Projects An Amateur Chops a Brookville Coupe & More

Hi guys, sorry for lack of updates I have been working on the car since my last post but I just didn't get around to showing my progress here. Here are some updates showing what I got done.
After I epoxy primed the interior I wanted to add a sound and heat barrier to the inside. I have used the peal and stick sound-insulation sheets in my 55 Chevy build, but I found that to be a pain to install. I decided to try LizardSkin sound control and ceramic insulation instead. I used the LizardSkin application spray gun and shot two coats of the sound control on first like the instructions said. After two days of dry time, I sprayed on two coats of the ceramic insulation.
This stuff was much easier to apply than the peal and stick sheets like Hushmat. It took longer to mask the car off than to spray on the coating. I used two gallons of each, and it was just enough to do the areas seen in the photos.

One nice thing about LizardSkin is that it gets into all the nooks and crannies and forms a single even layer of coverage. It does go on surprisingly thick, the final dry thickness is about .080 inches. Also it is very durable. You can work on the inside of the car without damaging the coating.

 

My Henry five window suffers from the same affliction

 

There didn't seem to be any way to stop water from entering the trunk where the drip rails along the sides of the trunk opening meet the tailpan.

I was looking through the Brookville catalog and saw a stainless steel trunk drain listed. I had no idea what this part was, because my body didn't come with any stainless steel trunk parts. While at the NSRA show in York, I stopped by the Brookville booth and saw this.

These are the trunk drains listed in the catalog. Nice pieces but for $195 I said no way. Time to make some cardboard mockups and see what I can come up with.

This will work. I decided to use mild steel instead of stainless for these pieces, I don't have to worry about them rusting since they will be painted and will probably never see rain.
Here are the sheet metal cutouts used to make the drain cups.

The finished parts with the drain tubes. I brazed in a drain tube and a 1/4-20 bolt to attach the cup to the inner trunk side.

Here they are installed with the drain tubes dumping out through the trunk floor.

 

Good idea on the drain control system

 

Fantastic drain system, good fab work. I gotta start at the beginning of this thread and catch up!

~Peter

 

Will you need to caulk the drain box along the edge to seal it to the B,ville body?

 

Those drain buckets look nice! I have a five window in my shop that will need something similar. Thanks for the ideas.

 

They should have offered those, installed, as an option when you bought the body. I went ahead and sailed for it.
Can't wait to see it all in paint, you're getting close

 

That’s one sweet drain for a trunk , any ideas on a fix for the rumble seat model ?

 

Yes it will need caulk to make it leak free. Also the filler piece just below the bottom edge of the trunk lid opening that bolts in above the drain cups will need to be sealed along it's whole length where it meets the tail pan. Any water falling off the bottom edge of the trunk lid will go into that space and flow over to the sides into the drain cups.

 

Sorry Dave, I'm not an expert on 32 Fords. My only experience with them is this Brookville version. I don't know how the rumble seats are installed.
Pics of your rumble seat might help me come up with an idea for you.

 

I had to modify the lower inner tailpan piece so that I would have room to get to the mounting studs on the '50 Pontiac taillights that I'm using. I cut out around the hole that is behind the taillight so that I can reach in and put a nut on the mounting studs.


I didn't like the look of the sharp edge around the cutout so I made filler pieces to box in around the cut.

Welded in

Then I decided that I didn't like being able to see the back side of the taillights from inside the trunk, so I made covers to hide them.

These look ok, but I think I will make another set and make a press die to form a circular recess in the covers to match the round flanged holes in the inner tailpan.

 

One area that needed a lot of attention was door fitment. I played around with shimming the body mounts to get the door gaps right, but no matter what I tried I could not get even gaps around both doors.
On the passenger door at the top front corner the inner door frame was actually hitting the A- pillar.

I made some cuts to the top of the inner door and was able to move that section back to give clearance to the A-pillar to allow the door to fit better.

Now to fix the gap problems. The door gaps were very inconsistent around both doors. Tight in some spots or to wide in others.

I ground the door edges back at the tight spot beyond were they should be and tacked them together.

