I got the trunk lid latch mount roughed in for the roadster. I used bodyman in a can (long strand fibergl*** filler), and the new latch, covered with waxed masking tape to make the fillet. Tomorrow I’ll smooth it up with some filler, prime and paint it using the can of Testors blue enamel I used on the model I built if the ca a couple years ago. Close enough for the underside of the ‘gl*** deck lid. I’ll have to make a striker, the one that came with the latch won’t work with my car.
Looks like something I wouldn’t be showing the world, fairly competent body man fabricator could’ve done that in sheet metal…
Brian: Don't let the "nay sayers" upset you. What you did is just fine and dandy. Be sure and post photos when its finished and painted.
“…a fairly competent bodyman…”? That is about the most ignorant thing I’ve had anyone say about this, or any car I’ve built. Right up there with “I hope you didn’t put a Chevy motor in that thing”. And, “…did you buy that new?”. Since you felt compelled to show your ***, I’ll explain to you, like you’re a 5 year old, that this is, aside from being UNFINISHED, on the underside of the deck lid. On a car that’s fibergl*** bodied. I’m not the guy who puts the hood up, trunk up, doors open at a car show, with a model of the car on the air cleaner and a stuffed animal in the seat. It will be smoothed, finished and painted, and while it’s not in the original configuration, it will work just fine and look good. Good God man.
Unless someone was in the trunk, it’s not likely going to be where one’s head will hit it. I never planned to have a latch, the Austin Healey handle I mounted too close to edge of the lid, so wouldn’t work in the original spot, in between the inner and outer deck lid skins.
Anything that makes a car more useful is a win. I've liked this car since day one...it just keeps getting better!
Good on you! Solved the problem you previously posted about the AH handle being in the wrong place. “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Thanks for the pics, I have that task to do on my gl*** '32 project. You can bet there will be longstrand filler used in the process.
I'm not a body man....I am a leg man.... my buddy has a '29 A that is a gl*** car and he ran the Texas Mile in it....first run....the trunk flew open...he exceeded the holding strength of the cabinet latch magnet when he hit 77 mph....good thing to have a secure trunk latch in my mind...I like it
I was looking at the large chunk of filler/gl*** whatever and didn’t notice that the deck was gl***, actually you need to be looking for it to see that it’s gl***. But I also fabricate in fibergl*** casting parts and lying then up with cloth and mat and other than fabricating in metals I stand by my statement..
Close enough. It’s almost Ford tractor blue, which might be closer than this. I’ll try a rattle can of that, and I struggled to get the striker positioned, tomorrow is another day.
The joys of having to get creative with 'gl***! I have a gl*** 32 roadster BTW. What you've done should latch OK but will the handle actually lock? Just in case you didn't realise, you have the newly installed mechanism the wrong way around. In stock form it goes between the skins with the round tower against the inside of the outer skin. The notch is for the engagement of the tang that comes out when the key is turned, locking it. I guess you could kind of replicate that action with the way you have it though. Just a square notch filed in the 'gl***. Might be strong enough? Otherwise a holed and notched steel plate ( sheetmetal) bonded to the inside might help, but the thickness of the 'gl*** skin might make that not possible. Like I said, the joys of it! But locking a roadster, what an oxy***** ! Chris
As a "competent body man fabricator" with 48 years under my Hat; I'd say that you done good Brian. Finish it and drive the Hell out of it. Have a Great Winter. VR&C.
The handle is keyed to lock, and does. I have make a striker, the Model A one that came with the latch won’t work the way I made the body brace from the rear pan to the floor. I’ll get it tomorrow.
........ posts like this one are the reason that I don't post pictures of my car on here. Being one of the older boomers on here, I became a car nut in the latter half of what we consider to be the "traditional period". I can ***ure you that the majority of cars built in that period were not built by "fairly competent body man fabricators" as judged by today's standards. They were done by teenagers and young adults using their skills and available/affordable tools. I still build that way, sometimes not the prettiest but always safe and functional.
FWIW, but you may already know it. Or for those who don’t. The latch mechanisms are made in two different thickness’s. One for trunks, and one for rumble lids. The difference is the just in the round part that sticks out from the latch body. It has to do with the stamped relief on the INNER panel according to Kenny at B’ville. Unfortunately I can’t remember which is which ( CRS), but I know I got the thinner one from Brookville. The thinner one may give you a little noggin clearance when the lid is up. But if you’re a quick learner, one close encounter with the latch will be enough!!.
I’m glad I’ve given you all plenty to cackle about, I looked through some of my old work photos and I couldn’t find what I was looking for but the way I have done something similar is to build with a foam board I got from a local green house down the road. It was easy to glue up and shape then finish it with filler and feather fill. When It was done it would look like it was reddy for paint but I would cast it and make a mold getting a few inches of the inner deck as well. There’s a couple ways to retrieve the mold and then prep and cast the part but that’s the way I have done it for over forty years. I started doing fibergl*** hoods after reading an article in Hotrod in the late seventies. I’ve made hoods, deck lids, bumpers and countless small parts. Good luck with your chunk of Bondo and Duro Gl***…
Well that’s a left handed compliment if I ever heard one. And, if you’re left handed, too bad. I happen to be ambidextrous so it doesn’t bother me. You can brag all you want about all the cool stuff you’ve built perfectly, and insinuate that my work is ****e because I didn’t do it how you’d have done it. But since we can’t see all of your fabulous work, and my stuff is here, lumps, warts and all, unedited and in “real time”, I don’t think your critique amounts to ****e. so, have a nice day, we all hope to get up to your level. (Edit: since we’re patting ourselves on the back, my T’bird custom, with a tonneau cover I made from sheet metal and conduit, and it’s two piece skirts made with a shrunken-stretcher from HF and a my homemade brake. I can make anything.)
Exactly. I’m 71, I’ve always built cars on a budget that most guys would laugh at. It hasn’t been until I retired and built this with s****s left over from my DeSoto wagon project that I could spend money on exotic stuff like the chrome suspension for this. Bought from Speedway’s “Garage sale” section for $.50 on the retail dollar. There’s a place in this hobby for owner-built cars, and we all have different skill sets and levels of satisfaction.
It’s a wrap. Latches, locks, unlocks as it should, with parts from early Fords, British sports cars and cabinet parts from the hardware store. Upside down and backwards . To you all who told me I was doing it wrong, whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.
The Jalopy Journal
