More good news...................for me anyway!

50Commodore

After what has seemed like an eternity, the body shop where my 50 Commodore coupe has called home for nearly 3 years, has finally made real progress. The biggest item left to be sandblasted is the body (it's been stripped of everything else) and I just got the call on Friday that the body is now blasted and lookin' good.



I realize this may be boring to some of you but this has been one of the biggest hurdles to get past in getting the car closer to paint. I don't have the pics yet to post. I'll be going over to the shop where the car is this coming Monday and I should have some photos after that.



It seems like there might be light in the tunnel I've been in with this car for a little over 4 years. Now to start considering what color to paint!



Dan

faustmb

Post some pictures and more details on the car. Are you looking at factory colors or something custom?



Matt

essexcoupe3131

I no how you feel to make some progress after so much waiting

congrads

Mike

ps , it all comes to those who wait LOL

rambos_ride

Man - talk about having patience...I would have pulled the car long ago for snails pace progress like that.

After 4 years I bet you already know the color you really want to paint it - don't let anyone else talk you out of it!

(PS> If anyone wants something done quicker and is in my area PM me )

50Commodore

I will get some photos up soon.



I had been looking to move the car to another shop but in this area shops willing to do the work on this car have been few and far between. I remember 1 shop in particular who lectured me on the whole process as if I were as stupid as can be. Bottom line is he didn't want to take it on. The shop where it's at now came on very high recommendations, I've seen his work on other cars so I think it will be worth the wait. The wait has been long but during this time I have moved once and got married so I guess it's all good.



I'm still not 100% sure what color I want the car but right now I'm leaning towards a platinum color. The original color was a two tone blue that I just don't think agrees with me for the style I'm going for which is clean & smooth. This is a slightly modified car with a Fatman front end, small block Chevy 383, 700R4 trans and power windows. I'm sure there will be more the closer it gets to be completed.



Thank you for the support.



Dan

Unknown

Hey 308, got your message today, been out of pocket, I sent you an email thru this site.



Barry

50Commodore

I am fortunate that my wife accepts my Hudson restoration. Although cars are not her thing she brings home Hudson stuff on occasion and that makes life much easier.



The sandblaster is using a sodium material that is supposed to be easier on the metal surfaces.



Dan

[Deleted User]

50Commodore wrote:

I am fortunate that my wife accepts my Hudson restoration. Although cars are not her thing she brings home Hudson stuff on occasion and that makes life much easier.

The sandblaster is using a sodium material that is supposed to be easier on the metal surfaces.

Dan

My wife also is not really into cars much, but we try to spend some time on each other's hobbies so thats how we make it work. It also helps that my son is into cars (though he is only 4) and she likes that we can work on the Hudson together as a father/son project.

Let us know how the sodium blasting works. I'm thinking about doing that on my rear fenders and doors.

Jay

Ol racer

fyi

It appears body shops are the same everywhere these days with ez money from quick collision work. They either dont want to do it, price it too high, or take the job with a deposit then do everthing else but the project. I took my '47 Hudson truck to a shop where it basically sat for 4 yrs with little progress with more excuses than carters starters.. I actually did a couple other projects in-between and found another shop to paint a Terraplane. I finally took the 'Truck to this new shop too and still waited almost another yr.... Regarding color, I found looking at Color Chips difficult so If I seen a car in my travels I went to the dealership Lot on a sunny & shady day to read the color on the Window Sticker.

Unknown

jsrail wrote:

My wife also is not really into cars much, but we try to spend some time on each other's hobbies so thats how we make it work. It also helps that my son is into cars (though he is only 4) and she likes that we can work on the Hudson together as a father/son project.



Let us know how the sodium blasting works. I'm thinking about doing that on my rear fenders and doors.



Jay

Jay,



I've seen your son's car collection. If you can hang onto those cars, he can sell them in 20 or thirty years and take care of you in your old age!



