Projects Club Coupe+Business Coupe= 3 window :>)

Umm it is a Ford .......

 

I just purchased a '41 Merc coupe and plan on chopping it...HARD...so I enjoy seeing all of the different methods and recipes.

Pete-

 

Great colour choice in the charcoal grey!

 

How could i missed this one
Looks really cool in my opinion, love to see it finished

 

Eric,
It has been a week and being patient to not push the next step has been tough. Last night we did the finger nail scratch test and her primer coat has cured nicely. The balance of fenders, hood, inner fenders and panels get shot with primer today. Then MORE SANDING on the body. ARGH... gosh this process is slooooow.
First 600 and then a look to see if another coat of primer will be required. Then a final sand at 800 grit. It's like polishing hammers and dollies. She needs to be pretty underneath before the top coat can be pretty too! LOL
Regards,
George

 

George, I know you want to get your top coat on there as soon as possible, but patience is the key here. This tedious process is just what you need in order to get a perfect result in the end. You're doing good! Keep at it and keep them progress pics and reports coming. Can't wait!!

Eric/farmer12

 

George, Nice build indeed...I just checked your thread. Like the rest of us time moves too slow for those who wait! You will have a great rod done or not the hard work is behind the paint. It is only the guys who build these rods that know what they have, and the guys that buy them built will never know what lies below that shiny finish.

 

wonder why you went through all that metal work when you coulda bought a 40's dodge business coupe and had it factory made??? Does look pretty nice though.

 

I'm in paint shop jail.The guy said " I will get right on it and stay on it" ,
"you will have it back in 3 weeks."

Well.... It has been 7 weeks and if I push too hard I will get back a poor job. If I pick it up, It will be the ****ens starting over.

ARGH! It has been primed and block sanded. It needs primer where the few spots sanded through. Then sealer and the paint.

 

I dunno why but body and paint guys seem to be kida strange dudes....I am glad I enjoy doing tha stuff myself ! Hang in there the end is in sight!!

 

This painter is worse than strange. He beat up his "pregnant" girl friend and apparently has committed the "third strike". I believe it means hard time for a long time. Anyway, I now have my car back and am searching for a painter. sigh

 

While in paint shop jail, I have been working on a few other fun items. Mostly simple things like ignition parts, hood lift kits, power steering line fabrication and install. Just fill in things that need to be done. I have been trying to decide whether to use a 1946 or 1947/8 hood ornament as my car has been made from cobbled together pieces from both. As I haven't been able to make up my mind, I bought a repop 47/8 ornament that was manufactured in Texas. ( I might add it is a piece of 115 dollar junk). I also bought a 1946 ornament from a member here on the HAMB.

Rather than take the easy way out and chose one of the two, I have decided to make (read as have made by an accomplished bronze artist) a hybrid ornament. After a little networking, a friend of mine has recogmended an artist in Loveland,Co. It was a 75 mile drive up to visit the studio and meet "Larry" Saturday morning. I had brought the hood as well as the two hood ornaments and we had a good discussion on the best way to "morph" the two styles into one. In order to insure that the new ornament has the correct footprint for my hood, Larry determined that he needed to make a pattern. Please see the attached picture of my hood with a Plaster pattern cast on it's nose.

The pattern process:
Plaster was sifted through a kitchen flour sifter to insure the texture was fine , consistent and without lumps.The sifted flour went strait into a tub with water and was mixed to the consistency of thin pudding. The wet plaster slurry was then hand applied to the hood. The next step was using shredded Sisal mixed with plaster to reinforce the first layer. This was followed by a few more layers for strength as well as molding in a piece of wood for a pattern handle. The plaster actually gets slightly warm and it is at this time the new mixture has its best strength.
Time to grab the handle and PULL it off. way simple. nice pattern too.
Ill post more pictures along the way. The next step is to leave it alone for curing as green plaster isnt very strong.

 

Hey George,

'sorry to hear one of my brethren has lived up to our well deserved reputation I've been asked for years " are all painters crazy, drunks, druggies or psychos ? '' '' Nope ,I say, but it sure seems to help "

The '' three winda '' is lookin great, and I hope you find someone who has his act together.

Are you still building the pressed steel Keystone?/Steelcraft like tri-motor toys?

'' Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

Nick, Pete and I trailored the body and all parts up to NorthGlenn,Co. today to a very large Ford dealership body shop. ( Omeara Ford) A paint rep told me they were slow on work and I called to a resounding bring it up. Hourly rate of $46 and a negotiated materials +% profit number. "we can get right on it". Well, after going up today.... my coupe is the ONLY car in the shop. One body man and apparently the painter comes in as required.
WOW, what a shock. A super well outfitted shop. Nice paint booths (2 down drafters) super everything and no work. It was several miles away from the dealership and once there a bit tough to understand where to go.The manager was on lunch at 1:30 when we arrived. After an hour p***ed,we had still never met before leaving. The body man (Dave) was intelligent, nice and new his stuff. I am going back with the guys on a road trip in a week and expecting great things! smile
Wish me luck.

Yes I still am fortunate to still sell a few airplanes:
www.br***tagtoys.com thanks for asking. The most fun is the 4 foot aluminum models that hang as cool shop decorations.

Regards,
George

 

"I am going back with the guys on a road trip in a week and expecting great things! "

Nick , Pete and I made the drive back up to see Dave at Omeara Ford Thursday. The shell had been stripped of everything, including doors and deck lid. It has been blocked completely with 120 grit and was ready for primer, "again". Dave was going to get into the paint booth Friday.

