DICK'S 59 RED & WHITE SPORT FURY RESTORATION.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Life Dick, just Life gets in the way. I brought the painted hood up from the basement on Saturday and am just trying to get 5 mins of my son's time to install it. He says when he gets off of his 24 hour shift at the Firehouse, (Fireman stuff) on Tuesday, he will help me.

My daughter is in HIlton Head, wife can't help...Mopar Rick (Rick Clapham was out of town this weekend) Neighbor guy ( got the lift from) is have back surgery on the 22nd, so he is out ETC ETC..... she is moving to an apartment on July 2nd so preparing for that ordeal.

Then we picked up an pound dog this weekend.....So I am just doing some needed little car stuff that I can do myself. Waiting for when Matthew comes in town, Then I will get stuff done!

Now off to work, Have a Rockies Suite at the Ball Park tonigh to entertain 30 Distributer sales people tonight, so I won't be home till 10 PM and then do the same thing on Weds with a different group.

Too young to retire but am looking forward to spending.

Too little time in Denver..

John Q.

[Dick Koch]

So on top of everything else you are an entertainer, I didn't know that, a man of many facets. I was enthralled by your excuses, a lot better than mine.
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

I get a lot of practice at it Dick, Tried to hang one of the fenders on the convert, What a pain! Forgot how I took it off. There is a front part that slide between the radiator support and the inner fender that had me wondering about it. have to touch up some paint on the cowl now!


John Q.

[Dick Koch]

John - Glad to hear you are making some progress. I'm glad I hung the doors and fenders for location drilling because I had trouble with the front of the fender sliding in properly and in doing so I messed up my cowl also. To really do it with the least damage you need at least two helpers. I had to put a thick spacer under the fender mount in the corner of the cowl so I'm going to glue that sucker where it won't be sliding all over the place. I also learned to use a couple of layers of masking tape with a layer of duct taper over that on edges and areas in danger of getting scratched and messed up. I didn't want to use the duct tape directly on the paint because the adhesive is too strong. I had to use a thick spacer under the top hinge on the left side so I'm going to glue that on also. I have everthing ready for paint, I will start with a final sanding of the body, then mask it, then paint. I am going to paint the body on the lift so I decided to take the doors and fenders off because I would not be able to paint properly with them on. Wish me luck.
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Yep, that is where I scatched my cowl area too, but I have my main paint coal in some spray cans so I can touch up that area. With Matthew coming in town I can use his help in getting the fenders on and move the car over to the lift finally, Need some pushing help there.

I will use some painters tape on the passenger side to avoid this same paint scatching.

thanks!

John Q.

[Dick Koch]

Splane me painters tape????
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Painters tape has a low adhesive properties so it won't pull the paint off. I think it comes in blue or green or both, 3M makes it, they sell it at Lowe's and Home Depot and probably any paint store.

Not for long term use like masking tape/Duct Tape which has a high adhesive content and it a bitched to get off it if you leave it to long.

John Q.

[Dick Koch]

Whew!! I'm safe, that's what I use, the Blue & Green.
Thanks,
Dick.

[Dick Koch]

Da, da, da, dat, da, daaaaa. A banner day and a major turning point. Three coats, not 100% but a thousand times better than last attempt. Cloudy with a threat of rain all day. Humidity 88% but I decided to give it a go anyway. It was so hot I was soaking wet, I'm almost finished when a few drops of water appear, I thought it was coming from the gun but it was dripping off the bill of my cap. Didn't mess up anything, thank god. A few nibs and one run but should be no problem.
Dick

[savvy59]

Dick,
Pictures look great! I am @ Carlisle with Dan, Matthew and others in the pouring rain. Tomorrow weather will be sunny and hot. Great paint work CA t wait to see the whole car buttoned up!

[rogerh]

Ah, Curt masde it to Carlisle! Sweet! (Sorry it's pouring, tomorrow you'll be dripping with sweat just like Dick Koch!)
Have a blast and avoid those pesky coppers! Harhar..

[jason]

Great Job.......Nice and Shiney!!

[Dick Koch]

Mo pitchuhs, It's so nice being on the downside of this project. After painting I wet sanded and buffed, check out the reflections in those fenders, next I installed the outer fuzzies using the correct clips from Gary Goers, snapped right in. Next I cleaned the quarter window regulators as best I could and applied ample amounts of white grease to all the slide channels and regulator teeth. The windows go up and down so easy it' scary. The hardest part was replacing the window edge rubber because there is a screw on the underside of the window frame that holds the bottom of the rubber (it protrudes backward) in place. You have to lower the window and reach your arm up and blindly try to find the screw (I used a dentist mirror to find the screw in the first place) to loosen it and take it out. The hole for the screw was about 3/8" to far forward so I made a new hole with my leather hole punch and again blindly tried to find the screw to tighten it. The long part of the seal is easy to put in. Next I installed the inner and outer gas tank fill tubes and sealed them tight. I also installed the rear valance (splash guard) I got from John Fowlie (thanks John). It was originally spot welded to the car but this one got bolted on. I next installed the trunk rubber weatherstrip, it's grooves fit in the channel nicely so I'm wondering if it's necessary to glue it it. (your thoughts please). Yesterday I prepped the fenders, doors and skirts for painting on the edges and inside areas. Today I painted them. I will let cure for a couple of days then paint the outsides. I'm getting better at painting but some light orange peel is still showing up. Oh well, wet sanding cures all.
Dick.

[Dick Koch]

DAMN IT'S HOT!!! Doing a restoration in 90 degrees plus is like standing in a 5 gallon bucket and trying to lift the bucket with it's handle. Got my first major injury yesterday. When coming from underneath the dash I surged upward as hard as I could and hit my head on the knob of my brand new NOS clock and bent the stem. Head has a scratch but no bleading. My brilliance kicked into action and I decided to install the windshield washer pump that was in my parts car. Using greenie as an example I found a check valve, went and bought hoses, hooked up all the hoses in the engine bay, you have to do that before you can put the louvered air intake grill in. I then installed the pump under the dash. When I went to hook it up I discovered the single speed constant speed windshield system is totally different from the Varialble speed setup. I guess that's a good reason to look at the service and parts manual before doing anything!! So, after cleaning up and greasing the variable system and switching them out and hooking everything up just like Greenie said I should I turned the swith. Guess what, NOTHING HAPPENED, so monday the test light comes out. Took the wheels and had the tires removed so I can sandblast and paint them (silver argent). Got the fenders painted and installed so now I can start on completing the front end, i.e. splash pan, grill, lights, valance, etc. So, here are some more pictures. Forget the pictures, I can't get my computer to accept them.
Dick.

[rogerh]

still going great guns there, DIck! Sometimes a body needs an extra hand...matthew arriving soon?
I came across some pictures of your shop (posted in 2008, I think). You are indeed a fortunate man!
Wish I could help you about the heat...After the second coolest spring on record, Seattle has had a cooler than typical summer...maybe half dozen days of full sun and 80 degrees, otherwise marine layer and 60's to low 70's. Frustrates my teenage daughter to no end...she took a road trip to Disneyland and enjoyed their sunny weather.