Projects 1950 Ford Business Coupe build

All right, here it goes.
Was gifted a 1950 Ford business coupe project a year ago.
These were a few pics from the 90s

 

Over the years it had been disassembled stripped and primered. The rockers had been replaced as had the lower 1/4s. Not great work but I decided to leave it as is.
Also sitting in it was a small block chevy and trans along with a Jamco front end.
I pulled the engine an transmission, sprayed the firewall and engine and front frame. I then dropped it all back in.

 

Go on, you've got my attention.

 

Once the engine and trans were back in I painted and added sound deadening to the floor, roof and firewall.
I had heard the car was left outside in primer on occasion over the last 20ish years of storage so I decided to tackle the main body.
As i expected under the primer on the flat surfaces I found rust under the epoxy.
I stripped the roof and 1/4s back to the filler in the rear 1/4s. I could tell from the inside that the 1/4s had some sub par repairs. This however is a budget job and I know if I stripped the 1/4s I would end up making new ones. This would also lead to chopping and sectioning and turning it into a long term build I'm not prepared for. I stripped a little of the bondo back in s few places and the metal under it looked clean.
A few coats of Ospho and it was into epoxy.

 

I'm surprised that some people, who don't understand the term "hot rodding", and what it used to mean, aren't complaining about a Chevy in a Ford.

 

I chased a few spots blocked the epoxy with 180 and spyayed a coat of high build primer.

Blocked the high build with 180 quickly followed by guide coat and blocked with 320.
I only intended to epoxy the car and spray the jambs especially since it was windy and raining but I got carried away and ended up spraying the roof and 1/4s as well. It is a solid dark blue Aston Martin color from the 50s (3 coats single stage color, 3 coats with color/clear mix) The car was then tucked away for the winter.

 

Next I cleaned up the engine sheet metal.
Sand blasted, ospho, fix rust holes or cracks, seal with epoxy, paint and install.

 

I pulled the dash out of storage.
Made a frame to hold it. I stripped it and painted it with a Dodge color called Cool Vanilla.
I also decided a nice touch would be custom knobs made of laminated plexiglass. Further I added a 2" tach where the clock would be.
The knobs required layered plexiglass clamped ever 2 pieces. This was made int a block. The block was then milled square. The assembly was then placed in a 4 jaw chuck and a round end turned on it. I could then place it in a collet chuck and turn the rest of the piece.
Once round the knobs could be turned from that blank.
The dash is currently out for pinstripe.

 

With the dash done the only other panel I has was the trunk.

I decided to shave it.
Under the primer I of course found rust.

 

I delt with the rust by treating it with ospho.
Cut out the inner so I could metal finish the license plate fill patch and painted epoxy on the trunk.

 

Little flatwork and high build, then into paint.

 

Next on the chopping block was the doors.
Shaved the lock and added Fiat door handles. The door handles required fabricating a new ush button and means of actuation the latch. I will modify the latch later.

 

Plus you've been up since 4:00 this morning! ???

How about a quick outline for the finished product?

 

Yea! 4 AM is the usual.
Lounge, clean up, feed and walk dog, coffee, get to the shop, don't get enough done, leave between 5-8pm.

Overall, what you see. Blue with white engine bay, pleated white interior. Hopefully the mags I have well fit or I'll have to get some new rears.
Pics below. Just a cruiser.

 

Great color choice.

 

Looks good, gotta love a '50 coupe. HRP

 

Looking good! Great build!

 

I'm following for sure!

 

Looks like you’re getting off to a great start. Gotta love the coupes.

 

Excellent.
I love an old business coupe.

I like your section by section approach.

Now let me ask...
You were finding rust under the primer. Was it epoxy primer or polyester? I think you said epoxy? I thought epoxy primer doesn't allow rust to form. Maybe it was there when the primer was applied.

 

Bidness coupes make my wee wee tingle!

 

Epoxy was applied by another shop probably in the 90s. As the car waited to be worked on by various shops it often sat outside. My guess is it was a combination of factors. Old rust not properly removed and moisture getting through the epoxy when left in the elements. I use epoxy as a place holder after metal finishing but would not trust if to hold out long exposure to moisture. In a shop I wouldn't worry.

CRAP! maybe I should change this to a for sale ad. Lol

 

Nice work and great progress.
Subscribed.

 

The way I look at it as long as it gets back on the road and is being enjoyed who cares what is powering it. Heck if I could get my grandkids under the hood to peddle the thing down the road I’d do that

 

I’m wanting to put a set of these on my 51 woody but polished. I love these wheels!!!

 

Someone could complain if they wanted but I'm not redoing work I don't have to. I'd like a 4-5 speed, but I'm not going through the effort on this build, the set up is the set up. If I really like the car and my wife agreed (she is a bit afraid of the 390, 4 speed AMX) I can always swap in a 4 speed later but Im building something she is willing to jump in and drive.

Sealed the doors with epoxy after blocking the high build on Monday night, painted them yesterday. Quick buff this AM and installed the door handle. Then modified the latch. I'll take it home tonight.

 

Following this build now. Agree, there's no point in getting into areas that will push the road use back several years. Keep at it.

 

Agreed. The 350 was installed. I would have liked an old flat head but the chevy makes it more usable but adds difficulty in installation. Stock manifolds (still need to figure out the left on (hopefully 80s chevy truck will work).
I would have considered putting in the 5.0 5 speed I had for a Galaxy 500 project, that died before completion, but I sold it a year or 2 ago.

 

Buffed the 2nd door and put a coat of epoxy on a couple bumper fillers.

 

The “some people” are people of the land....
You know.....
Morons.