63 Pinner Hightop

[John ED Renstrom]

Close to it. The side under the molding has been painted 3 times above it twice, the top twice, all different shades.
We then worked on finishing the repair in the wheel well and cleaning up the quarter, preparing it for priming. Found more pin holes above the gas cap. More moisture is trapped under the dried-out coating coming down from the molding. They replaced the plastic with spring clips sometime in the past, so water could leak into the panel with no way out. Decided to dimple them and use all metal. Rather than risk a fire. Found a spot around the taillight where the thickness of paint had cracked, and water had crept under the paint. It had been painted over. One of the reasons we are going to thin the paint down to the primer over most of the car. The other is film thickness and a million chips. We are trying to preserve this car, not just give it a temporary pretty face.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

The holes on The inside of the taillights are one of the what in the heck things on the car. They slipped a slotted screw and a "farmer's" nut in a open hole rather then fill it in. Same on both sides. Might have been a molding on the inside like is on the out side of the lights that the back door cut off. We'll prime under it and put it back in.
I could not reach around to get the bolts holding the filler neck in place to we just ground the heads off and pushed them threw. On of those two man jobs the cat will not help with. We can treat them in the same way.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Got a little more done today here on the quarter. You can see the four layers of paint: two orange and two red. There is only one color of red for Chrysler in 63. It's interesting to see which one is fabulous, Red, the white is oyster white. Which should be a cream white, not a snow white. did get some primer sprayed. Looking at one color is a lot easier on the eyes. I took a look at our rusty window molding surround clips; they are soaking in rust, dissolving, and turning black. All the flakes are gone, so it's working on it. Hopefully, we can salvage them.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

Why not just braze the hole shut? It is just another place where water can get into the car. I can't say for certain whether I was the one who plugged those holes with the screws or not. Too many years have gone by since I owned that car.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

We could but it's in a patch of lead. With the square nut, I'm sure it's a Pinner fix. The car is full of them. It's one of those yes, no things.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Blocked off the quarter and finished the dog leg. All the door james are chewed up and pealing. but they are the original color the over spray in them is a little thick on the edges so might as will clean them up. We'll have plenty of paint. Got a sample of weather striping it's the right shape just two small. At least we know what not to get. Started working around to the other door. It's taken every sander I have to clean up the jams. The ledge around the glass is a pain. The only way to do it is scrape. the paint cracks off easily, then only needs a light sanding. Most of it is only 1/4 inch or less. We get around the glass back her and the hard work is done.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Now for the other side. worked across the roll pan to the other quarter. The black stuff you see inbetween the pages is rust that Has Been converted we can brake it up and lunch the Paleo back together. Notice that right angle joint were the boys at Chrysler welded the car togather. We won't talk about that. The lower seam is split open from rust so we run a little brass down it to close it back up . The closer we got to the rear the thinner the edge got. Till we got to the hole. Just cut a watch for the hole. After burning the rust out to define what we needed I used the long handle dolly to hold it down while I tacked it in. Did get that done . The front corner has been replaced all ready. Had to been an old man unable to bend down and get thing on the bottom. But hay you had to get the car on a lift to see it.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Have to say I'm sorry had one to many boxes check in the settings. AI was dropping words it thought I ment to say in there. Spell check is one thing that is to much. Discovered a slight difference in the body. Not unusual in the factory lead days with different people working on different sides at the same time. But when you go from one to the other you notice it. The seal on the taillight would have covered it .here is the left first then the right. Just that spot were the fender and the body join.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Did what we could for that spot turned out to be a sheet medal problem more the anything else so used the blunt chisel to bump it into place before smoothing things up. Got the brass ground into shape and knocked down the high spots on the old filler. Found a bad weld and the skin split at the seam so braised them up and finished the wheel will lip. We melted a little lead off doing it but nothing bad. Used a coat of the all metal to smooth things up. Finished around the taillight and got that much in primer before we ran out of time and ambition.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

We now have this body front center door to center door repaired and into primer. That is unless Nick has changed his mind and wants it painted hull gray. The right side was a lot of laying on your back working up on places noone will see unless there servicing the car. But it needed done. We took off on layer of paint while smoothing up the body. A number of small low spots that if we get it two shinny you might see. This car doesn't have a flat place on the body. It's all weird angles and compound curves. With a number or cavities that you can only see by looking up. Noticed two things as the sun moved over the car the right center door has a half moon crease from a door most likely it cuts vertical with the deepest part cuts threw the T they lettered over it. And the lower rear corner of the front door stuck out like a flag. Its next to fill in a rust hole. Taped it in most of the way but its full of under coating so with out heat can't move it. When this was last painted it has 3 layers in back and 2 in front. The blend was on top of the wheel well and paint only under the body molding.

 

[Abe Bush]

Wasn't this car already restored several years ago for either Paul, or Dr. Studer?

 

[Paul Steinberg]

Wasn't this car already restored several years ago for either Paul, or Dr. Studer?

I had done some restoration work on the car while I was its caretaker, however, it wasn't a complete restoration. I did all the things that were needed to get it safe for the road, and repaired those things that had been neglected by the Fire Department. In the 10 years since I sold it to Nick Studer, apparently it suffered the humid Texas air and the rust that was possibly in the metal continued to rust until it broke out. It is one of those things that happen to cars that have spent their early life running in the salt laden roads of the Northeast. If I hadn't sold it, and it was still in the Northeast, who knows how long it would have been before I would be doing the same work that Ed is now dealing with. If it is made of steel, and has been exposed to salt, even only a few times, it still takes its toll on the metal. Modern cars are a lot more tolerant of the harsh winters of the Northeast, but even then they will eventually start to show rusting.

