Bingster

Okay, the Eastwood stuff I am interested in, Rodney. I was going to spray it on the underside of the front floor pan. Maybe the inner fender wells? Do you use their magic wand or from the can?

I didn't read any of the postings on this topic because although I naturally feel we can't put our heads in the sand about what's going on around us, I come to this forum to GET AWAY FROM this kind of news. I see enough of it just getting to this web site. It's a crazy time, we all know, but we have to maintain our sanity somehow, and taking refuge for awhile in this site is happy time for me. If it becomes peppered with bad news that colors my thinking before bedtime from old cars to killers, then I'll have to pass in the future.

I've heard these can be tricky to apply and fit. Who makes the best ones? Steele?

Rodney, now that is motivational!!! Great job. And you're right, one task at a time. I'm still on the underbody of my '47 Desoto but I have mini-moments of great satisfaction when a task is completed. I can't wait to actually drive the damn car. And Fred, I don't know your situation, but maybe an auto body shop with a sympathetic guy will do the final smoothing of the panels for you. You have probably done most of the labor already. I also know around here, for example, if you go to an auto dealership body shop, the guys moonlight by painting and working on cars like ours. In these times, it may not be difficult at all to get your car cherried out for a minimum amount of cash.

Tom, I have a '47 Desoto S-11 Custom, which uses many of the same parts as your Chryslers, I believe. Do you have any spare parts? I don't think our cars share any common exterior trim, but I need a right rear stainless fender trim piece.

Tom, I think I led you to believe that last post of mine was from me. I actually copied the message that Tim Bowers intended form your info. So go ahead and e-mail him your questions and he'll be glad to help you out.

Tom: You're welcome to give him my email address, ( stellarrestorations@cox.net ) or shop phone number, too (620-489-6495). My online activities are at home, and the answers to the questions are at the shop. The base is a DuPont basecoat color, and the ink is called "dark brown walnut" The base color code was provided to me by Grain-It Technologies (GIT), but anytime you are trying to reproduce a woodgrained panel, you can many times find the correct base color on the back of the part that is to be grained. The ink is purchased from GIT. I haven't tried to deviate from GIT's oil based ink, but I may play with some ideas in the future. Sounds like your friend has good color theory; raw umber is too red to describe the base color; some dark yellow would probably help. I can get the DuPont paint code on Monday and come back to this post on Monday night, but if he wants to call during thd day, that's fine too. _________________ Tim Bowers Stellar Antique Auto Restorations www.stellarrestorations.com Tim Bowers wrote for you:

Frankly, I don't think it matters how the auto makers did it. If you have a way to do it now and it is, indeed, beautiful, then who cares how it's done? We've obviously found a better way to do it, or at least we have adapted what we think they did and made it even better. The very fact that you are wiping out the old and doing it anew erases any exact reproduction of the original. Base and clear coat painting is different than the finishes on the old cars. Oil is different. Methods of construction are different. The main thing, as I see it, is to make an intelligent finished product that looks right when done. If you look at the photos of the woodgraining on that Desoto site, you'd be hard pressed to care how he achieved it.

I've left your message on his thread. He also lists his email address on that page I gave you, and I don't think he'd mind your contacting him. I think he's in business and so it's not a private thing.

Tom, I'll ask him and relay the info. Why don't you register to post on that site? It doesn't move that much. It isn't as hands-on as this site, but they do have some knowledgable fellas on there.

http://www.desoto.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=2808 Hit this site on the Desoto Club pages and there are photos of a member's grain work. You can see how he gets the irregularities.

There is a great site which I believe has a full explanantion of what the auto makers used to do. www.woodgraining.com. If that's not it just google woodgraining. As they point out, they couldn't make it so only artists could go the graining. They had to have a surefire method that they could teach workers to do. Wasn't there a recent posting here of the process? The Desoto Club website may have had some as well.

I may be wrong but it seems to me that if you have some funny money available for your car, it might have more buying power now in the current financial climate. I know that Eastwood is constantly sending me e-mails offering free shipping and discounts on a number of products. I do woodworking, and I receive the same sort of e-mails from those folks. Things are tightening up, and a lot of places need to move inventory to stay afloat. Ebay I imagine is the same story, although I do not like their new policy of making you use PayPal to sell and buy.

That is a fabulous shot. Nothing in that photo that readily betrays the date. And I'm quite certain they did have color film back in the forties, at least Kodachrome. Maybe somebody can give the date that Kodachrome was marketed. You really should market that as a poster.

Do these stone guards fit on a '47 Desoto fender? Are the rear fenders of Dodge, Plymouth and Desoto for that year the same fender?

Very beautiful automobile you have there. Where did you get those rear fender stone guards?

Are you doing anything extreme to your '48 Desoto like eliminating the rear fender stainless trim pieces? I could use the right rear if you are. I have a '47 S-11.

Maybe it's Elvis' car?

Have you seen this guy's site? It is fabulous with photos of old radios. www.tuberadioland.com/index.html

I have a '47 Desoto whose front floor pan was fine on the passenger side but rusted on the drivers. I had a local welder cut out the rusted section and weld in a new piece. I then filled in the pits (after sandblasting) with Duraglass, a body filler with fiberglass in it. After sanding I gave it two coats of Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator and then Extreme Chassis Black. I also plan to apply rubber undercoating to the bottom side for sound and water considerations. Since nobody sees the floor pan anyway, you don't have to be as picky as with a body panel.

Where did you get those nice ivory plastic pieces for the handles and such? I have clear plastic on my Desoto but would rather have ivory. Are Dodge & Plymouth interchangeable with Desoto for '47 on these parts? I also want to change the dash knobs if the shafts would accept other knobs.

My car crack sniffing days are long past. But there was quite a thread on here awhile back about sound deadening material that left a bad odor in the car. I can't believe Whitney would sell tar paper at $30 a pop for a 30 X 54 sheet. I assume it is thicker and has more "give" so that the two sheet metal pieces are embedded into it for a stronger joint. And I'm not talking drugs, either.

There is a product in the JC Whitnet catalog that seems perfect for anti-squeek material. It's the the insulation section. 1/16" thick, self-stick asphalt based material. Anybody use it? Comes in 30 X 54 sheets. Does this asphalt based stuff leave a bad smell?

That's exactly what mine has. Maybe they are factory original. So where do you get these? No, not Restoration Specialties!!

I have a '47 Desoto, and the front floor pans have rather large holes where hex screws with rather large washers hold the floor pans down. It doesn't appear that these fasteners were original equipment. In my parts book I cannot find any suitable explanation or see in the drawings what these fasteners were like. I sent Restoration Specialties a sample but no go. I think I have found them at another auto fastener supplier, but I was curious as to what you guys have to fasten the floor pans down.