The paint is a little chipped up and thin here and there as it is original.  You could polish it up and it would be OK as a driver.  But the deeper I get into this, it almost demands new paint.

For many vintage and antique vehicles, faded, chipped, but overall good original paint is worth more than new paint.  From that perspective, if the dollar value of the car is important to you, you may not want to touch the paint.



Lawrenceville, GA

I guess the dilemma I face is do I do just enough to make it a driver while maintaining its original condition or go full out and restore it to as new condition as possible while keeping it stock?  When I bought it, this question was still in the air. My initial plan is to clean it up, ascertain its condition, both aesthetic and mechanical and then decide which way to go.  While I am still early in this process, given what I've seen so far, it seems just too good a candidate to not bring it back to its former glory. With 140,000 miles, I will be pulling the engine and tranny for overhaul, no doubt about it.  If I do that, it would be the perfect time to clean up the underside and dress up the engine compartment.  And if I do that, why not paint it?  What do you folks think?

For me original paint is nice if there is no more than a few small blemishes otherwise a good paint job is the way to go. The problem is getting a good paint job done. The original paint from the factory would have been no more than about 200 microns total from surface to steel, but these days they plaster it on so thick it does not look correct as you loose the sharpness of the panel shapes and it also makes it weak and vulnerable to cracking. Unless you know how to do it well yourself getting a good job will be expensive, and a rare find like your's deserves to be done wright.
Many will talk the talk, but few can walk the walk.

The frustration I've experiences is setting out to fix one area that needs attention and upon getting it appropriately fixed, finding that an adjacent area that seemed perfectly 'okay' now looks dingy next to the restored section.      I've had this situation bite me particularly on interior upholstery.  'The door panels looked GooD, until I redid the seats.'  OUCH! 
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Charlie's point is a good one, too.  Vehicles that are truly original, are often more appreciated or even more valued by an enthusiast than those that are total body-off restorations.  All of us know that paint can hide a lot of former 'issues'.
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While it's nice to see an unbelievably straight car body, today we know that it likely means that the entire body skin was skim coated with plastic body filler and then blocked smooth (more true and straight) than anything that ever came off a manufacturer's production line.
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In some ways, Jim, with the quality of the car you're starting with, you've got decisions to make going forward that I will never even have to think about because you've got something that is sound to begin with.

Thought.  Consider taking LOTS of picture of whatever things you decide to re-do to show how good they were BEFORE you chose to refurbish it.  You're not bringing back a rust-bucket.  If you strip an area to repaint it, get pictures of the bare metal body sections before you start any re-painting.

Best wishes going forward.  Enjoy!  


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

I have a 1957 Ford Retractable Hardtop shop manual that I got with some other manuals at a flea market,non't need it so if you can use it send me your address and I will mail it to you  Carl

Thanks for the offer Carl, but I've already got one and boy am I going to need it.

OK,The offer is good for anyone else in need of the manual

Thanks so much for all the feedback.  You guys have got me re-thinking this project.  Normally I would just jump in and start tearing her down, getting ready for paint and body work.  However, I'm hitting the reset button and may modify that plan.  Maybe focus on mechanical - engine and tranny and at that time deal with prettying up the underside and engine compartment and the interior which requires a complete replacement.  Money-wise, that should take care of any "disposable income" I might have.  Then as far as the exterior goes, detail it as much as possible, warts and all.  After all, a paint job could always be done later.  A sound body like this opens a number of options.

Jim: Welcome to the site.. Just a couple of thoughts on your engine overhaul. A Skyliner is a heavy vehicle, so the 292 is working hard.  So, you might  want to consider some performance upgrades, hidden or otherwise. There are good people on this site that can steer you in the right directions, and we have the benefit of downright experts here..  By the way, I also have a 57 Ford & am living just South of Vancouver B.C. & always willing to talk Y-Blocks.. Good luck with your project.      


Paul