The eviction and repair problem with our East Texas house has intensified, and it's about put a halt to my car project. I got the bid for the painting, repair and cleanup, and it was ridiculous, so it looks like I'll be doing much of the work myself. That means two and a half hours travel each way, so like the last time I'll probably be camping in an empty house several nights and working all day. To give you an idea of the crazy painting bid, they want more to paint the interior walls in five rooms than it cost to paint the entire house, inside and out, when we built it!
I'm going to look for more bids, but apparently everyone is so busy with new construction that they don't want re-paint jobs, and that means I might be doing the job alone. No matter which way I go, it's going to eat up most of my time for the next few weeks.
The only car work I've accomplished the past week has been fabricating console sheet metal and experimenting with different ideas for the front turn signal lights. I'd like to have amber lenses, but trying to simulate the OEM size and style is proving to be difficult. The existing housings on both cars are too far gone to salvage, and since my car will not be original, I'll leave the few good parts out there for the folks working on an original restoration.
I will be ordering carpet material so I can try different ways to cover the sides of the console. I've decided on black, as that was used with several different interior colors, including the Fury, but the material will be plush cut-pile instead of loop.
Definitely not trying to be political here but there seems to be a disconnect between the politicians doom and gloom about no jobs etc that I hear on the news and you can't find reasonably price painters?
ReplyDeleteIf your car was a Dodge or Plodge, Harley Davidson round amber turn signal lens are almost a perfect fit.
The painting issue might be resolved. A painter under contract to Lowes looked at the job this morning and gave a bid that was 1/3rd the first one, and said he can start Monday morning. Keeping my fingers crossed that I might have caught him at the right time between big jobs!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've thought of this, but here goes: Try an amber LED bulb in your white lensed signal; that way it looks stock but produces an amber light, and may be higher output than incandescent.
ReplyDeleteGlenn, the biggest problem is that neither car has park light housings that can be salvaged. They are crumbling and the light sockets are almost solid rust.
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of hours yesterday to finish fabricating experimental sheet metal housings, and also the new sockets and a set of Ford Bronco amber lenses arrived. They are quite close in size to the '56 lenses, so I'm going to see what they look like on the car. I painted the housings today, and if I can find some time tomorrow, I'll try assembling and applying power. If they don't look right, I'll probably look for '55 Plymouth housings as they are supposed to be better than '56. My OEM lenses are also pretty bad, but I have seen some NOS parts for sale.
A friend of mine in San Diego is restoring a 56 Savoy, and he used 55 housings. They attached by screws onto the fender, unlike the press-fit of the 56.
DeleteI also know of a place where I may be able to find a couple of good 56 housings for you, so I'll keep in touch.
Gary,
ReplyDeleteA friend in N. California has "several sets" of these signal housings. I'm going to get a set; I can have a pair sent to you too, if you want them.
He sent me a picture of one pair - they look to be in useable shape, but not NOS; definitely used.
Thanks for the offer Glenn, but I'm okay with the fit of the homemade housings, so I'll leave the remaining originals for the guys restoring to stock. With my housings, I can use either the amber lenses or the stock ones. My original lenses are functional, just not pretty. I know there are still NOS lenses out there if I'm willing to pay the price. Since my car will be a driver, the old ones will be okay for a while anyway.
ReplyDelete