<VV> Alice's Restoration album updated

[William Hubbell]

As part of my preparation for the Hilton Head Island Concours, I finally got
motivated to finish my on-line album detailing the restoration of my 1964
4-door sedan, Alice.  This album was started several years ago and has
received over 3,000 views, but until last night it never went past the
initial paint job.  I completely re-did the album, starting with the first
photo I ever took of the car, followed by the engine rebuild (which was
actually done before I got Alice), then the trip to Lake Placid in the
unrestored car, before moving on in chronological order to show the
restoration process.  The new album has 236 photos, and includes restoration
of the engine, exterior (twice), interior floors, trunk, front suspension,
underbody, and several small parts.  There is also a sad tale told of a
quest unfulfilled the first year I owned the car, just to let you know that
I have never really "gotten over it".

 

This all occurred between 1997 and 2000, and I did not acquire a digital
camera until 2001, so all these photos had to be scanned in to make this
album.  To save time, I only scanned at 200 dpi, but the quality is good
enough to tell the story on the web.  Sadly, several large chucks of the
project are not documented (like, the entire interior, for instance).   This
is partly due to my being so busy actually working on the car that I didn't
always take photos, and partly due to the fact that, pre-digital, we used to
actually have to PAY for every photo taken!  Still, the bulk of the story is
there in photos, many of which are annotated with details of the project.
If you take the time to view the photos one by one you will be able to read
the annotations, but if you view the slide show, instead, you will miss out
on them.

 

I did make many mistakes with this restoration, and most  of the bigger ones
are noted.  Where there are no photos to tell the story, I sometimes filled
in the gaps with annotations, but truthfully there is a lot left out.
Completely restoring a car is a LOT of work, and even more so when you
decide halfway through to re-do it all and make it Factory Stock.

 

Anyway, here is the link to the album:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/549658850kXpBCs

 

I spent the last few weeks cleaning and prepping her for the HHI Concours.
She has a new reproduction Group 53 "tar-top" Delco battery with freshly
restored vented battery caps, replacing the ones destroyed last year.  The
engine compartment has been freshly detailed, and I have
cleaned/prepped/painted/buffed out all the minor imperfections of the last
10 years that I can.  She is ready and waiting.

 

 

Bill Hubbell