The Girl Has Issues

Hello again. As we mentioned in the previous post, Bessie needs some work. So we thought we'd give you an overview of the issues, at least the ones we know of so far. First, some general pictures.

It's worth mentioning, that the previous owner had already begun to restore her. She had been partly dismantled (seats, front bumper, side panels and some smaller pieces). The driver side quarter panel, driver side floor, driver side rocker panel and also the driver side lower rear window corner had already been restored. So the driver side is for the most part done. In addition, they had begun to overhaul the brakes.

Restored driver side quarter panel

There is some sheet metal work to be done. The biggest issues are rocker panels, front floors, lower rear window corners and a few smaller places need attention too. Then there is an issue with the brakes. They don't work. The transmission is a bit of a question mark. She was driven for a few hundred meters when she was first brought to Finland in 2007 but she hasn't been driven since. So we have to keep our fingers crossed!

Lower rear window corner

Front floor

The chroming on her is in a rather poor state so something will have to be done about that. Her interior needs some work done too. The seats are in a really bad shape and need to be completely redone. The headliner and the side panels on the other hand are in a rather good shape. These are all the issues that we know of at the moment. And it's almost certain that more issues will come up as we continue to dismantle her...

Pitting on driver side tail light frame

Our older son helping out and a view of the interior

Introducing Bessie

Welcome to our blog! As you might have guessed, it's about restoring a car. This blog will follow the project as it happens. The trials and errors, the successes and the failures. We won't be aiming at a show-quality restoration or try to keep it completely authentic. All we want at the end is a nice family car to drive to cruisings and other events during the summer. We hope, that this blog might be of help to someone doing a similar project or at least be an interesting read.

We had talked about getting a "project car" for quite some time, about ten years maybe. It's only now that we have the garage to do the work in. We knew the car had to be American and preferably from the 1950's. It also needed to be big enough for our whole family. It had to be reasonably priced and the amount of work that would be needed had to be within reason. So, suddenly last summer, we spotted an advert for a Buick. She needed a lot of work, but not too much. Her engine ran but she wasn't drivable. There were parts included. So after driving to Kirkkonummi and giving the car a quick once over, she was ours.

Bessie coming home

And that's how we got her. Bessie, that is. She is a 1955 Buick Century Riviera 2-door hardtop. She is blue. She is big. And she needs a lot of work.