Projects Olds Rocket 324 in a 32 Ford; "trying to finish it thread"..

I can't work on the car right now, so after it does set up over the next few weeks, I think I will try sanding and give it one last spray.

Rich Wright sent me some tips, and the way he tackles the sanding part might work for me. He only does one area at a time (with all the different grits) then masks it off. The car he was showing was modern paints and the sanding was done for the buffing process, not for a recoat. But the "one panel at a time" might make the job go better for me...I think I could stay more focused that way.

Geez, his paint looked mint show quality, even before the sanding/buffing. The glossy panels in the pics below, have not even been sanded yet. Beautiful work.

 

Odd... I don't recall sending any sanding tips. I talked about trying to get a handle on the problem and likely resolutions, which you seem to have worked out by the way.
You must've gotten sanding tips from the tread about the blue coupe..??..

Sanding for re coating lacquer and sanding for buffing/polishing urethane are not quite the same thing, but the theory of sanding a couple panels at a time does apply...it gives you plenty of time to analyze progress.

Not sure if this is where you're headed or not, but please don't re-coat one panel at a time....lots of danger for color shift by doing that with a high metallic.

 

Hi Rich, you had sent along the link to the coupe. I read the whole thing and the single panel idea will help me get a better job. If I was to go over all the areas of the whole car with only one grit first, and then repeat with the next grit, I know I would lose interest real quick Your way makes much more sense to me, for the job I face.

No, I was not going to tape off each panel as I finished sanding, nor would I paint one panel at a time.

At any rate, thanks for the link, and its good pics w/descriptions on why you do things a certain way.

 

Glad you can get some info from my ramblings
Bare in mind that you don't need to sand with several grades of paper if you're going to re-coat.... You can block it with one grit to get it nice and smooth and then...if you think it has sand scratches that are too deep and will effect the next coat...you can re-sand with a finer grit.

None of this means anything though if the solvents have not had the chance to fully evaporate. Sand scratches will soak in beyond ones wildest imagination if its sanded and recoated too quickly.

One suggestion is to sand it flat and smooth then let it sit "open" for a day or before sanding again with the finer grit. Clean and squirt away soon after the second sanding to avoid having any dirt/contaminants settle on the sanded surface.

 

I haven't rolled it out to see the shrinkage yet, just finished a small job for a guy. Maybe this afternoon.

I am pretty sure I will have to use 2 grits, depending on what happens. I am assuming I can stop at 400?

Anyways, my plan is to do the recoat well thinned with the right thinner, and I hope it will be smooth enough for hand rub. I don't want wet look. My old speed parts and old chrome just won't look right, if the paint looks too showy.

I wish the bright teal will stay, but I think that is impossible. If you saw the last single pic of the back of the car, you can see the "lightly" hand rubbed teal on the dash is more of a bland color, as the excessive poly loses it's cover. Oh well, maybe the washed out teal will fit better with the old parts..

 

I'd start with 400 (unless its really rough) and see how it looks...maybe hit it again with 600 prior to recoat. Whatever it takes to get it as smooth as you think it needs to be. Remember..the courser the final grit, the higher the probability of severe sand scratches showing up, which means the harder it will be to get the finish to lay down enough to be hand rubbed.(which I'd never recommend anyway unless your arms look like they belong on a gorilla)

 

I don't mind the arm torture as I have no confidence in using the big old buffer with all those detail beads and beltlines.

..but, I do need to let my fingertips to heal up. I had been using a lot of red scotchbright on the hi-build laquer primer, and got my 4 fingers down to red meat without realizing it. I had to wear a glove the last two days.


He,he, one hamber just said that "I share my screwups"..try to top this one: My first spraygun paintjob was Christmas eve 1967, a 56 BelAir 2dr htp with an outdated tripower 348...using the new 68 Mustang medium blue poly in alykd "Dulux" enamel. I was painting with a borrowed vibrator compressor sitting on a tall metal farm milk can, with a crappy little gun. I was 16

No ventilation in my parents old farm garage with 2 big heavy sliding wood doors. There was so much paint in the air that I could barely see. My clothes and hair felt like cotton candy...then, Blam and BIG flash, both sliders blew outwards 5 feet at the bottoms, and the haze was GONE.. So,... I kept painting,..... (after I picked the compressor off of the dirt floor).

 

Cool story

 

When I was 16 in 1966 I was painting the front end of my dads 58 Chev because I wrecked it. I was spraying white lacquer in a 2 car garage with no fans and the doors closed. No mask of coarse. When my dad found me, I was higher then a kite and spraying the windows of the garage white lacquer also. Blew white paint out of my nose for 2 days. I still have that Binks #7 gun. HA HA

 

Got onto your build thread a couple days ago ..... indirectly through the "Rocket Oldsmobile V8 Information Compiled". Have always been going to ask you about the difficulties of putting the Olds engine in a 32. No need to bother you now, your pictures and information are great. The car's looking very fine.

 

Frank,

What a great job you're doing !!! I love that color it's different . We all like different. Nice thing about your thread it's all done for real. The old school way. No big dollar spray booth etc...................GREAT JOB Can't wait to see it in person. Talk soon.

 

Hey Frank. Two questions for you.

- The lacquer has been airing out for about a month now. How is it looking?

- In some of the pictures, it looks like you hit part of the frame with the lacquer. What are the plans for painting the frame? If you're not painting it with the lacquer, how do you plan to colour match with something else?

 

Speedy, the paint looks the same, the sand scratches and a couple tiny waves are still there ..

