Owners of various Alameda Down On The Street honorees sometimes contact us to let us know how their cars and trucks are doing. Lately, we've heard from a couple who have really spiffed up their rides.
There's this rough-looking V8-powered '63 Falcon, which has undergone a full two-year restoration since we last saw it.
The car's proud owner sent us a few "after" photos.
My name is Vanina, I emailed you back in January 2009 about this article you wrote on this 63 Ford Falcon, commenting that I in December of the year you wrote the article I had purchased that car. Well, almost two years later the car is almost fully restored with minor interior details to finish up. I am sending you some pictures of the transformation and final work. I was wondering if you were interested in writing a success story! On this re-energized Beast as I call her.
Then, as a contrast to that heartwarming tale, there's the not-quite-as-heartwarming tale of this mean-looking white-primer '77 Corvette, which seems to be getting meaner as the months go by. First it got some random blue rattle-can decoration, then...
...this seriously evil $5.99 paint job. We should probably disapprove, but the purist-offending appearance of this machine pleases us.
Not all mean-looking Detroit cars remain locked in a paint-job downward spiral, however; this '65 Barracuda, which had enraged neighbors plastering it with yer-gonna-git-towed red tags two years back, now looks pretty nice.
The proud owner says:
I repainted it to be about richard petty blue. In the trunk it had two half quarts of blue paint, different shades as you might imagine. They were enamel. I mixed them both with a pint of rustolium gloss white, thinned it with equal part mineral sprits and applyed it with a 4 inch roller. before i did this I stripped the whole car down to the sheet metal and rolled on about 8 coats of white prime. its far from perfect, but it looks alot better than it did. The 225 slant 6 runs sooo smooth, but it needed a new radiator and starter. when warm, it turns over in about a quarter second. the 3 on the tree needs a bit of work, as i get a bit of a grind in 1st and 2nd, but 3rd is very smooth.
Sometimes a new coat of paint just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. This battered '86 Ford Mustang LX had a real survivor look to it in its original faded paint.
But then it appears that Earl Scheib, or someone like him, hosed it down with a thick coat of blue paint, dents and all. It looks pretty good from 150 feet, though!