Project StinkBug: Put a Lid On It

When I bought StinkBug, one of the missing pieces was the trunk lid. The trunk lid I needed was specific to the four-door sedan Bel Air. While I could buy a new one all day long online, I really wanted an original one, stamped in the 1950s here in America. I'm not adverse to using repro parts—used them where needed on the '66 Mustang—but IMHO classic cars should be mostly original pieces, or they really aren't classic...

Here's a local find... For 150 bucks, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I had used chelation rust removal fluid about 5 years ago on my '66 Mustang. I removed and soaked the doors in it, like you see the trunk lid here. This time I used a product I read about here—as well as 10mm plastic sheeting, which held the chelant safely for days.

After a couple days of soaking in 90 degree weather, I had complete rust removal. I haven't decided how to fix this area yet, but it's now primed and waiting...

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Project StinkBug: DentWorks of Raleigh

I've been a fan of paintless dent removal for about 15 years now. Some jobs are perfect for PDR, and a pretty good ding on the '57 seemed like one. Old cars can be tough to fix this way, however, since long expanses of original sheetmetal is thick, and there aren't always access holes nearby

DentWorks of Raleigh fixed a good-size ding on the rear quarter of the '57. The access hole was conveniently located nearby, right where the quarter trim was attached. The ding was massaged out at my house for only $50 (in addition to the $150 to fix 5 or 6 dents on two other cars). I recommend DentWorks of Raleigh if you are in the Triangle area.

Junk in the Trunk

Unfortunately the only junk in the trunk was rust, but not too much at all... This meant replacing three of the trunk floor panels -- two drop-offs, and the rearmost connecting piece between them. We elected to replace the tail light panel too (and that means the two brackets holding it to the floor, and the filler neck pass through to make it easier). The cost of all these panels, including the improved repros and one Ford tooling panel was a few hundred dollars. Some people would patch (or cover) these rusty areas, but we figured it best to replace them...





The rust did not affect the rear frame rails at all, and was primarily localized to the ledge on which the gas tank sits. It was caused by water in the trunk, partially from a rear tail light bezel with a missing gasket. And also using the wrong gasket around the trunk ledge that holds the gas tank (the gasket held water between the ledge and the tank.) This area is one of a few that commonly rust on these cars.

I upgraded to a 22 gallon tank for a 1970 model (which I painted silver with a can of ceramic paint and a can of clear) from the original 16 gallon design. I also used a new sending unit, larger 3/8" stainless fuel line with rubber line, filter, and fuel pump fitting.

Stripping the Car Down to Bare Metal

The car was disassembled and stripped at the paintshop to see what was under the paint. All the panels on the car were either original to the car or original Ford panels, no reproductions.






The passenger quarter panel needs to be replaced due to a crunch probably 20 years ago at least.





To save money I'm going to replace the two front fenders with Ford tooling fenders. The old fenders have holes that were drilled to fix some small dents many years ago and holes for emblems that I'm not going to use. Cheaper to replace them than remove all the old paint and filler, then fill the holes and straighten.

The doors don't *need* to be replaced, but there's rust along the bottom seams and on the metal grain pattern, so I am replacing them.

Overall, the exterior wasn't too bad at all. This last photo shows the cowl area when I was about 85% done stripping it (months after the previous photos were taken...) The cowl had no rust at all, so I put a nice coat of POR-15 into it to keep it that way. I poured it in the vents with a funnel and small rubber hose and then used a 2-3 foot extension wand with a sponge on the end through the access holes to wipe smooth. The shop air was able to push it into the seams really well.