A lightning quick restoration - '48 Chevy Fleetmaster

[tonrag]

The Fleetmaster engine is a straight six cylinder one that churns out 90 HP. Originally, stovebolts were bolts with slotted heads, which fastened to a nut. These were used as fasteners on wood burning stoves. The original Chevy straight sixes had slotted head bolts that resembled Stovebolts. Therefore, Chevy six-cylinder engines manufactured from the 1930s to the early 1960s were popularly referred to as Stovebolt sixes.
Considering the wishes of those who’ve responded, I’ll make two posts a day!
The next batch of photos show us towing the car to the workshop. It was hard work, because the brakes had jammed and had to be opened up. Miraculously, three of the tyres held air when pumped – only one had a puncture! On the way, it began to rain and my team commented that was a good omen. I sat in the driver’s seat and noticed that the speedo needle was flickering and the odometer turning, under the grime and dirt. We caused a sensation on the old goods shed road near the city railway station. Finally, when we got her to our workshop near Ananda Rao Circle, the entire engineering team assembled to help out with push her into the shed, where she would remain for three months. Incidentally, she is parked there after restoration, because there is no protected parking in the Roerich Estate.

[tonrag]

Some more photos of getting the car into its shed

[MARCUS_520i]

That's a finely detailed report tonrag, keep it coming.
The interior pics made me wonder if there was ever a fire inside the car.

Overall a great thread on the forum and now waiting for the rest of the story.

OT - post #32, pic #1; the sky-blue colored truck in the background doesn't seem familiar to me. Can anyone please enlighten??

[harit]

Originally Posted by tonrag

I don't have an answer to my question, should I proceed at the same pace, or speed up the post?

I suggest that you hurry up slowly

Cheers at your pace. harit

[ajmat]

Note from Mod - Please proceed at your own pace. We love the detail!

[amit V8]

Kudos tonrag, for bringing this beautiful piece of machine back to life. congrats and best of luck.

[vw splitscreen]

I have only just found this thread here and think this maybe the same car that i saw and took photos of in Febuary this year .Could this be the same Chevy Fleetmaster we are talking about here.

I have just deleted the four pics i took of what i belive is the same car after reading the whole thread,i dont wish to spoil the story and ending
for tonrag and you all

[karlosdeville]

How long was this car languishing in the impound? I'm surprised to see all the glasses intact, most of the trim etc. Even 3 hubcaps - thats a miracle!

You have indeed done a most noble service, considering the present dispute on the car. Nobody else would go near it under the circumstances, kudos. Five stars from me.

[harit]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

harit would like to hear more details about the coupe. Was it from Pune? I mean the first owner. If thats true, did the coupe have a canvas hood and was metallic steel grey in colour, originally? If all the answers are YES then the car belonged to my near relatives in Pune. I have totally forgotten its registration number.
I am sure there are chances, because there may have been only a very few Fleetmaster coupes in India. Do post the pictures.

Hello Anjan,

Here are pictures of the Chevy Fleetmaster Coupe.
Is this the same? Note that an overcoat has been put and some fittings have been added. The first picture shows a huge cavity in the engine compartment, see no engine. Also, the front suspension is out of alignment, actually it was completely botched. Luckily we bought all the mechanicals of a car that was scrapped in Chor Bazar.
BTW, I paid more for the mechanicals than I paid for the car!

Cheers harit

[tonrag]

Thank you for the overwhelming responses and thank you, Mods. I’m particularly touched by the responses of harit and Karlos. Having read most of their posts on various vintage car threads, I am amazed at their enormous knowledge of things past and believe that compliments from them are not easily obtained!

Yes Karlos, we were lucky. Most of the trim was available on the car, even though the car was probably parked in the police compound for about a decade. Incidentally, the compound was at a busy intersection and was not walled. Therefore the car’s rear end jutted out onto the pavement and was exposed to milling crowds every day. Given that, the fact that only the rear badge and tail lamp lenses were broken is indeed something of a miracle.

We started in right earnest the morning after we towed the car in. We commenced with removal of the cosmetic fittings such as the bumpers, trim, taillights, bonnet and the mudguards. Most of the trim was kept very safely under my personal custody, in clean labeled plastic bags. Following this, the bonnet was removed and then the mudguards, both front and rear.


What greeted us was rust everywhere, even under the bulge on the front doors, which matched with the rear end of the curve of the front wings.

[sanjayatarizona]

5 Star thread sir. We are hooked..

[manishalive]

Oh........ the anxiety is killing me.

[tonrag]

I like restoring trim and other smaller and delicate parts myself. I spent several happy hours at home, cleaning these parts with warm water, soap and an old toothbrush. Once the grime was off, I even found that some of the trim was not much damaged. The dirt had protected the chrome from deterioration. I thought I could stick back the tail lamp lenses, because glass ones are not easy to find; but they were splintered and too far gone.

[tonrag]

Simultaneously, with the dismantling of the mudguards, another team removed the upholstery, to expose the floor. The seats and the door pads had been covered in brown rexine. However, when we removed that, we found the original cloth covered upholstery on both the front and rear seat backs intact, even though they were deeply stained with rust and marks of water seepage. We considered whether we could retain the original seat covers, but dropped the idea for two reasons; first, the cloth was missing on the seat squabs and second, we weren’t sure how to get rid of the stains. I was not very happy with the decision and even as I see these pictures, I regret having to replace the seat covers, even though we got a near exact match of cloth. The availability of the original seat covers provided us invaluable references while making the new seats. I think the original seat covers are still with us in the workshop, kept away in a bag.

Once we removed the seat covers, we discovered more rust, particularly of the seat bases. However, the original clamps along the top rim of the seat backs, onto which the back rest clamped, were intact. They can be seen in the photos attached.

[simply_sunny001]

@tonrag

you did a good thing by removing the cloth and not trying to reuse by removing off stains as the shelf life of the cloth must have been over.

Its always wise to fit new so that at least few nexy few years it will be as good as new.

good job, keep it coming

cheers