Projects 39 Ford Conv build (update 2/24/26)

Thank you sir. There are many folks on here much more talented than myself. They push me to try to do things better each time.

 

Brother....you KNOW you can work some sheet metal !!!
GREAT WORK.......
6sally6

 

Just a little update on some progress. I did a little bit of finessing on the sheet metal here and there.

 

I rented a big compressor for last weekend so I could get the rest of the body sandblasted inside and out. Not a fun job, but just part of it I guess.

 

Monday I decided to take the day to get some epoxy primer shot on the sandblasted areas to keep everything protected. I used black PPG EPX epoxy on the cowl section and the rear wheel wells and some Sherwin Williams industrial epoxy on the rear floor/interior metal as well as underneath. I then used some white EPX on the inside of the firewall area because I’m planning on painting that area with a Wimbledon white eventually. It will make it much easier to see under the dash when working under there.

 

Wow, that's beautiful metal work Ron. Speaking of painting the underdash area white to help see better...My buddy just finished his roadster build (the Kenny G roadster that competed for AMBR this year). He added an adhesive strip of led's to the bottom inside of his cowl. Invisible until the flip of a switch, then suddenly his underdash area was lit up like a film set. I'm thinking I might copy that idea.

 

Thanks. Those lights would be pretty cool, as long as you could get them in the right color temp. 3-4k would probably work. l wouldn’t want anything much whiter than that though.

 

Just AMAZING WORK!!!!!!!!

 

That metal finish looked too nice to paint. Great job! I think the worst part of sand blasting is getting all the sand out afterwards

 

Outstanding metal work ! thanks for the update!

 

Thanks. I agree, getting the sand out is tough. That’s the main reason I left the tail pan off until after I blasted it. It made it a ton easier to blow it out the back. I still have a good bit of metal work left to do, but I’m planning to get the body setting down on the frame before I put the rumble lid back on. Then I can finish the work around the opening. And then there’s the doors……lol. I’m a long ways from having a car but hopefully I’ll get there one day.

 

Just outstanding!

 

Just dropping a few pics of some things getting done on the ol 39. After getting the epoxy on the inside of the body, I found some time to attack the lower quarter patches. I caught a pair of patches on sale, and even though these are not a real complicated piece, it only made sense to lay out a little cash to save some time. These were actually a pretty close fit as delivered. Just had to do a little slicing and dicing.
Worked on the left side first, then on to the right side.

 

Sorry for the duplicate pics. Posting all this from my phone sometimes bites me in the rear.

 

I initially thought I would weld the tail pan in first and then weld in the square patch on the rear deck last, but changed directions. I will do the tail pan last.

 

I finally decided it was time to get the floor welded into the body so I caught a little window of time over a weekend and a Monday to do just that. Long ago, I bought the main floor pan from Drake and picked it up in Louisville at the Nats. There was some difference on the underside of the floor in the seat mounting areas, so I cut part of the old reinforcements out and trimmed them up so I could graft them in between the later style braces.

 

After getting those areas tidied up, I went on to modify the front part of the trans tunnel. I’m going to weld the section of tunnel I cut from the floor to the original front floor removable section. I added a reinforcing piece of 18 gauge across the rear of the opening and also a second layer up both sides and spot welded those in. This will give the removable portion a place to land and fasten to.

 

Finally, it was time to slide the floor up into the rockers from underneath while the body was on the lift. I had already drilled all the holes around the perimeter of the rockers where I would be plug welding from the top side. Got the floor positioned and clamped in place so I could cleco it to the body in a half dozen places. Rolled the frame in place and lowered the body down onto the frame. Once in place, I slid temporary cushions and shims between the floor and frame while temporarily bolting it all up snug to the frame. No pics of some of this but there’s not much to see there anyway.

 

That’s pretty much where I’m at for now. Sure felt good seeing it on the ground with the body on, even though it’s only temporary.

 

Great work Ron...that's going to be a killer car!

 

Thank you sir. Your outstanding work keeps me motivated.

 

Awesome! Yes indeed, that’s what keeps me plugging away, although ever so slowly. I took one of my granddaughters to Louisville this past year, and she was checking out all the 39’s and 40’s. She said, PawPaw, you gotta put flames on the 39! Then her Grammy said, yes, black with flames. Guess that settles that. Lol

 

How much did you chop the w/s frame?

 

Nice progress...looking great..

 

Really nice work on the quarters and floor Ron. I wish I had all of those stock floor reinforcements for my CS.
Thanks for updating your thread!

 

Thanks. I did not even realize they were different than the closed cars until I flipped the new floor pan over. Luckily, there was enough of the originals left to salvage them.

 

My floor had no braces at all, Im sure it was a drake part. I made the longer ones and reused the shorter ones. The bit you added I ***ume is extra bracing for Cabs? Really nice work, those rear quarters went in really well