Auto Restoration 101

Here are some of the pictures prior to starting on the body repairs.

A little blurry but you can make out the chassis model as 1000A and the horsepower…adequate.

The right tail lamp area….a little bit of rust here.

The huge bumper has been removed.

A close up of the headlight area with the headlight grilles removed.

It looks like a lot of cracked and peeling paint.

Metal Rescue™ Rust Remover Bath is a clean, safe and easy solution to removing rust. Metal Rescue™ removes the rust on parts by utilizing a water based, safe synthetic molecule that is attracted specifically to iron oxide (ie. rust). Metal Rescue™ removes the iron oxide and holds it in solution, leaving the base part and other materials safely unaffected. The result, the cleanest, safest and easiest way to remove rust in the industry.

Metal Rescue is safe on everything except rust! Just soak, check and rinse/dry.

When the gallon of Metal Rescue showed up my son and I were looking all over the shop for some rusty parts to soak. He had just bought this old Pexto bead roller and thought we should give it a try.
It was fairly clean when he got it so the only thing we did to it was remove the wood handle. We were surprised that when we poured it out that it had absolutely no smell at all.

We let this tool soak for 24 hours. I think it was was ready to take out after about 8 hours. We started soaking it early in the morning and checked it once during the day and it was pretty much finished. But we forgot about it, closed up shop and remembered about it the next morning. The results are impressive.

Before

After

PREPARATION: For best results, ARMOR recommends removing as much dirt, oil and other contaminants from the metal surface as possible, prior to de-rusting

SOAK: Surfaces to be de-rusted must be fully immersed. Metal Rescue™ must maintain contact in wet form with the rusted surface to be effective. As product is used, it will become darker in color. Continue to reuse product until there is a performance drop off. Note: this is a ready to use product, NOT a concentrate.

CHECK: Check periodically. Soak time ranges: Light rust will require 5-30 minutes, moderate rust up to 4 hours and heavily rusted items may take up to 24 hours. Do not leave part in solution after rust is no longer present or metal might become dark.

RINSE: Once the rust has been removed, the surface should be rinsed with water or clean Metal Rescue™ and dried thoroughly.

Visit the Metal Rescue website for more info.

The 1948 Holden was the first all Australian made car. It was produced from 1948 to 1953 with a total production of 120,402. The 6 cylinder engine had a displacement of 2.15 liters mated to a three speed manual transmission.

1949 Holden 48-215 sedan
image source: Flickr

This video is the first of two parts called “Birth of a Car” made in 1948. It details some of the testing and production of the Holden. It’s interesting to see the how the testing machines worked and also how the manufacturing process was done. The Hamilton press stamping the roof panels is massive. It’s a great video…enjoy!

Holden car history time line
Holden Wikipedia

The first official automobiles of the White House were ordered by U.S. President William Howard Taft in 1909. He ordered two Pierce-Arrows to be used for state occasions. Click HERE for more info about Pierce-Arrows and HERE for info on President Taft.