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Hi all

Managed to reinstall new Timken wheel bearings and all new brake parts during the past weekend. Had the flexible brake pipe made up locally and it is very good quality, but very expensive! I am pleasantly surprised by the 'sophistcated' nature of my cars drum brakes. They seem to work much better than my 1963 vw beetles! Ja, a high class car does have better engineering! haha!

Dismantled the grille to take in for rechroming tomorrow. The metal 'fins' are a bit rusted but will clean up nicely. I will be painting them black. I am hoping that a friend of mine doing some glass painting etc. will be able to restore my badge? Some of the paint are flaking. Saw some badges on e-bay, but too expensive or in worse condition.

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Looking good Barrie, you're making nice progress and must be pleased with how things are progressing.


PS - The "Wobblies" returned to planet earth last weekend against some riled up Blacks!

Things have been very slow as time and money seems to be getting the best of me! Anyway, fitted the new wheels yesterday as I had to move the Packard to allow me to get my Chev truck out from under the carport. This is what happens if you have to many cars! Anyway, it was my first chance to test the new clutch release bearing and the general working of the clutch. I am very happy, seeing that I didnt spend a lot and used a Isuzu truck release bearing!!!

I also think the new thin white wall radials looks great, even though not original cross plys. I can recommend the Hercules brand. Also notice the clip on wing mirror scored at a swop meet for $1! It even has a thermometer?!?! Dont know from what car, but allright for now, seems to be from the same era as the car anyway. It is a constant struggle to keep the engine free from dust as the car is stored under a carport only and it is our dry windy dusty season here in Africa. After the first thunderstorms this should be over.

Also note the Australian stromberg carburettor, a model WW . Presumably used on Ford V8's, a 289 ci or something. I dont know Fords.

Actually a very good looking car...really getting more and more beautifull the more you look at it!!

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Fitted a wheel cap to see how it will look when finished. Although this is not the correct caps for the 48-50's, it actually looks quite cool. The caps is the full ones from the 51 up models. Got them on e-bay from the USA and they are still in good condition.

Would appreciate your opinions on the look of these!

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Barrie,

The wheel cover look great even though not "correct". I went back and had a look at an earlier photo of yours of a hubcap on your '50 and there is no comparison between the two in my opinion.

go with the '51 wheel covers.

Still waiting for my chrome grille so not a lot has happened. Was very lucky to get a speedo drive gear from a unused gearbox! Still need to fit and test.

I have decided to repaint the car myself seeing as it is disassembled already. This should make prep and painting easier. Hope to start in the next week or so. Will probably stick with the same paint which is either Arizona Beige or Corona Cream. Will have to get it matched here locally anyway. We get a 2K paint called Luxor paints from Egypt. will probably use this as the 3m and spies hecke ris really expensive. Any opinions on the color choice? Should I stick with the seeming original beige/cream or go for something flashier?

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Well, during my past 4 week holiday I decided to start the stripping and painting process. It was quite a daunting task, but in the end actually quite enjoyable. I am far from finished, but is very happy with progress.

Please note: I am a total amateur spraypainter, in fact this is my first try.

I started by stripping back the paint totally to metal with an angle grinder. This was recommended as the original black Duco paint and primer was still under the beige paint. My paint advisor recommended removing ALL paint as he reconned it will ensure a better long term result. SO I started with the grinding process - and that is a dirty job! I was pleasantly surprised with what I found under all those old layers of paint. Not one rust spot or serious dent! I am lucky. Probably our African weather.

I did the front clip and hood first and proceeded to remove the doors to start on the body. I took a decision not to remove the windscreens and back windows - I'm too afraid of damaging the beadings. the doors will be send for sand blasting as it is difficult to get into all the nooks with a grinder - anyway i am tired of grinding!

After rough sanding to metal it was time to apply some primer as the bare metal would flash rust soon. I am doing a 2K paint from Egypt from a company called Kapcihttp://www.kapci.com ? It is affordable here and stuff like Spies Hecker is way out of my league! The primer went on easily in its mixture of 4:1:1. i used a spraygun with a 1.8 nossle for primer and a 1.4 for the top coats. 4 coats primer were applied. I had one bad run on the left rear fender. I have to start fine sanding soon to apply the top coat, but i am very happy with my progress. I actually think I enjoy the whole painting experience.

Mal: isn't that an Aussie cricket player on my front winscreen! Haha!

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Quote:

Laugh while you can Barrie. The Aussies will be in South Africa at the end of February and they'll be looking for revenge!

That aside, the '50 looks to be coming on strongly. I admire your courage in doing the painting yourself but the satisfaction that comes with doing the job will be enormous. You're to be applauded.

I am not a pro at car painting, either, but one thing you might do that was recommended to me as we restored my Buick...

Go over the primer with a quick and dirty coat of black spray paint from a can - just the cheap stuff on the shelves of hardware stores. This rough coat serves as a guide coat. Just spray it on haphazardly to get it on. It does not have to go on thick or evenly. Go very thin with it.

As good as that primer looks, it will still show tons of tiny scratches. The black guide coat allows you to see how to sand the prime coat better. You just sand with a sanding block until all the black is gone - kind of like using the sandpaper to scrub off the guide coat.

When finished, you will have a very smooth finish that will be ready for wet-sanding and then, paint.

The final block-sanding process is very tedious, but that's what a professional painter had me do. He insisted it was the proper way. As I block-sanded the guide coat off, it was very, very easy to see all the scratches in the primer. So, I was, in effect, sanding down all those uneven scratches to a very smooth finish.

If you follow me so far, it should be clear that what happens is the black guide coat fills low spots (scratches, and tiny little dings). You are sanding down the white primer around the low spot until it is even with the white primer inside the low spot.

DO NOT SAND BY PNEUMATIC OR ELECTRIC TOOL, AND DO NOT SAND WITHOUT A BLOCK. Actually, what we did was use sandpaper wrapped around a paint stirring stick. Sand using the stick, and go with the direction of the body (mostly up and down, and not horizontally). When the sandpaper gets full, unwrap a little from the stick to expose the new sheet right behind it. It's kind of like sandpaper spoooled on a stick.

Had I not gone through this process, I think the final coat of paint would have looked mediocre at best.

After the process, the paint looks factory fresh. The smoother the surface, the better the paint shines.

When you actually grind the old paint off, you remove (I guess) the phosphate coating. Don't you have to then give it the dilute phosphric acid wash again, or is that no longer necessary with the hi-build primers?

As you can tell, it's been 40 years since I painted a car.