Long overdue refresh

[Marc]

The old timer has needed paint for a long time. Wanting to do it right, I decided to remove the trim and glass. Of course since I'm doing that much, I figure I should fix up the interior and replace the headliner that's been missing for the last 20 years. Well, can't do all that and leave the dashboard looking faded, so that's coming out next. We all know how that goes.
Fortunately, other than the holes in the lower fenders, the car is as solid and rust-free as they come. Not a surprise actually since I bought it 30 years ago in California, so I know it's never been out in a New England winter.
More pics to come as I get deeper into this.   

[Marc]

Finally started stripping the paint. Happy that so far things look good underneath. Since I know absolutely nothing about factory painting techniques, I was a little surprised to find green paint between the white and the factory primer. I guess they would shoot the whole car in the primary color, then spray the two-tone.
Hoping to have it ready for paint by the end of next week.

[racton]

                 It looks great.What kind of paint will you use.I have been leaning toward the Dupont.

[Ford Blue blood]

Mark Ford did weird things while painting their cars.  The Ranchero has the cream all over with the gold (what is left of both) over it.  My Edsel, built at the Louisville plant has a yellow body with coral coves and a white roof.  As I stripped the paint I found the body was painted coral, the coves taped off and the yellow sprayed over it.  The fenders and hood were only yellow, the doors and trunk lid were coral under the yellow.  The roof was only white.  All of this was factory paint as I did the first re-paint of the car.  Kinda weird huh?

[Marc]

Not sure what paint to use yet. I'll be discussing that with the guy who's actually painting the car. My bodywork skills are pretty much limited to removing paint.
That does sound pretty weird how the paint process varied. Mine's a San Jose car. Each plant likely used whatever method they believed worked best for them. I'm used to the aerospace world, where every last thing is standardized.
The inside of my trunk is white, so it makes sense that the white was the last color applied. Other two-tone owners have said the inside of their trunk is not white but I dont know which plant those cars came from. 

[Marc]

The old timer went off to the body shop last week. Very happy with what I found under the paint. Other than the rot in the bottom of each fender and a variety of small shopping cart dings, it all looked great except for a hole someone had drilled in the rear panel and had since filled with bondo. When I bought the car it had a tremendous hitch welded underneath, along with a length of cable running from the generator to the rear bumper. Somebody in this car's past must've towed a pretty serious camper, and I'm guessing they drilled the hole to run wires out to it.

[Marc]

Had a little free time so I took a shot at installing the quarter trim. The plan was to use original-type clips from Mac's, but I'm not thrilled with the quality, plus they were just fighting me the whole time. I know they're supposed to be simple but I guess I just don't have the "touch". So I decided to use the universal-type clips.
Anyway, I ran down to the hardware store, picked up a handful of big washers (to cover the square holes and spread the load), and some 10-24 nylon locknuts.
I put a bead of strip caulk around the studs, and also covered one side of the washers with caulk. Once the studs were aligned with the holes, I hung the trim on, and snugged down the nuts. Very happy with how it came out, and for me anyway it was much easier than using the original type clips.

[Jeff Norwell]

Looks great Marc......Yea.On my Texas 57. the car was Black and a white 2 tone over that.....strange how Ford painted these cars....
I looked thru my Ford sheet metal manual. and all the fasteners used on retaining the body trim are illustrated how you have done it.Great idea and looks much simpler!..fantastic.

[gasman826]

x2...did the same thing.  Ordered a couple of boxes from auveco.com and installed with pieces of butyl tape careful not to over torque.  It is surprising how little torque it takes to dimple the sheet metal.

[Marc]

I'd never heard of auveco.com. Looks like they've got a great selection of clips and hardware.

[gasman826]

you can still get a hard copy catalog!!

[Marc]

Finally got around to taking a few pics. Still have a long way to go but at least it's close to firing up for the first time in a year.

[Marc]

and a few more...

[57chero]

Looking good, Like that you went with silver on the front valance instead of body color. If you need any side trim pieces I might have some miscellaneous 4dr. stuff.

[rovohn]

Wow,she looks incredible,looks like Colonial White and Cumberland Green?
My old wagon was the same colour.
I acquired a 4dr custom 300 but its Willow and Cumberland,the Willow is going for sure!
Did you spray the dash body colour?
Cheers!John