The paint was bubbling. I took my buffer out to buff out the bubbles. It did not work. Removing the bubbles left the primer showing. The car needed to be repainted. We were now about two weeks before the wedding. Most conventional body shops would not paint a classic car. Many of the classic car shops had a wait of several months. A friend recommended a national paint shop chain nearby. The estimate there was about 50% - 75% cheaper than the other shops. I feared that I would get what I was paying for.
I stripped all the chrome off the car and took it in. While the car was in the shop, I buffed all the chrome and restored all the light fixtures. The light lenses are all glass. How times have changed.
A week later, Jo and I went to pick it up. But, they painted it the wrong color. It was clearly a lighter shade of blue. Also, the paint job was poorly done. It was now a week before the wedding. The shop resanded and repainted the '49 and we went back to pick it up fearing another problem. However, it looked great!
With a week to go, I started the process of putting all the chrome, lights, and trim back on. I worked late every night. I found seat covers on eBay that matched the car very well. (The original cloth seats looked quite good, but the top of the rear seat near the window was pretty well gone due to sun damage.)
By the Thursday before the wedding, the '49 was ready to go. On Friday, I chauffeured Ben and Jack's girlfriends to the wedding hotel. I parked the car in front of the main entrance and left it there.
The '49's first job was to take the bride to the "First Look" at Theodore Wirth Park. (For those not familiar with the so-called "Frist Look," it is an event created - best I can tell - for convenience to take the place of the tradition of the bride and groom seeing each other for the first time that day at the alter. The "First Look" allows the bride and groom to see each other earlier in the day for photographs to save the guests from the delay caused by the photo-op between the ceremony and reception.) I covered the new seat covers in back with a white bed cover. In my tuxedo, I shined the car while waiting for the bride and talked to folks who stopped by to admire the car.
Then, the bride arrived. As beautiful as the '49 looked after so many months of work and a fresh paint job, it paled in comparison to Anna.
Driving to the First Look was a special time with Anna. I watched her in the rear-view mirror. It seemed like yesterday that Anna and I would have our pancake breakfast while watching Pee Wee's [Herman] Playhouse" (that was before his arrest).
Waiting at the park was the wedding party. The boys played football in their tuxedos. The girls all looked beautiful. The weather started looking menacing. Then the sleet started. The sleet was actually better than rain as we stayed fairly dry. Everyone was laughing (and running for cover). I was glad I had installed a new heater core in the '49!
I drove Clay and Anna to the wedding. The rest of the evening was one of the greatest events of my life. So many good friends and family having such a wonderful time. It went so fast.
The '49 did was not far from the festivities. It sat quietly and majestically in front of the main entrance. Tied to the bumper was twine. Tied to the twine were tin cans. The rear window displayed: "Just Married." After the music had stopped an all had gone home, the '49 took us to the hotel. It was a beautiful ride and I could have kept driving all night.
