1958 Coupe DeVille all original

[fishchipper]

Hello all.  This is my first post and first experience as a classic car owner.  I’ve got a ton of questions and have been lurking on the site for a few weeks before I posted reading a lot.  I’ve recently become the owner of an all-original 1958 Coupe Deville in Tahitian Coral.  The story of the car is pretty neat.

History of the car: 
The grandmother of a former client of mine originally purchased it from a dealer here in Houston in 1958.  She passed it down to her daughter, who gave it to her son.  Upon the son’s death, his wife moved back to France, and the car stayed back in the US.  The car has never been in an accident, is 100% all original including the paint, and was running.  (WAS is the operative word).  There is no rust on it anywhere, which is a huge relief.

How I got it:
It’s been sitting in a storage unit in Houston, TX un-driven for at least 20 years.  About five years ago, the former owner asked if I wanted to buy it, and I declined.  I think she wanted to sell it after that, but there were no takers.  Years passed, and shortly before Christmas I get an email from her saying she was serious about selling the car now because of storage costs, not living in the US anymore, etc. and asked if I wanted to buy it.  I declined again, but mentioned it was such a neat car and that I’d be happy to help her sell.  I just needed the mileage, make/model, etc.  The next email I received shocked me.  She knew I had kids, and said I could just have it, and wouldn’t that be a great Christmas present.  I’m not a lucky person, but I was thrilled and couldn’t believe it.  About 1.5 months of continued emails between Texas and France led to me holding the title in my hand.

Here she is after sitting in this storage unit for 20 years:


Engine plate:


Seeing the light of day for the first time in two decades:


Future owners getting their first look at her:


Condition of the car:
It “was” running.  It had 87K miles on it, and after sitting for so long, the piston rings were shot, and the manifold was cracked, so off it has gone for an engine re-build.  I say it was running because it started up fine, ran for about 2 days of some slow cruising around the neighborhood, and then it started smoking like chimney.  Other than that, everything is working.  Power seats, windows, radio, etc.  All great.  The paint is the only thing that I really am torn over.  The bulk of the paint is fine.  It’s oxidized from sitting without a wash/wax for so long, but fine.  There is some crazing and a few dings where the paint has peeled off.  The tires look fine, but are likely old and I know they have not been used in years.  The interior’s only real blemish appears to be a small hold in the rear seat where someone in the past likely dropped a cigarette. 

Engine rebuilding process:





Back from the machine shop:





Questions for the experts:
1.   To re-paint or not:  I really like that the car is almost all fine, but those unpainted spots and crazing have me a bit concerned.  What does the brain trust think about fixing those spots, or re-painting the car, or even just those spots?

2.   Obviously there are no seat belts.  I’m trying to decide whether to add them or not.

3.   Tires:  I’ve read about all the different brands, so should I pull the trigger and get new ones now or see how the others are on the road.  Old/unused tires concern me, so I’m thinking this is a no-brainer.

4.   Deck/shelf/whatever you call it behind the rear seats:  That fabric is stained from the sun/age/who knows what else and I’m unsure if it can be cleaned or needs to be replaced.  Any guidance from those who have done that would be great. 

I’ll post more pics as the re-build on the engine comes back together.

[Walter Youshock]

Congratulations!   Great story.  First,  join the CLC.  It's worth the cost of dues.

Do not paint the car.  It is original lacquer.  The spots can be fixed.  Enjoy it for now and read up on bringing old paint back to life.  There Was a thread on just what you are describing on the board not to long ago.  That paint can be given new life.

Best of luck!  Hope to see this parked next to my '57 at a grand national someday!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Chip,

Again, a great story, and I wish you the best in your future life as a car lover.

BUT, first thing to do is get rid of the old tyres, no matter how good they look, as they will cause you problems in the not-too-distant future.   Go for Radials.   Then a wheel alignment.

The next thing is to replace all the brake fluid, and look at the wheel cylinder rubbers and M/C rubbers.   Now you are getting it to go by doing up the engine, you need to know that it will stop.

As for Seat Belts, you need to be very careful in the way you go about fitting these safety items, as these cars were not built for seat belts, and it is not a simple case of drill a few holes and bolt in.

