Ok this instagram addition is pretty cool! Anyway, I bought this grill a few weeks back and I finally got it. It was pretty cool in the photos, an old filled and peaked grill. Couldn't get any cooler right? Unfortunately It was pretty messed up where someone filled it, oh and the peak was crooked..... So I opted to cut the top out. This answered why I was having clearance issues with the grill, nearly a full inch of lead in the thickest part. The piece I cut out weighed 3lbs. Made a new top and got it welded in. Then started battling the hood, which I still haven't sorted out... I simply can't lower the grill anymore and the cowl is square with the frame. To give an idea how far its out the gap between the cowl and hood at the bottom is just about an inch...
If your hood is a 28/9 (I looked on page 7 and year not shown) it is designed to have hood shelves between splash aprons and hood sides. Hood shelves are held off the frame by two wood blocks per hood shelf. Those are where the hood clamps attach to, with long screws going to frame. Earl
yeah its a 28-29 hood. I realize I don't have the hood latches mounted correctly on wood blocks but my trouble is more trying to get the hood lined up properly with the cowl. I have the latches loosely mounted so that they will be an inch or so away from the frame when latched to the hood but they don't line up enough to even correctly latch on the hood.
Nice re-work of the grille shell. The 'before' shots look like my hack handiwork Let me know if I can help get your pics fixed up! Wondering what it'll look like with just a hood top...might be less fuss.
Thanks Gary! Ha! Not sure what to do to get the other pics back, I think they will just come back after at the end of the month. If they don't I'll just have to go through the whole thread and reupload the pics somewhere else. Which sort of ****s because I don't have many of the pictures saved, all of them were on my photobucket so I could delete them off my phone. I'll test out the hood top and take some pics. I'm kind of dead set on running a full hood, can't really explain why but I think it will look much more "finished" with a full hood.
That looks real good dude! Why is your engine bay so much longer than the hood? modified wheel base? Anyway I'm fairly sure that everyone has already seen this pic on instagram but here it is again.. I'm not really feeling it, maybe this weekend I'll roll it out and see it outside but I can't same I'm even remotely on board with the no sides. I do have an idea to get them to fit which would basically require me to cut both sides of the top length wise and bend them down until the side fits the cowl. Then I would have to add a wedge shaped piece into the hood tops and weld. lots. I don't really want to do that but if worse comes to worse I'll do it. I guess its not really screwing up the beyond nice hood since it will most likely live on this car forever.
Yep. The wheelbase has been stretched an inch and a half to shoehorn the Olds engine and mechanical fan in. Now sits at 113.5". The roadster is looking great! Really really solid. But I'm with you, I feel that it needs hoodsides to complete the deal. In my mind, they help tie it into the era I think you're shooting for, and the hoodsides help to blend that commercial grille in with the body a little bit more. Have you tried removing the grille shell, and playing with the hight of the hood to get the hoodsides fitting right with the cowl? I know you don't have any room to drop the grille further, but it might give you some perspective or make you notice something else that isn't quite right. Are the wood body blocks in between the body and the frame? Mine were all rotted/non-existant and it changed the slope of the body/cowl, which would also change the slope of the hood, if that makes sense.
Actually yes and the hood fits fine at the current height of the grill. I believe now that the problem is stemming from the width of the grill at the top. I think I may just cut it like I described before. The cut would allow me to put the hood side where it needed to be and would most likely leave about 1/2" up front and nothing in the back sort of like this... To be honest I've kind of been in a slump for the past few days and don't feel like touching the car. Having another pair of eyes for fresh ideas would help, especially on the hood. Doing everything yourself ****s at some points.
Don't give up now, Mike...you've got way too much talent and have made too much progress to turn back now!! It looks to me like the shell needs to come down 3/4" or so, but it's hard to tell without a side shot. Another option would be to grab some heavy butcher paper and mock up a hood - you have the talent to build one from scratch - I did the same thing when messing with the body/grille position on my RPU (jacked the body up to see how much I'd need to lower the grille)
loving the progress dude! Keep in mind that the 29 hood was a bit off from the 32 hood, so the curve/radius doesn't fit the 32 shell properly. there are some Don Montgomery pics where you can see whats up. A lot of the prewar guys said **** it and left them alone. Late post war guys actually started turning into craftsman and fine tuning them. Whatever you decide, if you do make one then go with gwhite's butcher paper idea. It really isn't that difficult, especially if you use aluminum.
The pics are back, and I finally got the hood to fit. As much as I don't want to, I'm really thinking of brush painting it for the time being because so much of it is rusting in the garage. The body is pretty far from paint and as far as I see it I want to redo basically all of the repairs I've already done to it thus far. Plus I stand a pretty good chance of getting to take it out atleast one more time this year and I want it to look somewhat presentable. Who knows if it comes out good enough I may just leave it but I'd like to pull it apart this fall to get some nice paint on it. Not to mention 2/3s of the running gear is unpainted now
Gosh dang it Speedy! What paint is that on your wheels? Did you break into my garage? Do I have to go back to the store for a couple more cans? Nice! "Listen Mr... It ain't broke if I can't fix it"
Dig it! Looks period perfect; you've got a solid 1940's style rig - photographic evidence from the period shows the overwhelming majority (80%+) used 32 (or 33-4 commercial) grille shells rather than the model A, so you've got the look nailed. Methinks that new body blocks will bring everything into perfect alignment, so rest easy - the hard part is over! As for brush-painting (that's what I'll end up doing on my RPU), make sure to add some Penetrol or boild linseed oil (with enamel paint...haven't tried it with lacquer) to get the paint to flow out...use a quality brush and 'matt' your brush strokes. With a little practice, you'll have a darn-near show quality paint job with minimal brush strokes or color sanding.
You don't need to send me a 28-29 shell unless you want me to build you a car around it! I could probably make one look cool on another build, just not this one! Glad it you dig it and think it fits in. I really really did my research to try to get it to fit into a late 40s period. As good as that brush painting info sounds I'm really on the fence about doing it. I may just leave it go until the fall. (or I get a more steady income). The plan is to just leave it go and run it one more time in a few weeks then tear it down for the winter. Then have the car actually done for next years showdown.
Reorganized the shop a little today and I was curious to see that the top looked like on the car now that I lowered it. Fortunately it still looks cool! With curtains... and one last one of the car stripped down Its pretty cool to be able to change the whole look of the car in minutes. It should look a little better with paint on it tho
Looks damn good both ways !! I dig the dark red wheels too, it has that survivor look happening..................cool. JW
haha no idea man. It's a darkish red/maroon colour. That's how they were painted when I bought them, and they'll stay that way until I'm ready to paint the body. I like the colour, looks really good in the sun. It'll just clash too much with the Washington Blue body plans... I keep waffling back and forth between brush painting and painting with a HVLP system. My bank account keeps suggesting brush paint. And I like the idea of ending up with a low buck quality paint job. I don't know man. You should check out some of the threads on brush painting cars. It's not as hokey as it first sounds... More of an art than a can of rustoleum and a wall roller. I've seen some brush jobs that turn out really smooth and clean. Check out here for some references: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/i-wanna-see-pics-of-brush-painted-cars.518921/
Love the work, love the car. No clue brush would look so good.....got lost on your brush paint HAMB thread. This place never ceases to humble my opinions. Love these old iron pages. It's no wonder so many kids then, and of course...now...can do so much, with so little. I could have built two or three old jalopies with what I have in my later model taste. Keep going man!!
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