After a 15 Month stall, but back to work

[Chester Brzostowski]

Sunday 07/18/2010

I was determined to get the car painted this summer so that I can spend the fall and winter months putting the interior and trim back on the car. I dedicated a weeks vacation to finding a painter that was willing and capable of fine tuning my body work and painting the car inside and out. Finally I found a shop that had the right price and the right attitude to finish my now 6 year odyssey.

I will be dropping the car at the shop on Saturday August 7th. The expected turn-around time is the first or second week of September. Now I needed to put back a few items so that the painter can easily move the car around. The first thing was to install the proper gas pedal and the parking brake cable so that he doesn't have to jump out of the car with chuck in hand to stop it from rolling.

Since I disassembled the car in 2004 I moved it from Virginia to Delaware where I completed a great deal of work. At the end of 2009 we moved once again and finding tools as well as small parts was a nightmare. All the parts that were not installed on the car wound up in a shed in the backyard. Now this shed contains the parts from my project car as well as the salvageable extra parts form my 47 parts car. I am sure you can imagine my frustration looking through countless bags of miscellaneous small parts inside a shed where the temperature must have been near 110 degrees. Looking for the bracket and clamps as well as the cable itself became almost an all day job. Well the good news is that most of the stuff is now sorted out or at least I have a clue as to what's in most of the boxes.

Some advice for someone thinking about starting a restoration. Try not to move more then twice during your project. Also Take plenty of pictures of the car and everything you disassemble because no matter how good your memory is, it might be years before you get to put those parts back together again.

For more pictures & info see link below:

http://www.chetscoins.com/1948p15/2010/07182010.htm

Chet...

Edited July 19, 2010 by Chester Brzostowski

[Robert Horne]

I know what you mean about moving. I moved from Ohio where I lived 30 years, to southern Virginia. Took several trips just to move all my Plymouth stuff.

[steveplym]

Glad to see you are still at it Chet. I wondered about you the other day. Good luck with the paint job and hope you get to the finish line soon.

[TodFitch]

...snip...Some advice for someone thinking about starting a restoration. Try not to move more then twice during your project. Also Take plenty of pictures of the car and everything you disassemble because no matter how good your memory is, it might be years before you get to put those parts back together again.

Amen to that. I had my car apart for about 20 years and two moves. You can be pretty sure you got everything out of the old place because it is totally empty. But you can't be sure where anything is, what it looks like or if you are looking at where it goes.

[Chester Brzostowski]

Amen to that. I had my car apart for about 20 years and two moves. You can be pretty sure you got everything out of the old place because it is totally empty. But you can't be sure where anything is, what it looks like or if you are looking at where it goes.

Tod,

Couldn't have been said better. That is exactly correct.

Steve, I am also glad I am back at it.

Bob, Where in Southern Virginia did you wind up. I am in Northern VA with the rest of the Yankees and Carpetbaggers.

Chet...

[Joe Flanagan]

Chet,

Where in northern Virginia are you? I'm in Alexandria.

[Young Ed]

If you guys think thats bad try buying something that taken apart from someone else. Where they arent moving and certainly without fail stuff gets left behind. Even worse with my p15 the guy had a 2car garage and had a similar vintage ford coupe taken apart in the other stall. I got some ford stuff and I'm sure he has some of my missing plymouth parts.

[Plymouthy Adams]

anyone who still has a job, owns and maintains his own home is going to have a million things happen between time he starts and the eventful finish of the car especially if you diving deep into the rebuild. Couple in with that the ones with children still at home, school/college, aging parents and close relatives...and please by all mean give thanks if your health allow you to endure all the above..

keep smiling, make the hobby fun and not a job..you will get there..

[Chester Brzostowski]

Chet,

Where in northern Virginia are you? I'm in Alexandria.

Joe,

I have a house in Sterling but my cars are out on the eastern shore of Delaware. I have a summer/retirement home out there but just not ready for retirement yet. I guess the only thing stopping me is money. There never seems to be enough of that.

Hello Tim & Ed,

Its been a while. I can’t believe the traffic on this site. Sometimes I just lurk in the background because by the time I think of a response to a post their has already been 16 posts added.

Chet...

[Robert Horne]

Tod,

Couldn't have been said better. That is exactly correct.

Steve, I am also glad I am back at it.

Bob, Where in Southern Virginia did you wind up. I am in Northern VA with the rest of the Yankees and Carpetbaggers.

Chet...

Chet, I am in Abingdon, va, not far from Bristol,VA-Tenn. I can see the corner of NC, Tenn, Va, from my little shop.....

[Don Coatney]

Chet;

Or should I call you Boss;

I cannot imagine what has kept you so busy. Glad to see you are back at it with your cars. I have been so busy in the past 3-4 years I have not found time to work on my car too. I am somewhat glad al of this will end in a couple of weeks but I will miss it. I look forward to seeing you next week.

[Chester Brzostowski]

Chet;

Or should I call you Boss;

Don,

After I cleared my head and thought about it I came to my senses. We will have a fine time in Nashville on Wednesday night. Boss is not a word that I take any stock in. You have been a good friend and a great coworker. You guys have done an outstanding job negotiating a very difficult and complex installation of a highly complex technical system. I guess this isn’t the place to express these views but this forum has been apart of your adventure over the past three years. Almost every city you found yourself in had a member of this forum to visit and share some stories and some good times. For myself I am happy to have been a part of your adventure and I am very sad that it is coming to an end. The work that you and your team did is by far exceptional and a tribute to your technical expertise. Your dad would be proud of what you have accomplished and so am I. I will see you Wednesday of next week.

Chet…

[Don Coatney]

I know what you mean about moving. I moved from Ohio where I lived 30 years, to southern Virginia. Took several trips just to move all my Plymouth stuff.

Robert;

Where in Ohio did you live?

[Robert Horne]

Robert;

Where in Ohio did you live?

I live in Cleveland 30 years. Worked same job there right out of high school...........