Projects Kurt’s Puddle Jumper - 1930 Model A Extended-Cab Pickup Build

Worked on repairing the b-pillar yesterday and today. First made a template based on the drivers side and then inverted it.


Then converted to 16 ga steel, cut out, and bend on my homemade brake.


Just about ready for welding. I screwed up the layout on the little tab at the bottom so will have to weld it on the b-pillar.

 

Pie slice and tabs welded. Next up paint the backside and weld to the upper part of the b-pillar. I'm worried about the wood inside the b-pillar burning. Will wet it down first and let it cool between stitch welds.

 

Like that Johnny Cash song... "One piece at a time..."

 

Well I guess I have been procrastinating. Doing everything but welding the B-pillar patch. Admittedly, life got in the way with doctor visits, oil change on Bionic Woman's car, fixing drip irrigation, but I knowingly worked on other things to put off the welding.

I got everything that will be hidden by the quarter panel patch painted and the back side of the patch painted as well. I also had to build some kind of structure behind the bottom of the patch for it to attach to since all of the subframe in that area was rusted away.

So yesterday everything was ready for welding.


Stitch welded the B-pillar.


Slipped a piece of aluminum trim behind the pillar and nothing caught fire.

Ground down the weld.


I think it looks pretty good. Put some primer on it.


Reinstalled my crude subframe replacement.


Bolted on rather then welded since the subframe left was pretty flimsy.

Next up final fit the patch and weld it on. Hopefully I don't procrastinate to long on that.

 

No procrastinating this time. Got the patch panel fitted yesterday and final cut scribed.


Started welding it in this morning. Pic is after 3rd or 4th stitch weld pass.


Needed to order more 2 inch flap discs. Got warm enough my welding mask kept fogging up so will finish welding in morning. Got the little extra patch fit and ready to weld.

 

Patch panel and extra patch welded and almost done. A couple of pinholes to fix and one blowout on the top left. Waiting for 2 inch flap discs to finish grind welds.

 

Spent all morning fixing pinholes and grinding. I don't know what was going on but I kept getting blow thru holes with half second welds. Only one when I originally welded the patch in place but today got a bunch. Finally gave up. Will need some bondo anyway so the last hole will just have to be covered. Put some self etching primer on it.



Then covered with matte black to protect it for the summer.

 

I'm back, I did not fall off the end of the world. I learned not to post travel plans on an open forum. Took the MH out of the garage and made a 6 week trip to MN to see my daughters, grandsons, and great granddaughter.

A couple of weeks getting the MH ready and getting things put back away when we returned. You wouldn't believe how weeds can grow in 6 weeks.

Finally touched Kurt yesterday for the first time since May. Working to get the floor, seats, seat belts back together. Had to repair the pass side interior quarter brace. Bottom inch or so was rusted off.

Formed a 2 inch piece roughly the same profile and welded it on. (Right side in picture) Got it primered. I don't really know the purpose of this Brace except to mount and support the interior panel.

 

Got the quarter brace painted and installed. Got the final seat belt bracket made and the seat belt installed on the pass side.





Still need to decide on what to use for door panels and quarter interior panels. Suggestions? Thinking of plastic sheets, aluminum, or 20 gauge steel, all painted grey.

My daughters gave me gift cards for Father's Day and my 80th Birthday (July 30th). Got myself something I have wanted since starting work on Kurt. A set of wheel dollies to help move him around. Not easy for one person to move but this 80 year old managed move it a lot easier then with my floor jack.

 

Thank you for all the Likes on the last post. I think 8 likes my be a record for one of my posts. I think it may have more to do with my 80th Birthday then the progress on Kurt.

My goal from when I started on this project about 9 years ago was to get it done enough to drive it in my lifetime and then blow it apart to clean it up and paint everything. I achieved the first half of the goal last year. Now that I have turned 80, I'm modifying the second half of the goal. Now, if I tear something apart, I will clean it up and paint it before moving on to the next thing. (I sorta started last fall when I took the bed off to install rear shock mounts and cleaned and painted the bed before putting it back together).

I therefore took the pass side apart again to cleanup the inside of the quarter panel and paint it.



To finish off the pass side I sealed the seam between the quarter panel and the bulkhead. Used leftover construction alum tape since it won't be seen.

