Dash assembly is nearly done but there is a lot of wiring left to complete. Carpet is in as well as the steering column. I've been waiting for years to finally install the NOS Signal-Stat turn signal switch. I don't remember what I paid for it but I'm happy to have it for this project.
The red on black instruments from a 1946 Super DeLuxe really complements the Mercury wheel, very nice.
With the chrome "waterfall" and chrome accents and restored original radio face it looks beautiful. I like the Morgan silver dollar in the shifter.
I got the wiring behind the dash finished up just in time to go pick up the seat. It was built up, patterned and stitched by Sean Kearney of Kearney's Auto Upholstery in Redding CA using vintage leather I supplied that was harvested from some furniture that had been in the family.
The doors are mounted and the door and kick panel cards are ready to go. My goal at the beginning of the year was to have Howland done in time for the Midnight Mass car show at the end of July - less than 6 weeks away now. Time is tight, so I'm going to have the upholstery shop finish the door and kick panels while I work on the quarter and rear panels. I still have tons left to get done and it is going to come down to the wire. I know there are strong opinions on door card material. The upholsterer said he normally uses ABS plastic. I asked what he'd accept that was a non-plastic alternative (trying to minimize plastic in the build) and we agreed on 1/8" hardboard / masonite.
Progress update: The rear seat area panels are done. Quarter window garnish and glass installed. The vent window rubber seals have been modified. The vent window frames haven't been rechromed yet due to the cost and lead time (including the bumpers). That will have to be a Winter project. I had to mill glass edge seal mounting slots in the divider bar that I had mirror-imaged since I had 2 drivers side parts and no passenger side part. Chopping the top was the easy part. All of the fiddly work modifying and fitting all the garnish moldings, glass, seals, felts, glass run channels etc. has been the real time sink.
I have been following your project and can't wait to see the finished vehicle. You are so correct about a chop, the chop is easy, it's all the little things that take the time, but will be well worth it when you are done! Beautiful job!!
Been following and it’s looking great, I think your color choice is spot on. Can’t wait to see finished shots.i hope my painting advice helped. Frank
Thank you! I have a 4 week deadline to get it done, or at least done enough, so the finished photos better be soon.
Your painting advice has been very helpful, thank you. The paint will be fine when I'm done buffing. I wish I had spent the time and money on some extra paint and done a bunch of practice panels before jumping in. I would have saved both time and money in the long run. I'm going to sand and re-spray the rear fenders. I did them first and a re-spray should get them on par with the rest of the car.
It just takes reputation to build muscle memory. Back in 1958 I painted a light blue metallic station wagon be fore I went home and we had a cold front come in and the metallic in the paint all the metallic settled and it looked like a Dalmatian the next day I got to take reducer and wash it off. Thats when I learned about hot cupping the paint in cold weather.
I straightened the skirts and got them painted along with the respray of the rear fenders. I stripped the running boards and got them primed in epoxy. Once fully cured I'll glue down the new rubber. It's been 105 deg. F here so I figured it was a good time to work on the 1946 air conditioning. When I bought the car it came with no cowl vent parts. I cobbled together parts from different cars but the actuation mechanism is not correct for the car and required modifications to work. The car should have a driver's side offset actuator to clear the radio but all I could get a hold of was a center mount version. It will work ok until I can find the correct parts.
Deep into final assembly. Getting the front sheet metal to line up again has been a challenge, especially with Ford's diabolical hood hinge design. Teaser photo:
Thanks! I was considering chroming the whole grill insert, but after getting a quote to re-chrome the bumpers I gave up on that - shocking price and lead time. I think that would be too much chrome anyway. But it is a little monochromatic being just body color. So I think I'll try making some polished stainless shells to cover the 3 inner bars on each side. I'm going to wait on that until after it is on the road.
Trunk lid is on and gapped and the cable release is hooked up. The weatherstrip provides enough spring to pop the trunk open when the cable release is pulled in the cab. I used a PTO cable which is pretty stout. The force required to operate the stock latch is not small. The trunk interior will be a future project.
So right you are about hood alignment on '41-'48 Fords, it can drive you crazy. I know this is a little late, but complete instructions on hood alignment, with illustrations, can be found on the Van Pelt's and Mark's 1941-1948 Parts web sites.
Thanks! I looked at the glass install instructions on Van Pelt but I didn't think to look for hood alignment. The hinges are a neat design for complex motion, but it is not intuitive to adjust.
The rear fenders are mounted along with the bumper and overrider / tail light assembly. The tail lights are Guide B-31 accessory / reverse light housings with adapted Do-Ray (stop) and Saf-T-Ray (Tail) red clearance light lenses. The stop bulbs are twice the wattage of the tail light bulbs, but that doesn't come through well in the photo. Trivia on the California YOM plate. In 1945 and 1946 - just after the war, California only issued 1 plate. They had left over 1945 plates so in 1946 they issued 1945 plates with the yellow 46 bolt on tag that covers the 45 on the plate. California requires a front plate for all cars, except 1945 and 46 cars with YOM plates. How many times do you think I'll be pulled over for not having a front plate?
6 months ago I had plenty of time, now I have less than a week before my self imposed Midnight Mass car show deadline. The good: The 2 shakedown runs went well. Very tame road manners and cruises at 70 with ease. Stays at 180 degrees. I made some sacrifices on the chassis straying from strict period correctness and I beg forgiveness and will spare the details here. But it was for a good cause - I wanted driving effort and comfort to be such that my wife and I can drive the car into even older age. An oil leak from the distributor was fixed with a new gasket. The speedo was pretty accurate when checked with GPS until the speedo cable broke. It was new and I probably was supposed to lube it. All the other gauges are working good after tuning up the fuel sender. The bad: The front main seal leak has returned. I can't be bothered with it now and hope it will remain a slow leak until Winter when I can figure it out. A door latch spring broke during final assembly of the drivers door. So that side is stalled until I can hopefully get a replacement spring. I had the upholsterer make up the door and kick panel covers since I was running out of time. I had run out of the vintage leather so he ordered vinyl that he thought was a good match. Turns out it wasn't but they are all stitched up. I'm still working on a solution but it might not be quick enough for the show. The passenger hood trim hole locations were messed up from the factory. They weren't even in a line. I think the panel must have shifted when it was stamped. I could have welded up and re-drilled the holes during fabrication when the issue was found, but it would have added a lot of heat into an otherwise straight panel. Besides that after final assembly the trim still might not have lined up. So I made offset clips to get everything lined up using the factory holes. The offset starts at 1/4" at the cowl and tapers to 1/8" at the front.
I scored a pair of '46 Lincoln gauges for our '46 Tudor. They look great with red accents and the dash bezels only needed minor machining to make them fit. The added bonus was the turn signal arrows and the 110 mph speedo.
I gotta tell you that I'm not a big fan of chopping later model V-8s, from say 1940 to 1948, but you hit the ball out of the park with your car. I know it's chopped but it doesn't look like it, great job!
The Jalopy Journal
