The passenger side quarter window is nearly finished - just have trim holes to fill. Internal structure at the chop cuts has been welded up. The rear cab structure has been tacked in place. This structure braces the catwalk and window frame as well as provides mounting for the interior panels that will replace the back seat.
Ongoing trim hole filling and metal finishing. Passenger side window trim holes filled. Driver's rear fender. Like the front fenders, the trim ledge has been rolled smooth. 2 of the 22 holes in this fender filled. Flattening the trim ledge cause a ripple at the leading edge that had to be worked out. Before / after. The cage nuts in the roll pan were removed and holes filled. I won't be using the filler panel between the roll pan and bumper. The trunk lid fit / gaps have been massaged.
Sprayed epoxy primer and 2 coats of urethane primer today on the first batch of parts. I already painted the back surfaces of the fenders satin black to match all the other inner surfaces. I don't have much room for painting so there will be 2 or 3 additional batches following this one.
Finally sprayed some color on the first batch of parts after weeks of prep. I'm a novice when it comes to spraying and I'm still learning the lines between orange peel, nice flat finish, and runs, so of course I got all 3. It is single stage paint and I'll be color sanding anyway since I don't have a sanitary area to spray so it should turn out OK. I made a lot of work for myself when I decided to use the english wheel to remove the trim line step that ran the length of the fenders. Flattening that out step pushed metal everywhere and the fenders are surrounded by flanges so the shape changed a lot. Getting the new shape to blend, especially at the ends, was a challenge. If I was to do it again, I'd probably cut the step out and weld in a new piece. Seemed like more work up front, but in the long run I think it would have been less. Either way, I like the look a lot better without the step. I'm happy with how the light frenching panel integrated into the front of the fender.
I hadn't seen this before, so I read it all at once just to see what my '48 could possibly look like. I was with the 5 tooth bunch but what you've done is much better. You have an excellent eye for detail. Who made the paint and what color green? I'm asking because I have everything to paint mine Dark Jade Green Metallic and yours looks to be close in color.
Thank you! The paint is Summit Racing single stage urethane, British Racing Green color. Being a novice painter and going for a traditional look, I felt more confident with non-metallic single stage paint.
Put your 1st coat on and wait for it to tack. Touch it with a finger to see if your fingered sticks it should be sticky not wet. Then your 2nd coat can be applied as you spray pay attention to how the paint lays down over lap the next pass by half the with of the previous pass. I always start from the bottom up watching each coat burn into the previous pass. On flat surfaces like the roof and hood I start at the lower edge of the hood work my way up to the middle and go to the other side and start in the middle overlapping my last pass in the center of the hood down to the other edge, same way with the roof so you don’t have any dry spots wait for it to tack before you can put your final coat on. When you reduce your paint use a zap cup to determine the proper viscosity or stir paint and pull the paddle out of the paint and watch the bubbles as the paint drains off the stir stick into the paint, No bubbles paint needs reducing 6 to 8 bubbles is what you are looking for. At this point spray a test panel to see how it lays down no orange peal. You can always add a little more reducer . Till it sprays out nice. Remember to always let it tack or you will have a run. A SLICK PAINT JOB IS A CONTROLLED RUN. I love your work Frank.
Thanks Frank, I appreciate the advice, especially about the reducer. I didn't use any reducer because the instrutions for the paint discouraged it. For the next batch of parts I'll do the experiments you suggested and try the bubble trick. There is such a huge investment in prep I tend to get nervous when it comes time to spray the final color. hopefully with more experience I'll be more collected.
I think my 3rd car was the fat fendered 46 coupe...Love this look and what a fantastic job your doing...
Thank you. "A SLICK PAINT JOB IS A CONTROLLED RUN". That took a while to sink in - very insightful and helpful way to think about what is going on as the paint is laying down.