Added a bunch of weld and I kept grinding away until the gaps were straight and even. I used a paint stirring stick as a gage for the gap width.

The upper rear corner gap on the passenger door was huge.

I shaped a piece of welding rod to fit the curve and welded it on. More grinding and the gap looks good.

I couldn't get both body moldings on the passenger door to line up. The body line on the door under the window opening was lower than the matching line at the bottom of the A-pillar post.

I added metal to the bottom of the A-pillar and ground it down until the lines matched.

 

Tedious work that has to be done, good job. I'm doing the same at the moment. Once it's all painted it's too late to say "I wish I hadda..."

Well, that's what I keep telling myself.

 

Exactly, and the closer you look the more things you find that you just have to improve.
It seems like it never ends.

 

But when you do get it all done, you have something to really be proud of! Good job on doing the extra work so it will look great when it is done!

 

Details, details!

Never seen the trunk drain things before. Might need to copy that and seal the back panel area too. But mines in (new) paint, doh!

Chris

 

It is easy to miss those pieces, I looked through the Brookville catalog many times and never noticed them. Even though this car will never be driven in bad weather, better to put them in now cuz you never know.

 

Here are some pics of the driver door showing the inconsistent gap spacing. I fixed them the same way as the passenger side.

After getting the doors to fit good, it was time to spray two coats of epoxy primer on all the bare metal.
Here is the body after I cleaned it with wax and grease remover then I went over everything with a D/A sander and 80 grit and cleaned it again. I have already filled in some low spots with Metal to Metal filler before primer was applied. I like to use it on areas that I know need filling and over welds to fill any pinholes that might be there.

I made this piece from an old driveshaft from my '55 Chevy. When it is bolted to the cowl opening it braces the body and acts as a pivot point so that I can lift the body to have access to the underside.

Real easy to paint the underside when it's up in the air.

 

Like your individual drains for the trunk gutter channels.
I made a pan that went side to side for my roadster years ago, with similar drains through the floor. I also found some trunk weatherstrip from Steele that fit perfect and totally sealed off the trunk. NEVER a leak after that, and the gutter always drained. That’s a win!

 

Seam seal it while it's up in the air

 

Not a big fan of using seam sealer on my builds, especially where it can be seen. I build fair weather cars that are never driven in rain, so I avoid using it. There are a few spots where I can see daylight through the trunk area and I will let the painter seal up those spots.

 

Beautiful work!

 

Thanks. Ok since this post has been asleep for awhile and since SDS woke it up I'll add some updates that I was saving. I have been waiting since May for a spot to open up for me at the painters. The painter stopped by last week to have another look at the coupe and go over what I wanted to be done. He will be picking up the car and will start on it early next month.

 

Here are some photos of the body work that I did earlier this year. First I sprayed two coats of epoxy primer over the body and frame. I let the primer dry for a few days then lightly sanded it to give me an idea of where the high and low spots were before covering areas with a skim coat of filler.

I evened up the trunk lid and quarter panels and got the trunk gaps looking good with some filler work.

Here is a shot of the frame in primer. I did skim coat the whole frame with filler, and was surprised to see just how far off it was from being straight and smooth.

 

[I needed to run the exhaust between the ladder bars and driveshaft to be in a better position to go up and over the rear axle housing.

I simply can't understand the reason for running the pipes over the axles. In the end, the pipes are at the same level anyway.

 

More ground clearance.
Cleaner look to finished car.
Most cars have the exhausts tucked up out of harms way and out of view.
When I see pipes under the rear axle, I always wonder why the builder didn’t spend a little more time to tidy it up and do it ‘correctly ‘.
But each individual can do it the way that they are comfortable with……….

 

I agree. Exhasut should be heard and not seen.

 

Earlier I said I might copy the trunk drain thingies but my body was already painted. Well there was no might about it, I was gonna do it! Made in card first then reproduced in stainless, welded up and polished for good measure. Fitted. Joints caulked. Turns out it was an easy, but fiddly, retro fit that anyone could do if they wished. Would have been trickier without the design patterns to emulate, so thanks for those!

Chris

 

Tail pipes tucked up under the frame rails, nice and neat - that's the number one reason to go up over the axle