1964 Polara Convertible Project

[conv67bdere]

Now that is really cool SixPakSteve . . . sure beats lying on your back and welding parts into the car . . . except I'd be concerned about keeping it all true with the new forces on it ? ?

Good luck . . .

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Now that is really cool SixPakSteve . . . sure beats lying on your back and welding parts into the car . . . except I'd be concerned about keeping it all true with the new forces on it ? ?

Good luck . . .

Thanks Mr. Conv67Bdere "Keeping it all true" is a concern that I share as well. I know that I have some floor pan work ahead of me, and a inner & outer patch to do on that passenger side lower 1/4 panel. But until I get the entire car blasted I won't know what other welding has to be done.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

I spent some time today putting some good ole fashioned elbow grease into my project and I have a few updated pics here. I've removed my gas tank, fuel & brake lines since rolling the car on its side. The rest of the suspension and front end parts will remain for now since I need to move the car on/off my car trailer soon when I'm ready to have it sand blasted.

Speaking of blasting....my guy stopped by and looked at the car the other day and he gave me a price to do the entire car top to bottom, inside & out. He said though that I could safe him time (and therefore save myself $$$$$) if I scraped of the 50 years of grease, grit and grime stuck to most of the center areas on the bottom of the car. He suggested oven cleaner, a putty knife or other metal scraper, and a wire brush to do the job so that's what I went with.

I sprayed the bottom with the oven cleaner and per the instructions, let it sit for 2 hours. (My garage was heated to about 60 degrees.) I then used a putty knife and trowel to remove the 1/4" thick layer of grit. Most of it came off pretty good, and I got down to the white factory paint using a wire brush that will definitely have to be thrown away when this work is done.

In these pics, the area at the top of the car I'm calling 'done' and ready for the sand blaster. From the driveshaft tunnel on down I've scrapped but not wire brushed yet, and in the axle area I've cleaned up the axle some but it and the sheet metal on the other side of it needs more work. I'll be buying more oven cleaner after Happy Hour this afternoon.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Just an update....

I'm hoping to get the car to my sand blasting guy sometime this coming week. We had a decent December day here in Maryland today (low 40's and just a slight breeze), so I rolled the Polara outside of the garage so I could clean the 50 years of grease off of the K frame and other front end parts.

I sprayed everything with oven cleaner first and then let it sit the recommended 2 hours while my wife and I attended a local/annual Christmas Horse Parade. (About 500 horses, mules, donkey's etc.... and their riders all decorated for Christmas. Some horse and mule teams were pulling some nicely restored carriages, wagons, stage coaches, etc... Pretty cool!) After the parade I sprayed the same front end parts with some engine degreaser and I let that sit about 30 minutes while I hooked up my pressure washer.

The pressure washer removed the caked on grease pretty easily, and I was happy with the results and the fact that the mess was outside of my garage vs. inside. After I pulled the car back into the garage, I used a snow shovel to pick up most of the grease residue. I hope the weather hold up so I can get the blasting done and the car back home before Xmas.

 

[conv67bdere]

The pressure washer removed the caked on grease pretty easily, and I was happy with the results and the fact that the mess was outside of my garage vs. inside. After I pulled the car back into the garage, I used a snow shovel to pick up most of the grease residue. I hope the weather hold up so I can get the blasting done and the car back home before Xmas.

Well lookey there . . . there IS a K-member under all that "gunk" . . . just like on my car . . . looking good - Keep us posted on your progress !

 

[roadrunnerman]

Doing all that cleanup yourself will definitely pay off in the end by not having your sand blaster guy do it. I'm sure they appreciate the people doing what they can to make there job easier.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Thanks for your comments RR Man, and I agree. And the easier I make it for him the less money it's going to cost me to get the blasting phase done so my wallet is motovating me a bit too.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

I was able to keep my goal of getting the Polara to my sandblaster before the end of 2014. Here she is loaded on my trailer this past Wednesday and I should get her back sometime between Christmas and New Years.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

I got the Polara home today from my sandblaster. He did a nice job and was extremely easy to work with. I'll take my seat frames and my convertible top to him eventually, but not for awhile yet. If you're near the central Maryland area and need a car or something similar (trailer, truck bed, etc..) sandblasted, let me know and I'll gladly refer you.