Small diversion from painting to get the seat ready to go to the upholstery shop. I'll do the stitching on the flat panels but the seat is beyond my pay grade and I am fortunate to have a really good old school shop nearby. The seat frame was in very good condition except for a missing and a broken pivot pin on the driver's side back. Beneath the aftermarket seat cover is the original upholstery. Here is the before picture - after will be at least month out. Can it be a traditional build without at least 1 piece of rebar? New pivot pin tacked in place. Base frame and sliders re-conditioned.
Hood and trunk lid finished. I used a larger gun for the urethane primer which helped it lay out flatter before sanding and I used 10% reducer with the paint along with some technique upgrades. Some improvement from the first batch with room for much more.
Photos of paint drying aren't all that interesting, but that's where this project is. Latest batch of parts:
It was time to finally tackle the windshield glass template and chop the center bar and garnish moldings. I ended up tearing the gasket where the windshield template was too tight. Better to work it out now before I'm working with finished paint and real glass. With everything fitting now and a new gasket on order, time to get the cab in paint. I cut the 1 piece gasket at the center bottom to fit the chopped window opening. This new 3 way joint will be under the center bar. Interior trim fit. Chopped garnish molding.
Question for the 46-48 Ford experts - the people who noticed I have the interior center bar behind the garnish moldings at the bottom instead of outside the moldings. In the image below, there is a knob in the green circle. What is this control for? When I bought the car it was a stripped shell and I don't have these parts.
I wire wheeled the undercoating in the wheel wells and found some vintage spot welded patch panels. They are well done and I'll leave them as-is. Part of the history and soul of the car. Getting a little better at painting, but I can see how getting good takes talent and years of experience - both of which I'm lacking. But, I'm happy with how straight the metal work shows under the paint.
Starting to get into some assembly. The windshield glass is installed. I painted the garnish moldings and made new ones for above the door. I didn't have the original style pieces and I don't think they'd work well anyway with the vinyl headliner. I restored a Mercury steering wheel and painted it to match the interior. The dash is stock except the ashtrays have been filled. Just started working on the quarter and rear window areas. I bought the headliner which was made from a stock pattern so some mods have been necessary, of course, for the chop.
Progress report - The engine was completely rebuilt and has about 5 hours on it now. Last time it ran, it developed a large oil leak from the front crank seal. I've used these 1 piece seals before without issue but this one failed. The pulley has a Speedi-Sleeve so the running surface is good. I had to pull the engine to get the pan off and replace the seal. I'm guessing I nicked the seal during assembly and it finally tore. The speedometer was full of mud dauber nests from storage with the dash lights removed. I cleaned it out and it functions fine. Those are the original miles on the car. I made a panel for the inside of the firewall for the electrical stuff. I picked up factory holes in the firewall. Funny that I didn't hesitate to chop the car, but I refuse to drill a hole through an unmolested firewall. Wiring underway. I will use the stock ignition switch which will only run the relay which powers all the ignition hot circuits. The voltage regulator is for the Mopar alternator and the upper left device is the voltage drop for the 6 volt gauges. Engine reassembled and wiring complete. Test run on the engine showed no leaks and the oil presure, ammeter, and temp gauges work, although I ran the wire through the ammeter backwards so it reads opposite.
So far, I've liked everything you've done, with the exception of that re-bar pivot pin. Re-bar is extremely brittle because of the amount of carbon in it. Welding re-bar is not a good thing. Under stress, the re-bar will crack right next to the weld, so if you throw your weight against the seat back (stress), you might find yourself laying in the back seat.
Thank you, I'm glad you like the project. You are correct that A615 "S" grade rebar is generally considered to not be weldable, but A706 "W" grade is. The stock Ford pin broke loose at some point in the past so I'm not sure it is the best design. Hopefully I'll stay upright in the front seat!
A little more progress: The back window is in. I had to modify the gasket slightly on the inside since there is now a near vertical panel in place of the package tray since the rear window was moved forward quite a bit. I hope to get a little more tension in the headliner when the quarter windows go in. I made some pieces to square off the ends of the rear seat platform to eliminate what would be weird area for the carpet and quarter trim panels. There won't be a back seat.
The Jalopy Journal
