Projects 60's Era Street/Strip Model A Coupe

Outstanding Brent.

 

Like Mike siad! Great stuff here.

 

Thanks, fellas. I truly appreciate it. I'm glad to be making daily progress again.

I'm making some patch pieces (never done that before) to repair the section the paint shop grinded on and another to make room for the 28/29 decklid swap. I'm waiting on a few odds and ends to wrap that up.

I have some stuff to order, one thing being a fuel tank so I can finish off the trunk set-up and fab.

So, while I wait, I will continue on little things like work the fenders a little bit, get the hood mounted and fab some latches and so on.

I don't have a list yet, I am still pecking away on obvious stuff and trying to work it section by section.

 

Patches, as they are, consume much of my time. Seems like I love/hate cutting them to fit that I seem to 'drop everything' when I spot bad Model T metal to make a patch for this place or that!
When one is right on a seam (or next to one) I want to drop everything else and attack that area with a fervor.
After the patch is fitted, tacked, and welded (I tack with my smaller Miller 175 MiG, but then turn on my Aircraft size Victor oxy-acet and make little O's, very nice on Ford sheet metal)
I can then resume what I was doing. ('A.D.D.?)

And, like you, I flat file with my 14" Mill 2nd cut file. (Lucky file, too...Almost blacksmithed it into a Bowie!)
Really liking all your bodywork, slap hammers, etc. Would enjoy working with you, as you are a smart head.

 

Making a 1928/29 Decklid fit a 1930/31: Upper rain gutter/trough modification.

I'm excited to have a lot of progress to share!

Rather than on big post, I'm going to post a couple individual posts since some of this stuff could be useful for someone searching in the future.

Since I've been working on the trunk of the car, we'll start there.

In order to fit my NOS 1928/29 rumble lid to the coupe, the upper rain gutter needed to be modified. You know when a guy is staring off into the distance and their woman is thinking, "He must be thinking about another woman" but in reality, he's thinking about that odd sound in his car? Well, my often staring-off-into-the-distance-contemplations have been about how I'd do this.

At first, I thought I might lay out some intricate cuts and bend it in place. That had been recommended to me but it seemed like too much work and also a good opportunity to mess things up and make more work for myself. So, I moved on to thinking about an easier way.

I was set to making a hammer form and making the piece but decided to buy a 1928/29 upper gutter/trough, cut the piece out and make that fit. It cost a bit more but it saved time (and trial and error).





I took my time trimming and filing back to get the piece to sit right.

Not welding makes stuff slower. I've really taken my eye health seriously but, guys, let me tell you - there are days when I'd like to just get stuff done on my own.

Thankfully, Chris Davenport (who still looks the same age as when I met him in 2008-09, haha) was able to carve out a few hours and help me with some coupe problems I wanted solved.



After tacking it in he buzzed it all in.



We were so busy going from one project to the next, I didn't take any other pics of it until I got back home. And then, with my excitement to get stuff more finished in, I only took a pic when I had cleaned up the piece.



I may finish it off more but that's actually good enough for now.

 

Model A Ford Rumble Lid Latch Patch:

A long time ago, I found this diagram on Pluck's 3-29 webpage and it came in handy because usually I send my pal Carl "napkin CAD" drawings. Hahaha. This time I could surprise him with high-tech precision.



It still needed an hour of filing and messing with to get it to fit... hahaha! So next time your pal is walking around with high-tech diagrams on a cardboard box, give him some respect (and maybe buy him a shop sketch book and a pencil ... that he won't use )





Then, up at Chris' place, he burned it in.





And at home, I cleaned it up. There's one tiny pinhole and a high spot I need to shrink but that's 2 minutes of work to get into shape.

 

Model A Trunk Beadline Repair

The back end of this body is a wee bit out of square, such is life of an 90-something year old car that's survived many generations. It's last real use was hard and that's why it ended up in an Oklahoma back 40.

When I realized it needed some love, I planned on moving it around with a Porta-Power. It doesn't need much, actually.

However, the guy at the shop that put this car in sealer ground away, for some dumb reason. It's like the saying "when you're a hammer, all the world is a nail" - except this dude has an angle grinder.





This wasn't the only stuff he wrecked on the car but I have already addressed those issues. Thankfully, this is the last.

I've never made a shaped/contoured patch piece but I was excited to give it a go. I transferred the shape to a template using some tape and sent that over to my pal, Carl, once again to make hammer forms.



I also had him a cut a few blanks.



I used the template to locate where the workpiece needed to sit.






This piece was a great first test run because I learned a lot. I trimmed off some excess material and shrunk/stretched it until it fit. I got it to fit really well.

My screw-up was that I "softened" the side that was to be hammered over. The bend was not as sharp as the piece on the body.



On piece number 2, I took what I learned and started different. I trimmed off material before beginning that matched the shape of the arc. As well, I flipped my hammer forms and hammered over a square edge.

