1952-59 Ford Kovid Kustomline build thread

One of the first areas of improvement I focused on was getting the interior a little more comfortable. I started by adding some sound deadening material to the interior of the roof to help quiet the ride. You can almost have a normal conversation in the car while riding down the street now.
Before:

Roof clean and ready for Kilmat by Dos Cincos posted Oct 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM

Sound before:

Roof Before Kilmat by Dos Cincos posted Oct 27, 2020 at 4:26 PM

After:

Kilmat installed by Dos Cincos posted Oct 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM

Sound After:

Roof After Kilmat by Dos Cincos posted Oct 27, 2020 at 4:28 PM

I also wrapped the front seat in a Mexican blanket that matched the color of the car a little better.

Interior by Dos Cincos posted Oct 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM

 

Back in the '90s. I built a '40 Ford. The roof sounded like a barrel, like yours. I put one square of Dynamat or similar in the center of the roof and it quietened it just like yours did. I then glued the foil backed bubble insulation to the whole car. I did the top, sides, and floor with the bubble material. It was still in good shape when I sold it 20 years later.

 

So I guess it wasn't your daughters first car after all. Does she still like it?

 

Nope - wasn't her first car but she still loves it and still loves riding in it. However, she is unable to drive it because the power steering is bicep powered.

 

After driving the car around for a little while and looking at her daily in the garage I decided the patchwork top needed to be one solid color.

So I took a staycation from work and got to striping the roof down to bare metal and spraying some epoxy primer.

 

Next up on the list was to accomplish some shade tree body work on the car so I bought a cheap hammer and dolly set from Harbor Freight and started knocking some of the dents out of her.


The dent closes to the license plate was pretty deep, is still a little low, and will require a little more work. However, the rear panel and decklid are now all one color as well.

Next up is to work some more on the hood where she has been nosed and then get the hood into primer. I also need to get a welder so I can fill in some holes where badges have been stripped and to weld in some patch panels to the lower rear quarters.

 

Did you paint or coat the inside of the roof with anything before installing the Kilmat? Roof sound deadener is one of the things on my todo list for my '53.

 

Nice body work on that rear panel. Keep us posted. That car is/is going to be really neat!

 

Good job on removing the dent. That's a lot better than bondo.

 

No paint or coating. Just scraped/sanded the factory stuff off which was a big mess and applied it over the bare metal. The Kilmat is super sticky and once it was rolled on is almost impossible to get it to lift. My plan is to replace the headliner using the original bows which I have already placed back into their individual places. In case you don't already know, each one is different so I first marked them with tape and a grease pencil 1-9 from front to back.

 

At least in '57, the bows were color coded on the ends with a small area of paint. I wrapped mine with the proper colored electrical tapes all the way down. I thought possibly the slightly rusted bows might stain the light colored fabric of my headliner over time otherwise. Harbor Freight had a package of 6 or 8 different colored tapes that was just the right colors. They're short rolls, so it probably took 2 packages.
There is a chart in one of the Ford manuals that gives the location of the bows by color.

 

Interesting. Mine were covered in rust so any color was long gone if that was the case in 55. I sprayed rust converter on them for now and stuck them back up there.

 

When I did my roofs interior in my '54 I used Peel and Seal it's been on about six years withstanding 120 degree Arizona heat and does a good job of keeping it cooler inside. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Peel-Seal-...s-6-in-x-25-ft-Aluminum-Roll-Flashing/1018733

 

The picture of the roof is before I added the seam tape https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-2-in-x-30-ft-Reflective-Insulation-Tape/3012014 There is plenty of talk about using it here https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search/261090622/?q=Peel+and+Seal&o=relevance Before I put down the Peel and Seal I painted the interior roof and the floor with Rustoleum aluminum paint.

 

all those little jobs go on to make a fine car at the end...looking good already

 

That 55 Plymouth grille looks amazing!!

 

Hey Jeff, Do you get any tar smell inside when that stuff heats up?

 

No

None at all,like I mentioned use the matching seam tape too if it can withstand the temperatures we have here in Phoenix it's damn tough stuff. When it's 118 outside in the sun holding your hand on the roof over 30 seconds you might be taking a trip to the burn unit,inside the car it's barely warm to the touch.

 

Love this car!

 

Pretty cool Dos Cincos =)

 

Would love to see more photos of your stereo work. I just had a custom stereo put in my '53 that is not at all Hamb friendly, but the way you incorporated the wood looks like it is going to give off a very nice sound.

 

The rest of the stereo work isn't much at this point until I get around to upholstery and finishing off the trunk space. The speakers were mounted to the wood so that I could mount them from within the trunk and not have to cut up the package tray. It also allows me the ability to hide the speakers under the package try upholstery without having to have speaker grills showing. The rear speakers are connected to a bluetooth amp
https://www.amazon.com/Blaupunkt-AM...ange+Amp.&qid=1605738749&s=electronics&sr=1-1
so I can keep my radio delete panel in the dash and it appears to the outside world that I don't have tunes. My cellphone then connects via bluetooth to the amp and I stream music that way. The sound quality isn't great yet. It is all high and mid range at this point. Somewhere in the future I'll probably add a small sub to balance things but for now it is nice just being able to listen to music.

 

Oh that is very cool! I was considering the blue tooth only amps. Hope it sounds good! Very cool set up.

 

For everyone else...

20201110_120708 by Dos Cincos posted Nov 10, 2020 at 3:54 PM

20201110_122023 by Dos Cincos posted Nov 10, 2020 at 3:54 PM

20201110_122036 by Dos Cincos posted Nov 10, 2020 at 3:54 PM

20201110_123702 by Dos Cincos posted Nov 10, 2020 at 3:54 PM

 

My Christmas presents from Mrs. Dos Cincos arrived today. I had to get a sneak peak of one of them propped up on the car. The spider cap will have to come off in order for the cover to sit correctly in the wheel. Surprised how much this is going to change the overall look of the car.

 

Night and day difference! I think the hubcaps on the front are the bomb! Tell the Mrs.......she done good!

 

Very cool, they will really suit the style of your car

 

Agreed! It has been my intention to run them all along but the spider caps were the cheaper option when I was trying to get the car on the road.

 

your missus has a good eye the caps are so cool

 

Those look great! Wanting to do something similar on my Thunderbird.