I purchased this 1930 sport coupe about two months ago with the intentions of building a fenderless "pre-war" TROG worthy hot rod. The backstory: I bought this car from the 2nd owner who purchased it from the original owner's estate. The second owner only owned it for about a year before he was forced to sell it due to medical reasons. The original owner began restoring this car prior to passing away. He welded in patch panels all along the bottom side, replaced the floor pans, rebuilt the original banger motor (which currently has less than 50 miles), installed juice brakes, replaced the seats, and replaced the radiator. The second owner kept the car sitting on the side of his house for the majority of the time that he owned it. Other than having the wheels powder coated and installing new tires, he left the car untouched. Build plans: My plan is to tear the car apart to paint the frame, motor and drive line. I also want to chop the top 3" and lower the front and rear axles to improve the handling and stance of the car. I am going to leave the exterior alone because I love the patina'ed paint job, but I do plan on sprucing up the interior. Ideally I would like to make a convertible top, but I am still playing around with ideas. My goal is to have it ready by this years hill climb. Attached are pictures from the eBay auction:
Thanks, guys! I put in a lot of work today and plan on putting in a few more hours tomorrow. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
I spent two long days working on my car this weekend and made quite a bit of progress. I was able to strip the car down to just the frame and was shocked that I didn't come across any "surprises". The more I tore the car apart, the more I became impressed with the original owners work. He clearly took his time when installing the patch panels, floor pans, juice brakes and wiring. It doesn't appear that he cut any corners. While contractors were working on my house I was working on my car.... First step, remove the body. Now to remove the engine... Engine has been removed and it was time to call it a night. Structurally the frame is in great shape. The right front frame horn has had some very very minor repairs, but that was the only damage that I could find. The surface rust was minimal and there were no signs of deep pitting. I spent the majority of my time sand blasting/wiring brushing the dirt and surface rust off of the frame. Finally, the frame has been removed. I think that I will take it to a professional sand blaster to have them get in the areas my portable blaster wouldn't reach. I want to make sure that the frame is squeaky clean before I paint it with POR15. Packed in and ready to call it quits for the weekend.
Gotta love a sport coupe. I built this one this time last year. I too was thinking of a fold down roof but ran out of time to think about it, but now I’m really pleased I went with the original style fixed roof.
Before you put POR-15 over clean metal, you might want to read the can. Isn't the formula supposed to be used over rust (it's in the name), not clean metal? If you have it spanking clean, you might as well use real paint.
That’s true. The pot 15 will like flake off with time. It needs a rough surface and rusty is better for the Bond.
I pulled these two excerpts from POR's website: WHAT IS THE BEST SURFACE ON WHICH TO PAINT POR-15? POR-15 likes rusted surfaces best. Seasoned metal and sandblasted metal are also good. POR-15 does not adhere well to smooth, shiny surfaces, but will adhere well to those surfaces with the proper preparation. WHAT IS THE 'PROPER PREPARATION'? We make a product called 'Metal-Ready'. It's a rust remover that leaves a zinc phosphate coating on base metal, the perfect preprimer for POR-15. NOTE: New steel is coated with a protective oil finish at the mill. This finish must be removed before using POR-15 or Metal-Ready. Clean metal first with POR-15 Marine-Clean, then rinse with water and dry. https://www.por15.com/POR-15-FAQS_ep_61.html I have painted over freshly sandblasted frames with POR-15 before and have had great results. POR-15 is usually my go to because it is tough as nails, but I may decide to go with normal paint too. I have a few weeks before I need to make that decision. Alch and Van, what do you two typically paint frames with? Do you have any recommendations? I love your sport coupe. I came across your build thread prior to tearing in to my car. It is one of a few that I am using as inspiration in my build.
If it's a "show car" I'd paint with the same stuff I use on the body. If it's a driver I've even been known to use Krylon from the spray can. Lot's of choices in between too.
Slowly making progress on the build. I just got the frame, torque tube, front/rear wishbone, and rear axle bells back from powder coating. It was not cheap, but they turned out really well. (Please excuse the mess in my garage. I'm also in the middle of a home renovation project.) I also received my reverse eye leaf springs. I will be out of town this weekend, but I hope to continue working on it next week. I have a bunch of cleaning and painting left to do before I can reassemble. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I’m happy to report that there are some updates. I am not as far as I would like to be, but between finishing my MBA program and dirt bike/mountain bike season beginning my time has been spread pretty thin. Here’s a shot of cleaning up the rear center section and prepping it for paint. (In the background - My dad is being commissioned to do a frame up restoration on a 31 model A closed cab pickup. It’s been nice being able to compare notes) Cleaning and prepping parts for paint. Getting ready for assembly. As it sits today. It is almost a complete roller. I need to paint and install the steering linkage, install dog bones on shocks and button up the brake lines. After I complete the rolling chassis I am going to start on the engine. Luckily the engine is freshly rebuilt so all it needs is a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. I’ll be sure to keep the updates coming. My deadline is still September of this year.... fingers crossed. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.