Ruthy has been getting a lot of attention lately with family being in town for the holidays, and she is loving it! Last weekend, we had another family day at the shop as Tim’s mom and stepdad were in town and ready to do some work on Grandma’s car.

The plan for the day was to continue with disassembly and start on floorpan repairs. Julie and Chris removed both of the front fenders and running boards. A couple screws gave us trouble, but nothing that can’t be ground out.

Sorting bolts and labeling them

Gail removed upper and lower inner wheel wells and ground the rust off of them with an angle grinder.

There was some rust in the floorpans, which needed to be cut out and patched with new steel. Since this car is a 1939, there’s not a lot of available reproduction panels, or parts in general, so we will be fabricating new floor sections.

Rex cutting rusted parts out of the floorpan

Gail and Ethan worked on washing out the wheel wells and applied POR on them. POR-15 is a rust prevention paint that protects against any exposure to moisture. It makes the parts look a lot neater and works great at preventing rust from coming back. It’s very messy though, and if you get it on your skin, it’ll be there for a couple days. Definitely must wear gloves!

Gail and Ethan washing out the wheel wells

Painting POR on the wheel wells

Once they’re all painted, they are protected from rust by the POR coating, and look shiny and new again.

The wheel wells with a fresh coat of POR

Ethan is the best at picking up and cleaning. Really. I don’t know how Julie and Chris did it, but this boy loves a tidy house/shop. He made sure to sweep up the floors, and even cleaned up the office a bit!

Of course it wasn’t all work and no play. Here is Chris on Ethan’s pocket rocket. Tim got his nephew this little motorcycle when he was only a few months old. Since then it’s gotten a new paint job and taken a few spins around the parking lot. Ethan says this is the year he’s going to be ready to ride it. But for now, the big boys get to enjoy it…

Ruthy is Tim’s grandmother’s car that we are restoring as a family project. She’s a 1939 Chrysler Royal that’s been in storage for about 60 years. It’s going to be a slow process of restoring Ruthy. The days where everyone gets together to work on it help a lot. It’s great seeing the progress that’s made!

Here is what she looks like after Day 2!

More updates on Ruthy’s Resto to come!

See our Auto Restorations page for more information on TD Customs’ restorations services, and feel free to contact us to discuss your project!