The Buddha Baby A Restoration

[wasagachris]

First I removed all the chrome to begin the body work and to have some of it sent out for rechroming.

[wasagachris]

Then the front suspension was removed to replace all the bushing and steering components.

[wasagachris]

I had a sandblaster come in to blast the entire undercarriage:


After he was done I had a real idea about the condition of the car. The floor had been poorly patched and was in pretty bad shape. This is when the decision to go the full monte was made.

[wasagachris]

Some of the smaller parts I had already removed were sent out to be blasted and repainted. I also recored the rad and repaired and relined the gas tank. Good thing as the PO had screwed some bolts into holes and then slopped tar over them. It would have leaked like a sieve.

[wasagachris]

Then I pulled the engine and transmission. It comes in handy to have a diesel powered 70 HP engine hoist.

[wasagachris]

Since the floor needed to be repaired the entire interior had to be removed. this is what it looks like without a dash.
1961 Lincoln Dash Out 008.jpg Views: 101 Size: 471.5 KB ID: 160430" style="margin: 2px" />

The dash frame after removal
1961 Lincoln Dash Out 009.jpg Views: 83 Size: 359.4 KB ID: 160431" style="margin: 2px" />
Here are some before and after shots of the floor with the poorly done patches on and after removal and blasting.
1961 Lincoln Sandblasting Engine bay, trunk & interior 001.jpg Views: 100 Size: 309.0 KB ID: 160432" style="margin: 2px" />




This is what the trunk and engine bay looks like after sandblasting:

[wasagachris]

I took the engine, transmission and rear axle over to the nearest town (15 miles away) to two different shops to be torn down, inspected and rebuilt as needed.

Then the work to remove the rotted floor. Removal was quite similar to rivet removal. There were approx. 400 spot welds that had to be drilled out.

[wasagachris]

Somehow the windshield cracked while sitting here so it had to come out.

The only parts of the car to be stripped down are the doors. Yesterday and today I got three out of four doors gutted and removed the rear window.

[Minno]

Will that engine hoist reach the top of an AS? We're doing the new air conditioner next weekend.....

Kay

[wasagachris]

Hi Kay it sure will but at 15 miles an hour it will take me 60 hours to drive the 900 miles to your house. That would be 10 days to drive there.

[worldinchaos]

Wow. You've been busy. I would love to have you as my neighbor. I'd be over there helping all the time, in exchange for use of the engine hoist.

[Minno]

Hmmm, so we'd have to wait another week to do the airconditioner. Since we already have a son lined up to come Saturday to help dad, probably not a good solution right now. But thanks for the offer!
Peter, I think it'll take him a little longer to get to your house. However, we should advocate for WC to start a business since he's down here in the states all the time anyway. He could drive his hoist around the country helping fellow Airstreamers with various and sundry tasks.

How about it, WC?

Kay

[Minno]

WC - Just got back home from a week in Boston, with no free time to read the forums. That is quite the project! Is your Airstream project on hold for now? What you have done so far looks really good.

MC

[wasagachris]

Originally Posted by Minno

Hmmm, so we'd have to wait another week to do the airconditioner. Since we already have a son lined up to come Saturday to help dad, probably not a good solution right now. But thanks for the offer!
Peter, I think it'll take him a little longer to get to your house. However, we should advocate for WC to start a business since he's down here in the states all the time anyway. He could drive his hoist around the country helping fellow Airstreamers with various and sundry tasks.

How about it, WC?

Kay

Well I'm not sure how the various State Troopers would take to me motoring down the Interstates at 15 MPH and I'm sure the US border protection agency might take issue with me especially if I tell them I'm going down to work(taking away a job from an American). Which upon reflection It would be hard to say that I'm entering the land of the Stars & Stripes for personal use driving a huge backhoe.

[wasagachris]

Originally Posted by Minno

WC - Just got back home from a week in Boston, with no free time to read the forums. That is quite the project! Is your Airstream project on hold for now? What you have done so far looks really good.

MC

Hi MC yep the streams are all on hold until I get the TV`s finished. There`s no sense getting the cart or trailer as the case may be ahead of the horse(power).

[wasagachris]

I talked with a guy from a company in Tennesee yesterday and he is giong to build me a rotisserie that will be able to flip the cars I`m doing. It will also be able to flip over the Airstream floor & frame combos.
So no more lying on my back with a mess of whatever falling in my face.
Body Cart and Rotisserie | Car and Auto Body Rotisserie

[wasagachris]

My new rotisserie arrived this week. It took a couple of hours to assemble and attach to the car and voila I have a rolling shell now.
We rolled the car out of the way, pulled the A/S out of the shop and just rolled the car in. Then we had to balance the car to get the center of gravity just right. After a few attempts the car is perfectly balanced and I can flip it over with one hand and very little effort. Once you get it right the car will stop where ever you want it to and stay at that angle. There are locks to hold it in place while your working on it.




I'm also no longer a POR virgin. I have been spraying the chassis, engine bay and trunk with the POR. It's coming out very very nice looking. First coat done, one more to go and then two coats of the POR topcoat and she will look brand new.



I also PORed the new exhaust manifolds with their manifold paint.

The new wide whites are mounted on the newly painted rims awaiting a finished car.