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For those of you who are skiers, the scenery behind Boops Coupe is Little Cottonwood Canyon, home of Snowbird and Alta ski resorts, located about 15 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, and about 3 miles from Bill & Betty's home. Note that the "nose art" isn't present in this photo. After the art was added, I tried several times to get the light just right again for another photo but never got one to come out quite as nice as this one - Bill
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ACQUIRING BOOP'S COUPE - In 2000, while at the "Peach Days" Car Show in Brigham City, Utah, Bill saw a 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe Club Coupe sitting out in a field. After picking his way through the countless puncture weeds, he made his way to the car for a look-see. After an inspection (not thorough enough as later determined), he approached a neighboring house, found the owner and they began discussions about purchasing this "diamond in the rough". The owner turned out to have been a family man who had bitten off more than he could chew. His asking price was $1,000 but he settled for $800 and the rest is history.
Bill's wife, Betty, is a Betty Boop fan, with a large collection of Betty Boop memorabilia, so the idea was born to add this coupe to her collection, thus the car became "Boop's Coupe".
Besides this page of photos and comments, there are various other pages linked from here in case you would like to follow "Boop's Coupe" through her restoration progress.
Boy, did we ever learn a lot about what to do, what not to do, who to trust and who not to trust in a restoration. We made some mistakes and it is too late to go back and try a "do over". We will try to be honest about where we screwed up and just hope the reader will not consider us total dunces for our mistakes. We just hope that others can learn from our goofs.
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In The Beginning....
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This is what Boop's Coupe looked like before we started restoration. "You've Come A Long Way Baby."
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Before the Body Shop
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Before Boop's Coupe could be taken to the body shop, we replaced the floor and rocker panels. Here are a few photos from that experience.
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In The Body Shop
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A collection of photos taken while Boop's Coupe was in two separate body shops. In 14 months, she was about ready for final color but no end was in sight so we took her to another body shop for completion. Also, there are a couple of photos of her in the glass shop.
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The Engine
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The engine work was farmed out so there are no good photos of the work in progress, but there are some "feel good" progress photos.
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Linkage & Undercarriage
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Linkage & Undercarriage
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Interior
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The interior of Boop's Coupe - prep for upholstery, dash installation & steering wheel.
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Upholstery, Seats & Seat Belts
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Once we finally got around to upholstery, Boop's Coupe really began to come together.
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Wiring
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Wiring was not the huge chore that I expected it to be.
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Rubber Problems & Solutions
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This page will show a few photos of rubber problems encountered and Bill's solutions. It really isn't hard to fabricate your own rubber pieces or, if necessary, find attractive alternatives.
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Trim
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Restoring and replacing trim can be a challenge.
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Art Work & Details
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This page shows some close-ups of the artwork on Boop's Coupe and some other details of nice looking work.
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Done at Last!
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Now the real fun begins.
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