 

[Nicholas Studer]

Wasn't this car already restored several years ago for either Paul, or Dr. Studer?

Not with me. I spent plenty of time on small things, just like Paul did. Dedicated cleaning/polishing at one point.

I had done some restoration work on the car while I was its caretaker, however, it wasn't a complete restoration. I did all the things that were needed to get it safe for the road, and repaired those things that had been neglected by the Fire Department. In the 10 years since I sold it to Nick Studer, apparently it suffered the humid Texas air and the rust that was possibly in the metal continued to rust until it broke out. It is one of those things that happen to cars that have spent their early life running in the salt laden roads of the Northeast. If I hadn't sold it, and it was still in the Northeast, who knows how long it would have been before I would be doing the same work that Ed is now dealing with. If it is made of steel, and has been exposed to salt, even only a few times, it still takes its toll on the metal. Modern cars are a lot more tolerant of the harsh winters of the Northeast, but even then they will eventually start to show rusting.

The average humidities in Sturbridge and San Antonio seem to be the same. The car mostly spent the last 10 years in an insulated garage. It looked pretty good when I sent it off, and I’m surprised to see how much Ed has found beneath the paint and filler. As Ed noted, there’s been at least 2-3 repaints, attempts at rust repair (some with the previous owner Steve Levy, some with the FD), and at least one serious in-service accident that made it to the newspaper. It lived its entire life in salt states until 2015, corrrosive like Paul noted even to modern cars. It’s a reminder that these cars were workhorses, built and expected to be used and abused - not the collectors item we see them as today.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

The big problem was that when these rust repairs were made, they undercoated the inside panels. Or it was done by Pinner during construction. It has now dried out, is cracking and falling away, allowing moisture to get between it and the outer skin. The lower panels are the first to go through, as the wheel opening at the pinch welds received no protection, which is difficult. The first time it was repaired was before Paul got it. It was most likely done in the late 80s, as they performed spot repairs with Lacquer. That was nearly 50 years ago. I think it has lasted a long time.
The only one not done before was the top light I'm working on now. There are steel tubs grafted to the roof and filled with lead. There have to be 40 holes drilled in there to mount the lights and trim. No way to get to the back side. Water built up on the lower lip until it rusted through, allowing it to drain. To prevent melting out all the lead, we drove the tapered bar into the holes to dimple them and pushed the thin metal in until it developed thick sides. This will give us a good plug for the metal-to-metal filler. The aluminium powder and rosen will not absorb water like the plastic filler does. So it makes a good filler in what might be a moist place. That way, we don't melt out the lead trying to weld in this spot. We'll coat the inside with rust converter after we patch it. Here is our process. I used the needle scaler to remove the paint rather than cutting it out with paper. We can now achieve a smooth finish with light sanding.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

This is a picture of the car at the 2009 PCS International Meet in Flint, Michigan. As you can clearly see, the body looked flawless. What lived under the paint, I have no idea.

 

[Nicholas Studer]

This is a picture of the car at the 2009 PCS International Meet in Flint, Michigan. As you can clearly see, the body looked flawless. What lived under the paint, I have no idea. View attachment 52426

Not really that different when it went off to Ed back in AUG. Interestingly, most of what he’s found has been under the vehicle or under the paint. Glad it’s getting repaired hopefully “once and for all,” as there is no salt in anywhere the vehicle is likely to “live.”

 

[Philip Scanio]

Dr. Studer, glad to see you back.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Got a little more done today; the filler knocked down the light, and I cleaned up around it. Found that a little 36-grit paper on the D-A will remove the dimples from the needle scaler. finished stripping the right quarter and around the glass. There are way too many layers of paint on the rear panels to do one more, but about two or three down is a nice layer of primer we are trying to sand down to these first layers, which are lacquer; they chip off rather than feather out.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

One of those days that didn't go as planned. But did get to finish up the rust on the light. The paint has finally arrived, and the proper weather seal is here. So we can get the back door jammed, sealed up, and hung back on. All the jams need to be done. With the number of times this car has been repainted, it has a lot of overspray, and after 60 years, it's all chipped up a little. So let's do them; it will make the car look a lot better. All the weather seals need to be replaced, also, so let's do that on fresh paint.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Got a bite out of stripping the car down today. With the number of times this car has been touched up here and there. And most likely, with different products, we'll try to strip it down to the last round of primer. Whatever is on the top is hard and has cracked in a number of places i was thinking it was the lead, but I can't find it once the paint is cleaned off. With the number of them, if it were in the lead, they would show up. Dry sanding is preferable to wet sanding; at least you're not standing in water all day. The door with the lettering on it has only one layer of paint. The primer is also rather thin there. My guess is the car had an incomplete repaint sometime after delivery on the lower half. The man who had it after the service told Nick he fixed a lot of rust on it. This marked the beginning of the extensive repairs, and the doors with the lettering were spared a repaint to preserve the sign. 4 layers on the driver's door, with two on top and two on the bottom. We have the two small rust spots left. The left fender is under the molding. The right door in that lower rear corner is neither yet. Let's try to keep it that way..