Still working on a few "details" and would like to share the front hood emblem plan that Larry will be casting in September when he is back from his road trip for art shows. It will be interesting if anyone even notices this small change.

 

I guess some areas are better than others when it comes to painters, I have never had the problems with painters like you have had. I am looking foward to seeing the finished paint.

 

yep looking forward to seeing some shiny stuff on it. great thread

 

Finished paint is getting closer. Body shell and doors came out of the oven Monday with the shell having a couple of very minor shrink spots requiring glaze. One door was great and the other ,...well who knows? It has lots of naughty acne. All fixed and ready to try again. It is nice to be able to bake before paint and make sure all is perfect.

Struggled a little today to get a Sikkens paint formula. I have a Sherwin Williams Chip '"719709". Turns out You need to add 00 and the real Chip Number is 71970900! Using this the Sikkens rep was able to get a formula. Now I am curious what cars were painted with this color. He said 83-90 Mercedes so I have to find it on line and check it out. I am expecting to get more primer and bake progress this week and Paint next! We shall see?
Regards,
George

 

A picture is worth a thousand words.... Please see photo. All fenders and small parts are done. Body,hood , deck lid and doors will be wet sanded Monday and painted Tuesday. The paint is awesome and super slick before any buff. YES!

BTW..the color is Dodge 2004-2010 code 103 or PO6 "Black Grey". Not a very fun name. Petesmess told me to just call it "shiny primer". LOL

 

a couple of better pictures.....

 

Looking Great George!!!


TJJ on iPhone

 

Thanks Mike.
I went by ST Nicks and promised to make him a firewall insert if he would let me help him.
best,
George

 

George, Love the way your three window is coming out. Just so happens I have a rough '41 Business Coupe. Will be looking for a pair of tudor door so I can start my vision of a '41 Ford Three Window Coupe !

P.S. - Need built to the hilt Flattie for this future project - (JUST KIDDING. . . . .)

Dave

 

Looks great George.

 

Hello, I started a little project to add Wing Tips to my front and rear bumpers last night. I had already been collecting parts and have been thinking about an approach. You never know until you just jump in and have at it.
The pictures show the front of a Wing Tip. Then the bracket that hangs the Wing Tip on the top of the bumper in normal installation. The next picture is my first process. I used a grinding wheel to cut the welds on the bracket. Next is removing the bracket and sanding the residual weld of the back of the Wing Tip using a 2 inch co**** grit ro-loc on my angle grinder. I then bolted the Wing tip to the bumper and used my horizontal band saw to cut through both the Wing Tip and the bumper in one p*** to have a perfect mating joint for welding later. You can see in the last picture that the top of the wing tip is now matched to the bumper perfectly including the face of the bumper. The issue I have for resolution is that the bottom of the wing tip goes about 3/8ths below the bottom of the bumper. Therefore , my challenge this weekend is to section the wing tip enough to allow a smooth line across the bottom of the bumper and the wing tip.

I will post progress pictures soon.

 

"Therefore , my challenge this weekend is to section the wing tip enough to allow a smooth line across the bottom of the bumper and the wing tip."

Started the weekend shop time after dinner tonight. I picked a spot for sectioning the first wing tip of the four I need to do by making sure there would be enough material left on the smaller piece to be able to handle and clamp to.
1. added tape for a line
2. use my horizontal cut off saw in the vertical positon to enable cutting the radius
3.made the first cut...no turning back now! (pictures1 and 2)
deburred for handling the parts without sharp edges for saftey!
4. remounted the wing tip and clamped it to the bumper for placement.
5. Took the cut off piece and used it for a locator by getting the bottom line even with the bottom of the bumper keeping everything parallel to the floor.(picture3)
6. scribed the Wing Tip for the second cut
7. put tape against my scribe line because I am getting older and it is hard to see(picture4)
8. Band saw cut the section piece off. (picture5)
deburred sharp edges again
9. used my floor belt sander to smooth up both sides to be fitted together
10. put everything together and checked for fit. needs some very slight sanding but I had a long day and am satified with tonights progress (Pictures 6 and7)

Time to quit and post pictures!
Regards,
George

 

very nice

 

Thank you Kyle. I finished sectioning the p***enger side and fitting things up for the front bumper this morning. Now for 5 ft of tig joints.
Regards,
George

 

Hank from Hanksville Hotrods came by last night to help me by skillfully TIG welding my wingtips for me. Now dont get the idea that I sat around and watched. It was truly a two man job for 3 hours. I ground welds and removed chrome as carefuilly as possible to avoid taking too much material away. We both were paying particular attention to keeping the bumper face joint very flush and the arc consistent with the original bumper flow.
Hank tacked and we both looked it over. If it wasnt right ....( no one's perfect the first time) we cut the tacks, then sanded for a different fit and tried it again. When all was said and done at the end of the night, we were within a 1/16th of being the same distance from the floor to the bottom of the bumper on both ends. I have included a close up of Hank's nice welding. The next step is to do the rear bumper once I get a good 1946 unit. The first one I purchased arrived and is just too twisted to use. bummer. Now waiting on another one.
Regards,
George

PS. The bumper guys requested I leave the weld seam alone as they like to cover that detail themselves.

 

Wow! Great progress George! It's really coming along. Keep up the good work. Btw, how is the painting of the body going? I would be keen to see some more pics. Good luck. Eric.