Actually, the shape of the first patch was a little better. Since I was going to Chris' place, I left it as is, I knew it would take him 30 seconds to adjust it.

The night before I towed the car up north to his shop, I working in my own shop until 4am, preparing.

The only section I removed was the ground-down section. The beadline section I left. It could be easily cut and I didn't know how much Chris would want or how to cut it in best to fit it tight.





After this, I cleaned off spot welds and rust.

Up at the shop, Chris welded the support piece back in and then cleaned up the weld.



When I said it would take Chris 30 seconds to adjust the patch piece, I was wrong. It took about 3 seconds.



It was absolutely the right move for me to take this up to someone who does this all the time. It was fast and I learned a lot, too. He cut in the piece with snips and I had a couple ah-ha moments that I can take with me on other projects.



From here he scribed a mark and literally 2 minutes later he had his first tack in place.







Back home, I knocked down the welds with a file and lightly with the disc and dressed it up. It's a million times better. It will need a little more work in the area but nothing too bad.





Afterward, I mocked in the decklid and the gap is a little funky. This car will never be a show car but I think a few minutes with a portapower and we can get it into a little better shape. Whatever that doesn't fix, a blower on top of the 327 should make up for!

 

Re-Metalworking Model A Doorskins - Part 3!

Fellas, let me tell you. I busted my butt messing with the driver's door and I worked it to the best of my ability. Then, watching Chris do his thing and I got a real lesson. I had hours into the door, he put 15-20 minutes in and there's a legit reflection.

Here's the car first thing in the morning as I'm about to load it onto the trailer.



The door, popped off and on Chris' table.



One of the first things he did was check the contour of the door.



Above you can see the Sunchaser shrinking disc. Watching it work, I really would like to have one. It has some flex to it, which is nice.



He worked both sides.





As he worked, he'd occasionally recheck the contour.



It's now to the point that it will need a light skim coat of filler. At this point you can see even reflections and it feels so smooth. Again, in a few minutes time, I learned so much. I probably wouldn't "get it" if I didn't struggle through working on the door.

I pulled the other door and after 5 minutes, the problem areas were improved.



It was neat to take this old, beat up body back to him all these years later after he chopped it.

When I backed into the driveway, I snapped two after pics that show the doors before I pushed it back into the shop where there's no room to stand back and take a pic.





There's still a little more coming...

 

I forever appreciate and admire the skills of others...I owe some of that to my aerospace career where the engine of AC operations was the wide ranging skill sets of those making that enterprise function...sometimes you lean on others...these fields are closely related...

I enjoy so many mechanical adventures in Hotrod but many things are beyond my expertise...watching those things beyond by one who knows the ropes is just a short visit to ones expertise...Just thinking will you lift the front end off the track just enough to level the wheels one day in the near future...

I'd like to see a 3/4 shot of that happening...I feel like my rides an animal but yours looks it and will deliver same...there is a difference, even that's something to admire, peoples visions...thanks for sharing the ride...

 

Much improved

 

Toolbox Mount

This was a fun project.

A while back I watched a video of David Frieburger introducing his F-Rod Model A coupe drag car. In the video, he shows his toolbox mount and it was the perfect solution for a toolbox in my trunk. So, all credit goes to the fabricator (@SamIyam) who came up with the idea.




Images from Frieburger's YT video

Of course, I put my own spin on it.

The first thing was to find a box that would fit. I had a few in mind but I settled on this Craftsman 65013. They made a ton of these for 20+ years. This one was a great deal because it had some letters spray painted on.



When it came in, I removed the letters and now it looks brand new.

I didn't get too scientific, I took some measurements and made all the parts and pieces from scrap or bits in the hardware bins. The pins are made from clevis pins. I cut and shaped the three of them and drilled out the one for the retaining clip/pin.

I used my drill press and a flap disc to shape the pins. No lathes or fanciness... just figuring it out at like 2:30 AM, haha.

During our thrash on the Coupe, Chris welded up all the bits. At home, I finished off the fabrication and mounted it all up. I clamped everything down to test it and it works perfectly. It'll sit pretty snug in between the brackets, which is something I was curious about.





The brackets attached to the box will be painted in the same silver hammer-tone since I have some in the cabinet. I'll paint the other brackets black.

 

Super slick.

 

Question is ? Does it rattle?

I bolt toolboxes down and use canvas tool rolls. I can't stand the sound of tools and boxes moving around in the back of a vehicle. (It makes it too hard to hear parts working loose and falling off)

Looks cool though.

 

I'm sure it will rattle. It isn't going to move around though. The original example had something like felt pads on the bottom and I have room enough to put them on this one but I will have a floor mat in the trunk. Frieburger's car is so loud that it probably doesn't matter.

I am sure my coupe will have its share of other rattles, too.

 

@SamIyam came up that clever trick for David’s car. Looks good man

 

Right on! Thanks for tagging him... very cool to put a name with the work!

