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Great blog. I look forward to following your progress.

Count me in with the no seatbelts crowd. The best part of these cars is the chance they offer to temporarily slip into another era. AM-static humming through warm sounding tubes, the thump of skinny tires along the highway, wind rushing through over-sized interior vents on a hot summer afternoon and the risk inherent to a seatbelt-less car are all part of the experience. On a quiet country road it can almost be like a time machine. Keep it original, drive safely and have fun!

One other thought...I would think all that dust in the headliner is probably decaying cloth/insulating materials and road dirt. Not that smoking doesn't leave a total mess but in a car this old I would think it's only a small part of the "dust" equation. Doesn't really matter, though, as it will be free of any dirt (inside or out) when you're all finished.

I've begun more interior work now. I have started taking all of the upholstry off of the seats so that I can have them recovered. Does anyone know where I can get more upholstry for the car, and what kind it should be? The trim code is 69 (tan striped broadcloth). Here is a picture of the current upholstry:

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Does anyone know where I can get more upholstry for the car, and what kind it should be?

Wool broadcloth. Try Bill Hirsch, LeBaron-Bonney, and perhaps SMS in Oregon.

Thank you! I just found it, exactly what I need, too!

I just took the back of the front seat's upholstry off today. Upon removing the cover from the seat, I saw a bunch of numbers and letters. The pictures below show them, please ask if you can't see tham clearly. I know MOD2362 is the model number (Deluxe Eight Tourer) and CODE 69 is obviously trim code 69, as we have discussed here before. The other codes I do not know, if you can decipher it, please do. There is also a picture of two other odd codes on the back. The one picture is clear enough, but the picture with the wierd scribble is just that, in case anyone was wondering. Thanks everybody!

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I suspect one of the markings is the identification of the "dye lot". Perhaps the squiggle and handwritten info are inspector's and/or installer's notations? Interesting!

I have moved on to the trunk of the car now. I have begun to scrape off and out all of the sound deadener that was on the floorpan, to a pretty nasty surprise. Rust! My car didn't have much body rust, just some surface rust on the outside. Does anyone know where I can get more sound deadener for the trunk? I'm sanding the trunk bottom now. Any advice on how to get the rust out of there as much as possible? It's only surface rust, NO rust through. Thanks!

Alright, I finished the trunk, sort of. I scraped almost everything out, then power sanded the whole floor and the spare tire area. I then sprayed new sound deadener over the very smooth trunk surface. I need to spray more deadener, however, because that was only one layer.

We are getting all the closer to getting the car painted! The rear window has been removed, and the rear passenger side window has also been removed. I am currently looking for parts for the car's interior and exterior.

Update: The front end sheet metal has all been removed in preparation to remove the engine and transmission. Interior has been gutted and is being re-upholstered. Still in need of an exterior, period correct sun visor for the car, a clock, a front floor mat, driving lamps, and a new trunk light. Any help with these parts would be appreciated.

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