Terry

[Deleted User]

52 kahuna wrote:

Jay,

I've seen your son's car collection. If you can hang onto those cars, he can sell them in 20 or thirty years and take care of you in your old age!

Terry

Yeah...who can afford a 401K? I'll just keep buying 1 or 2 each month and save for my retriement that way! LOL

Jay

50Commodore

I'm going to try to go to the blasting shop today on my lunch time. The cost for blasting the car shell is about $1000.00



Here is a link to the shop where my car is now.

http://anacapasodablasting.com/index.htm



Dan

50Commodore

Okay, here goes. I am trying to upload photos of my Coupe. If they don't transfer, I'll try again.



Dan

rambos_ride

The pics are small and hard to see specific details but from what I can see it looks pretty good.

50Commodore

Sorry 'bout the size of the pics. My first time to try and post these.



Dan

rambos_ride

50Commodore wrote:

Sorry 'bout the size of the pics. My first time to try and post these.

Dan

Looks like these are 240x180 pixels - I think you can easily double the picture size without hitting the size limit for attachments.

But again the work looks good - whats the timeline for completion?

Unknown

50 Commodore, the pictures look so familar, that is exactly where I was at after the first year, 48 coupe with a fatman stub in primer. I changed shops and two years later had a finished car.

All of the shops I have had experience with take in all of the work that is available and use your job as a fill in, although you still pay the same rate as if you were getting prompt,decent service.

If I ever want another car, I will definitely buy a finished car. It will be cheaper and immediate.

Gripey old man

Barry

50Commodore

Rick,



I sent you the photos to see what you can do. Thank you very much for helping with that.



Barry,



You said exactly what I have said many times before. I am only doing this project because of the history my family has with it. If it were any other car, I probably would have sought one out to buy in its completed form.



I must say that I have certainly learned quite a bit during this process and look forward to what lays ahead as long as I'm still not waiting for the car to be painted a year from now!:-)



My Dad, who originally owned this car in 1963, called me this morning and he was really excited at seeing the car in it's current form from the photos I emailed to him. So much so that he talked for about 10 minutes straight about his experiences with it.

[Deleted User]

50commodore, thanks for the pics. Looking good, hopefully you've gotten in with a good shop. As soon as I can find a trailer with a center ramp, mine will go for chemical dip. Are you going to strip the doors and fenders, or have them soda blasted too? There's a shop doing that soda blasting around me, but I'm curious on what you think of the process. I'm also considering an aircraft stripper my neighbor uses on his exotics for my doors and rear fenders since they have painted more many years and no surface rust that I can tell.

Jay

50Commodore

jsrail,



The shop where had this done seems ro be first rate. They are very much car guys and really appreciate older cars. All of the other sheet metal has been blasted already, this was the last major thing to be stripped.



I've read the pros/cons of the various methods of stripping a car and I would not hesitate to this again. There is not a chemical stripperr anywhere close to where I live so that wasn't even a choice. I'm not sure there is even a place in So Calif that does chemical stripping of cars anymore. Also I found out that even though they do use an industrial grade version of baking soda for blasting, on my car they used a garnite stone material.



Dan

rambos_ride

jsrail wrote:

50commodore, thanks for the pics. Looking good, hopefully you've gotten in with a good shop. As soon as I can find a trailer with a center ramp, mine will go for chemical dip. Are you going to strip the doors and fenders, or have them soda blasted too? There's a shop doing that soda blasting around me, but I'm curious on what you think of the process. I'm also considering an aircraft stripper my neighbor uses on his exotics for my doors and rear fenders since they have painted more many years and no surface rust that I can tell.

Jay

Jay - you'll want to stay away from the chemical strippers - it's a gawd-awful mess and smell (even with the low odor chemicals). It's hard to keep out of the jambs and crevices and you have to wash the metal with water to neutralize it and then follow immediately with a acid wash and prep solution to keep it from rusting.

If it's done correctly it will hold over time - it's how I stripped my 1968 Chevelle when I was 18 - I've never done a chemical strip since - except for aluminum panels on certain cars.