Re: 38 V12 restoration cost

Posted by shinyDUCK On 2010/2/4 9:45:40

RE: "wood-grained" dash on '38 Senior cars

Here's what REALLY happened, and the background.

The owner came to the restoration shop, and saw that the dash was painted the correct VERY subtle metallic silver.

He told his restorer he wanted a WOODGRAINED dash. The restorer told him "but it is all done". The owner said "what man has made, man can un-do...I LIKE wood-graining".

That's the bottom line. Ed KNOWS what he likes, and it is HIS car.

I was not a judge at that event, but if I was, I would not take off for "incorrect" paint. Here's why.

It is 1938. One of us walks into a Packard dealership with a fat checking account, and says, "I am ready to place an order for a Packard Twelve. I want GREEN closine hub-caps, and I want my dash painted "wood-grained" like my 1937, 1936, 1935, 1934, 1933, and 1932 etc. etc. Packards".

Does ANYONE in here have ANY question about how FAST the factory would get an order to "wood-grain" a '38 dash.

For those of you who are STILL wondering what this is all about, 1938 was the ONLY year that Packard painted the dash sheet-metal that VERY subtle silver/aluminum. The 1939 Twelves were wood-grained in the traditional Packard style.

There are a couple of exceptions - during production at custom body builders, some of the dashes were damaged, so they are painted black. At least one OPEN '38 Packard Twelve came out of 1580 Grand Blvd. with a dash of body color.

Because the over-all attempt to make the car perfectly authentic was so good, the judges did not think it appropriate to knock the car too far down on the two details some of us spotted that were NOT correct - someone mounted the rubber "cushions" for the "hood anti rattlers" on the WRONG side of the fender lip, and, oh yes, the rear fender "welting" was not quite the correct diameter. And the INCREDIBLY well-done running board rubber didn't have the edges properly ground off.

Now, with all those glaring faults, anyone want to adopt me and give me a nice allowance so I can have mine done that well ?