Well I am going to dive in and start a thread about my Model A project. This is what I am starting with. This is the first after market panel I have ever installed and the first on the project. As in "Flops" thread I had to use part of what I had cut out but re-worked the part of the panel I used instead of making a new piece as he did. You can see by the pics the area needing repair, sub-rail damage,repair and paint, the part of the panel I re-worked and used (if you look at the curve of the bead it does not match the original at all), the cut off part re-tacked, the patch ready to start welding, the welded panel, checking bottom bead with door closed, and finished patch. It will ned some mud work butI am happy with the results, and have more confidence in my welding abilities to repair the other quarter and both cowl areas. I will keep this thread alive as I progress, the goal is to have it painted and on the road by "The day of The Drags". Might not have a complete interior, but will be safe and fun. There are more pics of the car and areas to be fixed in my profile albums if interested. Thanks for looking.
Looks like you did a pretty good job. I also like the fact you treated the metal behind it before ****oning it up, far to many skip this step.
Going to do it right Tman do not want problems later on. By the way my family is from Lead and I have an Aunt who lives in Spearfish.
Not right now, trying to get the body right and sandblasted, primed so I can get all the wood in it and get it solid.
Well I finished up both cowl and p***enger side quarter repairs. The cowl patch panels came from Brattons, I chose these cowl panels because they are advertized as having a more correct bead and the compound curve shape of the cowl. I did not have to m***age them at all and they welded in fairly easy. The inner cowl panels I bought from MACS. I again had to m***age the bead on the drivers side quarter patch as I had done on the drivers side. I am happy with the results but they all will need a skim coat of filler. This is the drivers side cowl.
This is my next challenge, the back panel "T" strips. There is some pretty good rust in the lower area viewed from the inside the car and there is a leaded repair on the lower area on the p***enger side. My thought is to take the panel out, clean-up the rust, and buy a replacement piece from MACS and use it to fix the leaded repair, prime the joint areas and put back togther. Here is a pic of the piece from MACS catalog, it is steel, 51" long, the bead is 3/8" wide (as the originals), and it has a slight bend to it. I searched the "Fordbarn" and found some informative threads, I have already un-bolted the drivers side and there was no major spronge (whew) and it appears that the strip is spot welded to the panel as stated in the F/B threads. I have attached a pic of the MAC part, has anyone used this piece,if so any tips or advise? Thanks for looking, will keep you updated.
I used Rustoleum rust primer on the sub rails and on the back of the patch panels I used Rustoleum grey primer. I taped off about a 1/4" in from edge when I painted the backs so I would have clean metal when welding, then sprayed primer over the welds inside.
Here is the "T" strip area on the p***enger of the back panel that needed repair. The dark area is lead from previous repair. I removed the back panel and cut out the bad area Then I bolted the panel back in When I test fit the piece I cut from the repop "T" Strip, it was a little to wide on top, the outside edge lined up pretty good so I filed the inside edge quite a bit and the metal got real thin. So I clamped it to the table and welded along the edge to penetrate and ground and filed it till it fit in the space. Sorry about the pic. Then I tacked it in. Took the back panel back out and finished welding,ground and filed it, then put the back panel back in. I removed the back panel again, finished cleaning the rust off and shot it with epoxy primer and put it back in the car. Besides the "T" Strip being to wide it was also flat on top so before ever began filing on it, I put it in an angle iron jig I have for drilling into round stock and tapped on the leg and rolled the edges over a little to match what was on the car.Through the process I also had to m***age this area on the back panel and the body. It needs a little attention with some filler, but over all I am happy with it. While I had the back panel out, I sand blasted the lip on the body sides and fixed the areas that had some rust through and then primed them.
Looks great! What did you use to treat the metal behind the patch? EDIT: never mind found were you posted that....I got distracted by the pictures.....
I want to use the stock column mount, fill the face of the of the dash and cut the botom out of the tank for more under dash room. After removing the wire way off the bottom of the tank I found a section of the rear radius on the tank to match the curve of the lower edge on the front. Then cut out the recessed area and tacked in the piece from the back. I then ground the rivets on the column mount, heated and cleaned the lead off, traced around the mount and marked-off an 1 1/2" line from the face on the bottom of the tank. Used a 2" hole saw and cut the radius and then cut around the area I wanted to keep. I drilled out all of the spot welds holding the baffle and cut out an area to work in. Roset welded in a 1"x1"x1/8" piece of angle at the top and also welded a piece of angle between the inner brace and the bottom of the tank. Then used 1/2"x1/2" tubing to weld the two together. Marked a 1/2" line around the tank, used a 3 3/8" hloe saw on the lower corners at the face and cut out the bottom. Here is another view from the side. I then roset welded in a 3/4" wide piece of 16ga. to stiffen up the bottom edge. I finished welding the lower fill panel in, now that I could get to the back of that area. I welded a piece of 16ga. to the top of the fill neck and used a 3" hole saw, which fit right around it, to cut it out. Cut a piece off of the back of the tank to make a patch and welded it in. I then cut out the rest of the gauge recess and welded in a patch. Sorry for the ****py pic. Now it is on to making a flat firewall. Later
I use 3"x1/16" cut off disc to knock down the welds then a 50 grit 2" roloc on a small right angle air grinder to grind them flat. I then put a metal prep called "Gem-Rust" on the bare metal. Thanks for all the kind words guys, I am getting closer.
The Jalopy Journal
