I made a deal with the customer...I would provide the equipment for a day and he would pay for the materials. He accepted, and the deal was done. I guess it was meant to be. The car is a '56, I was born in '56 and I was 56 years old when I got the car.
Here's the background on the Stude. It's a one owner car purchased new by his father in law. Twenty some years ago, the car was involved in an accident. The FIL never liked the color, so he had it repainted the tan/cream color it is now. That same year the FIL died. One of the relatives ended up with the car and had it reupholstered to match the exterior but never drove it or had the title changed. Somehow the car ended up at my customers house about twenty years ago. He doesn't recall why it ended up at his place but does remember that it was driven there. At some point in time he had tried to move the car into the garage but couldn't get it to roll in neutral so he pulled the driveshaft and threw it in the trunk. It still wouldn't roll, so he covered it up. He figured that the trans was toast.
Looking it over after we got it home, I noticed that the parking brake handle wasn't working right. After checking it out I noticed that the parking brake pads and drum had become one. No wonder it wouldn't roll! Removing the rear drums requires a puller since the axle is keyed. While I waited for the puller to arrive in the mail, we started cleaning her up a bit. A squirrel had gotten into the trunk through the spare tire well drain hole and made a mess. The varmint also chewed a small hole in the corner of the back seat to get into the interior.
There were also dirt dauber and hornet nests everywhere.
While I was at work my wife got to work cleaning out the interior.
Our youngest approves of our families new ride.
