Perhaps what I did today is like what a lot of you restoring old gems have experienced. You come across a car that someone has decided to part ways with, maybe having done some work to it or none at all. The restoration has to start somewhere and every car has a story behind how it got to where it sits today. I inherited a '35 standard phaeton that had sat all apart, in the same early stages of restoration for just about 30 years, before I started moving forward with putting this great car back together last fall. I got so used to walking by the it with two flat front tires, stripped of all its paint and the back end resting on oak blocking that it just seemed normal for so long. So what I did today, hadn't been done for quite some time. I temporarily installed the rear leaf springs and the rear axle on the car so that it can be trailered later this week. If the weather cooperates Thursday, the old Chevy will hit the road for the first time since it moved from my grandparents house to my parents house back in '89. This trip will take the car to its temporary home while it gets the bodywork and new paint job. I helped my father move the rear differential to its current resting spot in the shop 30 years ago and it hadn't moved since I started getting it ready this week for installation. Once I got some help identifying which parts held the axle in place to the springs and got additional help shoring up the gears and axles in the rear end for the upcoming trip, I attached the leaf springs and the differential with torque tube, to the car. Last week, I had 4 new used tires mounted up on the old wire wheels and installed them today as well. After having sat with two flat front tires and no wheels on the back of the car, the phaeton is finally sitting again as it should. Seeing the car sitting on four inflated, non-cracked tires made more of a difference than I had thought. Its so nice to see this lovely old car sitting sturdy again. And that was plenty for today!
