VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 First Drive Success

Finally got my brakes fixed up enough to go around the block tonight in my 1950 styleline deluxe 2 door sedan. Big thanks to Greg_H for sending me a bunch of NOS wheel cylinders. Now the rest of the project starts. As far as brakes go I bought a '51 rear end so I can get rid of the Huck brakes. I plan on doing disks in the front along with a master cylinder upgrade. The car needs some wiring work, might just replace the whole harness. Floor pans and rockers need to be replaced. I need to find the seats for it. And there are 2 cross members of the frame that are pretty much completely gone. I don't have the space of the tools to remove the whole body from the frame so what do you guys reccomend for sanding/priming? Any tips and tricks would be much appreciated. This is my first restoration and I am going to need all the advice I can get.

My solution for not having the necessary tools and space for restoring my '38 was to take it to a local shop that does a lot of restoration & restomod work then sign a check. I did it in phases as money allowed.

Tweed50, before you go one step further with your '50, I would suggest that you have a qualified bodyman do a thorough inspection of the frame of the car. When I read that 2 of the frame cross members are pretty much gone, I am presuming that is because of rust. If so, then the rest of the frame could be eaten away so much that it is paper-thin, even though it may look solid on the outside. If the frame is rotted, you have a real money-pit on your hands.

I was reading about the frame and went over it. The only part that is bad is the part that the master cylinder bolts to. The top part is still solid, just the bottom is eaten away. I should be able to weld in reinforcements pretty easily.

That part of my 52 frame was coated in a quarter inch of oil and grease from the engine crankcase vent tube and a leaky rear seal. The transmission was coated in the same but thicker. It made a mess but preserved the frame like a dinosaur that fell in a tar pit.

My advice is to work on one or two small sections or tasks at a time until finished. Do not disassemble the car to non driving condition and try to keep it able to at least go round the block on its own power.

I didn't follow my own advice cause I was young and energetic when I started and am now regretting a full disassembly. It's hard to keep space and time plus money and motivation for a car when it's in pieces.

Body off restorations are for 9-5 professionals paid to work on vehicles without excuses and for hour long tv shows with big budgets.

I've nearly given up on ever driving mine again and debated selling it but, I keep prodding onward and forward when I can.

Great advice from old dominion!! Too many projects were reduced to buckets of parts, only to have the owner feel overwhelmed and lose interest.
Plus, when you finish each project, nothing can beat the feeling of satisfaction in completing the job and getting a sense of accomplishment.

Don't give up. You'll get there! Nothing cooler than starting her up for the first time and rolling her down the street under her own power!! I shot a video to preserve that event!

I heartily second olddominion's advice. Unless you're retired and have all the time in the world to work on it, it's best to do the work in small increments rather than a full body-off restoration.

I bought my '41 Special Deluxe in January of last year. Just finished getting her mechanically sound (engine, brakes, fuel system, suspension, etc.), all of which I did incrementally so I could keep taking her out for test drives between jobs. The longest non-drivable period was the past couple of months when I had her up on four jack stands so I could get everything finished up underneath - shocks,exhaust, oil pan, etc. I'm driving her around again and starting on the wiring. I want to keep her drivable all this year because next summer is when I finally start on the body (same problems as yours except for the frame rust - need to fix floor pans, rocker panels, fenders and much more).

Don't do like my neighbor with his 39 Packard. He bought it when his was younger and immediately tore it completely down. It looks terrific now but it took him over 30 years before he finally got it all restored and was finally able to drive it.