My Lifeliner is progressing.

[Bill Leverett]

Well, finally got all of the major mechanical work done on the Lifeliner so it passed the Provincial Mechanical Inspection (required for an out of country vehicle). Still needs a more complete tune-up but that'll have to wait. So now the vehicle is offcially registered in my name and licensed.

Last week I spend the day taking off all of the lights, trim, etc. in prep for the body work and paint. Today I stopped by the shop doing the work (1 man operation) and the media blasting had just been completed. Here are a few photos of the results so far.

I had to remove the left rear window so the sill can be repaired where it's rusted. Basically, the window gasket/rubber had shrunk and the butyl rubber had dried out letting water in. Not too bad...at least the damage is confined to the sill and no further. Another leak on the rear left side underneath the stainless trim that can be cleaned up easily.

Interesting to note that the only repairs have been to the lower left/right quarters, rear door, and right side by the service door. Nothing really major.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

The windows come out so easily, it might be a good idea to remove them all, and get fresh paint under the rubber to avoid problems down the road. Are you keeping the original colors?

 

[Richard Vyse]

That's the way to do it Bill. Looks great!

 

[John ED Renstrom]

I have found the rear under the bumper to be a problem place to. on most of them. will worth the effort to drop it and clean up around the bumper ends. getting all the paint off sure makes it easier to work with. as they taped it I would guess he did not soda blast the car. now to find out what is under that filler. the back door was prone to rust there. the other spots were bumps that could have been as far back as the factory. one thing that the sand blasting will do is show up any weak spots and starting rust. but waht a mess to clean up afterward.

 

[Josh Horton]

I have seen a couple of 73 MM with a dent in the passenger rear quarter. All look to be close to the same place.

 

[Bill Leverett]

I pulled the bottom trim pieces (that included the housing for the shade) on the right side and everything is good there so I'm going to leave well enough alone for now. The rubber that hold the window glass is in reasonable shape but is losing some of it's flexibility. I haven't been able to find a replacement as yet. Any ideas on a rubber treatment? Paul, did you you suggest WD40 or a similar product? I want to use something that won't degrade the rubber.

As for colors, I won't be going back to the orange/white. The interior of the car is red/black. The factory original colors are Cotillion white over Bolero red. A nice combination but I'm not drawn to it.

I'm trying to chose between black over red...gloss back, not crinkle (see attached pic - photo courtesy of Northland PCS) or white over black (also see the pic - photo courtesy Peter Adsten).

The white over black is the colors that Metropolitan Ambulance (the private ambulance service prior to the Province taking over all ambulance service) used in Vancouver. Nanaimo ambulance Service (mid Vancouver Island) also used the same colors. Although Metropolitan used primarily Superior vehicles, a few MMs were in service as Metropolitan expanded in the lower mainland. I also really like the graphics that Metro used on the doors and would duplicate those as well. Right now I'm at about 20% black/red...80% white/black.

Any comments/opinions are always appreciated.

 

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Always thought that white over black (reverse sometimes) is the epitome of class regardless of vehicle. Equate it to a mediocre woman - nothing to write home about - but clothed in a manner enhancing presentation to the nth degree. (Not a slant against your Lifeliner one bit.) Ideal secondary color balance from a design standpoint is 70/30. Tough sell on white hood and rear loading door...accurate period correct though.

Now I'm curious if Peter Adsten has any additional angles of that '60 Superior in the background.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

It was Ed Renstrom that originally suggested using WD40 to soften the rubber, and it does work. MY 1969 came from the high desert area of Oregon, and the rubber was quite brittle. After a few treatments of the WD40, it was quite pliable, and I was able to remove the windows without damaging the rubber. I have not found a replacement rubber to use, because mine is still good enough to reuse. One reason that I suggest that you remove all windows, trim, door handles, etc. is because these are the places that seem to start rusting once the original paint is disturbed and the body repainted. It is a lot less costly to do it now, then to be chasing the rust issues in a couple of years as a result of the blasting process.

 

[Pat MacPhail]

Hello Bill,
Looks like the car is coming along. My only concern with the choice of black is the body work has to be pretty bang on. That is a looong side to get straight.
Whatever your choice, the car will look stunning!
Cheers,Pat

 

[Steve Loftin]

Black over red, definitely!

 

[Tim Prieur]

Bill, if I could give my vote of reproducing the heritage of Metropolitan white over black, with the markings.

 

[Kyle Wilkinson]

Bill,

I'm voting for the metropolitan scheme. Very classy and reflects the history of your province well. Black over red is sharp but it seems to be the new "in" thing. More and more fire trucks are being delivered in this scheme and it has become quite ordinary and everyday.

 

[Michael Lee]

remove that bumper!!

When I painted my superior I removed the bumper just so I would not get paint on it but found the buckets mounted in the fender behind the tail lights were gone rusted away and I never knew and would not have known till I removed the bumper, 8 bolts and a hernia to lift it and it was off same with the front bumper and your painter will love you forever for not having to tape it up and so much edge around the bumper that will not get painted.I left nothing to be taped execpt for the chrome around the window on the doors

 

[Michael Lee]

door knobs too

after looking at the pictures of you priming job I also pulled door panals off and removed the mirrors and door knobs and locks too found a lot of rust inside of the doors down on the bottoms drain holes were plugged with rust and dirt. Looks like you have done alot already looking good. I enjoyed prep my car I had the kids come down to sand and prime it was a family thing.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

If you remove the door handles, make sure to mark them, because they are each different and must go back into the correct door.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

black and white for me nothing like a skunk car. I thought the black sides with the white center different and attractive. believe it or not Red is the worse color for showing up the ripples. the appear as a brown ring or line in the new finish. the wd -40 trick works for weather seals or any other rubber part. it seams to replace the oils that dry out. but yes if your trim pads are off, pull the handles you will be surprised at what you find under them. rubber the right way has the caskets for the handles and the locks. mark them to. it will save you a lot of frustration during re assembly.

any one notice there are two diferent black and white cars?

 

[Kerry Lange]

Bill, either color choice would look real classy. My favourite color combination always has been black over red, but there are a few of them around. The black and white would definitely be a rarely seen color. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[Scott A. Anderson]

My '71 is going to be black over red like the North Memorial Lifeliner in the original post. I'm a little partial to that as I worked there for nearly 13 years. Wish I would have been there in the Cadillac era. North painted their ambulances in the black over red to be like Chicago Fire Department. The president of the hospital was fire buff.

 

[Bill Leverett]

More work completed

Stopped by today to see the progress. All of the body work has been done. The fellow doing the work is both bodyman and painter. I wanted to take the handles and locks off but time didn't permit so they were masked. As for the bumpers, he's OK masking and painting. He says he can get everywhere he needs to.

Got a call from him later in the day and said to stop by. First coat of primer is on. He hopes to have the first part of the color on by Saturday if all goes well.

As for the choice of colors I finally decided on the white over black. I've seen a few pictures of black over red but virtually none of the white/black on an ambulance. Besides, the "Metropolitan" colors/graphics will mean more to my peers locally and has historical EMS value.

 

[Dwayne Brooks]

Wow Bill that is really going to be sharp! Love your color choice of white/black the photo samples sold me on that one for sure