New Chrome, New Attitude

Last week I had lunch with Uncle Cord.  Uncle lives about two hours away, but my new job assignment is taking me close to him on a regular basis.  He has been asking for a way to help contribute to the t-bird project.  The car is special to him, of course, since it was his mother's car.

Well, Uncle Cord has also restored many classic cars, and he knows chrome.  As you might guess, his current project is a Cord 810 Beverly Sedan.  Together, we took the pitted windshield doglegs from the t-bird to his friend at the chrome shop.

Inside of the driver-side windshield trim piece "dogleg" after grinding away the rust.  There are many rust holes all the way through the metal.

The passenger side piece isn't much better.

"Chrome Guy" took one look at these pieces, and declared them unsalvageable.  Uncle Cord didn't agree, and asked chrome guy to strip the parts.  Chrome guy knows Uncle pretty well, so he winked at me and said "you know, he always needs a project"!

I got estimates to re-chrome the steering column parts.  It turns out that most of the parts are cheaper to replace with reproductions than to re-chrome.  I did leave the steering column tube to be re-chromed.

I also gave Uncle the steering wheel, which is a cracked and broken mess.  In his profession, Uncle has gotten very good with fillers and adhesives, and fine detail work.  He asked to take on the challenge of restoring the wheel.  Here is what I turned over to him:

The wheel is plastic over a steel core.  The plastic has shrunk and cracked.  Uncle Cord wants to fill the cracks and refinish the wheel.  Man, that looks like a lot of work!

The worst section of the wheel is pretty ugly!

Yesterday, I had lunch with Uncle Cord again.  He showed me the doglegs after stripping (sorry, I didn't take pictures).  I thought they looked pretty sad, but he is convinced that his welder friend can attach a backing plate, and that he can flow in brazing rod to fill the holes.  It may take several passes, but after  layers of copper plating and buffing, Uncle believes that the pieces will be suitable for chrome.  Well, OK.  I'm gratified by Uncle's enthusiasm, and will accept his advice on this.

I also dropped off the door window posts with Chrome Guy.  These are pot metal, and had to be removed prior to painting the car.  The chrome is badly pitted, unsuitable for even a "driver".  I also picked up the steering column tube... it is beautiful!  Here is a before and after shot.  Inspiring, huh?

On the long drive home, I took a short detour to pick up the rebuilt 3-tooth steering box from a steering and brake shop.  While it cost more than I thought, I'm grateful to have it done.

I also left "Brake Guy" the brake power assist unit from the car.  His price to rebuild it was less than I would pay for parts!

I count this as progress.  The goal of restoration is simple in concept, but progress toward it quite complex in execution.  This kind of progress demands clarity in a plethora of daily decisions, as well as perseverance in response to unforeseen obstacles.

Kind of like life.  Like sanctification.