fbekholden.com

Seeing no one is commenting, I will just keep posting pictures
It was time to refit the grill, and once pulled out of its box there was no way I could just give it a wipe and bolt it back in.
Go back to the first page and look at what the wagon looked like when Ben bought it home, the grill looks ok?
Well just have a look at these pictures.
Initially it would have been great if all it needed was a good clean and a polish up, but that didnt work as decades of grime had baked on everywhere.
So the assembly was dismantled and paint stripper was applied everywhere, sometime two or three times to shift everything.
Then the inner sections were washed in warm soapy water with a scotch brite to clean out all the inner sections while the outer surfaces were washed and wiped down with solvent
All the pieces were sent out to be polished, on return they were once again given a warm soapy wash to remove all buffing compound excess and then carefully assembled
There may seem to be a lot of pictures, but it is the best way to show what was done

This kind of re-build is something that I could never afford , just to see the detail that has gone into it, I can't help wondering the hours and the cost per hr let alone the material expense .
I look forward to each new post to see what you have done Paul.
Do you keep as many pics of all the cars you have done? Trev .

Smooth Customs,
Your work is top notch and this wagon has turned out very nice indeed, the owner must be very happy
I know most people I talk to never really understand the hours of labour that go into these old cars and most wouldn't even bother to attempt such a rebuild.
I think the silence is just a reflection of jaw dropping detail and really what can be said, the pictures tell the story !!!

Keep the photos coming !!!!

Regards Greg

Amazing effort and attention to detail. It will be like driving a brand new EK Holden out of the showroom in 1961...

Was the original hoodlining put back in or a new one?

Were the pieces of trim on the back of the seat zinc or chrome plated?

Stewart

Damn, that's a lot of work.....!

Smooth customs wrote:Seeing no one is commenting, I will just keep posting pictures

I think most people are just in awe

Are those new scuff plates, or did you refurbish the existing ones?

Trev, I have thousands of photos covering a good selection of cars I have done over the last 30 odd years. My plan was to put a selection on my web site
Eventually I will post photos of car others have taken credit for that i did. You will be amazed at them

Stewart, the hood lining is new as the original was brittel and had some damage and stains.It would have made the finished interiour look tatty
almost every original bolt screw clip and original brackets that were plated from the factory has been washed cleaned buffed and or blasted before replating

Outside of here several people have termed this a show quality Restoration. This is not correct. The car is not a total restoration as some parts have not been addressed due to cost, as we never set out to do a total restoration
This is what I look at as a very nice tidy up. Sure everything I have touched has been cleaned and painted replated and assembled. But if you are there doing it do it properly. If you look there are some replacement pieces that are not 100% correct but only a special fewwill really notice
Not all the interior has been redone, the body and paint is tidy as well with faults if you go looking.
These cars were far from perfect new, but people forget that when looking at a rebuild one. and pick faults that the factory let go out the door them

will post some more pictures later

Cal wrote:

Smooth customs wrote:Seeing no one is commenting, I will just keep posting pictures

I think most people are just in awe

Are those new scuff plates, or did you refurbish the existing ones?

They are the originals repaired and replated, was cheaper than buying new ones? And I personally believe the originals fit and look better.
The alloy inserts took a heap of work to clean and repair, but look so good when refitted
on a rebuild the little bits make or break areas like this

Don't think for a minute no ones watching, my note books filling up....

Cheers

i'm lovin' it as with trev and i'm sure everybody else curious as to a ballpark figure of what something like this cost

Some of these are reposts, and what is shown here is oly part of the selection of pieces that had to be cleaned and replated

Door assembly!

I'd say its a little bit more than "a very nice tidy up"

Cal, have you seen some of my more detailed jobs