 

There were a few pinholes in the chop seam as well as a few cracks around the body that got repaired. I need to do a little more metalwork to finish it all off.







And one of the cracks:



The others were tiny. The cross piece under the windshield, a small top-of-the cowl piece, a missed weld on the firewall, and little stuff like that.

 

Gorilla pads are a great way to isolate items. I am actually using them to mount my mini split on my house addition! they also come in squares.



Slipstick GorillaPads CB144 Non Slip Furniture Pads/Grippers (Set of 8) Furniture Feet Floor Protectors, 2 Inch Round, Black - - Amazon.com

 

I’ve minimized rattles on stuff like your tool box mount by simply cutting either rubber fuel line or heater hose and slipping it over the male post so when installed it slightly compresses and takes up the slack and movement. Old school and HAMB appropriate!

 

One question/concern from over here. Looks like you'll lift up the right side of the toolbox, and then slide it right to pull the pins out of the left side mount.
Do the left side mount holes have enough play to allow the pins to slide out on an elevated angle? Looks like the pins may bind on the holes once the toolbox has been lifted enough to clear the right side vertical mount...

 

I screwed it down to a piece of scrap wood to test it after I got it all together and everything worked nicely. The holes are 1/16th sized up over the pins. I figured I could go bigger if needed but it all worked like a charm.

My original curiosity is how close I could keep that female bracket to the box. It works perfectly snugged up if I needed that. No issues sliding in at angle or anything. When I was figuring where I'd put the fasteners because I wanted the pins to clear the heads and was sliding the brackets together, you could tell that there'd be no issue sliding in at angle. The rounded ends of the pins allow it to start easily at angle and slide right in.

 

That's a smart idea. I figured I'd plan incorporating a pair of rubber washers on the pins on the other side, as well.

There'll be simple tools in the box, a small first aid kit (I keep one in every vehicle), and whatever other necessities so it'll be weighted enough to not make all that much racket. But with how stiff the car is, some dampening will help.

I likely won't hear much because the exhaust will be coming out from under the running boards.

 

Showing the Ugly Side: Model A Cowl Belt Line Damage Rework

We still have some "ugly" to work through.

Recently, when someone asked me, "If I could restart with a better body, would I?"

At first thought, it would have been nice but I'd still do the same major modifications. While working today, it dawned on me that this is probably the best body for me to have. I didn't want a show quality hot rod or a project that evolved into one, I wanted a thrasher. It fits. Plus, working on stuff, like today, is fun to learn.

I didn't know how to handle this little crunched area. I saved this piece, years ago, to possibly repair this section. It seemed to me that was the only way to do it. If I didn't replace it, it would have just been one of the half-dozen "character features" around the car. (We all know there will be more than a half-dozen bits of character... just humor me. )



When I was up at Chris' shop, he showed me how he'd work it out. I could finally "see" the process. Chris had worked it for a minute and it had already looked better.





I continued at home with two hammers and a piece of scrap steel. I cleaned up some of the square edges of the scrap so I could place it along the bead.



I worked the crunched area and the portion along the A pillar and got it into much better shape.



The upper line was mostly gone. I didn't realize it until I looked at the other side.



It's very close to the other side now. I'm going to make the line sharper, I just need another set of hands to help out.



Getting it to this point felt really good. A bit of weld or filler in the little creased area and it would be unnoticeable to most.

 

Things have escalated in the back of the coupe!

 

You'll never fit all that in the toolbox back there...

 

Hahaha.

 

Just re-noticed in the background of all your pictures your really cool garage! Any updates done that you’ve neglected to post over on the GJ?!

 

I knew you’d like hammers

 

Thank you. It's a good, little shop.

I'm sure the shop has changed since I last updated. I can't think of anything major, though. I went through a pretty big tool purge at some point and since then I have accumulated new/different tools as they're needed. Oh, I did get rid of my 80 gallon Quincy and I have a 2 cheap 60 gallon Kobalts (one needs tlc and it's non-op but I grabbed it for extra capacity when it's time to do the body work). Neither are hooked up/plumbed, yet.

I still haven't finished the attic, I'd like to spend a few days and get that sorted because it would help organization.

Mostly, the shop is a mess. Not for any reason than I just work while I am in there, right now.

It's too small for two project vehicles and the other one needs to go to storage when I start bodywork. If the coupe was the only thing in the shop, work would get done faster.

There are a few things that need attention, like one of the LEDs doesn't always fully light up, a speaker is blown, my side door could use a new coat of paint... and the shop could use a full-on deep clean.

All that said, I still really enjoy the shop. We have considered moving a time or two but the shop is something that keeps my feet planted here.

Haha, lately it seems like I use hammers more than any other tool.

Tim, do you have profiling skills or something?

What's funny about your comment (and true) is lately I have been looking at different old body hammer heads on eBay and considering re-handling them.