Getting the car for free is going to be the easy part.   Getting it back on the road safely, and getting all those non-used parts back to correct working condition will take money, and time, as you found out with the engine.

Bruce.

[Walter Youshock]

The original front seat belts were lap style.  No shoulder belts back then.  They were attached to the seat frame with crimped cables.  About all they did was make sure when the seat flew out of the car, you went with it.

[Ken Perry]

Nice Caddy,Love the color,one of the best in 58. Nice to know it went to a good home. Keep us posted ! Ken Perry

[Chuck Swanson]

Nice car and congrats.  I agree with most of above, especially leaving the original paint.  However, I would go with BIAS ply tires unless it's a daily driver as they look much more original (especially if leaving orig paint).    
https://www.cokertire.com/

[gary griffin]

Great story and great car. What a legacy for you and your sons.

I will echo some of the earlier comments. They are all on the spot correct, and I will also sugest a little more.

Join the CLC and join your local chapter, the support and comradeship you find will be great.

Tires, your current tires are what I call rollers, O K to move around in the shop or garage but unsafe to drive on. There are radials that have the look of the bias ply tires, try Diamondback for example.

I suggest you purchase an "Authenticity Manual" from the club and try to keep everything as authentic as possible as you proceed. My exceptions would be Radial tires and do a little research about seat belts. There are after market belts that will make your car safer and color matching is no problem. Front shoulder harness will not work without a B pillar.

I suggest replacing all of the rubber components in the brake system, including rebuilding master and wheel cylinders. If they fail you have a 2 1/2 ton battering ram on your hands and the old
rubber is not reliable. As I recall Houston has a lot of humidity. Every time you use brakes you introduce new air into the braking system and it contains moisture that corrodes you brake system so renewing the brakes and bleeding them every couple of years will be important.

Focus on safety and reliability before worrying too much about cosmetics.  The paint wont matter to much if you are driving along and have a tire blow out or a brake hose fail.

Leave the paint original, and get a good qualified painter to touch up the minor scratches.

Drive it!! Enjoy it!!  Take your family out in it. You seem to want to have your sons involved which is great for all of the family. What a legacy you are beginning.

[Walter Youshock]

Document EVERY THING.  Take photos.  With a known, untouched car, you will find factory markings and things.  These are invaluable.  Photo before cleaning anything.  Save every part, even if it's broken.  I'd like to have seen that engine before it was taken out for the rebuild.

[Andrew Trout]

You've got a great car for 'preservation' as opposed to 'restoration'.

My gut reaction is to do as much as you can while doing as little as you can. Try to keep things as original as possible. I'd clean the dirt, dust and great off the firewall and the inside of your engine bay, but go slow and gently. For your car, being original trumps looking brand new.

[savemy67]

Hi Chip,

What a lovely car!  How it came into your possession is also a great story.  There are "barn finds" and then there are hidden treasures.

As they say, a car is only original once.  I agree with others that preservation should be given strong consideration.  Based on how you want to drive the car, you may alter it with such things as seat belts, radial tires, etc.  I agree with Gary that fuel and brake systems should be thoroughly reconditioned given the age of the car and its lack of use (I disagree with Gary that, " Every time you use brakes you introduce new air into the braking system" - hydraulic systems are design to be closed.  You should not have to renew/bleed brakes every couple of years provided the system is reconditioned and kept closed thereafter).

Are your boys excited?  Do they show an interest in the car?  Are they mechanically inclined?  How soon before your oldest is eligible to get his driver's license?  (Probably too soon.)  Your original post stated you do not consider yourself a lucky person.   I would contend the opposite.  I hope your good fortune continues with the car and your family.

Christopher Winter

[fishchipper]

Thanks for all the replies.  I already joined CLC (actually not official since I haven't received my member number yet and the website says it takes a few business days).  Back in 2010, when the prior owner wanted to sell it, she put several thousand $$ into fixing it up to make it run, but put it right back in storage after that. 

Brakes:
backing plates were cleaned, all brake shoes replaced, R&R all wheel cylinders/hoses/master cylinder assembly, and then all re-greased.

Fuel System:
original fuel tank had to be replaced.  That's the only non-original major part on the car.  With that came all new fuel hoses, etc.

