When I posted about several maintenance items I was doing on my '57 wagon, Chevynut said "At least your "might as wells" didn't result in a frame-off." Well...that is because I already have another one under way on my wife's '56.

I decided to start a build thread. I have been working on my wife's car for a while. I was working a job until I retired the end of last year. Now I have more time to work on it and hope to finish it soon. I took pictures and made notes on progress so far. I thought I would share what led to this and what I have done.

My wife bought a ’56 convertible from a friend of ours on 1981. He had the car for a few years. He bought it without engine or transmission. Since it was originally 6 cylinder and power glide that’s what he put in it. It was never restored, but it did get a new paint job, new custom interior and a new top in about 1978. Everything else was original 1956 parts. Every spring I have to work on it to make sure everything is in working order for the summer cruise season.

One thing that needed fixing was that the radio quit working. You can’t cruise in a convertible without oldies music. Radios last us about 10 or 15 years. In the past I would go to the big box store or an auto supply and buy a new one with a knob on each side and the dial in the middle. With a homemade bracket I designed I could make it work in the dash. Now you can’t locally find universal radios with the two knobs. There are radios available on line that will fit the dash without modification, but for the same price I can buy a radio that has all the modern features we like in our new cars.

I didn’t want to cut the dash so I decided to build me a console to mount a new radio. It is hard to mount stereo speakers in a convertible, so I could mount a couple of speakers in the console too. Plus it would be nice to have cup holders.

I started to fabricate a pattern for a console. I did some planning, made a cardboard pattern that I liked. Then I made both sides from plywood, connected the sides with 1x2s. But for some reason it wouldn’t sit level. Then I realized that the problem was that the carpet pad for the 40 year old carpet was deteriorating. So I took out the seats and pulled up the carpet. I thought maybe I should just buy new carpet and new padding. The carpet was getting pretty faded. But if I buy new carpet it would look out of place with our 40 year old interior. So I guess we should plan on getting new interior.

The top was looking old and tired. Some of the stitching was coming lose. Maybe I should just get a new top while it is in the upholstery shop. But the old lacquer paint is showing its age and will need redone someday. If I get a new top then it would be hard to protect it during paint and body work. Maybe I should just paint it now.

So that is how a new radio turned into a frame of restoration.

The Before Picture

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To be continued.