Would anyone have some pictures of a 33-34 3 window door jam at the hinges? I have searched this forum and the internet and found nothing. Looking for the detail on how the jam caps meet with the quarter. Would like to see what it should look like or more correctly originally.
I am making good progress and will be spotting in my repairs soon on the body. Once I have chips and cracks from 30 years all repaired and covered in paint I plan to wet sand everything, then do a final paint. I see some like to paint the body with the doors mounted. Normally I like to do everything separate. This car with its door hinges creates challenges. To do separate would require precise masking so as paint would not interfere with wear surfaces. Any preferences, opinions, tips ?
Just pouting here that no has answered my previous questions. So I will rant. I bought this car about 15 years ago out of Arizona as a finished rod. It was done about 1990. I bought it because it had a nice body with a TCI chassis. It ran a 350/350 auto. Normally I build my own cars, but this seemed the best way to get into a 32, 33, or 34. Over the years I have done a few mods. -383 stroker, fast fuel injection, aluminum flywheel with a Tremec 6 speed. -full stainless exhaust with X and antidrone pipes. -Willwood brake and clutch cylinders. -shortened the 9 inch, and installed 31 spline axles and a new posi center with 4:56 gears. Works great with the 30 inch tall tires and two overdrives. -Replaced the 4inch drop axle with a 5inch and installed 13inch Wiillwood rotors and calipers. -Half rack steering. -Added the Socal knockoff wheels. -Replaced the stock floor for transmission and suspension clearance. -Replaced all the wiring. -New gauges and steering column. - New leather interior. -stainless fuel tank. I have always been a Chevy guy but I have really enjoyed driving this. Said I would never paint, as it looked good as a fun driver. Then last spring driving to Deuce days in Victoria B.C. we hydroplaned into a median. We weren't going very fast but it was enough to fold up the running board, dent the outer rocker and door, and cracked the paint on the quarter and front fender. Normally I build a vehicle from scratch. This is my first where I'm painting a finished car, not to mention something this old. I am just a back yarder but like to do the best job possible, but doing a finished car is a bit of a compromise for me. I have replaced the rocker, fixed the quarter and the door along with 30 years of chips and blemishes, as well as improving the body gaps. I just spotted in the repairs on the body yesterday and moved into my other shop so I can work on the other parts. My plan is to have all pieces in paint and then wetsand them all for a final paint. Being a backyarder it has worked well for me to sand primer rough (180-220 grit) then paint and allow to sit in sun for a bit then wetsand with 600 and then do a final. Looks like my radiator has a couple leak witness marks. Looks like a Walker, but has seen 30 years service. Walkers gone, what is your choice? Been looking for running boards for 6 months. Ideally wanted some new repo's but they are hard to find. I purchased from a guy on here, a pair of nice originals, unfortunately he sent me two drivers sides. Says he didn't realize. Says he is looking for the passenger side for me. One can only hope he comes through.
Sorry, I don't know the details of the tin overlaps in the door jamb of a three window. But I can tell you, if I was doing a major paint job on the car I'd remove all the filler in there and see what Henry originally did. He didn't use filler, lead, or even sealer on the jambs, and I'd probably build it the same. A little filler to smooth dents would be fine, but not to cover joints and gaps.
Well I think you're doin alright so far. This pic shows the bottom of the jamb, it's all I have. Still you can see the painted over nail at the bottom. This was taken to zoom in on the paint chip. This is a stock restored 34 3W, it might help.
I agree. Mine were smoothed over and it did last 30 years. But before I do anything, I need to see what Henry did originally. That is why I was asking for pictures.
On a side note, I’ve wondered why folks made steel bodies smooth in the jambs like glass cars. I’ve seen glass cars work the jambs to look like steel cars. Life is funny
Guilty. I've taped door edges and ground on the shell area to create a door skin hemline. I also used to take a pencil eraser and dip in to a skim of fill to resemble spot welds.
That is funny. I just want to make a repair that lasts. Would be shame to do all this work and then have it crack. I still cannot find any detailed pictures of the jam at the hinges to go by. Seems its not something people take a picture of.
If the seams are welded/brazed leave em. I don’t have any jamb pics of the 33/4s I worked on. or clean everything out the previous builder did and make any decisions after that Someone here should have some pics Maybe look up a few 33/4 builds.
We did some prototype work for Benz. We got preproduction body shells and we smoothed em out. Removed any visible welds and seams in the jambs and front aprons. We only left the door skin hem. If any survived the crusher after show season, someone is in for a surprise. Gonna find a lot of silicon bronze seams and joints.
