'57 2Dr Sedan

[Ironhorse]

Guess it's time for a little update, both for the '57 and me.

Going back to see the specialist Jan 4th after New Years for my hand, thumb situation. The harpoon shot I received was good for about 3 months. Back to aching all the time, lack of strength in grip, quick shooting pains from time to time. Able to do a few things during that three month period, now, not so much again. This is really starting to be irritating.

On to the '57, much more enjoyable subject for me. Making good progress, body bolts and rubber bushings changed out, door and fender dings worked. Left rear 1/4 panel crease in progress. Lower fender attach bolt rust spots, cut out, patched and partially smoothed to fit for time being. Got several roof dings to work out. Think little kids crawling on the roof at a drive-in movie maybe? Means head liner has to come down to hammer and dolly smooth. Ordered all new rubber door seals/weather strip, trunk seal, door & hood rubber bump stops, w/s and back glass seals. Will be ordering new window felts and seals shortly. UPS starting to know my address again, LOL.

Front clip came off to access some of the very forward body bolts/bushings. As it was being removed as an assembly body guy found an OLD 3 blade pocket knife (looks pretty good for being at least nearly 50 years old) Owned '57 since '75 so has been in the fender for ...????? Also found a very rusty set of feeler gauge leaves. Almost totally rusted closed. Last but not least, a COORS beer opener. Plan on leaving all these as is in a baggie and display them first time the '57 makes a car show.

Taking LOTS of pics for an album, posting a few more recent ones here. Currently the plan is for a solid one color body in Shadow Gray Metallic with two tone gray cloth interior. Buckets and a front bench in same cloth pattern that can be switched out from time to time as a whim. Used the bench seat bolt holes to mount the buckets to avoid putting more holes in the floor.

No idea yet as to completion date, but not in a hurry for this one. This is my LAST project which ironically was the first classic toy I bought years ago. Came SO close to selling this when I was working for Boeing Aircraft. Too many work days in a row for weeks at a time, weekends also, too much over time got to working on me. Told my wife several times "I'm selling the '57, no time to work on it" Bless her heart she talked me out of it saying " You'll regret it for sure" So glad she got me to see the light on that!!

Sorry for the long post but just a bit of an up-date with some pics added in. Will post more as it goes along. Hope you guys like the progress. Seems slow I know but don't want anything hurried on this one.

[Advanced Design]

It is a good thing you kept it. Good plans for going forward too.

[Ironhorse]

Well here it is early Feb of '19 and a little up date again.

Had the surgery on my thumb joint Jan 17, stitches out on Feb 1st. The thumb does not "lock" on me anymore and the aching gone. Been doing physical therapy type exercises since stitches out. Do them four times a day at 10 repetitions each with 7 exercises. Thumb gets a bit tired after but seems getting stronger each day. Actually getting a bit of a grip strength back. So far so good.

57 is progressing along. The UPS guy sure knows where I live. Ordering nearly every piece of rubber and seal known to exist on a 57 Chevy. Still a few more pieces to go. Got another driver side glass to replace original that has a chip out of the upper front corner. All the glass is out to include the front wind shield and the back glass. Brought those two pieces home for storage until time for install. Replace last 10'' of the trunk tail pan from left to right along with the tail pan brace. Body is completely stripped of paint down to the bare metal. Counted 7 distinct layers of paint on rear quarter panels from my applied primer for racing years ago down to the factory primer. 57 must be about 20 lbs lighter now.

Getting closer to time for the first primer coat and then the block and sand to find the high low spots. Trying to figure out a stitch pattern for my interior,
leaning toward a 2'' rolled pleat with side panels. With back glass out would be a good time to figure for my rear package tray speakers. First have to convince myself to cut the package tray which to date is just like it left the factory.

