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The donor car, I couldn't take apart.

Lovefordgalaxie

By Lovefordgalaxie
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Lovefordgalaxie MCM Ohana

Lovefordgalaxie

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So, when I was building my '48 Ford Convertible, I had several parts missing. Just could get the top and the boot from a complete built up I got online.

Other parts I got from the donor car were the radiator hoses and air cleaner, all parts that had the correct decals my incomplete kit didn't. 

I was going to take the donor completely apart for it's chrome parts, but just couldn't. Didn't have the nerve to do so. Instead I decided to buy a donor kit, a coupe, as a new, sealed Convertible is made of Unobtanium here.

Ended combining that donor kit with a Custom Coupe kit and building the lowered black '48 I posted a few days ago. 

All that done, I decided to try to restore the donor car back to being a nice looking model, as it had no hoses, no air cleaner, no top, no boot, and no wheels and tires, not to mention the paint... Oh the paint...

The original builder paint was falling apart. The car is blue, and if one rubbed it's finger on the car slightly, it would come out blue. The paint was enamel, for sure. Model Master Ford Engine Blue was a almost perfect match, and I think the culprit for the paint to be turning into powder was perhaps the place where the car was stored, or even some kind of wax used on it, as there was wax residue on a lot of places. I washed the car with some plain water and a mild soap, praying the paint wouldn't come completely off, and let dry. After that the paint turned flat.

I decided to give a go to try saving it, and used some artists gloss clear from a company called Acrilex. It's intended as a protective and fixative clear for art work. Gave the body a couple of coats, and no strange reaction happened. After a week I could even polish it to a shine!!! 

The original paint had some texture, and most of that died under the clear. 

I redid some of the BMF that was falling off, or that had already fell off. 

Painted the grille parts that are supposed to be body color with Ford engine blue, and it's a great match. Not 100%, but very close. 

The interior was in good shape, only dirty. The paint there is all original. I just touched up the upper parts of the door panels, that were worn. 

replaced the radiator hoses and air cleaner, and installed a new set of wheels and tires, as I used the tires on my own project. I had some '57 Ford wheels and wide whites in the parts box, and just installed them on the '48. Maybe in the future I decide to paint the wheels to match the car color. It has '57 Ford hubcaps, as I used the originals on my black '48 Hot Rod (the Custom Coupe kit has all the stock chrome, but no stock hubcaps). 

Replaced the top boot with a part I did myself with epoxy putty. 

All in all i'm quite happy I din't take this one apart. Will keep my eyes open for some original wheels and tires to bring it back as it was first built. 

1948 Ford Donor Car by CCCP Digital Studio, on Flickr

1948 Ford Donor Car by CCCP Digital Studio, on Flickr

1948 Ford Donor Car by CCCP Digital Studio, on Flickr

1948 Ford Donor Car by CCCP Digital Studio, on Flickr

1948 Ford Donor Car by CCCP Digital Studio, on Flickr

 

  • 2 weeks later...

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