Getting there...

[JPotter57]

Got it all welded up and ground down.  I have stripped it to bare metal since this photo, now waiting on initial body work...cant wait.

[Zapato]

looks like its always been there.

Zap-

[glen b henderson]

Looks good James, don't look like the same old rusty one that we cut off.

[JPotter57]

Yeah, I'm proud of it.  Glen, I only had to replace the lower front and rear, very small repairs.  I'll  post up a close shot of the lower front, I am particularly happy with that repair.

[glen b henderson]

I have not got much done since you were up here.

[JPotter57]

Here is the lower repair, will need very little filler.  I'm using Rage Extreme filler.  Hope to have some progress shots tomorrow..ran out of inline paper todsy so I'll have to pick it up tomorrow on the way home.

[JPotter57]

Instead of buying a whole lower front quarter for between $80 and 160, I bought a set of rocker panels off ebay for $50 and cut them up to use the lower 2 inches to repair the lower quarter.  That's all that was damaged and I couldn't see replacing the whole thing for a 2 inch wide by 20 or so inch long repair.  Worked out great.  Now, I have done the first filler, which was AllMetal in place of lead at the seams, and have started with the first skimming with the Rage Extreme.  Hopefully, it won't take much more.  I also bought a quart of self etching primer for the quarter, the rest of the car was already stripped and done, so this quarter and the tail pan are all that is left.  The doors are stripped, one has the rust holes repaired, the other still needs work.  The driver door was a `58 Custom300 door, and has about a million holes to weld up.  Otherwise, they open and close great, solid.  My trunklid and hood are new Crites fiberglass parts, and the fenders are some old glass fenders, maybe JCWhitney, but they are very lightweight, more like the old AI parts I had on my last `57.Most of the hard work is now behind me, and I can get on the part that stands between me and paint.  Of course, as per usual, I have changed my mind again, and instead of solid white, I had initially changed my mind to solid red.  Now that I have looked at several pictures and seen that single color Customs, with the exception of black, just don't look that good to me.  I can't see me working on this thing for the next 3 years to get it perfect enough for black, so I will probably go with red and white, cool since I have all the paint to do it with.  And Jim, you can relax, I promise I won't be changing my mind again and painting it yellow, lol.  Been there and done that.  I keep thinking about it, but red or white, or red and white have always been in the equation for this car.  Glen, not sure if you remember Pat Fleischman's old red and white Custom, but that's the idea I have in my head right now, maybe even with the old Weld Draglites, but more likely with Pro Stars.  Still debating on that one.

[glen b henderson]

I know what you mean about paint, I sure would like black and white but I don't think I'll ever get it straght enough for black unless I stay with flat. I really like the blue and white like Gamble's old car also, that maybe the way I go.

[Ford Blue blood]

Looking good James...it was worth slogging around in the mud for that panel!

[JPotter57]

Here it is in initial filler work, etching primer since it was bare metal.  The humidity is terrible here and it will flash rust in 3 or 4 hours.  As soon as the blocking is done, I will be doing the whole car in white primer, and get ready to lay on the white roof and tops of the quarters, then tape it up and lay down the flame red on everything else...cant wait.

[RICH MUISE]

Looking great James...good work.
Rich

[glen b henderson]

Dang James, that look great! Glad it worked out for you and wish you were closer, maybe you could push me to make more progress. By the way how is your dad coming along on the fairlane?

[JPotter57]

He has stripped it down to metal, replaced the inner and outer rockers, fixed that hole in the floor.  He has bought a bit of stuff too.  Got a mint grille from ebay, bought those new rechromed bumpers that someone postef on here from craigslist and an electric wiper motor, lots of other stuff.    He has been busy the last couple of weeks putting a new roof on his house, so he hasnt worked on it since he started that.  The old car is looking good though.  He's painting it solid black.  Should look awesome.

[briney]

WoW!  I really like the progress you're making.

Patrick / Dallas TX