Figured out from my VIN number my 57 was built in Kansas City early afternoon of the shift on Monday Dec. 31st, 1956. Got that info from a Tri-five board I belong to. Wow, that was a piece of nice to know trivia, LOL First 57s built in Kansas City rolled off the line in mid-Sept. of 56.

Posting a few pics of the progress and one of all the items found so far during the rebuild. Smaller group to the left of the pic with two pocket knives, beer opener and feeler gauges was found when the front clip was removed. The items to the right, another beer opener, comb, hair clips, pencils/pens, golf tee and two REALLY dried up cigarettes were between the wind shield and the front dash molding. The cigarettes looked suspiciously like the "roll your own" variety until we got them out, LOL. but they are factory with filter tips.

Bit of a long post but just some more progress and pics along the way. Ways to go yet but progress is being made.

[Ironhorse]

Been some time since I updated this with the progress. Still in paint/body jail but much closer to a release date, LOL.

After the trunk rear section and support bracing was found and replaced had issues with the floor foot area behind the front seat. Both required floor panels to be replaced, just too much thin rusty material to be comfortable with. Had the inside treated with an epoxy spray to prevent further rust altho most likely was not NEEDED but what the h***, it's only $$ and I swore I would not cut corners with my last project build. Currently is in the sand and block process. Body guy is retired like I am, (from same company) and works at his own pace like do, LOL.

A few pics of the process.

[Ironhorse]

Well it's been awhile since I up dated this but at last the 57 is at the paint shop!! Adding a few more pics of the up dated process and a bit of the goings on. My body guy finished all the body repair and the sand / block is finished. Made the gap adjustments for the doors, hood and trunk. Really glad to see it to this point, been a long process. Has been in the body repair jail cell for just a bit over a year. Took it in Oct. 4, 2018.

Have the stainless trim being worked to remove any dings and dents, then polish. That's a tough nut to crack, finding someone who can repair stainless trim. Not an easy process to do, time consuming and tedious. Had to find a replacement for driver side lower rear quarter panel trim. Just too rough to work and finish to a level that will match new paint. This came up just as I was getting ready to head to a out of state swap meet for a couple days. A bit of luck stroke there, very first vendor I stopped at had several examples of the 57 trim I needed. This was about 7:30 in the morning. Made my selection of the 5 pieces he had, very reasonable I thought at $25 each. Later that afternoon went by his booth again and all the trim was gone!

When block and sand was done and body guy was satisfied car was ready for paint he loaded it in his covered trailer and called paint shop for a bring it in date. That was put off for almost a week because the spray booth heater took a dump and they had to get that replaced. Car sat in the trailer for almost week and a half. Body guy reluctant to unload then reload with just a slim chance of possibly getting a new "ding" to address. Finally Friday last week he got a call to bring the 57 in Monday this week which we did about 11:00 that morning. It's there and due for paint next week after they a light sand, new prime, mask and ready to go! Paint color selected which is a process for sure, so many options. 2018 Chevrolet Silverado truck color, Shadow Gray Metallic, a medium to darker gray solid one color two stage base and clear. Interior will be a two tone cloth, medium gray with dark gray seat panel accents.

Sorry for the long post but have not posted on the progress for awhile. A few more pics of the journey. Hope you like them.

[Ironhorse]

A few more pics along the way.

[Ironhorse]

Last couple pics taken while in primer. Next time I up date hope will show the paint process while in the booth and finally at last some COLOR !!

[mongocanfly]

Looks good....I'm glad somebody's getting some painting done...

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks good, I anxiously waiting to see it with paint on it.

[Ironhorse]

Have to admit I'm anxious to see some color paint on it also after all these years. Bought it in primer in 1975, raced it in primer for several years. Then family, kids, job, house, payments and bills and life got in the way of going fast. It was then stored in the garage until I retired. Has never had anything but primer on it since I bought it. Seeing some color will be a BIG change for sure.

