progress at a snails pace

[John ED Renstrom]

we can final say we have done something on this 58. the construction of the 58 Eureka body is way different them any other I have worked on. there are no seams in it. one panel flows into another. this is truly the only car I can say I fixed the dog leg in the quarter by having to make the repair on the fender mount first. Eureka was not afraid of lead they use it a lot. the entire rear body is leaded. but a little repair on a dog leg turned into something else. now at least I can walk into the shop and walk around the right rear and go to something different. like the left side

 

[Herb John]

just the primer makes it look better. are you doing the work or is it at a pro shop? Is there a forum started about the past life of this queen? I love the beautiful lines these cars have, can't wait to see more progress.

 

[Bill Marcy]

Looks like it will be lots of work, but well worth the effort.

 

[Jay Maynard]

Yep, it's at a pro shop. Ed's.

 

[Tom Hoczyk]

awesome, awesome, AWESOME! There are several '58 Eureka landau coaches around but to my mind this is only the 2nd limo style I know of still to exist. It will be terrific when completed! Speaking of lead, I attach a photo of my '54 after it was bead blasted.

 

[Mike Boyer]

Damn Ed does good work !!!

 

[Brendan Martin]

Damn Ed does good work !!!

Indeed. I have proof sitting in my garage. I was lucky he helped me.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

just a little shade tree stuff to keep me from going nuts. this one had a lot of surprises. but she is a combo. and thanks to Dan S we have the right cot bar to go with the Washington #21 I'm sending home with it. Rick sent the the 28 home with me the last time we had coffee. and so it goes with a little help from my friends we'll make a car out of it yet. the right side is the worse. or it was. when I took the splash shield off we were looking at this front and rear. all that needed to be done first. you can see how thick the lead is around the rear taillight . care had to be taken not to loose to much welding things back together. it is lead from 6 in over the drip rail town to just under the glass, doors included. and down the b pillar. the inside edges of all the door opening also. in back it goes all the way down to the rear bumper. the shot of the quarter glass show how the moldings have cut into it . it is constructed different them any body I have done. a lot of wood still in it in places you don't expect. smelled a lot of smoke welding it back together. had to keep the squirt bottle handy. the second shop you gain look up to the front tire on. thats should be all boxed in with the rocker. what is left is hanging down. we took moldings off and the body just fell apart.

 

[John Royark JR]

Your talent never ceases to amaze me. I really wish you could do my 49. It would be a piece of cake compared to this, you would probably get bored fast.
Virgle is going to be proud to show this one off when its done.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

one more shot of the inner structurer. remember Eureka built there last wood frame car is 54? right. you took the wood out of this one and it would fall apart. the steel from the roof is warped around and nailed to the upper piece then it's sandwiched between the glass opening frame. the outer tin there is formed over that edge of wood just barely then it runs over the roof to the other side. now you know why all the lead around the glass opening. pounding that tin in to form the glass opening would leave it kind of rough

 

[John Royark JR]

Ed, the transition from wood to steel body frame started in 54, and was not completed until 57. obviously this one is not ALL steel, but a majority probably is compared to before the switch. Before the change it was the complete skeleton. Here is a pic of a 1951 Eureka body, showing its all wood.

 

[Herb John]

My 48 National has some wood in the doors, I think that's where some of my door problems come from.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Ed, the transition from wood to steel body frame started in 54, and was not completed until 57. obviously this one is not ALL steel, but a majority probably is compared to before the switch. Before the change it was the complete skeleton. Here is a pic of a 1951 Eureka body, showing its all wood.

it is obvious to me that it was not completed by 58. as I stated if you took the wood frame out of this car there would be nothing from below the glass up. all 5 doors would still open and close but there would be nothing to hold the top on from the windshield back. the top is formed around the wood frame and nailed to it.

 

[Herb John]

Ed, the transition from wood to steel body frame started in 54, and was not completed until 57. obviously this one is not ALL steel, but a majority probably is compared to before the switch. Before the change it was the complete skeleton. Here is a pic of a 1951 Eureka body, showing its all wood.

This would make a cool looking woody wagon being exposed like this.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

the craftsman ship on the wood frame work is neat to look at. if you look at the pictures what John posted and compare them with the inside shots of the 58 you see how the transformation went. the construction of the upper wood frame on the 58 is board for board the same as the 51. on the 58 the quarter panels are attached to the door pillars with spot welds then bolted to the wood frame. they did use a heavy gauge steel in them so that's were the strength is coming in . the interior floor is independent bolted to the outer skin with the molding clips and just enough spot welds to tack it together. and as I stated there are no exposed seams in the body. the only one being that crimp under the drip rail were the two panes go around the wood and are bolted together with carriage bolts. the nice part about it is that there are vary few cardboard nail on strips for the upholstery the material is mostly nailed to the wood frame.

 

[Nicholas Yassan]

In 1957 there wasn't any more structural wood. That is what is being referred to in the Eureka book. The wood seen on the inside after 1957 was only to hold trim panels. this was done till the factory closed 1964. Wood was also used to hold the Landau bars upper mount on the inside.

I have seen 1958 /1960 / and 1964 Eureka's apart to see the differences.
The dividers were made of wood as well.

 

[Jeff Hammers]

Eureka wood

The '58 Eureka Flower Car we restored was framed in wood from the cab back. The simulated convertible top boot was likewise completely constructed of wood with a stainless overlay.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

as Nick said it was no longer a wood structure but I know from working on this 58 that if the wood was removed the top would fall off and you could not get the glass back in. all 5 doors would go on and open and close the quarters would still be attached but there is wood going down the rear of the center doors attaching to another piece that holds the door sill to the rest of the body. it is not a complete wood frame but a hybrid. a combination of wood and steel that requires both to form the skeleton of the body.

so tell me Jeff how did you find the wood in the flower car? with all the steel rot on this one the wood is in excellent shape

 

[Jeff Hammers]

Most of the wood in the body of the flower car was useable as it. However the wood in the "boot" was almost gone, barely enough for patterns. By the way, there is a '58 Eureka Limo Style hearse sitting here in our parking lot. Belongs to Martin Shepherd who owned the flower car before its recent sale.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

brings up the question, is it in the same shape as the flower car?