Finally got her on her wheels!

Painted the grill so I could mount the radiator to start the motor. Used Sherwin Williams Automotive “Finish 1″ base coat/clear coat. Since the grill was sandblasted, I started with 150 grit sandpaper then moved progressively up until I reached 320. Then I put on two good coats of etching primer followed by urethane primer.

I paid extra attention to rough spots using glazing putty where necessary until I had a perfect surface inside and out.

Next I sanded up to 600 wet then a couple more coats of urethane primer followed by 1959 Willys “President Red” base coat. Then wet sanded 600 again followed by a couple more coats of base.

Finally I sprayed a couple of good wet coats of clear.

The results speak for themselves. The next step will be to paint the underside of the body using the same process, mount the body, and then begin the final body/paint work.

 

So nice.

 

Oh wow, that is a beautiful grill. Good work sir.

 

Arrrgh! Yer makin' me sick! Mine should have been looking like that years ago!

 

Mirror finish. awesome

 

been following your build that this is beautiful. Where in Motown are you? I grew up in a little town just north of Morgantown. I haven't been home in a while and miss it bad!

 

Wow!

 

You sir do incredible work.

 

my god
that is going to be a beautiful machine.

 

I live in north Morgantown, near the hospitals. If I didn't hate moving so much, I'd buy a place more in the country where I could have more garage space. I'd like to find a nice, beautiful, roomy garage with a detached house. And enough distance from any neighbors where nobody would complain about the extra Jeep parts, the noise, and the fumes.

Thanks for all the compliments, everyone. I can't wait to make more progress. I started the motor for the first time today after completely overhauling it. It starts but it won't take any fuel. Brand new fuel pump but I can't get fuel to the carb. For the instant it ran, I was getting ample oil pressure and the rings appeared to seat.

 

If you haven't been back to Motown in a while, you wouldn't recognize it; the town has grown tremendously and steadily over the past decade.

 

Well, the chassis is complete on the '59, now it is time to start the body work. Hood, fenders, and windshield frame are all in great shape, tub is brand new but needs some fabricating and smoothing.

 

Interesting version of a rear mounted gas tank.

 

That is looking very nice. Good Work.

 

Looking really nice.. Gonna be a beauty!

 

Yeah I figure I'll have to cut a pretty big hole in the tub to make it fit back there.

 

I busted my hump this weekend and got the underside and firewall painted and clear coated. I didn’t spend as much time on the underside other than seam sealing all the open welds and etch priming the bare spots. I did two coats of polyurethane primer, wet sanded the final coat and then base/clear.
On the firewall, I went one additional step and wet sanded the clear and did a final coat. I wanted the underside to look nice but I didn’t figure anybody would be critiquing the orange peel in the clear coat. The firewall, however, is more visible and therefore required extra attention.
Now I need to put in the mounting bolts and start sanding the top side. Tons more work to do but I am finally seeing the an end. As much as I enjoy working on it, I am getting tired and looking forward to completing this project.

 

Wonderful progress, and great photos! I hope you don't mind that I saved them for reference. I'm actually making some tiny progress on my Jeep, thanks in part to this thread! Mine should have been where yours is years ago. What am I saying....mine should have been DONE years ago!

My '56 is going to be nearly identical to your '59, the tires will be the biggest difference! I'm also going with President Red, mine's original color. What brand of paint are you using?

 

I like the President Red, although my camera makes it look orange for some reason. I'm using Sherwin Williams Automotive "Dimension" series base coat and "Finish 1" clear coat. It is sort of a mid-grade paint (not the best but certainly not cheap) that many body shops in my area use. I like how it flows and it seems to hold up well. I got impatient and placed the body on the frame after only about 12 hours of drying time and even with jockeying it around on the frame, it didn't seem to chip any paint underneath. It also does very well with wet sanding out imperfections.

What tires are you going with? I wanted to go with original grade bias tires but opted for a radial instead, it was slightly less expensive since I didn't have to buy tubes.