1957 DeSoto Fireflite Stationwagon

Many small items are already painted and ready for re-assembly.

After bodywork, the car is primed in high-build primer for blocksanding and perfecting of the surface of the body panels.

The firewall is masked so that the high build primer is not applied.  There wasn't anything wrong with it,  so it doesn't need extensive sanding and can go straight to finish primer.

This straight edge shows the depth of the crease at the lower front edge of the passenger front door.

After using a stud gun puller, the depth of the damage has been considerably diminished

After grinding the area, only a small "skim coat" of filler will be necessary to finish off the bodywork.

New patch fabricated

Tacked in.

Finish welded and ground.

After pulling most of the crease out of the corner, the final finish was achieved with the use of lead;  a much superior filler in an area like this that involves an edge.  In the event the edge was bumped, "bondo" would potentially break away.

The filler panel on the front fender was rusted out.  We fabricated and installed a new patch.

Rust area removed on the front fender.

There was very little heavy damage to the sheetmetal, but the passenger doors and the leading edge of the right rear quarter did experience a crease at one time.

Difficult to see here, but the heavy surface rust that was evident behind the rear wheels was in fact rusted through.

Since the engine was already rebuilt, we merely had to clean off the rattle-can silver paint and give the engine a proper preparation for a more durable urethane paint job in the correct silver color.

After documentation and disassembly, the body sheetmetal and the front frame will be media blasted to bare metal.

Back from the blasting process, we can now get started on getting it back together!

Long gone are the days when you could sit unbuckled in a seat that was facing backwards at the back of the car!

The original upholstery will provide excellent patterns to authentically create a new interior.

The warped dash pad is in typical shape for it's age.  Thankfully, there are vendors that are recreating excellent reproductions.

Early documentation of the pre-restoration condition of the car includes a general "walk-around" of the car as it entered the shop.

The signature tower tail lights clearly identify this as a DeSoto!

Oh - and the tailgate says "DESOTO" in big block letters, too.