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Look Ma, I found a convertible
You'll see Bondo patches in the photos. We used Bondo only to smooth over seams or fill in dents. At no time are we using it to fill holes. All the bad metal is being cut away and replaced with new metal..which is why it's taking forever and costing a lot.
First I need to give credit to Arthur Pierce/Vintage Auto of Rehoboth, Massachusetts who is doing the work for me. Here's couple photos of his work on another Met:
11/25/00: Painting finally begins. I couldn't get full body shots due to the position of the car but here's a couple shots. Looking good!
10/26/00: I want to thank Jimmy and Eve Valentine for being such gracious hosts when I visited the Pit Stop in North Hollywood in September. I stopped in to pick up some parts for this project and I spent a long time hanging out and talking with them. I learned all kinds of new stuff about the Met that I didn't know before - a courtesy light under the dashboard? Who knew! coolest Met ever!
Progress this year has been very slow. Arthur injured his neck and back and was laid up for a couple months. Several family emergencies also kept him unable to work. But...
He's back at work and moving along nicely. The body work is done and he entire car is in primer - with the corners and crevices all painted and ready for the big paint job.
So hopefully it will be painted and ready for the reassembling soon which will give us the rest of the fall and winter to make it operational and roadworthy.
"Before and After" photo of nice rear end all primed and ready for...
If you are trying to fix the bottom back seam take a look here. Since the back panel double seam was a bad design solution and guaranteed to be a rust pocket we have eliminated it and welded it back together with a simple sheet of metal. It was all rusted out anyway, so we needed a better solution to fix it. The original seam has 2 body panels bent into a "u", welded and then capped with another "U" shaped piece of metal on top of it all...a great moisture and rust trap. See photo.
3/31/2000: Doors rehung, engine is completed. Car ready to paint. Had to replace a few parts and do a little fancy footwork to get 1500cc engine to mesh with 1200cc clutch and transmisson face plates.
1/17/2000: In process now: new gas tank, rebuilt clutch/pressure plate, final engine reassembly, cooling, fuel and exhaust systems
1/10/2000: Moving along quickly now, with many new parts from Valentines Pit Stop and a few local suppliers and my parts car. Reassembly starts up...new brakes, bearings, seals, cylinders, etc all in and working...new shocks installed...new battery box...engine compartment all stripped, cleaned, primed and painted black...new front wiring harness installed...inside trunk area all cleaned and painted, emergency brake rebuilt and installed...rebuilt front seat frame reattached to new floor brackets...
10/13/99: OK so we had a big delay. We were going to get a lot of work done over the summer but it was so blasted hot and humid and miserable that we couldn't do much of anything. Plus, Arthur was off on some wild month-long road race marathon rebuilding a 1953 Pontiac Stationwagon - that is converted with railroad wheels and risers under it - that went barreling off the railroad track at top speed in the middle of a field in Iowa somewhere. Lots of delays.
So anyway the body work is now completed...and its gorgeous! We ended up having to remove the dashboard and ALL the paint right down to the bare metal. That old Nash rust colored primer is some fierce stuff to get off. The entire undercarriage of the car is repaired, solid and coated in POR-15. Awsome! A few little skin patches the doors and they can be re-hung in place.
So now its time to get out the catalogs and the order forms and get some parts. Lots of parts. Brakes, cylinders, gas tank, door strikers, wiring,seals, bushings, new tires, etc., etc. all will be installed shortly - along with all new electical wiring in the front of the car and under the dashboard. For whatever reason the back part of the cars wiring is fine so we're leaving it intact. Once that stuff is done then we get into the engine compartment. Oh yea we still need to put the engine back together. It and its many pieces are at the engine shop for the once over and basic reassembly and testing. It should be fine since it's in pretty good shape. The cars rust away but the little Austin engines just keep going.
During this delay I ordered a new interior kit from Shannon Crutcher that she and I designed. I spent the summer stripping the seat springs and supports and frames down to clean metal, rustproofing and repainting them all. The upholstery and all the interior panels are assembled and waiting installation. I'm getting good at this stuff! This is going to be a beauty. Gold exterior, with burgandy, palamino and black/burgandy cloth. Burgandy dashboard and maybe a burgandy engine compartment. Yummy! I'm not even attempting to restore it to any sort of original color scheme. Those first couple years of Mets had some pretty awful colors. I also intend to install the chrome strip on each side that was not part of the 54 models either - but it looks so nice! It will be a hybrid. A '54 covertible with a 1500cc engine and a custom paint job with the chrome side panel trim. I'm after beauty not authenticity. Besides is a Met not a 57 T-bird. Who cares! Have fun!
Here's a few new photos - more to come as we get closer to the end of the year. It will be a year in December since we started this little project.
Backend patched and paintless
5/27/99: Work progresses nicely. New floors all in place and body all patched. A little sanding and reassembly and then we drop the engine back in and...
3/10/99: Pass the torch and the metal shears!
Serious stuff happens. Gas tank is removed. Engine comes back from the shop looking like a big black turd but ready for reassembly. Amazingly enough the block is in great shape and not much had to be done other that a thorough cleaning up.
The old rocker panels are removed and all the rusted out crap is cut away down to the solid metal with surface rust. The typical problem areas at the front and back at the bottom of the doors are rebuilt. The outside fenders are beat up and badly patched. They are cut away for aceess to these nasty areas and then replaced when welding work is done. Everything gets the complete POR-15 rustproofing treatment as we go along.
The bottom inch of the door hinge panels are rotted away but the rest are solid. Bottoms are replaced and rocker ends are all sealed off.
Photos of the process:
2/13/99: Dissasembly starts. Progress!
The Convertible has been cleaned out and all the extra pieces of stuff crammed inside the hardtop to keep it out of the weather...not that what's left of the hardtop is much protection. The wheels are off and its up on blocks and ready for the body work. Hey, you want to learn about Mets? Take one apart!
The front end piece was gutted and taken apart - what could be salvaged is in various places. The engine is off to the the motor guys for rebuilding and cleanup. The block is solid and they were excited to have an Austin engine to work on. Hey guys, knock yourselves out!
Boy it's miserable trying to do this stuff in cold weather!
Here's few new photos of Met junk!
1/21/99
As stated elsewhere, finding a 40 year old Met in New England in decent shape is pretty hard to do. I've been looking for a convertible and thought it would take me a few years to find one. Surprisingly I found one through Hemmings Motor News Web site right here in Massachusetts - only an hour away.
One small problem - no motor. So I ended up buying whats left of the convertible and what's left of a '61 hardtop and what's left of another Met and between them all there is enough stuff to make one really nice convertible and a garage full of parts.
And best of all I found a pair of brothers who are going to do help me rebuild the little thing. They have taken another Met completely apart, given it an acid bath and redone a lot of welding and metal work. So they know what to expect and genuinly like the Mets.
The convertible will end up champagne gold exterior with a burgandy and tan interior...and a rebult motor and a bunch of other new stuff.
Here's a few more photos:
Howie Green Design | Boston, MA 02116 |