The color on the frame sides is all that the frame needs for that color. The other parts of the frame will be enamel black or satin black.



I tried doing the final blocking on one rear fender yesterday, but 10 minutes later a 101 year old car showed up for some work.... I don't think I will ever finish my own stuff.

I took a pic of the "selector shifter" just for you...It's on the top edge of the fake driver door.

 

I guess that makes sense since fenders will be covering most of the frame up. Just thought I'd inquire and see what your plans were. I have ideas in my head on painting the body with acrylic lacquer, but I don't know if it will hold up well enough on a highboy frame...

You always have cool stuff rolling into your shop! That selector shifter seems to be a bit different than the ones I have though. haha

 

Not quite what Lokar or Genie makes - is that a 1913 Buick?

 

1912

it is hand crank only

no battery

acetylene lights

no front brakes

rim diameter; 27"

anyways, it sat since mid 60s; 2 stuck valves and one smashed/broke the guide and bent the valve. There are no cylinder heads. Valve sits in a spool shaped cage piece. I made a puller today and got them out, might get it running tommorrow

 

Way cool. Are the brass caps on the rocker arms oil reservoirs? Trying to figure out how things stay lubricated.

And the only 27" rims I've seen, they are off a "Donk", right? Not Hamb material at all, they have or go. (Ok I looked again. No chrome, they can stay).






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Sort of; they are grease cups. Fill them with grease, and barely screw the covers on, about one thread. Then after X amount of miles, you screw them in one turn which pushes a bit of grease into the rockers.

The rest of the valve train gets hand oiled. There is a bracket on the firewall to hold the old type oil can.

 

I guess I'm impatient.

Any teaser shots for us Frank?

 

Hi Speedy; I had no work last year, it all came here this year. 3 customer cars here right now. 1907 R model Ford putting rings in it today. That lifer 37 Ply coupe is still here and the owner dropped off the rear end Sunday. That will get mocked up with a J2 motor and 5sp. And Harleycontracters 32 5w should be done next week; set up with 331 tri-power Cad and 37 Buick trans.

Sorry the only pics I took recently, is of last Wednesdays F1 tornado that came right over my place. First pic is a news picture showing the funnel right at my place, viewed from 1.2 miles due south of here.

Other pics show some of the bigger trees that came down on the north side of my shop, about 50-60 feet from the shop. They blew down parallel with the shop, so I only had one minor hit on the building. 8 cars are in that building.

I never heard these huge trees fall, that tornado noise that people talk about is insanely loud as it hits.

 

Oh wow!

Glad to hear that you weathered it ok! Must have been an exciting time for sure...

 

Hi Frank, It's been a little while, glad to hear you are OK from this. I heard there was one down in CT but didn't realize that it went through your area. Scary stuff when you see the destruction. That's probably about as close as you ever need to be. Dave

 

HOLY CRAP Frank!! Just checked in to see progress on the '32. Wow, had no idea about the tornado. Just glad to see everythings ok.

 

Hi Frank.Good to hear that you and yours and property were not harmed.one good thing about the situation,is that if you heat with wood,next year you should have a good start on that.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Wow Frank, missed the news on that F1! Glad to see you made it thru without any issues. lots of firewood now!!

 

I had to hunt to find this thread. It's been over a year since it was last touched.

Update us Frank! Where are you at with the deuce?

 

love this build!
Frank any updates?

 

Update; I had not touched the car since it went into storage 2-1/2 years ago. We towed it into the work bay late summer, but it took 5 weeks before I even wanted to do anything on it.

So, first update is that I cut the 41-48 Chevy steering wheel from 17" with a smaller OD rim. The old rim was cracked too much, and the wheel looked too flat, and was too close to the door handle. The center button is some 1950s Olds and years ago, I had to bore the center hub out to make it fit. I screwed up as it was off-center, but I found a way to fix it. Also decided to use 1/2 of the Chevy horn ring; the other half was broken off and missing:

 

...and I am starting to bolt the car back together, whenever my patience is good enough... I am also using up anything I find here, to get stuff off the shelves.

case in point; I had two small rolls of mismatched white vinyl, not enough of one to do both of the running boards. So, as Andy Kohler once said "you can't see both sides of a car at once"...so I used both rolls, so I don't have to save them anymore.

I also overthought the color of the fender beading. I thought white would be "too much distraction" at the rear fenders. I had enough old black beading, so the choice got easy...more shit gone off the shelf.

...and I found some ancient hood lacing, so I used that all up, rather than save it.

If anyone recalls, I must have mentioned that I found brazed-up holes on the drivers cowl, for a side antenna. So I did find a very old one with a red tip. I also found a brazed hole in the drivers windshield post for a spotlight, but I did not go with that again.

 

I ran out of patience trying to bolt the passenger side back together, so I started thinking about how ugly the steel roof was in white paint. There is no way I can send it out to a pro shop to have a cloth skin put on $$$..

So, I had some thin grey cloth that the mice haven't found yet.. I know my limitations with sewing a top together and have it fit. So, with little to lose, I decided to fake it, by making individual pieces with sewed edges, then glue each section on the roof, one at a time.

I started with the two side pieces that wrap around the back. These have no stitched edges. Then I made the back window panel and pre-sewed the side seams with a hem, then glued it over the side pieces. Then, I made the large center piece, with it's two long side seams, hemmed and stitched, and glued it on.

Then I will use some white Hidem welting across the rear bow, capped with the chrome end caps I was given recently, by an 82 year old restorer friend who is disposing of his stuff.

The color of the cloth comes next...


Here is the Hidem stuff: