• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

53Meteor

Chuck Ingram

Donation Time
Have made progress on my sons 53 Meteor. It's looking like a car again as all the doors, hood and trunk are back together. The gaps were terrible as they sure threw the cars together back then
It took a bit to get the gaps nice. Just a bit on the hood around the middle of the gaps on both sides.Ahair high which I will leave as the hood would need to be completely taken apart to correct due to the internal bracing etc.
Next is prep work and sanding. That should take awhile.

A peaceful Christmas to all
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
Chuck, I think we tend to apply today's standards to yesterdays cars. Yes, the cars were "thrown together". But the industry was not capable of producing thousands of perfect body panels per day. They were "good enough" and the assembly line guys did the best they could with what they had. The alternative was hand built bodies made from panels beaten into shape by highly skilled artisans, which very few could afford.

The more I look at the Alpine the more I realize how sloppy the body panels are and the skill the assembly people exhibited in making them fit. I think of the Alpine as hand assembled from mass produced parts. Today the assembly is by robots. Lots of luck doing that with Alpine parts!

Bill
 
Last edited:

Chuck Ingram

Donation Time
Chuck, I think we tend to apply today's standards to yesterdays cars. Yes, the cars were "thrown together". But the industry was not capable of producing thousands of perfect body panels per day. They were "good enough" and the assembly line guys did the best they could with what they had. The alternative was hand built bodies made from panels beaten into shape by hihgly skilled artisans, which very few could afford.

The more I look at the Alpine the more I realize how sloppy the body panels are and the skill the assembly people exhibited in making them fit. I think of the Alpine as hand assembled from mass produced parts. Today the assembly is by robots. Lots of luck doing that with Alpine parts!

Bill
I think you are absolutely right. I. Just want to do the best that I'm,capable of.
I'm pushing the envelope and evolving.In reality I'm enjoying this as I feel close to my son when working on his car. Would have been a lot cheaper to buy a decent one and paint it green and say here it is. Then it would not be HIS car.
 

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
I personally like very much the idea of the Father-Son relation.....

You and your Son will long remember that time spent together. I almost envy both of you.

My two are many miles away and there is little time together because of it!

However the time spent is worth it all.

The Grandsons are precious too!

DanR

P.S. Merry Christmas to all
 

Chuck Ingram

Donation Time
I personally like very much the idea of the Father-Son relation.....

You and your Son will long remember that time spent together. I almost envy both of you.

My two are many miles away and there is little time together because of it!

However the time spent is worth it all.

The Grandsons are precious too!

DanR

P.S. Merry Christmas to all

Dan
This is a tribute car that my granddaughters will have. We lost our son 9 years ago and this was his car
We have 7 granddaughters and 3 grandsons. A real blessing
 
Top