White Cloud Arrives at Aldrich Restoration Specialists!
Candid Shot of the week:
The Jones Caribbean goes back on its frame after get some needed attention from the media blaster. Next Week: White Cloud on the rotisserie.
Here is a rare cutaway view of the kind of damage the underside of these old cars incur over 50 years. Once the car has been media blasted, it will be placed on a rotisserie to do some of the harder to reach metal underneath.
The floor pans up front were almost completely gone in this car and had to be replaced. A body mount hole will be welded into this pan when it is time for the body to remarry the frame during reassembly.
Most of the driver's side welding is complete. Here is a shot just after welding the rocker panels. Note the fresh welds on the door skin and the rear corner panel. This sort of work also helps to stabilize the car before the body is split from the frame and sent to be media blasted.
After the car is media blasted, more defects in the metal become apparent. This is an area just inside the panel on the driver's side where the metal was so thin the media blaster cleaned right through it.
The same process is repeated all the way around the car until all the exterior skin is solid. This includes the floors, wheel wells, and trunk metal which was accessible without putting the body on the rotisserie.
'White Cloud' is undergoing a complete frame off restoration. Bad pieces of metal are replaced along the bottom of the car and wheel well to make the car into a solid piece of iron again. Here, Mitch Smith grinds of a bad portion of the rear quarter panel with a cutting wheel.
Once the White Cloud is brought back from media blasting, the quarter panels are smoothed to prep for a sealer coat.
Steps one and two: start with cutting away a problem area. Step three: cut a matching piece and weld it back into the car. Step four: Grind your welds. Here we are looking at the passenger side rocker panel on the underside of White Cloud. This process is continued forward until the entire rocker panel is repaired.
Candid Shot of the Week: Mitch Smith puts the welder to a rotted out rocker panel. Now that the body is on the rotisserie attention is given to the undercarriage, wheel wells and body mounts.
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1
Week 4
Week 5
Candid Shot of the Week: White Cloud takes on some colors. This is a great shot of the under side showing the work done on the trunk, spare tire well, and the passenger side rocker.
The driver's side rear quarter panel is really shaping up! For that matter the whole body is coming back to life. Take a look!
Mitch applies a sealer coat of white primer and black undercoating which will protect the car from the hazards of the roadway. While there is still body work to be done to this car, it must not remain in bare metal too long after going to the media blaster because the steel begins to rust from the humidity of southern Ohio air.
Week 6
This week in White Cloud's resurrection, we are working on the frame. Here is the frame as it sat before being stripped.
Each corner of the suspension is treated the same: removal of the brake drums, removal of the king pin, removal of the torsion system etc. The final picture shows the parts cleaned and labelled and ready for sandblasting and paint while the frame is at the media blaster.
Stripped and degreased, White Cloud's bones are given a thorough bath to make ready for the media blaster.
Mitch Smith makes some final adjustments to a body mount before the chassis is ready for powder coating
Here she sits, upside down after being media blasted
This week in White Cloud's resurrection, we are working on the frame. Here is the frame as it sat after being stripped.
