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Mike - good advice. I've read about wearing gloves and long sleeves when using POR-15, and I plan on not making a mess of myself. For the roof I'll probably grab a painter's suit and head sock to keep from getting it all over me.



Tucson Packard found a 2 door hard-top donor car with an intact windshield header. They are going to remove it from the car (probably by finding the spot welds and drilling them out) and send it to me. $500 for everything including shipping. It's an unexpected and unwelcome expense, but I have to get this fixed before I do anything else on the car. Hopefully they can get it sent out this next week and I can get to work on removing the rotten one from my car.

-Kevin

Kevin,

It's important to maintain your intensity working on your project. Too many restoration projects as extensive as what you have started fall by the wayside when the reality of the amount of effort and resources finally sets in. Keep up with the posts and pictures of your project's progress! Good luck with the roof fix.

Tinman

Not to worry Kevin, the oil in your skin will make it come off in time... LOL Lacquer thinner will cut it while it is still wet.
John

Tinman - I've seen too many projects go half-done and sit in a perpetual state of non-completion. If I let myself get overwhelmed then this car will be in danger of the same. I've set myself a goal of getting this car back on the road before the end of summer (2 months). Not fully completed, not by a long shot, but enough so that I can actually drive it short distances. That will keep the motivation high once I can sit in the driver's seat.

Then from there I can work to complete the car to my standards (or lack thereof??) at a more leisurely pace.

To that end, I ordered the replacement header and they are removing it from the car now. I'm also scheduling to get the interior media blasted this week hopefully. I spent hours grinding away on the roof and some on the floor, and came to the realization that it would be best if it was blasted and then coated with epoxy primer.

The roof has lots of pitting in it. This is as clean as it's going to get without blasting.

I don't know what type of paint was put on the floor, but there were definite spots of rust under some it, and it's a job to get it off. I'd rather be sure the floor is good and repair what is necessary before I put sound deadener over it.

I found a couple of spots already. After blasting I'll probably find more. Like I said, I'd rather address this now.



John - I'm going to back off the POR-15 for now. Not sure I want to go that route. I'm leaning more towards epoxy primer.

-Kevin

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Here's my tentative order of attack for the next few weeks:

1. Reinstall fuel tank and confirm no leaks
2. Soda blast inner roof and entire floor pan
3. Remove rotted windshield header
4. Weld in donor header, repair floor rust
5. Epoxy primer soda blasted areas
6. Insulate roof
7. Install new headliner
8. Install new windshield and gasket

That should get this whole debacle cleared up. From there my next steps to get it at least driving down the road would be these:

1. Drain all fluids (oil, trans, power steering, rear diff) and replace with new
2. New oil pan and trans gaskets
3. New spark plugs
4. New oil bath air filter (missing)
5. Check all brakes and replace components as necessary
6. New shocks on all corners
7. Grease all joints

That should get it driving again, then I can tackle the remainder as I have time:

1. Tackle any electrical problems
2. Replace rigged brake system with factory original Easamatic system
3. New correct size tires
4. Polish all stainless
5. New carpet
6. Etc, etc.

Anything seem out of order here??

-Kevin

Why spark plugs but not points and condenser, and maybe cap, rotor, hi tension wires? Points are far more likely to present issues after prolonged layup than plugs.

You're right, probably all of the above. I've never worked on a car with points and a distributor cap before, so this will all be new. I'm still kind of in "modern car" mode. Lots to learn with this car.

-Kevin

Don't forget engine and power steering pump filters! For the engine, you'll need several as you'll want to change the oil and filter again after running it for a while.

You bring up a question I had Don. I popped the top on the oil filter canister and I've never seen anything like the filter in there. Is there a modern equivalent?

And I had no idea the power steering had its own filter. Lots to read in the manual.

-Kevin

A power steering filter?? Never heard of that before. The oil filter is a cartridge filter element. They can still be purchased new. Usually around 8-10 buck each.
John