[Ironhorse]

Well finally after 44 years of being in primer the '57 has a NEW paint job in COLOR ! Picked it up from the paint shop Weds. and back to my body guy to start putting it back together. Install windshield, back glass, side glass, door guts for windows and door handles, stainless trim, dinal adjust for door gaps....etc. Not sure how long he will have it and then it goes for interior. Hope to have it ALL back together and finished for cruising weather come spring. Needing to get a decent car cover also is on the list.

A few pics of the paint prep and a few of the painted body. Have a few more pics in the camera but not downloaded to the computer yet. Really liking the color choice, 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup - Shadow Gray Metallic. Was a bit nervous when picked it out trying to visualize that color on a '57 but am really very satisfied.

[Ironhorse]

A few more pics with BC/CC sprayed.

[mongocanfly]

Wow..that turned out extremely nice...

[flashed]

Very nice Indeed , cant wait to see more .

[Ol Blue K20]

Beautiful!! I'm excited for you!

[Ironhorse]

Downloaded last of the pics of the final paint from my cellphone. Had to have my son help ol Dad down load from the cellphone to the computer and save to file. Boy, I hate being "technically challenged", LOL.

VERY pleased with the outcome. Now back to the body shop guy to be put back together, glass, windows, door and trunk seals, stainless trim.....etc. Then on to a full interior. Seats, carpet, headliner, door panels...whole nine yards. Now looking into getting the bumpers re-chromed. Not really wanting to do re-pops on it at all. Trying to keep it all original GM as much as possible. Sometimes hard to do tho.

Last pic of this group of four, left rear tire is the spare we had to put on as the tire with the rally kept going down. After got it back to the body shop I just HAD to change the rally back after I had it fixed. Bad seal on the tire bead, cleaned the crud on the rim and remounted it and all is good. Looks SO much better with all rally wheels.

[Ironhorse]

Last three pics I have for now. Really deep gloss and depth to the paint. Very pleased with the results. The project continues.

[mongocanfly]

Definatly gonna be nice...
I just dropped off my bumper and grill at ups...headed for elpaso...if they can fix and chrome mine I'll be impressed....may take a couple months to get done with the backlog they have..

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Definatly gonna be nice...
I just dropped off my bumper and grill at ups...headed for elpaso...if they can fix and chrome mine I'll be impressed....may take a couple months to get done with the backlog they have..

Mongo, sending a PM your way.

[mongocanfly]

10-4

[67C10Step]

Man that’s nice. That car will always be a classic and cool.

[95stepside]

Saw the first color pictures and thought "I bet thats gonna look really good in the daylight"

Scrolled down and darn if i wasnt right

[Ironhorse]

Getting so close to finishing this part of the restore. A few more little things to attend to and then bringing it back home to the interior shop. Waiting on the last of the stainless trim to be straightened and polished. Had to find a better R/H front fender spear to replace the original I had that was too badly damaged to be decent. Really getting pumped to get back behind the wheel and run thru the gears this spring. Plan is to have it totally finished by mid summer and in July enter my '71 4x4 pickup, '71 Chevelle and the '57 in our local yearly Wheat Festival Car Show. All three, side by side, at least once.

[Russell Ashley]

Beautiful: Nice color choice.

[Ironhorse]

The color choice was a real head scratcher for sure. Already had my blue 4x4 and blue Chevelle. Blue was out, red just not my color. Love black but really tough to keep clean, I live on a gravel road. White too bland, not much for yellows and greens. Boy, I'm picky, LOL. Started driving thru local car dealer ships on a Sunday afternoon too avoid the salesman wanting to make a sale. Decided it was a choice between the Shadow Gray Metallic or the Granite Gray color. Went with the Shadow Gray and very pleased with it. Tough to see it on a 2019 Silverado and then visualize it on a 57 2 dr. sedan but after seeing it on the 57 I knew it was the right choice for wife and I. Can't wait to see it completed and sitting out in the natural sun light. The bright stainless trim really stands out against the deep gloss of the paint.