[themoose]

 So yesterday one of our members (turbomax) started a thread about how he was trying to decide whether or not to use seats that he had installed in his Chevy a few years back that were out of a car that was somewhat rare and historically significant. I made the comment that I had gone through a similar decision making process with my 32 Chevy. As I wrote in an earlier thread I have owned the car since 1972 and I enjoyed taking it out and chugging around but as time changed and traffic conditions in my area became more and more shall we say “aggressive” I no longer felt comfortable with the outdated mechanical braking system plus when I tried to push the good old stovebolt six up to a speed to keep up with today’s traffic things usually soon reached the boiling point prompting a slow down and cool off period. I liked the car but what good was it if I couldn’t drive it. After much deliberation and conversation I decided that after owning the car for so long if anyone was going to decide its destiny it was going to be me. I’m sure there some that would say that I should never “Destroyed” such a nice example of an old Chevy but in the end you have to do what makes you happy. I tried to keep most of the flavor of the stock appearance and yet offer some clues that would let people know that there was something else going on here. All in all it’s probably the most fun car to drive that I have ever built and best yet it’s still in the family after more than 40 years. What this of all leading up to is that after thinking about what brought the old Chevy into its present state it dawned on me that it might be fun to post some pictures of how it used to look back in the day. Over the years I’ve digitized most of the old family photos so I dug out the CD’s and started hunting. I found a couple of pictures of the Chevy from around 1989 when it was still running the stock drivetrain and was painted black which I later found out was not the correct color for the car according to the body tag. Even better I found an old video that my wife shot with her newly acquired Sony video camera. It was one of her first attempts at photography so it’s a bit out of focus and shaky but I still enjoy watching it mainly because it shows my daughter who was about two at the time enjoying her first rice in the “Old Chevy”The first picture is one that I cobbled up with photo shop that has become my screen saver.  The last was taken about the same time as the video and if you click on it the video will play. I hope I haven’t put everyone to sleep with this long dissertation!!!

Moose
My screen saver


Another current shot


One from about 1990.....Just click on the image to watch the movie
 

[TFoch]

Moose,
That is a cool video.  I can see your daughter was smiling from ear to ear!  The stories the 32 could probably tell after being in your family for so long would be fun to listen to.  Your car remains one of my favorites and I think you've done a great job with it.  i would say you improved it, not destroyed it.  I hope I get to see it in person someday soon.
Tom

[EDNY]

Moose

That car must have been featured in a magazine somewhere?  It's definitely cover material!

Ed

[trbomax]

 That IS a beautiful car. Its really almost too nice to drive,but then as you said,it has to be what you want. I agree with that and have been severly critisized over the years for building a glass duplicate instead of working with what I had , but the wood had to go! Does yours still have the wood frame and if so, how do you deal with that?

 I will be leaveing wed night for ohio to pick up my pieces and bring it back! Seeing yours makes me crazy! How about some interior shots?

[chopper526]

Great video, Moose. What a transformation. You can't be unhappy with that! That video would make me cry, watching my kid in that car.

[themoose]

trbomax

To answer your question...Yes the wood is still intact. Most of the wood was still in good shape. There was some rotted wood in the rear under the deck lid and the  rear corners of the top. There was enough left so I could fabricate new pieces and replace the bad wood. I then treated all of the wood with a two part wood fortifier that was great stuff. It was so thin and had such low surface that it was absorbed into the wood to a depth of close to a quarter inch. The wood gets so tough that you can actually drill and tape it. Unfortunately the stuff in apparently no longer available because of environmental concerns. I had to ware a respirator and rubber gloves when I applied it....nasty stuff! I'm posting a picture of the wood structure as it looked after it was applied just before I did the interior. I wanted to keep the interior as close to original as possible so my wife and I install a kit from Hampton Coach. I got a piece of carpet remnant from the carpet store and made that as well. I left the dashboard looking as stock as possible and fabricated a gauge panel out of 3/8" inch aluminum plate. It has a full set of gauges plus an LED shift position display from Dakota Digital. As you can see I did deviate a bit from stock with the installation of seat belts .

Moose

[trbomax]

 Very nice! Were you useing the Boat Life product called Git Rot ? I used that on my '58 century the first time I redid it. It worked great but then the wood rotted up to where it penetrated,so I had to replace it all several years later. Are those winow garnish mouldings wood? If they are,did you make them? Unfortuneately the fiberglass doors wont accept the stock metal garnish on my 28. I had to compromise somewhere and I didnt want it to be in the strength of the bond joint in the doors. I had planned to make wood mouldings but never got around to it. How about some pics of those? Not trying to be a pita,just curious!

[themoose]

It wasn't Git Rot but I'm sure it was based on the same principle. The garnish moldings are the stock steel ones that I wood grained to match the ordinal finish.

Moose

[trbomax]

` The wood on the inside of yours looks a lot like mine except on mine its epoxy bonded to the body to hold the interior in place.I filled the roof before I made the molds,and put tack strips under the gel coat all around the top,that way the top can be stapled and finished off just like original. the purple wire strung around in the roof is the radio antenna.

[themoose]

trbomax

Looks like an you did an awsome job. That takes building a car to a whole other level!!

Moose

[ghost28]

Real nice quality work guys. You give me something to shoot for.

[munch]

Moose,

Your car is awesome and has helped me make up my mine to go two tone.  I like the black top and fenders.

I have a 1930 Coach, currently purple, and have been trying to decide about paint.  It is a hot rod and I didn't know it might look with the old school two tone, but helped me decide I like the look.  I'm thinking about a shade of root beer for the body.

thanks

[TFoch]

Root beer and black would be a great choice.

[themoose]

Munch... thanks for the compliments.I agree with Tom that those colors would look great. I had a picture of a Vicki in my collection that might give you some idea of how it would look.

Moose

[logride]

That's a great 32, loved the video.