The bottom of the XMTC
showing layout for mufflers and tailpipes etc
After looking at the above picture you probably are saying something
like HOLY $HIT! this guy is nuts!
But other than the frame being severly rusted
the restoration is very similar to a lot of other far less important cars I've restored,
like this 1955 Metropolitan Convertible in which I had to replace the complete floors

When you look at the overall project, it is huge,
but in reality you're only doing one section at a time so it's not one big project,
it's a whole bunch of little ones. Nothing to it!

After repairing all of the chrome parts I loaded them in my truck and made the 355 mile trip to AIH Chrome Plating
in Dubuque Iowa to drop them off for refinishing.
I've had AIH do the chrome plating for most of the cars
I've restored because their workmanship is second to none.

They are a little more expensive than other shops I've tried before them
but it's well worth it.
Although I've talked with owner brothers Steve and Russ Whalen
many times over the years I had never met them until now.
Russ was out on business when I dropped off the parts
but I met Steve and he showed me around their expansive shop
and introduced me to several of his key workmen.
I was most impressed with the cleanliness of the shop
compared to others I have visited in the past.

Now that I had a little more working room with the chrome parts gone
I removed the front cross member from the donor chassis

and after some cutting with the plasma cutter and a little hammering and
swearing
I got the rusty piece out of the way and the "new" piece welded in its place.


Now I'm too the part I kinda dreaded the most,
cutting out and replacing the main frame rails.
I began by using the templates I made earlier
of the curves on the side and bottom of the rails in the car
and compared them to the donor chassis.
I marked the donor for as long a piece as I could cut out of it with the matching curves.
I cut the two ends of the rail from the donor
and then cut off the body mounting brackets that it had. I also cut out the recessed area where the rear seat foot wells would be.

When I did that I also welded a 24"X2"X5/15" piece of flat bar inside the recess area to give added strength.

Ghia did not do this but I thought it would be a good improvement which will never be seen.

Carrozeria Ghia constructed the XM Turnpike Cruiser
from the chassis that FORD sent them on up.
In other words, they modified the chassis as needed to suit their needs,
welded new floors to the chassis, welded the rockers,
fenders and quarters to the new floors and welded
the inner fenders front and rear to the floors
and chassis an then welded the roof supports and roof to the body.

When I got the donor rails cleaned up and ready to install,
I cut what was left of the floors in the cabin
from the chassis and then cut the ends
so they could be removed from the car.
I left the two ends that remained in the car slightly long
so I could trim them more accurately once I was able to lay the new rails in place.
Then I welded the new rails in place.
I also welded boiler plates over the seams in the frame rails
Keep in mind this whole operation took a couple days and a few more bad words.




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