Finally cleaned up

[Mortimer452]

Cooperative weather and an afternoon I had free finally came together this Easter Sunday and got the sedan cleaned up.  Plenty of help from all the nieces and nephews over for Easter dinner.

Still trying to decide what's original paint and what's been redone on this car.  The trunk lid and quarters have some cracking, which is indicative of the original lacquer paint used on these cars, maybe it's original, maybe it was just repainted with lacquer at some point, not sure.  There is definitely no clear coat.  The only things that make me think it's been repainted are some overspray around the edges of the rear windows, and the VIN plate is painted over on the inside of the driver door.

Looked amazing wet, ended up a bit chalky after drying, several weird stains & spots here and there, but should be able to take care of that with some polish and wax.  I have a whole shelf full of car care products - Adam's, Meguiars, Knipps, Turtle Wax . . . any recommendations on a good polish/wax for lacquer?

 

Edited April 17, 2017 by Mortimer452

[knuckleharley]

DAYUM! And I thought *I* didn't have any neighbors!

I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think you probably get tired of hearing and feeling the wind blowing in the winter.

[Mortimer452]

At the top of a hill, surrounded by ~600 acres of wheat . . . the wind doesn't just "blow" here . . .it'll straight up knock you down sometimes!  If it's blowing 15mph in town it's easily hitting 30mph out here in the open.  

 

Edited April 17, 2017 by Mortimer452

[knuckleharley]

1 minute ago, Mortimer452 said:

At the top of a hill, surrounded by ~600 acres of wheat . . . the wind doesn't just "blow" here . . .it'll straight up knock you down sometimes!  If it's blowing 15mph in town it's easily hitting 30mph out here in the open.  

 

You have my sympathy. I couldn't deal with it.

[Worden18]

Wow nice looking car!  Not a recommendation for the paint, but I'd try some Bleche-Wite on those whitewalls.  Always worked nice for me.  

[casper50]

I lived on the Yorkshire Moors for 3 years.  All of the older trees have their limbs pointing the same direction no matter which side of the tree they sprout from.  First thing I learned upon moving there.  Always hang on to your car door when you open it.  Badass winds there.

[Mortimer452]

5 hours ago, knuckleharley said:

You have my sympathy. I couldn't deal with it.

Eh, it's not so bad really, mostly just in the springtime.  But when it does blow, it really blows.  The old saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb" really holds true here in Kansas.

[rb1949]

The crew did a good job. Looks like some cruising is in order. Surprise yourself and polish up that paint. You may determine that a partial repaint of certain areas is all that's needed. Around here, the North winds of Winter come racing down the full 307 mile length of Lake Michigan.

 

[48Windsor]

Looks great! I wouldn't worry much about the stains, etc. After 76  years, all of us have a few "character flaws"!

Tom B

 

[RNR1957NYer]

I love the car!!!  I looked for years to find a two door sedan.  As for the paint, try "color sanding" the paint with very fine wet sandpaper:  1000 - 1500 - 2000 etc then use a polishing compound. It might seem to be a lot of sanding, but your arms will likely be less fatigued that if you went straight at it with rubbing compound, and if you use super fine paper, you won't burn through the paint like you might with a polisher if not experienced with one (I'm not).  This is what I'm doing with my '41, and I am so happy it's black - I can spot in and blend any paint repairs to the older lacquer repaint.  I know it's old school tech, but I am using premixed quarts of Duplicolor Black lacquer and clear through a $10 Harbor Freight HVLP gun for full panels (like when I had my hood louvered), or  a Preval spray kit for small spot repairs.

The nice thing about lacquer is that it's pretty forgiving under "barn job" conditions - if something lands in it when it's wet, sand and polish it out.  

Enjoy!  It looks like you've got a lot of help to give rides too! 

[Silverdome]

Mortimer, what part of Kansas are you in? I'm in the southeast part. By the way, that's a fine looking 2 door sedan.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Silverdome

[Mortimer452]

1 hour ago, Silverdome said:

Mortimer, what part of Kansas are you in? I'm in the southeast part. By the way, that's a fine looking 2 door sedan.

Thanks! I live just south and west of Wichita, towards Schulte

Edited April 17, 2017 by Mortimer452

[dpollo]

I was called upon to repair the rocker boxes under the doors on a P15.   The sill moldings were long gone.  Since this was an "economy" repair and knowing that the 42s used a slimline molding, I scavenged a set of box side moldings from an early 70s Ford pickup.   A little minor shaping and it looks great.  P15 moldings are hard to find and very expensive if undamaged. Ford saved the day.

My grand dad bought a car like yours new.  A very nice car.  Always regretted not being allowed to buy it from his estate. He wanted me to have it but did not put it in writing.  Since I was 14 at the time he died, nobody was much interested in what I had to say.  His car had logged 55000 miles by the last day he drove it. April 20 1962.      Sorry to be so sentimental but a nice P15 does that to me,