| I spent
the whole September installing the moldings, bumpers and various trim
parts. I had already worked through all of them years ago, but I
wasn't satisfied with my workmanship anymore, so I went them over
again, straightening and buffing. I also installed the self-fabricated fender skirts for the first time. Moreover, I took the car to a muffler shop and ordered them to install new tail mufflers (stainless, of course). |
 The original strip of mild steel that retains the beltline molding, was totally rusted off. It broke into small pieces when I started removing the moldings. The new retainer was made of stainless steel, only this time from 1 meter-long strips, because that was the maximum lenght of my sheet metal brake. |
 Here's a closeup of the retainer. The door molding is already installed here |
 The original stainless beltline trim had to be straightened, sanded, and buffed to a high luster. I had to make a dolly that fits inside and matches the curvature of the molding , so I could hammer out all dings, dents, and scratches. The trunk area of the beltline molding is attached with individual clips like this, instead of a long retainer. All originals, being mild steel, were wasted, so I fabricated a lot of new ones, from stainless. |
 These are the alternative bumber guards, commonly known as "dagmars". It's made of a spun-steel bullet, welded to a highly modified secton of original bumper guard, then chromed. The tip or lens is made of spun acrylic, fitted with a small light bulb inside. The dagmar bumper guards were first used in the early-50's Cadillacs. The name "dagmar" supposedly comes from the big breasts of actress Jennie Lewis, who played Dagmar in a TV series Broadway Open House, in the early 50's. |
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| Above: These are the fender skirts that I made with the
English wheel and a shrinker tool. Fits like a glove! It almost
got the best of me before I got the handle of it. These were the first
parts that I made with the English wheel, and also the last so far. I
can't say I know how to make that piece of machinery work my way. I'm still puzzled how I
managed to make these skirts. Anyway, the original fender
skirts were too rectangular to my taste. |
 It looks like this without the skirt. You decide which one looks better. |