Now that the car is cleaned up I can see that I've got some metal work to do on the floor pans, possibly the trunk pan, 1 lower rear quarter (inner), and the cowl. The cowl gives me the most concern because of it's complexity and the lack of (new) replacement metal available. On the plus side, the frame on this car is is excellent shape and the quarters are pretty decent for a 50 year old car. Here's a few pic's of the car at my blaster's farm and then back at my house...

 

[khryslerkid]

Looking good! You're getting there.

What additional frame support did the verts have, if any, than the standard models?

 

[Riverdawg]

Nice work, gonna be a great car when done. Keep up the good work

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Looking good! You're getting there.

What additional frame support did the verts have, if any, than the standard models?

I'm not sure if they did have any additional frame support, but I'd have to look at the underside of a hardtop and compare the two. As you can see in my pic's, the vert's didn't have a full frame and based on what I've been reading on FBBO the majority of opinions are that it would be a good idea for me to add frame connectors during my restoration.

My car DOES have additional 1/4 panel stiffeners that start about midway in the trunk area and then end about where the back seat would be. I'm pretty sure these aren't in the hardtop Polara's but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't show these stiffeners in any of my current pic's but it's easy enough for me to take some and post them if anyone's interested.....

 

[dvw]

The lower 1/4 panel patches and inner drops are pretty easy to make. I bought a 10" diameter piece of PVC from Home Depot. Shim it off your bench with 1/8" shims and clamp it. slide the sheet metal through the gap and lift. You can make the perfect contour. My drivers side cowl was rusty underneath. I drilled the spot welds at the edges and cut it off next to the vents. The upper part I removed was repaired. The repop's don't have a nice stamping. I fabbed the lower part that was rusted out and reinstalled the original upper. The reason the front of my wheel well is removed is because i stretched my wheel wells 4".
Doug

 

[coloradodave]

Doug, What does your rear tire/wheel package consist of? Have you posted pictures of the trunk interior?
Thanks

 

[dvw]

Doug, What does your rear tire/wheel package consist of? Have you posted pictures of the trunk interior?
Thanks

The tires in the picture are 10.5wx31 M/T on a 15x10 american 200S. Theses tires will fit w/o stretching the wheel well but there will be no gap at the back of the wheel well. I wanted the rear to look like the front.
Doug

 

[coloradodave]

Man, the workmanship and detail on your car are second to none. Thank you for the pictures and information. It is appreciated. I wish the outside of mine shined like the inside of yours...lol

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Hi Doug,

I appreciate you visiting my thread and sharing that tip with me on the lower 1/4 panel repair...complete with pictures on how to do it. Thank you VERY much and Happy New Year!

 

[conv67bdere]

Looking good! You're getting there.

What additional frame support did the verts have, if any, than the standard models?

You may have heard that one of the frame stiffening options is to install torque boxes . . .

well, since the convertible does not have a top to aid in the support of the frame, they already have the torque boxes welded into the frame.

I think ( don't hold me to this ) that the rockers are also a bit stouter in the convertibles as well . . .

I can get pictures and show you the difference with and without the torque boxes if you're interested to see the difference . . .

 

[dvw]

Hi Doug,

I appreciate you visiting my thread and sharing that tip with me on the lower 1/4 panel repair...complete with pictures on how to do it. Thank you VERY much and Happy New Year!

Good luck I wish mine was as clean as yours to start.
Doug

 

[khryslerkid]

You may have heard that one of the frame stiffening options is to install torque boxes . . .

well, since the convertible does not have a top to aid in the support of the frame, they already have the torque boxes welded into the frame.

I think ( don't hold me to this ) that the rockers are also a bit stouter in the convertibles as well . . .

I can get pictures and show you the difference with and without the torque boxes if you're interested to see the difference . . .

Thanks for the reply. If you want to post the pics showing the difference between the two, that would be great. I did a little surfing on the net and lucked out...