nicely and in decent shape. Mine was the last of his collection to go, simply because his wife still liked the three color scheme the best. Who knows, some of those other cars may still be running as property of Forum readers.

Ross' comments on the differences in painting the 1955s versus the 56s is fascinating. Learning to do it better or just doing something a bit cheaper? We will never know.