A lightning quick restoration - '48 Chevy Fleetmaster

[tonrag]

The edging around the door openings were made by stitching the upholstery cloth around a cotton cord of the appropriate thickness. I have a regular upholsterer, who always does a brilliant job on the cars I've done.

The dashboard was finished with a gloss lacquer; I know it came in a can; can't remember if it was labeled as hard lacquer.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by tonrag

The edging around the door openings were made by stitching the upholstery cloth around a cotton cord of the appropriate thickness. I have a regular upholsterer, who always does a brilliant job on the cars I've done.

The dashboard was finished with a gloss lacquer; I know it came in a can; can't remember if it was labeled as hard lacquer.

tonrag excellent work done both on the car and as a member of teambhp! The step by step narration in your thread is splendid. Doubt if there is any other thread that deals with any restoration job of an old jalopy with such minute details.
Love going through the thread again and again.

[kavesh55]

Sir Tonrag, I guess its been repeated and wont repeat further regarding the work. The hardwork is commendable. I personally use to look upto the show Overhaulin, for the detailing for restorations. Believe me its truly puny, compared to this.
You are truly blessed to have a partner, who shares the passion, for atleast doing up the vehicle.
Regarding the wood finish paint, I feel there are painters in Karnataka who give a wood finish. I remember my cousin in Udupi had a wood finish steel cupboard.
Supposedly a popular finish there during that time.
Guess you should also give a little pat to your pets for not playing around with the newly painted panels, ive done similar thing at my place and had a tough time keeping my pet away.

[tonrag]

Thanks, for the encouraging comments. we were now into the final stages of assembly, which proceeded at a breathless pace. By then, my wife and I were hardly going home, spending most of our waking hours when we were not in office, with the car. There were impromptu dinners and several masala dosa and coffee breaks and work proceeded uninterrupted.



[FONT=&quot]Finally, on the morning of 18 October, 2004, the day of the centenary celebrations, the front grille and seats were installed. [/FONT]

[14000rpm]

your report is simply fantastic. Looking fwd to see the rest of the report soon. kudos.

[IndrojitSircar]

Very well detailing of restoration process!

[tonrag]

[FONT=&quot]On the 18 morning, there was no time for a test drive. Our baby’s maiden trip after restoration was her drive to Tataguni estate, more than 30 kilometers from Ananda Rao circle for the centenary celebrations. As we swung her bright blue nose out into the sunlight, the entire team gave her a guard of honour. We had to drive slowly, because we were still using the same tyres that she wore when we picked her up! In Cubbon Park, she coughed and fell silent. I sat in the driver’s seat, quite unable to do anything. I did not even ask what was the problem; my job was to get her to Tataguni before the governor of Karnataka arrived for inaugurating the centenary celebrations. But my head mechanic looked into the cavernous engine bay and soon, she once again came to life. [/FONT]

[tonrag]

We did not stop after that. By the time we were on the open road to Tataguni, I pushed her up to 30 mph. She glided along, straight as an arrow. I found her surprisingly easy to handle, but was the bonnet loooong! At Tataguni, we turned in and a huge crowd made way for us. I will never forget the look of surprise and disbelief on one of the old servants at the estate – he must have thought that this car was returning from the dead! We drove into an open shed meant for the car, where we had also put up a small exhibition detailing the story of the restoration. My wife had some unfinished business to do; she took out her brushes and red paint and carefully filled in the ‘Chevrolet’ name on the grille.

[tonrag]

A fortnight later, I took my mother to Tataguni in the car – I thought she had deserved it, for having put up with my broken down cars in her driveway and greasy car parts messing up every corner of her house for years. The occasion was a special one. Beside the scenic lake on the sprawling estate, the Russian and the Karnataka governments had organized a small function to thank all those who had worked for the centenary celebrations. My staff were honoured one by one, and were given a special honorarium for their efforts.

[tonrag]

Some final remarks. It was a terrific experience, but I wouldn’t call this a 100 pointer restoration. There were corners that we cut. I still have to do a few more jobs, which are:

To replace the centre console of the dashboard with the original thing – I’ll retain the old piece I made as a keepsake.

To get a steering boss –I borrowed one from a friend for the week following the restoration to make the car look complete, but had to return it.

To fit glass lenses for the tail lights. The plastic ones just don’t look good enough.

I need to fit the interior roof light and the original switch. An old friend of mine in Hyderabad was very helpful. He used to own a lovely Fleetmaster and showed me an original roof light that he had. He allowed me to photograph it and measure it out, but regretted that he couldn’t give it to me, because it used to belong to his father’s car. I fully understood the way he felt and was grateful for his advice and showing me a sample. However, a remarkable thing happened a day before the car was finished - one of my gujri contacts in Bangalore walked in with not one, but two lenses for the interior roof light, for the steep price of Rs. 75 each! I picked both, but still have to fit one of them, as I have not gotten around to fabricating the base for it.

I’m not too happy with the front grille. The metal is wafer thin and the chrome has bubbles. If I can get a new grille, I’d replace the old one.

Last but not the least, I need to get new Whitewall tyres.

I hope all of you enjoyed this post as much as I did, reliving a special time in my life. I’m basically an amateur restorer and have a long way to go before I can achieve the standards that some others on this forum have reached. Still I hope I’ve been able to convey some of the learning and experience I gained on this very special car. I think recording the detail of a restoration is important, because ones’ own memory fades.

[ajmat]

Amazing, I just hope that the car will remain preserved this time around

[girishpv]

Great work Tonrag.

True, as you said ""I think recording the detail of a restoration is important, because ones’ own memory fades""

I don't have detailed photo's and report as this when I did my Standard and Morris Minor, a good thing to do for the future generation.

Thanks a lot

[karlosdeville]

A superb outcome, your efforts really show. I still cannot fathom how the car was completed in 2 months!

You attention to detail to replicate missing parts in commendable - true, we would always like to ideally have NOS/original parts, but that is not always possible. The outcome of the work on the dash, tail lights etc. is excellent, fret not. The important thing is that everything is in place, she runs and looks superb. And all this considering ownership is still not clear! Nobody else would have dared touch it.

Now your next ambition should be to raise 1 lakh rupees for a set of new whitewalls. The car deserves it.

[moralfibre]

Excellent restoration, narration and final outcome. You had me hooked on the thread right from the word go. Wonderfully done!

[Jaggu]

I just went through the last 3 pages and i don't have words to express my feelings about this thread.

Excellent effort and outcome is outstanding!