Bob and I got the pleasure of seeing and touching Miss Belvedere today. It's an incredible shame.
I got lucky I guess and the guy at Ultra One and we hit it off. We've been recruited to source for him and assist in the re-building. We'll be following it all the way to it's tours.
Joined: Thu Nov 24 2005, 07:29PM
Location: So Cal.
Posts: 1111
We need a "bow" smiley for you! "We're not worthy!"
How much of what we saw on the exterior was dirt vs. rust? From the pics, the chrome cleaned up ok but I'm sure it's pitted a lot more than we can tell from small pics. The interior is obviously shot as are the rear framerails and springs but what about the glass and body?
I am still split with what I think should be done with the car but whatever happens, it's a part of history. !thumb
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
It was a memorable experience..... I looked at the pics that we took of each other next to the car and neither of us were smiling.....
The glass is all etched from the acidic action of the water, lime in the concrete and the red clay that got in. The car is covered in what Dwight referred to as "concrete" from the mud reacting with those ingredients and hardening over the whole car. That's what is keeping his rust remover from just cleaning everything as it flows over the surfaces. When he chips it off, paint or much worse - metal comes off with it. This has left holes in the body (and in the Schlitz beer can on his desk) so he needs to go at it very delicately. The solution works by setting up a "kiddie pool" or plastic resevoir with a sump pump to constantly flood the area and recirculate it. The brochure says something like 30 years of rust can come off with 7 or so hours of soaking!
Besides the whole stupidity of the original council that buried the car, another sad thing is the ham-fisted damage done by the "TV crew" (you know who I'm talking about...) when they tried to open the hood, trunk and then broke a window to gain access to the interior.....better care here would have saved much work that is ahead...
Dwight has a good plan and a great product, and I think the car will survive in better shape that we all have predicted. All I can say is that after meeting Dwight and seeing what he has accomplished so far, Miss Belvedere is good hands.... !thumb
Joined: Sat Dec 10 2005, 04:28PM
Location: United States
Posts: 4954
Of coarse you're worthy! Don't even think like that. I just happen to be 12 miles from the car and own a Mopar site catering to 55 to 73, all bodies. He knew about the site already from a friend of his. I took the initative to contact him.
My mission, and I guess I didn't get that part across, was to tell you first hand the condition of the car. I just can't show you pictures yet. The ones we took today don't show much more than what you saw in the public sites. I have those duplicated here. http://www.moparfins.com/Miss_Belvedere/Miss_Belvedere.htm
But to answer your question. . . . It's pretty rough. Most of the red you see is that Okey Dokey Red clay. It migrated into the vault over the years. Ultra one said it was made worse because they didn't hose off the car immediately. That would have done wonders. He said, and I agree when playing with it, it's like letting cement dry in the wheel barrow after you dumped it. That stuff is tough!
What's left? That's not too good news either. Everything is thin. The roof has a couple of pin holes, the RR quarter is crumbling. The initial public picytures show it in tact, but there were obvious holes in the 1/4 today. The supports in the trunk lid are gone, but the trunk floor is in tact. The floors are still there, but I didn't poke at them. I was allowed to crawl under the back end and look at the frame. The rear springs are rotted away, fore and aft of the axle. The only thing keeping the rear in is the shocks. Even they had holes in them. Gas tank looks OK! It's allot worse from the doors back than forward. The interior is just like the pictures showed it. Front and back seats are gone, as all the upholstery. Door panels are still there!
We noticed odd things like the horns rotted through, valve covers had holes in them, Battery hold down was gone, but the batter looked brand new inside. The battery was never disconnected so the clock ran until the batter died. A few months atleast. Nothing turns, doors still don't open, hood is off the hinges, the trunk lid hinges on what is left of the inside supports.
We were invited to stay with the car through it's tear down stages. It needs a frame, I already located one for him. He's pretty sure he can get the engine going, we talked about the trans, needing parts. He will be determined to at least getting it to run and light up. The wiring looks OK. Of coarse the switches have had it.
It boils down to this. Once it's taken down, it will be determined how far it will go from there. But it will be going on tours globaly.
Just touching it sent a chill down my spine.
Over all? It's all in how much the owner is willing to spend.
Joined: Sat Dec 10 2005, 04:28PM
Location: United States
Posts: 4954
Bob and I were posting the same time.
I forgot to mention a point that Bob brought up. It wasn't the TV crew who did alot of damage, it was that moron Boyde Coddington. Many of you have seen comment on what a great guy he is before. NOT! He went down there totally unprepared. He was the one who should have told then to flood the car with clean water immediately. No. If he had done that, he may not have had to do the damage he did. As I said today, clean water used to wash it down, and even some soap, would have been better tha letting that clay dry on the car. Who knows. . . Maybe the doors would have opened. We'll never know now <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Jan 25 2008, 10:52AM ]</span>
Joined: Wed Jun 21 2006, 09:38PM
Location: OK
Posts: 899
This should have been treated as a maritime salvage operation, meaning the car should have been kept submerged in a tank of water, or at the minimum, kept WET as you described. The efforts of the Centennial Committee and the idiots they hired (that prick Boyd Coddington comes to mind!) really make getting that "concrete" off of that car. I did not know they had broken the driver's side window to gain access!
From the instant they saw water in the tank, the above should've happened. Hindsight is 20/20...
<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Jan 25 2008, 04:46PM ]</span>
Joined: Sat Dec 10 2005, 04:28PM
Location: United States
Posts: 4954
Yep I was told some Fins were there not too long ago. . .but they are not supposed to be posting pictures. OR! This is a new rule established by the propriotor of the car.
Oh well. . .that's what it looks like at a glance. We were under it