my 49 woodie hot rod

[mrtexas]

Hmm, I keep finding shortcuts in the restoration... I bought it supposedly restored. Car looked really good with great paint job and fabulous wood. Should have looked closer before buying but was dazzled by the appearance of it. Good thing I didn't fly out to California to drive the car back! And I though buying an original car was tricky! Hot rods are way trickier.

I have taken off the interior trim to woodgrain it. The latest is now that I've taken all the interior trim and rear hatch off I find that they are rusty where you can't see.

Biggest problem was the tricky steering which I knew about on the test drive. It drove squirelley on the test drive. Assumed it could be fixed easily but that was not the case. It was bump steer from faulty installation of the rack and pinion. Tried everything but ended up raising the rack and pinion up 2 inches where it belonged. Then I had to put new motor mounts to raise up the engine 2 inches. Then new steering column. Then new headers. Had to raise up the transmission cover...On and on.

Noticed the door hinges are welded to the body. Doors are very heavy.

Found the door handles were epoxied to the studs.

Found some sloppy fixes of rust under the car.

Found the dash was missing the clock mounting bracket. The clock was siliconed to the dash.

Vacuum wipers didn't work but I knew that ahead of time. Replaced with electrics.

No keys for the doors or hatch lid or glove box.

Found that the car couldn't be aligned properly. Has fatman front end which is quite low. Had little wheels in the front and bigs in the back. Had to order new springs that were lowered 2 inches and install littles on the back, happily the seller gave me another set of wheels and tires. After I lowered the back the car could be aligned properly.

The good news is the fixes I had to do were not expensive. But they were time consuming.

My conclusion from this experience is pay more for a better car and buy a hot rod built by someone who knows what they are doing!