Auto Restoration 101

My son, Richard and I decided to go ahead and weld the stress cracks in the frame before it was blasted. I also made some reinforcement plates for the rear frame above the rear spring brackets. This was an obvious weak area from the factory. Richard welded them at the same time he welded the stress cracks. On Friday morning RC Sandblasting showed up to continue on the rest of the parts. This time he was able to blast the frame, doors, fenders, inner fenders, trunk lid, grille surround and some miscellaneous parts. Our blaster tackled the frame first. When it was completed Richard took some time to blow out all of the sand. We then rolled it into the spray booth. While Richard was getting it ready to paint he noticed some more stress cracks that we had missed. He welded them up and then checked it over once more. Richard was able to spray the frame with a good coat of Zero-Rust and then he applied two coats of semi-gloss black paint to the entire frame before the day was over.
On the frames that need to look original semi-gloss we use a product made by Akzo Nobel called U-Tech 200. It is a durable urethane paint. I purchase it in a gallon kit which is three quarts of color and one quart of activator. I have them pre-flatten it for me to whatever gloss I need. We used a 50% gloss black on this frame.
The frame turned out really nice and is now ready for assembly.

This is the front of the frame after it was sandblasted.

The frame is ready to paint. We have it installed on our “low buck rotisserie”.

This is what the boxing plate reinforcements look like. It should prevent the frame from cracking and bending here like it did before.

Here the frame is painted. It is now ready for re-assembly.

Here is a great commercial clip that I came across and had to share. I have done some work on a 1970 ‘Cuda 440 and a 1969 Road Runner and they are great looking cars. I am also a big fan of vintage aircraft. Enjoy!

This is a long list of terminology used for automotive body work and painting. You might need this list if you are going to talk to a paint jobber about purchasing automotive paint for your restoration. It might also be handy to know if you are hiring someone do your body and paint work so you can communicate better if you have any questions.

Accelerator: A chemical substance that when added to a paint or resin will speed up the rate of cure time.

Acetone: A very fast evaporating solvent with high solvency for certain types of compounds and resins. Has a characteristic ether-like odor.

Acrylic Enamel : Chemically enhanced enamel formulas, which were the mainstay of the refinish industry. Acrylic enamels use a catalyst to create chemical reactions that produce a paint film with excellent durability, chemical resistance, and gloss. Acrylic enamels are still very popular products, though these paints are being phased out in some areas due to emissions regulations. A characteristic of acrylic enamels is the paint can be polished like a lacquer to a mirror finish.

Acrylic Urethane: A coating based on urethane chemistry, which also includes acrylic chemistry as part of the cross-linked polymer backbone.

Activator: A necessary component used to provide a chemical reaction to cure paint. Another name for hardener.

Additives: Chemical substances added to a finish in relatively small amounts to impart or improve desirable properties. Examples are flatteners, flow agents, fish eye eliminators, etc.

Adhesion: The phenomenon by which one material is attached to another by means of surface attraction.

Air Cap: The front of a spray gun nozzle that directs compressed air against the paint to form and shape an atomized cloud of droplets.
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Peter Helck (1893-1988) was an American artist well known for his automotive art. He was born in New York City and studied art in Manhattan. He worked for several major automotive publications in which he was able to travel to England, France and Italy. He was able to witness some of the major races in France and Italy.

He was also a car collector. He owned the famous Locomobile “Old 16″ racecar. He purchased the car in 1941. “Old 16″ was the first American-made car to win a race against international competition. It won the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup. He left the car to the Henry Ford Museum when he passed away.

For more reading visit this site Peter Helck

In 1906 Fred Marriott drove the Stanley Steamer “Rocket” to a speed of 127.66 mph. It was at the Daytona Beach Road Course in Florida. It is still officially holding the record for the fastest steam powered car.
The power plant in the “Rocket” was exactly like the the ones used in the regular cars except it was larger and had about twice the power of the Model F Touring Cars. The boiler was 30″ in diameter and 18″ deep. It had a steam pressure between 800 to 900 pounds. The Rockets’ wheels were 34″ in diameter and 3″ wide. The whole car only weighed about 1600 lbs.
In 1907 Fred Marriott tried again to break the 1906 record but he hit a rut which sent the car airborn. It broke into two pieces when it landed. Mr. Marriott was injured, he recovered but never again tried to break another record.

This is the Stanley Steamer “Rocket” with Fred Marriott.

This is the Stanley after the 1907 crash.
HERE is a Stanley Touring Model F

Check out this video. Jay Leno shows how to light the burners on his 1906 Stanley Steamer.

RC Sandblasting should return this week if the weather permits. This time to take care of the frame and some of the other small parts. I spent the previous week gatthering all of the chrome and stainless parts that need polishing and repairs. If I can, I like to repair my own parts before the parts are delivered the the chrome platers.
I straightened the bumpers the best that I could. I hammered out a few dents and also used a press to bend them back to the original shape. I used a large crescent wrench for straightening the bent edges. The over-riders also needed a lot of repairs. I had to replace some of the stripped out nuts and broken nuts with new ones and weld up any cracks.
I had to do a lot of disassembly work to get all of the chrome pieces ready. I had to take apart the bumpers, dash, grille and convertible top assembly. The owner of the car will take care of getting the pieces plated for us.

This is the front bumper over-rider that was cracked and in need of repairs before plating.

This is the over-rider after the repairs. I straightened the damage and then welded the crack. I finished the metal with 80 grit paper on a DA sander set to grind. The platers will be able to take it from here to final polish.

Bumper over-riders with stripped out and missing nuts needing repairs before plating.

This is the convertible top which we disassembled for sandblasting and for chrome plating.

I grabbed the camera to get some pictures of the dash before taking it apart. I then noticed the word “special” written under the dash in chalk. Does anyone have a thought as to what this would mean? An optional radio? clock? colors?