The Car

 

The car in the picture is a 1963 Chevy II Nova SS.  When it arrived at my house in June of 2012 it had not been started or driven in many years.  This is the story of what it took to return this car to it's former glory and how I went about doing it.  If you are thinking of restoring any unibody vehicle, you may be able to gain some insight on the process, or pick up a few techniques along the way.  I will be writing this blog for the person who has no auto repair knowledge, sort of a "How To" guide.

The first time I laid eyes on it, the rear bumper and entire right side were up against the inside of the metal building it was being stored in.  I was there to estimate what it would take to "take the dents out and repaint it".

The car didn't look too bad, just a little tired.  What the owner and I didn't know was just how tired it really was.  There was damage to the left quarter panel that was on top of an older repair.  For those of you who don't know what a quarter panel is, think rear fender.  The right quarter panel had a little rust showing over the wheel opening.  There were little dings and dents in a lot of other places, but nothing that looked like a major problem.

As you can see, a lot of the chrome was missing.  Most of what was there was dinged up or bent.

Oh yeah, that left quarter window glass had to be replaced too!

Like the rest of the car, the convertible top wasn't really in bad shape, just tired.  The owner wanted a new one installed.  The car had been painted at least three times.  And that was just what I could see at first glance.  There were several large areas where the paint had tiny little starburst shaped cracks called checking, or crows feet.  I suggested to the owner that the entire car needed to be stripped down to the metal to remove all the built up layers of paint. 

The interior had been redone in Naugahyde diamond tuck.  But it had been many years ago, and I doubt if it was ever really suitable for this bodystyle of car.

I agreed to remove the interior, but not to do any of the upgrade or reinstallation.  Upholstery work requires a lot of specialized skills and shop equipment that only a professional shop can afford.