Look at the transformation this beauty is undergoing... Just to note -- because these pictures span a few years, some of Darryl's early commentary is superceded by later activity. -Dan
Here is what she looked like when I got her,minus the inch of needles from one end to the other...Not particularily looking for a project, while mucking through a local junkyard a friend of mine told me to go over to the fence and look at the neat old car in the guy's yard. Well the guy's yard happened to be the local drive in. After finding the owner of the property and having a look over the car I asked him how much he wanted for it (sound familiar?!). He told me that if I wanted it I had to take the whole thing, not just pieces off it. Need I say more...He was using it for a dog house, there were no seats, no floors, but the rest of it was still pretty solid, and it still had 4 original hubcaps on it.I stored the old buggy away and started keeping my eyes open for parts... Surprise, surprise -- easier said than done. The original drive train was a seized up L head and 3 speed column, that had to go. As luck would have it, I found a 57 plymouth that was to be scrapped and it had a worthy drivetrain -- 318, torqueflite tranny and another frame so I didn't have to mess around with welding motor mounts in. I'm still in need of a better front window, better fenders and gas tank.The tranny is the 3 speed automatic a friend of mine rebuilt using 3 other tranny's, got to get into the car soon so it doesn't dry out. It would be a shame to mess up 1,200 dollars worth of tranny.I did up most of the body work many years ago but now I have had more experience in body work. I am redoing things to make them better. I have no regrets of doing this, it has probably held the old buggy together this long.I have my new interior sitting in my living room and i am anxious to get going on it. Here is some of the interior, the headliner will be white.I constructed a home made jig for floor pans,excellent way to vent frustrations.First, sandwich a piece of metal between boards then beat the $#!! out of it. Place piece of metal back on anvil to iron out any other lumps.The floors are almost done on the top side -- progress, finally.Getting closer to start under coating. Hooray!It's nice to finally spread around some paint smells in the shop. I just have to sand this stuff,get some seam filler in the cracks, rock guard sprayed around, then some good old fashioned red paint. I found out Gary Goers sells the the insulation mat on the the firewall for about 80 bucks brand new.A little more tightening up to do and then it's done.Got the front seat a little more tightened up and the bottom rear done. The floors are finished except for a fresh coat of red paint.Watch how these funny little drain holes transform on my car...With a little more sculpting you won't be able to tell; Now if I can only get Gary Goers to reply..Done with floors! All handcrafted -- now it doesn't feel like something Fred Flintstone would own.Here's the frame after painting -- the body and frame have since been bolted together.
[Recently I found Darryl on Facebook, and inquired if he still had the car...]
Darryl wrote:Yup, still got her, but sadly have not done much with her... YET.
Wow! I like the ingenuity on fabricating the floor pans! Such a neat car. Dan, I hope you can continue to persuade him via Facebook to continue on with the restoration. Looks as though all the really hard parts of metal work are done.
Isn't it amazing what the Darryl Gaspardone's, John Fowlie's, Dick Koch's and Vic Barone's of the world have done - without naming countless others. I stand in awe and admiration. Such dedication to the preservation of a classic automobile, to say nothing of sweat equity. Hats off!