Got started on the drivers side reinstalling the floor and installing the seat belts. Also reinstalled the driveshaft tunnel.



Cleaned up and painted the inside of the drivers side quarter panel.



Decided I needed to weld the drivers side patch panel in before closing up the inside. Got the patch panel rough fitted. Need a little fine tuning before welding.



Progress is slower then I would like since it is hot enough everytime I pull the faceshield down to grind I start sweating and fog up my glasses and the faceshield.

 

Got the patch panel fitted and ready to weld in place once the paint dries.



Painted the backside and the subframe behind it.



Bright blue is tape so I don't have to regrind the quarter panel.

 

Been too hot and humid to work on Kurt. Can't weld the patch panel in place when as soon as I flip the welding helmet down my glasses and the helmet lens fog up.

Did finally get new front shoes for Kurt. Too hot to even put the lugs on.


Supposed to cool off a bit by Monday.

 

Keep at it Roland! I'm impressed with your persistence (or as my Mom used to say "stick-to-it-iveness"). I think the record number of likes on your post 369 may have to do with you busting ass as an 80YO. The patches show excellent workmanship, the overall quality is admirable. Good on ya, keep it up, and congratulations on getting goal 1 accomplished (on the road) and working steadily and solidly. Even in the heat and humidity.
Cheers brother.

 

Thanks 34 5W Paul. A little encouragement helps keep me going.

Tried to work on Kurt this AM. Got the wheels back on and adjusted the toe-in. Managed to cross thread a lugnut and now had to order a 7/16-20 die to cleanup the threads. One more tool I will probably only use once in my life.

 

Well, this is what happens with bare metal in 9 days with high humidity.



It was all clean and shiny 9 days ago. Had to clean it up again before welding it in place. Still humid but I got it welded before my lens fogged up too bad.



A few holes to weld and a lot of grinding to do yet (also the last 2 inches at the back is not welded yet. Need to take off the rear wheel to have the right access and angle to weld).

 

Finally cooler less humid yesterday and I got the wheel stud cleaned up with the new die and the front wheel reinstalled. Dry enough I could weld and grind without fogging up and got the patch panel completely welded and ground.



Applied body filler and did initial sanding.



Didn't have any sanding masks so finished sanding today after getting some. Applied a second coat of filler, sanded, and then used body putty on a few spots and finish sanding.


Then applied some primer. Can see a few imperfections requiring more sanding.


Then again I may not want to make it too perfect.

 

Need to let primer dry for 48 hours, so got the drivers side floor, bulkhead wing, seat belt and seat reinstalled.

All well except found buckle side of seat belt is upside down. Will have to take seat back out to reverse.

 

As soon as I rip the masking off, I can cross this item off the list. It is DONE! I also took the seat back out and turned the seat belt over and put the seat back in. 30 mins for one stupid mistake.

 

Took Kurt for a spin and test drive this morning for the first time in 11 months. Ran pretty good and much smother with rear shocks and new balanced front tires.

Do have a brake problem. Found rear brake reservoir just about empty but no puddle of brake fluid under Kurt? Refilled but need bionic woman to help bleed the brakes.

 

Bled the brakes and adjusted the brake pedal linkage and now have great pedal and it stops. Have to always remember unlike DD, it has manual, not power brakes.

Adjusted 95% of the slack out of the steering gear and it drives much better. Took it for a longer test run including about 8 miles of interstate and had it up to 70 MPH. Drove really good. Had to use a RPM app on my tablet since I have not installed a Speedometer cable yet.

 

Goal for this week was to get the cowl top back on, but first needed to cleanup rust on the cowl sides. First the pass side.


I have the patch panels for the bottom but that is a task for this winter. Drivers side.


Then on to the cowl top. First painted the underside white for better visibility under the dash.


Then the top.


Preparing for installing the top punched holes in anti squick tape and held it in place with gorilla tape.



Then put the top in place.


Got the welting in place but cheated and did it with 3 pieces. Front and top of sides bolted down. Still have 4-5 of the rear bolts to get in. They are a b@#$%^.

A bunch of bolts to put in the cowl sides to firewall. I decided to bolt together rather then welding. Hard to hold wrench on both sides. Of coarse after nine years I can't find the clamps for the top of the cowl. Either need of make some or order some.

