Projects garagefind/ survivor 40 coupe build. FIRED IT UP!

looking good joel! one thing for sure you have patience! i will have to get out and see you soon. my son is living in mishawaka, not far from you.

 

This is the last pic of the body lead; it's filed and sanded with 180 including the little "nose" in the left foreground. I have 1 pic of an alignment issue between the pass. side door and the quarter panel. For some unknown reason the mismatch at the reveal was about 3/16 in. and the top of the door rubbed on the drip rail. I had to add 1/4" under the B pillar, 3/16" under the next mount going forward, and 1/8" under the front (firewall) mount. The pic is with the body raised to accommodate this and it only took 5 times trying different combos.
Done!

After this I checked the drivers side. I didn't have to jack on it, but I added 1/8" in 2 spots. The rubber mounts are now compressed more equally.
The next step is either moving the car to the back room and finish priming the body, or leaving it here to mount and catch up the rear fenders ( or maybe all 4 fenders). Having the car up in the air makes doing the fenders a lot easier. I'll have to decide in the morning.

 

Stop by if you get up here. I'm in the garage most of the time.

 

Fitting your fenders to the car at this time sounds like a good idea. It allows just one more fit check before paint goes on. It could save you some time in the long run.Patience .......

 

Thanks Sam for the good advice. I've been leaning that way this afternoon.
A side benefit might be that I get them finished faster and then I get on a roll again[emoji57]


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Working on the fenders now. I had to buy some large jack stands to keep the car up and easier to work on. I'll have to remove the fender to re-prime and re- install it to sand so it has the proper shape. It's not the best plan, but the best I could come up with.

On the left is a weld seam that needs some filler ( or lead) and on the right the first challenge.

After some hammer and dolley work and several passes with the stud gun with a tip for shinking, you can see the dark spots from the stud gun. I have a "hand" English wheel tool that helps to smooth out the work.

The red outlines are low areas and the blue is where the fender was ripped and gouged from collision damage before I owned the car. The red rectangle is the outline of a patch I welded in after melting out the original repair. I'll have to add some lead here to finish out the fender roll.

 

Looks like a good save on that fender Joel.

 

I was seriously thinking about sending money to Carpenters for a pair of rears, but now that I'm started, I'll slug it out.[emoji6]


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I have made some progress on the rear fenders, so I'll share a few pix.

This is where I added the patch and it was low and the radius was too tight.

It looks like I added plenty.... we'll see.

I decided to finish the weld seam with lead. It's much easier when it's horizontal.

Leaded about 3/4 of the way; I'll move the fender to finish the seam.
I'm going to lead an area on the RR fender around the taillight opening next. I'll put them both back on the car to shape the lead.

 

Today I tinned and leaded the taillight opening repair in the RR fender.

I'll have to clean up the edge so it fits against the body and see if the area on the left is built up enough. After that I can mount both fenders and shape the lead.

 

Today I was back to filing and sanding on a fender because I and the wife went to the Back to the 50s swap meet to look at a 41 Ford pickup. It was a quick trip; up and back in 32 hours. My butt was dragging yesterday. I bought the truck, but won't be able to pick it up for a week or two. I took a pic of the truck and seller.


This is the truck and the previous owner, a HAMB member and a nice guy.

My wife took a couple more pix, but you'll have to wait until I get it to see more.
The truck drives, but needs a few things. I hope to be able to drive it a little this fall. 53 8ba, 39 trans, stock rear end and brakes. It has dual exhaust and no mufflers all the way to the back..... sounds good

 

I am just a little jealous Joel. Looks like the perfect shop truck. I sat in a 40 pick up last weekend for a couple of minutes. I am not sure my Over size body would be happy in there for a long trip but a trip to the parts store would be okay. Congrats on your purchase. Oh and don't let it slow down the coup project for too long.

 

Hi Joel,.. so,..Keep on truckin!!!! [emoji106][emoji851]
I'm enjoying watching how your refining your coupe.!!,..thanks!



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I had to promise to leave the truck alone until I have the coupe ready for paint.....mostly. I'm selling a 40 convt project to make room.


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Break is over and back to body work. I have one pic to share of the LR fender. The leaded area in the foreground is done and I'm working on the rear of the fender now. I borrowed a nice fender from a club member so I could have a surface to compare with the profile gage.

 

Even though I have my own '40 coupe project and could never take on any more, I gotta ask, what's the story with the rag top?

 

yes ,tell us about this 40 convert please!

 

OK, but I don't have any pix yet. I started collecting parts in the early 80s with a body, 2 pieces of cowl, doors rusty frame and some decent stainless. I was missing a lot of pieces, but I thought if I could get the critical ( convt only) stuff, the rest could come from a 40 coupe or sedan. I have found or had made a lot of parts. I had the extra supports that go under the rocker panels made in McPherson Ks. and I bought a 40 2 dr sedan in Colorado for a donor ( nice car too ). After Drake started making floors etc. there is no reason to sacrifice the sedan. I'm going to list the convt here this summer and /or take it to Kalamazoo Nats swap in the fall. I have to drag all the parts out to take pix and that will take a weekend. I did get another convt frame that is really nice. I also have a "jig" that was built by a local shop to put a new Drake floor in a 40 convt.

 

I moved the car into the back room to work on finish priming the body. The first area is the cowl vent.
I added some silicon bronze to fill some pin holes and now I have to go back and finish up.
Before someone asks.... rear fenders 2 Joel 0 . geoford41 had some fenders listed here and I was able to buy the rears. He was on top of the shipping and had a plan; that really helped me out. Thanks again George. They should be here in a few days.

 

I'll explain more. I was moving the metal and when I checked with the profile gage( the left rear vs a good fender) it didn't seem too far off, but when I stepped back and looked at it, my fender just wasn't right. Also, It would be nice if I had most of this done when my '41 p/u gets here.

 

I started sanding the DP40 covered areas in preparation for a fresh coat of DP followed by whatever filler is needed and then urethane surface (K38) then block sanding. I had a couple of hours wiping the top surface with lacquer thinner to get the tree sap, bird shit, etc off. The car has never been out side for more than a few hours at a time, but that primer has been on there since probably 08 or 09.

I should be able to get a lot done this next week.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/40-ford-convertible-project.1070219/
Here's a link to my convt project in the classifieds for those who asked.

 

The convertible looks like a good project for Swissmike to take on.

 

I would love someone to take it on and I've seen evidence that there are plenty of guys here that could put that body together. After that, it's just bolting things on.

 

one HELL of a JOB JOE Wow nice work and good luck with it enjoy

 

Coming on well Joel. Where do you host your pictures? Photobucket have decided i need to pay for hosting, so my build thread has a lot of dead links in it now, and i'm not paying $39.a month.

 

I take pix with my phone, email them to my PC and edit them in Windows Photo Gallery. I crop and resize to 600x800 and store them on my PC. Use "upload file" to add them to my post


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Thanks Joel, got a busy few nights editing pics...

 

What a fantastic thread. Very impressive work and a pleasant read. I'm looking forward to your progress.

~ Carl

 

Thanks, Carl, I'm looking forward to some progress also. I'm fixing some stuff on the 41 p/u I bought.


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