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Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:58 pm
by Kevin Wills
With winter upon us, I began disassembly and stripping of my 1962 Super 90 sunroof coupe. It has been in the family for over 12 years, first owned by my brother as a daily driver and then by my father, now me. The floorpans were replaced and all other metal work underneath was addressed and continues to be sound. It was converted to disc brakes and is mechanically very sound. That said, over the past two years, the body deterioration has increased, which is prompting the restoration.

So far, the results have been a bit disappointing with Frankenstein patches and fiberglass mat over smashed in rusted areas. With the amount of bondo and turkey fixes, it will take several days of work to complete the stripping. Once complete, I will begin the metal work to make it right.
frankenstein.jpg

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:14 am
by Kevin Wills
Update - stripping continues. During stripping, I found the rust monster below. I kid you not, this is as i found it. The goal for this long weekend is to complete stripping and cleaning of the shell. If I complete it, I will post a picture of the shell. If I fail, I will cower in shame and hope nobody notices this post. :D

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:39 am
by Alex Mestas
OMG there really is a Rust Monster! :shock: We're looking forward to the updates. Good Luck.

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:31 am
by C J Murray
Hi Kevin,
Your sunroof looks like my '59 sunroof when the paint came off of it. If we chase down war criminals, shouldn't we do the same to the butchers that worked on our cars? Anyway, you and your family has the skills to make those warts disappear and make her beautiful again.
Merry Christmas,
Cliff

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:36 pm
by Eric Lampe
Unfortunately, you have a remodeling job to do in some areas. I am doing some remodeling in my house right now and it takes a lot longer to redo stuff than do build it from scratch. It is like that with auto repairs and restoration too. I am using your thread as encouragement for working on my 63 coupe.

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 3:09 pm
by Dan Epperly
Kevin Wills wrote:Update - stripping continues. During stripping, I found the rust monster below. I kid you not, this is as i found it. The goal for this long weekend is to complete stripping and cleaning of the shell. If I complete it, I will post a picture of the shell. If I fail, I will cower in shame and hope nobody notices this post. :D
Looks like he is sticking his tongue out at you. You can almost here him saying, "C'mon kid, just try and get rid of me."

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:49 pm
by Kevin Wills
OK, so the shell is basically stripped and cleaned. I still have some work to do in the door jambs/quarter window areas. I also need to strip the decklid and sunroof. Here are some pictures of what I uncovered.

Here is the front shot of the previous clip job:
DSC_0001 (1024x678).jpg
Here is the top view of one of the frankenstein patches:
DSC_0002 (1024x678).jpg
This is another set of patches in the right rear quarter. These patches are stitched on over the existing metal. We will probably end up putting a piece from a donor car in here.
DSC_0007 (1024x678).jpg
Here is the bottom side of the frankenstein patch. They put a little fiberglass mat ceiling in there, how cute. :shock:
DSC_0006 (678x1024).jpg
Here are a couple of rust/rust repairs I will have to do as well. Overall, could be a lot worse - I do have a long road ahead. Thanks for checking out my thread!
DSC_0010 (678x1024).jpg
DSC_0003 (678x1024).jpg
DSC_0009 (1024x678).jpg

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 6:48 pm
by Martin Benade
At least they tried - I have seen far worse than that. And when you are done, we will see far better that that!

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:09 pm
by Dean Tanner
Kevin, you weren't kidding, I think we share a body work man!

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:25 pm
by Kevin Wills
Quick update. I peeled the old patches back to see if anything underneath them is salvageable. As expected, it is not. I am working on cutting out the bad metal and creating new patches. The right rear fender will be getting a graft from an original panel cut from a donor car. The inner closing panel will also get an original panel graft. The little patches splotched around the car will get cut out and replaced with patches I make.
DSC_0019 (1024x678).jpg
DSC_0023 (1024x678).jpg
DSC_0025 (678x1024).jpg

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:49 pm
by C J Murray
Your car's former body man must be hiding in Argentina under an assumed name.

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:00 pm
by Kevin Wills
Hopefully he is now a better body man in Argentina having practiced on my car. :D

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:21 pm
by Pascal Zundel
This is really scary. I need to do some bodywork on my car which currently looks quite ok and I am afraid (convinced?) I will find the same underneath disaster when I have it sanded.
It's like when you know you have cavities but you just don't want to go see a dentist.

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:45 pm
by Kevin Wills
My family just left to go visit my stepson in New Hampshire today, so my bro stopped by for the day today to help me with me metalwork. I love working with Eric because he is so good with metalwork and things go really fast. Long story short, I have an inner closing panel on the drivers side now that does not involve fiberglass, tons of dent pull holes were filled, and some of the little patches around the car are completed. When I get a little further, I'll post some progress photos.

Big thumbs up to easy grind MIG wire and having a guy with tons of metalwork experience to help.

-Kevin-

Re: Restoration of my 1962 Super 90 Sunroof Coupe

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:19 pm
by Bill Tate
Kevin, It doesn't get better than having a brother that knows more about 356 restoration that you do. KTF, Bill