C1 trunk restore

[Chris H.]

I am looking at my trunk on my '62 and wondering where to start. I need to replace the rear harness and now is the time to restore. The mat is in nice shape and I am cleaning it up. The cardboard is not bad but a bit misshapen and I will probably need to replace. The entire trunk also needs paint.

the JGM says to "check for over restoration of paint". What exactly does this mean? Were there areas that were missed with paint? Lots of overspray? thin coverage?

Before painting how much prep work is needed? total sanding or stripping? Also would it be recommended to use urethane or enamel instead of laquer?

thanks for any input

chris

[Dennis C.]

Short story on paint: Use Lacquer for sure... *NM*

[Rob M.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

Chris,

The trunk wasn't painted very nicely and poorly sanded. In my 59 trunk were lots of bubbles in the paint (on the back of the trunk-lid).

greetings,
Rob.

[Christopher R.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

1. When you do the rear harness, consider adding an additional ground wire from the gas gauge sender to the frame.

When you yank the old harness out, tie a traveller string or wire to the front of old one. Yank it out from the gas tank compartment, and the string will follow the front of the old one through the passenger compartment. Then you can use the traveller to install the new one. Saves you from taking out some interior parts.

2. If you buy new cardboard/trunk divider, it'll have to be painted anyway. If you're painting in there anyway, you can touch up the paint while you have it out. Might save you from buying new cardboard.

3. A repro mat is expensive. Don't know how they judge. If you have an original one, you'd be better off if you can clean it. You can clean the mat with Simple Green or something like that. There's some numbers stamped on the back you do not want to clean off. While you're cleaning it and throwing it around, be careful to guard against it tearing at the 90 degree sharp corners. Old rubber may not be as supple as it used to be. Don't ask how I know this.

[Clare Carpenter]

Re: C1 trunk restore

Has the car ever been painted? If the paint in the truck is the original acrylic lacquer this is what I would do. Wash it out with a good non automotive detergent. Wipe it down with a cleaner solvent like Prepsol. Then lightly color sand the entire truck. You may have to scrape some spots to remove adhesives, etc. Once you've got it properly prepped, sanded and wiped clean you can spot prime any bare spots, as needed, with the correct lacquer primer. Lightly sand the freshly primed spots and again thoroughly wipe down and clean all surfaces with Prepsol, or the equivalent. You are now ready to apply a light finish color coat and you should be good to go. Don't over do it on the prep. You just want to have a clean, lightly sanded surface for the fresh lacquer to bite into. Careful masking and proper application will make a difference in original looking results.

The original finish in my trunk had good coverage on all painted surfaces but you could see there was little to no prep, or finish work done by the factory on the virgin fiberglass surfaces. It was basically just a "shoot it and go" type of job. The lacquer finish is not polished in the trunk, or on the underside of the truck lid, so it has kind of a flat appearance with some shine but very little.

The problem with enamels or urethanes is that they go on too shiney and look thicker than lacquer. If you mess with changing the paint type you'll need to strip and seal all surfaces prior to painting.

[Chris H.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

Thanks Chris. My mat is in real nice shape and I am cleaning it already with simple green. The hardest part is removing the little bits of white rubber stuck on it from the rug I threw on it 14 years ago to protect it!!!! Should I spray it with some kind of vinyl protectant?

Thanks for the heads up on the stamp on the back. I barely see just a little bit of it left. Very faint and it is in 3 places that I can see. It looks like 18. Does this sound right? Is there a tested process for putting it back on? Dose anybody have a stamp for it?

chris

[Chris H.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

Looks like I need to buy a can of lacquer. thanks for the tips. Was not planning on doing the underside of the lid but maybe I will.

Chris

[Christopher R.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

I don't have any good experiences with vinyl protectorants. The usual one, Armor-all, leaves the surface too shiney and greasey feeling. I bought some 3M stuff once for vinyl thinking that if it's 3M it must be good. It too was too shiney and greasey feeling.

There's some stuff that I believe Meguiars makes for tires that is not too shiney. I've used it on the recommendation of John Hinckley. Looks natural on tires. Don't know how it'd look on vinyl trunk mats. I forget the name of the product. If I were to use something, I'd try that.

There was a discussion here in the last couple days on using dielectric grease on weatherstripping. GM sells a tube of this stuff for this purpose. Don't know how it's look and feel. But it is a grease. Maybe you could use just a little and rub it in well.

Silicone? That might also be too shiney and slippery. I think the main ingredient in Armor-all is silicone. Silicone is also not a good thing to have around surfaces that might need paint someday.

[Donald B.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

I purchased some 303 Protectant. According to some of the "authorities" on this board, it is better than Armour-all. I've used it a couple of times on the tires and have no complaints. I purchased it from Summit Racing Equipment - www.summitracing.com

[John H.]

Re: C1 trunk restore

The stuff that keeps tires looking "natural" as opposed to the other million products that make them look "wet and glossy" is Meguiar's "Endurance" low-gloss tire protectant. Follow the directions.