49 Chevy 5 window truck went to Hawaii.

Lowell had us install the Continental front seats a bit earlier; he had installed the steering column from the same Continental. Note the instrument cluster is missing.

The first step is to strip the car to find all the issues that were hidden. The old enamel comes off pretty easily with 80 grit and a DA.

We planned to leave as much of the chrome on as possible. Most of the bright work is bolted from the back side and required a great deal of disassembly from the inside.

With some of the rust issues we decide it was best to pull the doors to get them out of the way. They also needed some work on the bottoms which made that work easier.

The rockers on both sides were gone. These are covered by a chrome strip and usually we see them with screws through them because the clips had rusted out. The back of the rocker was solid and usable.

A closer look at what is left of the rear part of the rocker before the repair is started. This is very common on the 50’s cars.

The repair panel on these units is a simple flat sheet with only a very slight bow. Lots of welding and fitting to get a good fit.

The rocker fitted and welded in place. A little more grinding on the bottom and were ready for the final steps.

The rear part of the rocker has a fender curve in it and this also had to be replaced on both sides.

The rust in the rear pan looks small but as most, proved to be 10 times the size.

The repair in the rear pan is complete. Lots of work on this rear pan; it was banged up pretty good.

The fender skirts proved to be a challenge. The rust on the edge is always tough because there is very little room for repair work. Chrome goes on the skirts as well and making sure there is a good fit takes time.

Here is a look at the floor prior to fitting the seat. We attempted to save the floor heaters but could not get the seat low enough and removed them.

All components are pulled from the dash and it’s stripped. We painted the dash first.

Once all the rust work is finished we started pulling dents and there were plenty of them!

All the doors were stripped and worked on off the car.

Here one of the doors is primed and ready for blocking prior to reinstalling.  Initially we had not planned on this complete a job, but with the rust work it was necessary.

A rear door fully disassembled and ready for primer.

There was not a single panel on the car that did not need some work. Here is the rear quarter just about ready for primer.

The roof proved to have it’s challengers with dents from over the years. Note the work over the driver’s door area. Usually from people leaning on it or setting things on it over the years.

A fully painted and assembled dash. All the bright work was polished including the center radio grill. The center wood grain is an appliqué that Lowell was able to provide.

The roof is painted a dark blue just as they were in 49.

Here is Lowell with his freshly finished two tone blue Caddy. He drove it home from here and then had Deik at Elite Trim complete the interior.