Now that I've fixed up the quarter panel corners and patch panels I'd like to work on some damage where the roof and trunk lid meet and where the roof joins the quarter panels. These seem to be common areas for 5 windows to crack. Mine was brazed back together at some time and then recracked. I think I'll have to cut out the pieces but I'm not sure what would be the best way to do the repairs. Does anyone make patches for the area where the beltline and trunk corner meet? Or does anyone out there have a "parts" body with usable pieces? Here's a pic with the areas marked. This isn't my body.
Look at the new Rod and Custom there is an article where they replace that very section in a 32 5 window. Dave
amen, I just got this, its hit bad but it will get fixed. its sad to say but , we are well past "parts cars" now. its too bad, this was a rust free body.
DKcoupe...I think you'll be making patch panels... but based on the repairs you did to the rear quarter tips, you'll do a great job. My own 5w has stress cracks and thin spots all over. It'll be a major re-do....someday. My 3w is much better and will done first. happyhoppy... that's some serious damage!! I'm thinking that who ever did the chop on that car wasn't much of a welder, considering that every one of his welds let go. I think you'll be looking for a parts car to attach some of the crashed car to.
The package tray that was origionally in these coupes helped prevent that stress crack. Provided cross bracing from within. Does your coupe still have the package tray in it?
its a 2dr, the pass. side quarter along with the door jam poped out.. no blood in the car so we imagine whoever was in the car is alright. the steering wheel is even bent from the persons death grip. pure speculation but we think the initial impact was at the front passenger side. the car spun around and plowed its ass end into a tree... hoppy found chunks of tree bark. moreover... its repairable, minus the back of course. the sedan is genuine henry ford and other than the severe damage, the metal is cherry
That thing is a tudor! Man it got hit so bad they made it look like a fordor. Shame to see that... Woody
Welcome to the World of Early Ford Coupes---Two of my 30 A Coupes have the same sort of damage...One is badly repaired, but, hey!--they torched the back end out to make a truck out of it during the Big War...(parts car...unless I can find the parts that got torched out...)... BTW, This one did have the package tray still intact, so not sure if having that intact would have made any difference or not....The other one is cracked on the feature line also--This was my repair method..for what it's worth... ....I cleaned out the cracked area...(sand-blasted it)....and then did an Oxy-acetylene weld on it...I hammer-welded it with a custom made dolly to preserve the feature lines...(Just a few passes on the Bridgeport mill with the appropriate radius cutter--any shop can make up one of these for you in probably 15 minute's time...)...and then did a Tool and Diemaker's "Kiss and a promise" metal finish job with a flat bastard file... A little pick and file work later--It didn't turn out to be a bad repair...You'd never know it was even cracked, let alone repaired.......No filler, no bondo, no lead....(This was on the butchered Coupe with 2" chop that I assembled with parts from 16 other Model A coupes...) Back in my misguided youth....(I was 20, had a Great paying job (Special Machinery Builder) after my first 2 years of college... and just got my own O-A welding outfit)...Back then, I did a lot of brazing on the rusted junkers that we have here in Michigan.... Don't knock brazing...It works, kinda, better in the floor pan area rather than on a body panel that shows....especially if it's severely rusted...try doing a nice O-A or MIG/TIG when it's really rusted out... Then I taught myself how to hammerweld after reading the article in R&C.... I'm thinking that if you can cut out the brazed area---( Minimally, with a die grinder with a good carbide burr --that works well)...(bronze goes right into the pores of the steel and it's damn near impossible to remove 100%)...you can make up the necessary patch, either you or a trained professional... and then weld them in...with your method of choice--O-A, MIG, or TIG... Looks like you're doing a dandy job....Good Gawd Almighty!!! !!!...I hate it when they welded on the fenders when they did a channel job...
Same damage happened to my buddy Ed's 29 Tudor...He had a 3 Axle Dump Truck with attached trailor Fail to Yeild the Right of Way...He saw it coming and he was able to make a defensie action and spun it around to avoid a head-on and put the back and passenger's side in Harm's Way. The truck driver offered to buy the car on the spot....he also got the ticket... Ed just had PL & PD.... ....But he was able to save it with a few panels from a rusted out parts car he got for $200 and my Lincoln SP-100 MIG welder....luckily his fender damage was just a broke in two 'glass fender that he 'glassed back together for a temporary repair... Your car, I'm afraid, is going to just cost a little bit more...anything 32 always seemed to cost 2 times as much as anything Model A....
So what does a ball of metal that used to be a 32 ford go for? Did the welds at the chop split, or were those cuts from the fire dept when they extracted people? It looks like the windsheild frame is the only straight part left to use as a reference point. At least the car will be saved from that awful paint and wheels. Maybe the sedan committed suicide.
The bodies started cracking there not long after they were new. Ford used to have a system in place via the dealers for reinforcing them, It was as you say a very common problem. When I brought my 5w back from the dead I had to replace the areas you have circled on both sides. I just made up some patches in fresh metal and tigged them in. The chances of it recracking now I think would be slim if you have a stiffer chassis, not to mention the better standard of roads! I remember reading Ford used to pay the dealers 3hrs a patch to spotweld it in place and refinish the body....
Thanks for the compliment Tinnman. Those rear corners only curved in 2 directions so they weren't too hard to figure out. These will be lot's tougher but it sounds like a couple of those ideas are worth a try. I went and got the R & C today and yep that is what I need to do on the sides. I agree about those wheelwells, but that's not my car. I just used the pic to show where the damage is. Here's some pics of the bad areas on mine. By the way, speaking of parts bodies, here's what I started with.
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