The Kaiser body is back on the frame and I have started to fit the front fenders. The front inner fenders had to be cut at the bottom front to clear the new sub frame and the splash panel guards that fit around the new upper A arms had to be remade. We made a trip to Northern California for business, visit family and friends during the first week of April. I took my car trailer to pick up a 85 Ford Bronco that was left on my son's property for 5 years and while I was there I hauled off 5 other cars that he wanted to be gone. When I tried to load the Bronco it was too wide for my trailer so I had to borrow my friends Fred's trailer. Fred is currently wrecking out his field of 1959 to 1966 T-Birds and some of his Edsels, anyone that wants any of these cars or any parts can contact: Fred at beaelectsf@aol.com or call him at (415)203-2809. Fred also has some finished cars for sale. If you have any questions please call him. I will bring home a 1960 Edsel Villager Station Wagon that...

The stainless steel brake and fuel line are complete with the components purchased from Summit Racing and the new flaring tool from the Eastwood Company. I had trouble with selecting the correct AN type hose ends and adaptors that go to the double flare line fittings so I sent for a Russell Catalogue that gave a good description and picture of each fitting. Once the correct adaptors I needed arrived the lines were quickly finished. The remote fill brake lines for the master cylinder and the brake vacuum booster line will be installed when the body is back on the frame. The engine has been painted with the new intake manifold and pan installed. The new torque converter did not fit the re-built AOD Transmission so I took them to LA last week to Tim Deal Transmission who found that a AODE instead of an AOD Torque converter had been supplied. We visited the 1951 Ford 4-door while in LA to see the final paint work that is now being done. The flames look beautiful. Next the pin stripping a...

The priming of the miscellaneous parts for the Kaiser went well as the weather was nice and I was able to paint outside. I used PPG self etching epoxy primer DPLF and prepared the bare metal with "metal Prep" a 50/50 mixture with water then wiped the area down with a 50/50 mixture of PPG Dx330 wax and grease remover and lacquer thinner cleaning a 2' x2' area at a time as recommended, so as not to let the metal prep dry. I had 2 quarts of paint that make 1 gal. using the epoxy part 2 additive, and ran out of paint before I could get to the inside of the body, that turned out to be a good thing because I had to complete the center console, weld in studs to fasten the A/C system, electrical panels, emergency brake and hood latch. The 66 T-Bird console is 9" too short for the Kaiser interior so an extension piece was hand formed and welded to the back of the console to extend it to the back seat. Filler plates were cut, fit and welded into place in the top front of t...

The Body filler is a lot of work, time consuming and has a steep learning curve. You have to learn how to mix it, how thick to apply it, how to sand it and what tools to use. I have 3 sanding boards, 2 flexible and 1 rigid, 1 curved sanding block for inside radius and a power (air) sander. The sand paper is 40, 80, 120, 150, and 220 grit. Two different fillers were used a fiber glass filler mix (Duraglass) and a light wieght filler (Evercoat). I applied the Duraglass as the base coat then the light weight filler (easier to sand) as the top coat and always got it too thick which takes a lot of sanding to get it to the right thickness. Using the power sander first with 40 grit to knock it down and fairly even then changing to 80 grit, then 150 and finally 220 grit. You need a good mixing surface such as a plastic board or I used an old piece of glass and spreaders of different sizes. If you are doing a whole car be prepared for a lot of very messy and dusty work. Please remember to ...

Walker Auto Pride did not have a 1953 rear gravel pan but did have a 1951 that fit the body line but was longer and the ends had to be cut off with new return flanges welded in place. To make the new patch panels for under the tail lights I cut a 6" x 4" piece of 20 gauge and bent a 1 1/2" flange, using two pieces of angle iron in my vice, then cut notches in the flange that would allow me to bend, fit, and clamp it to the gravel pan and spot welded the notches to hold the form. Next I cut it to fit between the seams under the tail light and rear trunk panel, held it in place on the car then started forming the curve using the new forming head and body hammer. After several passes of tapping the piece over the forming head it took the curved shape on one end that came close to the shape under the tail light then I continued hammering and shaping the piece until it was close along the top (bottom was already fit to tail pan). I tack welded one end in place, after some fin...

The rocker panel installation took longer than I estimated (as does everything in a project car) as the back up supports and the bottom of all the door pillers were rusted through in several places and needed repair. The replacement rockers did not fit and had to be bent and reshaped by use of 2 2x4's in the vise and a hammer. In trying to keep the original door openings the same I left as much of the old rocker in place at each door post. Then cut the new rocker to fit. The front of the rear wheel opening where it meets the rocker also had to be rebuilt on both sides. As the door post, rocker and floor pan had extensive work the doors needed to be refit. The rear door's required new shims and some oversize mounting bolt hole on the suicide hinges, the front doors required the stock hinges to be bent to adjust the rear of the door down as I couldnt use shims on the top hinge as it would push the door to far back and hit the center post. This re-fit took 4 days. All 4 doo...