1939 Packard 120 Opera Coupe - Reality Sets In
January 27, 2002
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| After emptying years of trash from the interior and trunk, I pressure-washed the car to remove a heavy coating of old primer dust - the car had been stored in a maintenance and paint shed - there is some surface rust coming through the primer, and the rear corner that was hidden has some minor damage. The trunk and interior floors have been repaired and look pretty good. |
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The next thing out was the
upholstery, double-wrapped in plastic bags for years. The first
piece was the bottom of the front seat - I had checked it before I bought
it, and found it to be in perfect shape. Sadly, the rest of the
upholstery is not all in such good condition.
Two major problems have come up - rust on the driver's seat back, and discovery that the roll of 'matching' fabric to finish the interior is the wrong color and pattern - the only match here is that it is cloth. |
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So far, I am still happy with the project. Most of the problems I have come across are my own failure to inspect components thoroughly before taking the plunge. Never take ANYONE'S word for condition or existence of parts. When I looked at the car, the interior was "all done and ready to install, with a roll of matching fabric for the headliner and door panels." The dash and window frames had "all been professionally reburled." There were "receipts for all the major work." As soon as I bought the car, the interior suddenly "might need to be restitched", and the window frame wood graining had been "done by an amateur". And of course, the interior could turn into a very expense surprise if I can't match the fabric.
The morale of the story? Look twice, trust no one but yourself, and buy once. However, as I said, I still think I made a decent buy. I am still confident that the engine and transmission were rebuilt as claimed, and I have the chrome all polished and sitting under my bed.