(When you click on a picture to enlarge it you can move it around by clicking on the grey bar along the top. To close it click on "CLOSE" at the upper right corner of the picture)
It's getting more colorful as the restoration progresses
...Here's what I've been up to the past few months:
After getting the car back on it's wheels the next thing I did was hang the doors and install the hinge opening covers. The small round tubular things you see in the pictures are the wire conduits to protect the wires that go into the doors for the power windows. This picture is a little later after I had the wiring through the conduits into the doors.
Here they are in place
As long as I jumped ahead a bit I'll show you the inside of the door and quarter with the window mechanism in place. These mechanisms seem a little hoky to me but they do raise and lower the windows like they should.
I put the car back up on jack stands and removed the wheels so I could assemble the front end and finish brake and fuel line connections underneath. Here's the front end all together. I love it! People have asked where the front turn signals are. They are behind the grill below each headlight as pictured below.
With the wheels back on the next order of business was to install the engine and transmission. I also placed the choke housing that I made (last update) on the carburetor to show how nice it looks now that it's chrome plated. Everyone thinks it an air cleaner but it's actuall a choke. There is a flap in the snout operated by a cable to the dash to open and close it. There will be a 3" plastic tube from the choke snout to the bottom of the air cleaner which sits in the right front of the engine bay alongside the radiator. You'll see that in the future. Also pictured below is an original picture of the engine bay.
Playing Dress up...
The brake/tail light lenses above the rear window were in very good original condition ie no cracks or crazing so they were relatively easy to restore and look great back in place. The exhaust outlet on the left lower quarter panel isn't connected to anything yet but it will be a functional outlet when the pipes are complete below. There is a matching outlet on the right quarter.
Refinishing the quarter panel inserts...
For some unknown reason these inserts were full of small dents and dings. They of course had to be filled and smoothed before they could be painted pearl white as original. These next pictures show the process of refinishing them. Both of the edges on these long inserts are chrome plated. They were chromed by AIH Chrome plating in Dubuque Iowa along with all the other chromed pieces on this car.
The new windshield...Whew!
When this article appeared in the Hemmings Motor News email blog, it caught the eye of a custom glass fabricator in British Columbia Canada. The owner, Brian Edmunds, contacted me and said he could make a windshield for the XMTC. After a few emails and a quote I agreed to have him fabricate the windshield. It turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life!!!
You can read all about it at www.gilchristglassbending.com or simply clickHERE
(When you're there PLEASE send the guy an email from the link at the bottom of the page and let him know what you think of his business practices)
After that fiasco I found another fabricator in the good ole U S of A and had them make the glass. It turned out nice and is pictured below with the protective film still on. That will remain until the car is nearly complete.
New Dash Pad
I started making the new leather dash covering but didn't get too far before getting sidetracked refinishing the steering wheel and installing the inserts on the quarters but here are a couple pictures of the beginning of the dash pad and all 4 seats completed.
Restored Steering wheel, Installed quarter inserts and rear end assembled
The steering wheel had quite a few cracks in it which I filled with the epoxy steering wheel repair from Eastwood which I've used on a number of steering wheels in the past. These quarter inserts really make the car look spectacular and after I had them in place I could install the tail lights. One of the previous owners had the new lenses made for the tail lights and back up lights.
Tangle of wires...
On and off while working on all of the above I would pick away at the wiring. It's coming along pretty good but the next task to complete will be the dash pad so I can install the dash in the car as there is a lot of wiring to do under it. We'll save that for next time. Thanks for your interest in this restoration!!
