Bob's 57 AGIN is back to the shop (Santini's)

[hiball3985]

Bob
Thank you for the update on Chick, I had no idea his wife had passed. Many of the guys at our Thursday night cruise belong to the same club as him and I don't recall anyone mentioning it..

[57AGIN]

Hi All:

Great news, my 57 was pulled out of the garage on Friday and was being cleaned prior to putting it into the paint booth.  Finally!!!! 

Also the bumpers are going into the shop next week for the first application of copper.  As of now we don't know how many copper applications will be required before the bumper is ready for the chroming process.  I never knew that for a quality job done on bumpers, etc. could require a number of coats of copper, before starting to get chromed.  Learn something new every day. LOL When I stopped at Wheeler's on Friday he showed me the exhaust tips with a 6" X 2.5" extension tacked to each of them.  To facilitate mounting he is going to cut the extensions on the end and expand it sufficiently to accept my 2.5" rear exhaust tubing and then send the finished pair of exhaust tips and extensions out to be chromed prior to installing them onto the bumper when it is out of the chrome shop.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

That's good news, Bob
The copper layers are what they use to do the final smoothing, filling of minor stuff, etc. Being soft, it's much easier to work that perfect than trying to do the same on the base steel. Aside from that function, the copper also provides adhesion for the nickel. Unfortunatly it's also the copper that causes all the epa problems. Chrome shops that have been hit by the epa, and tried to tell their customers that the copper isn't necessary don't stay in business too long.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

Before I read about your accident I was preparing a little humorous posting about that 1957 Buick you liked in one of the photos I posted.  That car is in at Santini's to have the driver side rear quarter panel repaired and some of it was so rusted that a better piece of metal was needed to replace the rusted portion, just in front of the rear tire.  Well, Santini's shop does a lot of late model accident repairs for insurance companies, but the scrap metal available from both the imports and domestic cars just isn't up to the thickness and quality of our older cars.  So they took a small piece out of my crumpled up front splash pan and welded it into the Buick.  But, even with a little of Ford's "Better Idea" installed it is still just another GM.

Bob
57 AGIN 

[RICH MUISE]

That's funny. If that's the only rust repair on that quarter  we'd better not tell that story to the GM guys though, lol.
I think the '57 Buicks have the same back window setup as the '57 Olds with the 3 pieces? I know its blasphemy, but those are some of the best back window ever.

[57AGIN]

Guys:

There is some real progress under way at last.  The 57 and 58 hoods are now finally painted, as is the deck lid.  Attached is a photo of the 58 hood and deck lid drying in the paint booth.  the bumpers are still undergoing some final smoothing before sending out for the final chroming.  These photos are of the bumpers in copper, they still need to be sanded to see if more coats of copper are needed to get all of the waves and/or high & low spots removed.  In some respects it is too bad that the trim on my 57 couldn't all be done in copper, it sure would look good with the blue of the paint job.  But, I had done my first 57's hood ornament done in copper, it looked great at first but faded pretty quickly.  Of course that was long before good clear coats or specialized coating were available.

Monday the insurance appraiser is coming to Santini's to see the progress and estimate the next installment of what will be required to finish their part of the project.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

God love you Bob, you've got the patience of Job. If my 57 was down that long I'd have forgotten I had one. lol

[robhaerr]

That's funny. If that's the only rust repair on that quarter  we'd better not tell that story to the GM guys though, lol.
I think the '57 Buicks have the same back window setup as the '57 Olds with the 3 pieces? I know its blasphemy, but those are some of the best back window ever.

Not to hijack Bob's thread...but I love those back windows, too! Those cars are bodacious...love the wagons, too.

[57AGIN]

Hi All:

Well it appears to be moving again, my 57 is finally in the Paint Booth again.  I'm not sure how long it will be before I get to take it out on the road again, but maybe in a couple of months. The latest delay may have been due to the fact that the shop wanted to have the insurance appraiser see the amount of body work having been done before all that work was covered by the black primer sealer.  That may be why the deck lid and hood have been not only primed but also finished in color.

Bob
57 AGIN

[robhaerr]

Man o man...

Pays to have good insurance, Bob! They will have quite a bill.

Rob

[hiball3985]

At least there is some progress being made, much better then the times when things have seemed to stall. I've never had a car in a body shop and can't even guess in my wildest dreams what this kind of work would cost.

[57AGIN]

You are correct it is going to be quite a bill.  So far the insurance company has sent me a check for a bit over $23,000.  I've spent all of that in buying the replacement parts and for several installments of payment to the shop for hours spent on repairs.  The insurance appraiser has met with Santini and me regarding the progress made thus far and the insurance company will forward another check.  Fortunately, as all of you know I've taken photos of all aspects of the repair process and have every receipt paid for work that they are responsible for.  He took a bunch of photos when he saw the car and now Pete is free to put color on the car. I'm anticipating that they will be paying another $20 - 30,000 before 57 AGIN is ready for the road again.  That doesn't include the extra work I'm paying for on seam sealing, bumper modifications and so on.

The guidance to take from all of this is, "Don't get the car you love into an accident."

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Oh sure, NOW you tell me!!,lol
I got my copy of the estimate on mine Friday. It's almost double what I was anticipating. Really surprised me as I almost always guess too high.
Bob...Are you going to be making any trip back to the bumper/chrome shop? If you are I may email you a pic of a damaged smoothie bumper (not mine) to show them to see if it can be repaired.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

Be happy to do so.  I have to go by there to see if they have done the sanding on the copper to see if more copper processing is needed.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

As of yesterday my 57 was back in the paint booth and being sprayed with the black sealer primer.  Pete noticed something that looked like 80 grit sanding scratches on the left side of the body after the black sealer primer had been applied.  He didn't like that and had that side sanded down to get rid of them.  The car was resprayed with the gray primer and was drying.  All other parts of the body are now done in the black sealer primer and should be ready for color. At Last.

Bob57 AGIN