 

I can't believe it took 3 days to get the rest of the cowl and firewall bolts installed. I spent a whole day on the rear bolts I said were a b@#$%^. I spent a day each on the cowl side to firewall bolts. It would have gone a lot faster with 2 people. Hard to even start lock nuts with 80 year old fingers with no one holding the top of the bolts.

I had to pull the footwell panels out on the pass side to get to 2 of the lower bolt holes.


Decided to repaint those panels before reinstalling so still something to do before I can checkoff the cowl installation.

 

Cowl all complete and buttoned up.

Kurt finally earning his keep. Used Kurt to make a grocery run this morning. Everything ran fine except the temp gauge is still sticking.

My priorities right now:
Temp gauge
Speedometer
Pass side mirror
Driver side mirror (has one but like my dd truck, the wind moves it)
Side and rear glass

 

Day 17 since last post. Took a week getting the MH ready and loaded for a trip to Talladega. No work on Kurt except tightening a loose fuel line before taking my daughter and son-in-law for spins. Got it up to 82 mph for a few seconds. Feels a bit light in the front end over 75. Crew chief, I need more front spoiler!

 

We need "more!"

Still reading this thread

 

It's been a month since my last post. Sorry Parnel, I really didn't have anything to post. The only time I touched Kurt this month was to push it out of the way to put the MH away.

What's my excuse. I quess you could say real life got in the way. 5 doctor visits, fall chores, change oil in 3 vehicles, and repair a coolant leak in the Bionic Woman's DD.

It took exactly a week from when she aborted a trip to church and returned with steam coming from under the hood. Took a day to find it was leaking from the base of the oil filter housing. Turns out to be a common problem and a $8 gasket. The problem is you have to take the whole front of the car apart to get to it. Remove the exhaust manifold, catalytic converter and more. Had to wait 2 days for the exhaust manifold gasket and another day for headlight mounting nuts (yes, you have to remove the headlights).

Will not mention the make of car as it is not HAMB approved but you can see it in some of Kurt's pictures.

Hope to work on again Kurt this week.

 

True to my word, I did get something done on Kurt yesterday. Bidenomics and inflation has made me change my priorities to working on projects I don't have to spend money on. I was tired of looking at the bare and rusty front framerails. It was always my intention to pull the engine and body off and then paint the frame. Don't see that happening in my remaining lifetime so decided to clean them up and get some paint on them since I had the paint on hand..

Got them cleaned up and primered.


Primer needs 24 hours so hope to have the topcoat on the afternoon.

While painting, it was time to finish a repair on Kurt's stablemate. Last Spring, I backed the MH out of the garage forgetting I did not move the blue car all the way out the driveway. Crunch. Nice pushed in and creased dent in the front edge of the hood. Got it mostly repaired last month but was waiting on the paint to arrive. Put the final primer coat on yesterday. Topcoat on tap for today.

 

Got the top coat on the front frame rails yesterday. Didn't get the pic posted yesterday. Back on fall chores today except for getting the masking off the front end. Looks much better.


Also got Kurt's stablemate's hood painted yesterday.

 

Eight days since I last posted. Had to look at my calendar to see why I didn't get more done on Kurt. Saw I had 2 days of doctor appointments. Since I have to drive about 60 miles each way to Nashville, it basically takes up a whole day. Plus, I don't usually work on Kurt on Sundays.

Got the masking all stripped and all the hoses, wires, and cables clamped back in place.


Started building a bracket to hold the puke bottle (overflow bottle). Need to finish welding it and paint it. Much nicer than the zip ties that were holding it. Would have finished it this morning nut I was sweating so much I couldn't see to weld. I don't know why it wasn't that hot but the humidity must have been up.


First cutout of a cover for the headlight relay and wires. Next have to bend it.

 

Get the Overflow bottle mounting bracket completed, primed, painted and installed.





Then on to the headlight relay cover. Got it bent, fitted, and mounted. Next up get it painted.


Delayed posting due to computer problems on the machine I use to shrink and cleanup my pictures. Have been having issues half the time it reboots with saying "non system disk". Decided to replace the hard-drive with a SSD. Cloning software screwed up access to my backup USB drives. Apparently a known problem but it took me all day to recover and get things back to normal. I spent 39 years in the computer business before I retired. What would a mere mortal do?

All well now and much faster.