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1957 Bel Air Convertible, Rotisserie Restoration.

73K views 306 replies 64 participants last post by  ETriggs 
#1 ·
Going to bring this car back to life. We picked up the car a few weeks ago and just started on it this week, we currently have the car mostly tore down and ready to begin it's restoration.

We are going to strip down some of the panels to make a evaluation of what direction to take the car but it looks like we are going to want to start with a new floor pan, rockers and wheel wells. We are hoping for the best for the doors, fenders, hood and trunk.

Here are some pics of what we are starting with.



 
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#35 ·
Good suggestion by F.I. 57 Belair. We have all found hidden damage surprises on our cars.. Mike
 
#40 ·
#42 ·
That's a first class looking jig. I hope you save them all when done.
Sure would save someone a lot of trouble. Heck, I may need to rent it from you! It would probably take me a week to build that one you did yesterday.
 
#44 ·
Wait until you see the next stage of the jig system we are doing for this.. I would guess this is about 1/3 of what's to come.. lol..

I will not be able to finish the jig until the table comes in but here's a progress pic for today. You can see we added removable door supports and lift mounts in the front to make lifting the body off easier. If you notice on the door support braces the lower one is removable as well, this is in case we want to just remove the lower section to work on the floor while also keeping some support.. The whole main section in the front is removable as well which I am crossing my fingers but I hope this will give clearance to put floor sections through. but that will most likely depend on if we do sections or a full floor..

We also started blasting smaller pieces in the cabinet today as well. Hopefully epoxy a batch of parts next week to get ahead on the little stuff.

 
#45 ·
I will be saving this one but I consider it the customers. If someone brings another in they can either rent it from him or pay to build another one. I think that's only fair. I however have learned that I cannot afford to build them on my own funds in hopes that I will use it someday, because I find they end up not getting used.. This is the first 57 convertible we have ever done, I hope not the last but I can't count on anything..
 
#50 · (Edited)
Man Chad...I am SOOOOO jealous of all that space you got for painting and all those cool stands !! :sign0020:

We've talked in the past with the struggles I've had in painting in a 2 car garage, but this...nice !!

Ken
 
#47 ·
As always on these projects there has been a whole lot of time and effort there. Good job . Mike
 
#51 ·
I agree, that's a nice setup you have there. Chad is that just a regular plain-Jane box fan up in the window? Is it pushing or pullin? I see you have the big door to let the cloud out.
Yep, I'm jealous.
 
#52 ·
This is a love/hate room for me..

It's really awesome for washing cars as the whole floor is sloped towards the drain, but it's sloped enough that it can get annoying as well.

The fan is a pusher, I have a furnace that blows into this room but the fan is also good for circulating heat in from the other room. I don't like cold so the fan keeps it warm but the furnace kicks in if it's cold out. i like it keep it warm overnight so between the two I feel safe walking away from a paint job for the night.

The room is also awesome for body work and primer work, and excellent for wet sanding.

The weak leak for this room is painting, the size is nice but it pulls air from the side, so one side of the car tends to flash off a little quicker than the other side, it's not deep enough for painting full size trucks. I've been able to paint long bed dually's but you have to squeeze around the front and you couldn't paint the hood or tailgate on the truck. luckily it's wide enough to set it next to it..

Overall it's decent, but awkward at times.. Long term this will become the dust and primer room.

I have another building that has two paint booths in it but I rent it out to a collision shop, so I have to do double duty in this room now.
 
#58 ·
Thanks guys.

Right now I'm on hold.. We have re-bodied a fair amount of cars but I'm doing this one just a little different, so waiting for some equipment to arrive.

I should have been in today but I don't think it has shipped yet.

I am however ok with that, as I'm trying to get another painted and also get my truck back together. A few more days and I'll be ready.
 
#62 ·
Here are a bunch of pictures to show how we Jigged up the 57 to the chassis table. We made and installed stanchions to all of the floor body mount locations so that way if we replace the floor or any of the panels on the car we have points all over to re-locate the panel to it's original location.

We also ran mounts around the top of the car to support the rear trunk hinge location and around the front to keep everything in the front square.

This is a little over kill in some places but we are now ready to do some metal work.











 
#63 ·
Are you with Hendrick Motorsports?

That is hands down the most comprehensive jig setup I have ever seen on two continents. You guys are steely-eyed fabricators with what has been added to the dualrail. Carry on ART, you've got this covered! ddddddddd
 
#64 ·
Like the rig and the LeMans and 57 Rag . You do it right looks like. Mike
 
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