I have been working on installing the front and rear suspension and routing the brake lines. Because I would be doing a lot of flaring, I decided to purchase a turret type flaring tool. When I first used it , I found that there was a groove on the outside of the flare. I contacted the supplier who told me that it might be caused by a cheaper copper nickel alloy. I was skeptical because I didn’t have that problem with my old double flare tool. However, since the turret tool was so much faster and easier, I got a short length of another brand of brake line. The new material didn’t have the defect. With that problem solved I routed the brake lines. I initially used a 90 degree fitting on the front caliper but I wasn’t comfortable with the routing (see left side in picture below). When I used a 45 degree fitting, the flex line was further away from the tire without going through the control arm (see right side). On the rear, I used thru-frame fittings with flex lines at each caliper to make it easier to change the brake pads.
I got the body back from the blaster and discovered lots of previously hidden opportunities. There were numerous areas that had been leaded. Many of these areas had deep cracks and scratches. I was told that when repairing lead with body filler you should use metal filled compound. I used an aluminum filled material and it appeared to work very well. Other areas had dents and holes that had been filled with body filler. I filled these with regular body filler. The two lower front cowls were too badly rusted to repair. For these I ordered replacement panels. I will weld these in at a later date. In the mean time I painted two coats of PPG epoxy primer followed with two coats of PPG high build primer. Finally, I need to recess the firewall and replace the front floorpan. I don’t have the tools to form the trans tunnel and the existing firewall has so many holes and repairs needed that I’ve decided to just purchase these parts. They are available from EMS automotive, Absolute Sheet Metal and Direct Sheet Metal. Does anyone have any experience with these suppliers or any recommendations?
Looking good Gene. What is that gizmo in the lower right corner of the last pic? And, can I borrow your new flaring tool?
Bill, The gizmo is the pump for the quick jack I use to raise the cars. It’s kind of a mini lift. The flaring tool is available anytime.
A summer of road trips slowed my progress but I have been steadily working on the car. It seems that I’m not too busy to work on the car but too busy to update my progress. Based on HK 40’s suggestion, I went with Direct Sheetmetal for the firewall and front floor. In June I cut out the old firewall. The directions say to grind off the flange on the cowl, drill out the old spot welds and cut through the welds on the firewall. After that push out the old firewall. What they didn’t mention was that after 90 years, the metal between the spot welds would fuse together and I would have to cut the seam between the firewall and the cowl. That rook a few days but I did get the firewall out. View attachment 6566873
Once the firewall was out, I welded in the new firewall and smoothed out the rough spots around the welds.
On to the new floor. Apparently the floor had been replaced a few times. Each time, the old floor was cut out except for a 2 to 4 inch where the floor attached to the rocker panel. the new floor was welded to that strip. The result was a build up of material at the rocker panels. The original floor had a step under the front seat. Since the new floor does not have the step, there was a build up that had to be pounded down to get the floor down to the frame.
In addition to straightening the step in the floor, there were several places where somehow the floor was bent up. Whatever the impact was, it was enough to bend one of the floor braces. I needed to fabricate new braces for this and where the step was eliminated. I will install these when I do the final body installation. View attachment 6567825
Go Gene, go! No fun but you'll be glad to did it 'tho no one will appreciate it because it will be covered
The new floor consisted of seven pieces (left and right floorboards, left and right toe boards, and three transmission tunnel pieces. I initially mounted each piece using sheet metal screws. The toe boards required grinding to get them to fit. Finally, I had to fabricate a transition piece out of 18 gauge steel to connect the rear of the Direct Sheetmetal tunnel to the factory tunnel in the rear floor. The next step will be to remove the body from the frame. I can then install the engine, transmission , exhaust and fuel lines. I have already welded the front floorboards in place. I plan to leave the rest of the floor with sheet metal screws holding them in place until I return the body to the frame, mount the doors and shim the body as necessary.
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