If you look at the bottom of the jamb there's a nail head showing. That metal is a cap, or cladding, that is over the framework to provide a finished jamb. On this car it's obvious that wood is behind it. More detail, you can see the ¼ panel edge too right where the small paint chip is. This is a car with minor, if any, metal repairs. You're right, unless asked for not a common picture area.
Thank you, but what I need to see is where those caps meet with the quarter. I am assuming that there is seam there, where mine has been filled and smoothed.
There is. Just a clean line between the 2. If I get to that car in the near future I'll shoot a pic. Maybe one of the sheet metal companies make a new one? Even if it's a 32 the same process applies. If I had a Packard handy I'd shoot that too. Same/Same...
That would be awesome to finally see a picture of it. Like you said not to common to see pictured. To be clear I don't need a new one. Mine were filled and smoothed 30 years ago. It wasn't until my little incident that the cracks showed up. I took my dremel and hogged out the cracks, brushed in some rust resistant primer and topped off with a bit of filler and spot painted. It looks pretty good. My limited body man skills though are whispering to me that isn't the way to fix. Two panels attached to wood move. To adhere to Henry's original build, the seam would be left in all its glory. But at the very least I would seam seal it. (ya hotrodder). I just chatted with a man that I look up to as a hardcore 33-34 builder. He went to check one of his to get me a picture of the seam......yah it was filled. Still would like to see what the seams look like. My delema is dive in hog out the fill and seam seal and paint...again, and have it look o.k. Or leave be in all its smoothness and maybe get another 30 years or more with no accidents Lol.
One of my faults is assuming folks I talk to understand me all the way. I neglected to say a look at the new part will "tell you" what it looks like done. Seam seal sounds smart too. Flexible...
I have been running Firestone 8.20 x 16" cheater slicks on the back of my coupe. Likely it is the reason the car hydro planed and caused my mishap. Looking at running bf Goodrich silvertown 275/65/16. Anyone running this in the stock fender. It has similar dimensions as the Firestones but some reassurance would be helpful.
So I am getting close to final paint. Today I was rechecking the door fits (99th time). Doors fit the holes albeit the gaps are tight. I noticed the drivers door top hinge (3 window) had paint on the upper wear surface. Meaning it is not in contact to do its part in holding up the door. I could search for a shim, but a thin 1/4" SS washer is a hair to thick. Can these hinges be welded on? Thinking it might be easier to weld a small bead around the pin hole and then resurface to the right height.
Putting a order together and looking at door weatherstrip. What is the best size and type to use on a 34 3 window?
If your interior has stock style windlacing, I would just use the reproduction Ford upper seal and lower seal. Stuffing too much stuff in the jambs only increases your door closing efforts.
Previously this car had the upper and lower seals along with 3/8 x 3/8 weatherstrip around the door. No issues with closing the door. I was looking at 5/8 x 3/8 weatherstrip but was worried like you said "stuffing to much in the jambs". Nice not to have wind noise though. Just looking for what has worked for others?
One of the weather strip places sent us some samples. A 33 we did used a couple different sizes The jambs aren’t always consistent plus not designed for a modern style seal.
I also vote for stock style windlacing. It should keep the wind noise out, and the stock upper and lower rubber lips should help with driven rain. Maybe add a single sided window fuzzy at the bottom of the window opening to reduce a little more noise.
I already have stock style windlacing. I will leave out full wrap around weatherstrip for now. The previous owner had window fuzzy and window track, but I have taken out to paint the doors. I haven't seen the fuzzies or even generic window tracks on Moss's sight. The only power accessory in my coupe are power windows. What is a good solution for the window track (mine was generic that was glued in and formed around the window opening)?
https://www.rubbertherightway.com/window-channels-sweepers-fuzzies-window-channels-9420-ctg.htm I used the generic style channels too (in a 32). Available at lots of places in a huge variety of prices. The single sided are available to match, if you want the stainless bead or not. I used 3M black urethane to glue mine in, no screws. Might be a bear to remove some day, but has stuck in place for over a decade so far. The sliding 34 window might be the only reason you couldn't use the generic channels. But you could still use the generic single sided, as that piece isn't in an original Ford style kit.
My door channels along with the sliding rear were installed with urethane also and I guess will reinstall with the same. Urethane is pretty handy, I used a few cases on my Tourliner.
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