You have many skills! Though the scorned one has released the feline from a sac in post #40... I must say the grille pictured bodes that this will be a most impressive build. It is an honor to observe.
I mounted the shackles pointing up. Don't fear, with weight on them they lean the right way! Diff mocked in place to figure out the saddles I'll make. Wheels are another story.
Thanks Tony! I will try the brush and cloth. I bought 4 litres but it has been sitting here for 6 months. My chassis has been fine uncoated but now it's getting bits of surface rust so I thought better get in before it gets too bad.
Time to attack this body again. Mostly fixing shit unfortunately. First off was making a new rear floor to go over the C-notch. (I’ll have to take a pic of that) Then I thought I’d hang the passenger door (driver to most of you.) The 'good' door. That’s when the problems began…again. As mentioned, this body is a Frankenstein that someone had done ‘work’ on before. The body is 39, and has had a cut and shut of the cowl (through the A pillars and floor) with a 38 deluxe cowl etc. added on. The doors I got with it are 40. Would it all fit together? Mmm, with top taken off the door, kinda but not really, so more surgery. Now I’m no genius metal man, so I make it up as I go along. From the get go, probably via the cowl cut and shut, things were off at the A pillar so I had to do some remedial work there: You can see where the floor had been cut and some gas welding in the pillar. I got rid of all the rust, fabbed some new bracing etc. and put it back together. Now I could hang the door on. Fit okay, but the vertical gap at the front had a decent taper and the fit around the door tops would also need some clearance work. ...So I cut the reveal above the door and moved it up enough to allow a working clearance. Part ground: This will work now. And the rest of the door top roughed in:
South Texas is no place for roadsters so I HAD to compensate for those heatstroke days by installing Vintage Air ac/heat, a good top, and side curtains. And, I'm bald as a bowling ball but I love my roadster. Really enjoying your resurrection of such a unique body style. You do great work, too !
Thanks Gary. I've been in San Antonio in mid July, so I can appreciate what you're saying. Winter is great roadster weather here, but the sloper is getting a/c.
Car looks great @X38 early custom look in that photoshop suits this car very well. Look forward to the progress
Having seen your earlier posts I felt bad, that you had such a steep hill to climb. Now it is evident that you are a maestro. You are just having too much fun. Thanks for the pics.
It’s so hot and humid here that I barely have the energy to look for any other “spoiler alert” pics..... “SHERRIL !!!!! POINT THE FAN AT MY FACE AND GET ME SOME COOL GRAPES. HURRY!!!”
Now for some fun, latches! I’ve got some beefy bear-claws from our own @38Chevy454 and original Lincoln buttons. They both have to clear the glass channel inside, so after some mocking and measuring, I committed to drilling and cutting: You would have seen the new hole cut earlier, so here is the button in place: Latch mount supplied by 38chevy454 tacked in place: Coming up will be making these two dance together: In the mean time, the striker pin. But before I can fit that, I have to make this mangled mess look decent: Which came out like this:
Nice work on the latches. The force to release the latches is not much,, 2-3 lbs max. So just figure out the required linkage to transfer the motion of the pushbutton to move the release lever. BTW, you can weld to the release lever if needed.
Door buttons now function! I made up this bell crank paddle thingie to operate off the button: Looking from outside: From the door top, you can see how the button clears the glass channel and the latch and the bell crank lever (left) that will need to pull down on the latch lever (right.) Made up another direction change lever and something to mount it on the door safely below the window travel (upper and lower pivots have brass bushes): And so it is (and better still, it works!) Pop riveted in for now. They'll come out for sand blasting and later maybe plug weld to the channel. Or maybe rivets again. It's not a structural piece. Anyway it works, that's the main thing.
Is the base of the upper bellcrank/paddle welded inside the door, or bolted? Did it need to be adjustable for alignment?
It's attached to the inner door panel with two screws similar to the lower bracket. The base is tapped. Not adjustable in any significant way. I did a lot of pattern making and mocking first. It could be shimmed, but only one way obviously. The holes in the door panel and lower channel are both slotted vertically for minor adjustment. The length/position of the rod to the lower bell crank also affects the adjustment, but once determined it's pretty set.
As others have said, I too love the lines on this car - it just looks right meaning it is as if it should be/look there/ look just that way. It is very nice indeed .... IMHO it is not easy to chop a 40, coupe or sedan, and get the lines right. I think you have nailed this one and my hat is off to you. Subscribed .....
Okay, so the good door is hung, chopped and it latches. But it's not that good... So I made a repair for the B pillar end, to keep things in shape. I'll make a new bottom and end for the brace later.
Niece looking piece of work! So did you make that section from one piece of metal or several pieces welded together?
Piece in place. At this stage it's to keep the door shape. I also made a new end for the diagonal brace.
The Jalopy Journal