I'd rather not repaint, so I'm assuming a good paint shop can match the missing dings and then polish polish polish, and then probably polish some more.  I agree on the tires.  I looked at the coker radials that look like bias ply tires, and am leaning toward those.  Not cheap, but I've seen some bad things with bad tires.  The spare tire/wheel is missing, so I'm assuming that authenticity manual will help with tracking down the right size.  I'll continue to put up some other pictures as we move along a little further.  I need to get some floor mats to protect the original carpet, and some other minor things too, but much of it is cosmetic.

I'm trying to track down some information on the local chapter in Houston, Texas, but the gulf coast CLC website is not working, so I'm wondering if the local chapter is not active.

[Belgium1958owner]

Hi,
Great gift, lovely model year !
I also have a 1958.

For tyres, excellent rapport quality/price are American Classics, radials, 235/75 R15, white wall.

Nice engine restoration.
For leather care, I use very good product from ... France :-)
www.alta-cuir.fr

An original paint in good condition is a treasure. Yes, you could fix the little spots.
Do you have the matching interior ?

Good luck with this masterpiece :-)

[fishchipper]

The interior is all fine with one exception.  The rear dash/deck/shelf/whatever you call it behind the back seats is stained pretty badly.  I'm assuming it had a leak at one point or something, but then someone decided to try and clean it.  It appears that it could be cleaned, but does anyone know what this woven material is and what to use to clean it?  Pics attached to see the nasty stain.

Dark stain vs. cleaned section:



My photos of the interior are not great, but I snapped one of the carpet to show it is still in good shape.  Just need some plastic mats or something to cover/protect it.

[Walter Youshock]

It is a woven straw that is painted or dyed to match the interior.  If yours is not torn, you can basically repaint it in the car.  Replacing it would require removing the rear seat and belt line trim and that's just the beginning.   At least it's black and not some one-year odd color.

You do not want to polish, polish, polish lacquer.  Every time you do, you'll remove more and more color until you're down to the prim er.

[57eldoking]

Fantastic story and looks like it's now with a well qualified owner! Good luck with it, look forward to seeing more pictures in the future.

[Jon S]

Nice find/Great story.  1958's are my favorite year!  Good luck with it!

[936CD69]

Nice car, and Welcome to the CLC! The post that Walter was referring to RE: preserving the original finish contained a you.tube link about how to use Meguiar's no 7 polish to renew the original finish. Unfortunately that post has been deleted. You may be able to find the video by searching you tube. Basically it involved applying a very heavy coat of the polish and allowing it to remain on the paint for at least 24 hours. There were some amazing examples of the results of this procedure. The deleted post showed before and after on a 59 100% original coupe. Hopefully you or someone here can find the video procedure and post the link here.

HTH,

Craig

[Jon S]

Nice car, and Welcome to the CLC! The post that Walter was referring to RE: preserving the original finish contained a you.tube link about how to use Meguiar's no 7 polish to renew the original finish. Unfortunately that post has been deleted. You may be able to find the video by searching you tube. Basically it involved applying a very heavy coat of the polish and allowing it to remain on the paint for at least 24 hours. There were some amazing examples of the results of this procedure. The deleted post showed before and after on a 59 100% original coupe. Hopefully you or someone here can find the video procedure and post the link here.

HTH,

Craig

I've never heard of leaving polish on paint for 24 hours!  In the old days, the Dupont No 7 was hard enough to wipe off after 5 minutes.  Rather, I would recommend 3M hand glaze followed by a coat of McGuire's Ultimate paste wax.  Both are fantastic on lacquer.

[DeVille68]

Nice car! Only original once! 
Keep us updated.

Best regards,
Nicolas

[fishchipper]

The engine re-build is coming along....slowly.  I'm not thrilled with the engine paint color as it looks more royal blue than the dark blue.  The shop used a dupli-color paint and I read on here and saw the thread on the bill hirsch cadillac blue paint, which looks much better.  Does the brain trust here have any thoughts on painting over the color that is on the engine with the bill hirsch paint?  Any fear of some chemical reaction between two different paints that might make the paint on top peel off? 

I'd rather have my color be off a bit than have it peel and look crappy.  Here are the current photos:






I may ask with a new thread in the technical authenticity section too since that's where the original thread was re paint, but figured it would not be bad to have over here too.  Looking forward to reading your thoughts.