Got the drivers door working, it was hitting a bit on the striker plate thing on the B-pillar. Some careful grinding and all is good.
As mentioned before the rumble seat lid fits really bad. Or it fits ok on the right side but on the left side it sits too low and too close to the tulip panel, making it impossible to fully close. See pictures. I already adjusted the hinge as much as possible in the right direction to correct it but there just isn't enough play to get it right, and some previous owner has tried to shim between the lid and hinge with washers to get it to fit. How would you go about to correct this? Make the hole for the pivot bolt in the hinge bracket bigger to allow for more adjustment? Find other hinges and brackets and replace them to see if that helps? While thinking about this I needed something fun to do so I cut up the headlight bar and started playing around with making a hot rod style headlight bar instead.
If it is like mine, the lid itself is probably tweaked. Mine was bent backwards, not enough to see at a glance, but obvious when I was trying to fit it to the car. Mine took some bending, pie cuts and general twisting to get it to conform with the opening.
Make a template of the quarter and compare with the lid, looks to me like the lid is too flat, not enough curvature.
Let's get creative. as Wanderlust said above. Make a template of the quarter on each side. The side that is out of compliance set up some wood bucks. apply slight pressure on that side while frequently comparing both sides. DO NOT APPLY TOO MUCH PRESSURE. You will run the risk of kinking it. Do several attempts with just your body weight so you can feel the give of the metal and repeatedly check the template. Worst case you will need to pie cut it then flex it into shape and weld it back up.
And this is why I like The Hamb, didn't think about the fact that the deck lid could be twisted. Gonna try the wood buck method and see if I can get it better.
Regarding the wood buck theory: Am I supposed to try it with the lid installed on the car or with it removed?
Found a cheap radiator shell on FB marketplace just 40 minutes away so I went and picked it up this morning. Then I just had to mock it up and finish the headlight bar, nothing ground breaking but I'm happy with the result. I will most likely use some different headlights when the time comes but you get the idea.
Those deck lids are extremely easy to bend. The buck may be overthinking it. On my coupe, I adjusted mine the same way you tweak a door- by sticking something solid between it and the quarter and pushing down on it. Started at the top and worked down. Didn't take much to get it to line up with the quarter.
No. You can do it on the car. By "buck" it could be a simple 2X4 standing upright on the trunk floor and the center of the bent lid. You may want to place another piece of wood flat on the floor of the trunk to spread the force there and not chance punching a hole through possibly weak metal.
Did some deck lid adjusting with the help of some wood blocks today. Still a bit low on the curved part on the left side of the car but something moved because now it closes fine without hitting the tulip panel. Might do some more adjusting tomorrow, might leave as is, we'll see. And then just a random picture, really starting to look like a hot rod.
^^^^^ When you are satisfied with it it's done. WARNING. Now that you have "felt" how much pressure it takes to move it be careful, go slow, easy does it. patience. Looking pretty good so far on the tulip panel so show us the radius on the quarter panel.
Some pictures. Passenger side is good enough, edge along the tulip panel is good enough. Driver side still too low, thought about leaving it for now but bothers me more every time I look at it. I made a paper template of the quarter and that matches the radius of the lid so something with the hinge or hinge bracket is a bit wonky I think. Maybe I'll try and elongate the hole for the pivot bolt in the bracket, that should give me some more adjustment.
sure looks like tolerances stacked up wrong--people always say the old car fit and finish is poor-(no bodywork evidence there @top of quarter?)--not so much hinge as just metal that is diff.-
From what you are showing in these pictures you may be right. The gap between the tulip panel is tight and the lower lid and rear valance looks off. The one corner does not look too bad but when you slide the lid back it will increase that gap in the tulip panel and correct it. Then the rear valance center section would look better but the lower corners stick out past the valance and require bending them back in. You have no idea what the car has been through in its' 100 year life and even if the parts are unique from the factory. My, aren't old cars fun? Maybe I'll try and elongate the hole for the pivot bolt in the bracket, That should help. At any rate you are getting to where you want it and learning along the way.
Whatever you do just don't get frustrated. They are old cars and are not rocket science but can be frustrating. Take a break. Get a drink. Think about what you are doing or going to do. Ask questions. Have fun with it. After life is too short and you need to relax when you have the time to. Driving your creation will give you that feeling of confidence in what you acheived.
So true. It does bother me a bit that the lid fitment isn't where I want it to be but I do keep reminding myself of the fact that my main goal at this moment is to get the car to a running and driving vehicle so I can get it titled and safety inspected for road use, the deck lid doesn't need to fit perfect for that. I do have a tendency of ending up selling my cars after enjoying them for a while but a hot rod roadster have been a dream of mine for many years so I'm gonna try really hard to keep this and keep working on it for many years to come, improving it along the way.
Moving forward, I decided to leave the deck lid for now and re-installed the original B-pillar wood pieces instead of welding in box tubing. And with that, except the deck lid fitment, the body is done for now and ready for some sort of brush paint job when I get around to it. Next up is chopping windshield posts and frame, and rebuilding the front suspension and brakes.
Close enough has always been good enough to me, getting it running and stopping and on the road is always priority to keep momentum
Removed the windshield and posts today. I did cut 2 inches out of the posts but they appear to be cast aluminium so I'm gonna ask a coworker if he can try and TIG weld them next week. If it doesn't work I'll have to find some original stamped steel ones. As you can see I also painted the inner rear half of the body black.
Pulled the front end today. Ideally I would like to get a 32-36 axle, 32-34 spindles and 32-34 perches but might have to settle for just a reverse eye spring and pull out a couple of leaves. Parts are out there but prices are high here for anything that is '32 Ford compatible.
Wire brushed the front portion of the frame and sprayed on some satin black Rustoleum, the rest of the frame will also be painted as I work my way back. Once the front end is back together and installed on the car again I will pull out the engine and trans for a fresh up so I didn't bother with masking anything off when I sprayed the frame. Then I took the front spring to my workplace and pressure washed it and took it apart, tomorrow I'm gonna try and reverse it.
Went to check out a reliability run for pre-1926 cars that made a stop in my hometown today. About 90 cars, so cool seeing these in the wild so to speak.
Then I turned my attention to the front spring again. Some work in the hydraulic press at my workplace and about one hour later I had myself a lowering spring. Came out pretty good I think considering it was my first time doing this. No pictures of it but I also cut down the second longest leaf so it fits between the eyes. How many leaves can one remove from a Model A front spring before it gets too weak? 3-4 of the shortest ones? There are 10 in total now.
The Jalopy Journal
