Paul starting body off restoration of a 59 Skyliner

[December15,58]

I got motivated to share my adventure when I saw Don's car from Middletown, Ohio. I purchased my car in northern Illinois just this past February. Carb rebuild, fresh plugs, plug wires, oil change, new fuel pump, starter rebuild, and alternator conversion done. Car runs fine. Top works both ways most of the time with a little help. Started full body off restoration on March 25th, 2017.

[Dave Owens]

Looks like a nice car to start with. Good luck on your restoration. Patty and I spent many a night and weekend together working on ours.

Here is what ours looked like morning and evening Day 1 years back.

[December15,58]

Dave, That was an incredible amount of work to do. Am I understanding you correctly that you did all of that on only one day? I am currently working on fabricating door bracing so the body won't fold in half like a taco when I eventually lift it off the frame. I will post a couple of pictures of my progress in a few days to share.

[Dave Owens]

Do any needed sheet metal replacement before lifting body off frame. Here is a picture of how I braced and lifted. Body balances about perfect. Measure distance between rear seat panel and windshield header. Will be needed to assure distance is correct when remounting body to frame and shimming.

[Dave Owens]

Here is another view of lifting from when I set the body back on a year and 9 months later.

[Mateusoned]

Nice ride Dave! Stay motivated! I will surely follow up this topic to see your progress :)! Good luck

[Dave Owens]

Might not have been clear but Patty and I did finish our car. Made Showcase in 2014.

[December15,58]

Dave, that’s one beautiful two tone paint job. Car looks factory new.

Here is the latest progress on my restoration: 1st picture shows the passenger side door brace installed. With the doors closed, and door gaps adjusted with a wood wedge, along with the top in place, I took a measurement from the top rear side of the door jamb to a fixed point on the windshield (a joint in the windshield trim). I used a length of 3/4" pipe, along with a coupling, to wedge across the door opening. You can see this in picture 2. I cranked on the coupling until I achieved my predetermined fixed measurement, and then installed the 2" x 2" horizontal brace along with the 45 degree brace. The entire set up is bolted on, no welding necessary. The plan is to operate the top with the doors off and both sets of braces in place, to verify that the windshield screws line up as they should. This way I can eventually take the roof off and continue on the restoration. I will need to replace the rocker panels along with new floor pans.