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Dad's '52 Chevy Belair 2 door hard top. He bought it brand new, when he was 18. I grew up in this car. Used to be his winter beater in the '60's & the '70's. Was painted once over the years. The door panels had a hack-job recovery somewhere in that time. From the mid '70's on, it was relegated to only occasional use, due to the fact that it had become a 'Fred Flinstone' mobile. NO floors left.
So, in the late '90's, Dad decided to restore it. That was supposed to take 2, maybe 3 years. Took 7. One 'bodyman' had the car for a year. Dad had given him $2500.00 to get him going. In that year, all the guy did was take out the windshield, & remove the front bumper. He had crawled inside a bottle. On to the next 'bodyman'. He was supposed to replace the body mounts & floors first. His idea for 'new' body mounts, was to wrap the old rusty ones in tin, then brush some under coating over them. On to the next 'bodyman'. This guy, finally, was the right one. He did it right. But because he was only working on it at night, & weekends, it took a while. During this time, the whole drivetrain was rebuilt.
After the third bodyman finished, it had been almost 6 years. But he had only done the body & paint. It was up to Dad & myself to finish the re-assembly. I also had to do the interior. It's not a kit. Leather & original fabric. Took a while to find the 'right' fabric, & when I did, it was $185.00/yard!
Mom's health wasn't too good during this time of working on the car, so the final assembly took another year.
Dad doesn't build show cars. He likes 'em as drivers. Never to be 'judged'. That was his mantra during all this. "It's just a driver". My view was, "Dad? How many times are we going to restore this car? Let's do it right. Let's do it once!"
The final resut? This car was voted 'The BEST NEWLY RESTORED CAR IN CANADA' in 2010. By the member's of the Vintage Car Club of Canada. Totally unexpected. Plaques, trophies, & magazine write ups. I drive it all the time.
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Headliner from scratch. Dad had taken the old one out years ago. Got tired of wearing it.
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