Thank you dlandberg.Thank you Bamamav. The grille looks better in pictures than it does in person but I reckon I can smooth it up some.I set out to try making a front bumper yesterday but the pieces I have wont do.I will have to think about it for a while.
I drove the car around a bit yesterday after resetting toe out,seems much better.I succeeded in tearing half the exhaust system off the car too .One of the head pipes is a bit lower than the other where they go under the crossmember and it bottomed while I was trying to get the car backed out of the yard.I have to go over a set of steps .Normally no problem,I have done it many times.This time I got the angle just wrong ,Live and learn.I made a new pipe last night and got it up higher and a bit over to one side .OH well,I thought the day had gone too well up to that point.I WAS pleased to notice that none of the rest of the system moved at all.I believe today I will look into renting a concrete saw and make the 3' step into an 18" step-----
Just curious if anyone ever had this happen.I went to remove the DS door hinge screws yesterday,thought I would rebuild the hinges. None of the screws will move at all.For the last 40 years at work I had been the guy that everyone brought stuck things to get them unstuck,so this is not my first rodeo.The first day I got the car home I started putting Kroil on those screws.Yesterday I got the impact driver out and went over the 4 bottom hinge screws-nothing,heated them up with a propane torch and tried tightening and then loosening them with the impact -nothing-put a #4 phillips bit socket on the air wrench,set wrench (1\2 " drive chicago pneumatic) on "kill" reheated screws,hit them with the air wrench, nothing-Got the OA torch and a 00 tip,heated screw up to a nice,clear red,hit it with the air wrench-nothing,twisted the screw some but it didnt move. You can see the other side of some of those screws,there was no evident damage to the few threads you could see on the back side of the mount.I finally drilled the heads off the screws.After I did that 2 of the shanks came out easily with a left hand drill bit.Threads look fine.WTF? These are countersunk phillips head screws with toothed lock washer .Any ideas?
Yeah,i had problems with those same screws.I did some homework on hamb and i made this tool from shitty air chisel,bung,socket extension and a piece of round bar: I soaked all the screws with WD-40 and ATF/acetone mixture day before i started to open them. That tool helped a lot,but it wasnt still a piece of cake to get them open.I bought a countersunk allen head screws,so never again with the OEM style philips screws.I think i'll dip the new screws to copper paste,so they wont get stuck in the future. So,i think you are not the first(or last) person who had issues with these screws
Thank you Antti.I had a tool somewhat like that with my 1/2" drive air wrench and a #4 phillips bit socket I made up.It didnt move them even with the screws literally red hot.I will sure enough make up a tool like that for my air chisel and try it! I did buy allen head replacement screws,got them at the local fastener place today.
Had the same problem with the 49e when i took the doors of when i chopped the roof... i belive the threds get a little bit stretched over the time thats why
If you heat the screws bright red and cool them quick with water they will usually come right out. I keep a windex bottle full of water handy for cooling. The heating and rapid cooling will normally break any rusty bolt loose. You can almost turn bolts with your fingers after doing this. On real stubborn bolts you might have to repeat it a couple times.
Hotrod428 I tried your trick and it did not work in this case.We used to use a somewhat similar trick to get "removable" cylinder sleeves out of motorcycles,so I know it will usually work.I think dlandberg has it right,the screws were overtightened enough to stretch a bit.
Not yet,I only have 1 air chisel and it is a good one.Thought I would pick one up next time I go to harbor freight.Right now I am starting on the finish body work.I started on the hood as it is the worst panel on the car.I expect to be doing this for the next year or so.That being said I am going to register and insure the car in the next couple of weeks so I can drive it.No need for it to be pretty or finished externally for that!
Lots of work but nothing to really take pictures of.I have spent the last couple of weeks with sanding block and hose in hand.I dont think there is one straight inch on that car! The hood is definitely looking better!
Hey Steinauge Here is how to fix your hinge situation. Gonna take some work but it works beautifully! Be sure to check out the other galleries by clicking on the little house in the upper left corner to get back to the "mother" page, then you can scroll all the galleries... https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Hood-Hinges-Retrofit-49-to-505/
Here is what worked for me. I was seeeeriously getting frustrated until "up jumped the devil" and I read a post on here and decided to make a poor boy's removal tool... https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/The-Doors/
Any progress on the sanding? I know how boring it is.... Everytime i have sanded and painted a car i swear to myself to never do it again but it just happens over and over by the way where in Florida do you live? Have been in Florida a couple of times its one of my favorits!
I have been sanding some every day.Problem is this isnt really even finish sanding,I am at this point reducing dents with hammer and dolly then filling and sanding,trying to bring some order out of the mess that was the hood etc.Once I get all this done I can think about finish sanding! I can now at least look at the hood and find individual places that need work instead of the previous "plowed field" look . I live out in the woods in Volusia county down a dirt road.Closest "big" city is Daytona beach about 18 miles away.
Have driven thru Volusia county last fall when we drove from fort lauderdale up till Georgia, we took every side road we could find beside the i95 was beutifull, have also been in daytona a couple of times! Glad to hear you making progress on the sanding good luck and keep it up!
Antti I made a tool like yours with a flea market cheapie air chisel,heated up the screws and put it to them.Heads broke right off! LOTS of torque! Fortunately once the heads were off the screw shanks came right out.Odd but succesful.Thanks for the help.
I know it's prolly too late on the grill thing, but I was going to do exactly what you've done with your grille, as the "original" '49 (see avatar) had a J.C. Whitney tube grille that fit perfectly. I have chosen to keep my '49 grille, as I have all the parts (that need to be rechromed), and I got worn out with body work and welding, etc... and budget.... But IF I were to build a tube grille, I'd use 5/8" o.d. (1/2" nominal) Type M (thin wall) (correction) copper pipe and a pipe bender or fabricate a wooden bending template to get the center angles perfect, and use a tubing bender on the ends so that when the "surround" is mounted, you can see that the ends of the tubes are bent back. When you heat the copper tubing, it will "anneal" and soften up so it will bend smoothly without crimpling (if that is a word)......Hard to explain.. and of course, fabricating a jig with a bunch of 3/4" wooden blocks (1" x 2" nominal wood size) to make all distances between the tubes equal - clamp the whole thing together as one piece (it will distort out of shape if you don't) while you "silver solder" (common high strength air conditioning fabrication method) the whole thing together before taking it to get chromed........but that's just me...ahahah
Registration is a good thing! I am going today to get the title all squared away on my "donor" 4 door. I think I will be fixing that up to drive while getting the Sedan Delivery body squared away. Feels good being able to get a title for the old "cars". I hope to be driving this thing late winter/early spring if not sooner! C'mon cooler weather!
Good to hear that it helped,Kurt! I didnt heat screws when i opened mine,but i used a lot of lube(WD-40,acetone/ATF mixture). I got most of them out without braking them.
@'49 Ford Coupe do you have a picture of your tube grill? Wondering if mine might have come from JC Whitney.
Thanks guys.49 I can always make another grille and I like your idea.The one thing conduit had going for me was the whole grill cost about ten bucks and I own a 1\2 conduit bender.
Couple of pictures of the hood and front fenders after many hours of work.Not very good,but better than it was.Have a look further back in the thread at the hood and fenders before-----
The Jalopy Journal
