Projects My '32 5 Window Project - Done and Cruising!!!

Nope! They have a small relief at the bottom edge that cleared everything and I left them in place until final finish work.
SPark

 

I want to thank alchemy for his help with details thru my build. We finally met face to face yesterday at the HAMB meet and greet at Des Moines Goodguys. Walked down to his 2 door sedan and got to ask questions and get answers in real time. Might not have been exciting to him but it was HUGE to me.

One thing that came up is the lower end of the trough the hood windlace fits in vs the toe board and bottom of the firewall. I had cleaned a bunch of pictures out so I couldn’t say for 100% sure but I thought mine was much longer than his real car was. It’s because I have a modified toe board, a 1” set back firewall and a transmission tunnel. They are different in the bottom ending point due to that.

Finally build the plenum for getting air from the heater to the defroster ducts. Simple mounts, some flex hose and a couple more plumbing elbows (bought the store out and waiting for them to restock this week, need one more for the left side of the plenum) and it all fits! Finally!! The 90° elbows on each end are held in with clamps so I can adjust the angle on final assembly.

Spent some time working the windshield opening. Most of it won’t show unless the windshield is open but we know it’s done under there. A couple spots need a bit of glazing but other than that it’s done.

Not much accomplished this week. 2 days of funerals, Goodguys and family during the holiday but nights were still available.

SPark

 

It’s getting serious now! Used up the last of some red primer I had on hand in the interior. Figured if I seal the fiberglass floor, roof and sides the insulation would stick better than it would on a rough, open ‘glass surface. Will top this off with some gloss gray after it dries then give it a few days before starting to stick the insulation in place. Red is all down!

Doctor appointments the next 2 days so not going to be much play time. Hoping to get the gray down in the evenings.

SPark

 

Blew all the dust out and put down a heavy coat of gloss light gray early this morning. Hoping it seals up the inside a bit and gives the stick on insulation something to get a hold of. Let this dry a few days while I go back to blocking with 320 grit over the whole outside of the body and all the jambs. Not sleeping does have advantages.

Dentist yesterday, while I had no cavities or tooth concerns, I do have some swelling of the gums from the cancer meds which confirmed what I thought I was feeling. A little discomfort but nothing serious compared to the cancer. Not much we can do about that.

Cardiologist today. Great EKG and they took me off the Xarelto! Hate that crap, makes me bleed every time I bump something. Covered in bruises all the time. Been telling everyone the wife pinches me. She’s mean like that.

Tomorrow afternoon it’s back on the infusions. Was a nice 3 week break with no IV’s and it let my veins heal and bruises clear up a lot. Tomorrow we start back on the 2 week cycle like before. Sure getting sick of driving to Des Moines every 2 weeks. Guess what I did during this break? Drove to Des Moines for Goodguys. At least that was fun!

SPark

 

next time try hoovering the dust out.blowing it bad for the lungs and its still in the shop.looking good

 

your workshop is a lot tidyier than mine how do you manage it

 

I shop vac first then air blasts. Also wear my good dust mask. Can't afford any additional health issues.

My shop is a mess! A place for everything and nothing in it's place. I stop every 4 or 5 days and put all my tools back, blow the dust off the shelves and roller cabinets from the top down, then leave the building for a few hours. Come back after 3 or 4 hours and blow it all off again with low pressure air from a little compressor I run my air brushes with that 2nd go round. After that settles I sweep. About time to take a serious break and do some major cleaning. Probably a couple days of blocking and some work on the inside of the trunk lid and doors then it's time to clean again.

SPark

 

Man you are killing it. If I had to have someone working for me it would be you. What great work ethic

 

What better time to play with Peel and Seal than a 90+° day with 6000% humidity? Tried it in a few different areas to see how it was going to be to work with. Behind the “half cage” on the inside of a quarter panel, the back of the roof where it’s all round and on the ceiling to see if I could get it behind the roof bows. Tricky but all doable. Could reach about 90% with my seam roller, then used a narrow sanding block or a rounded paint stick to reach behind bars and bows.

This is the results of a whole roll. Bought 2 to begin with to see how it was going to work. Should probably find 2 or 3 more so I can finish it. Also need aluminum duct tape to seal all the joints.

Also blocking everything with 320 grit for my final time. Cowl, left quarter, tail panel and tulip panels are all done. Found a dozen or so spots that needed a little glaze in little dings I made but no high or low spots hi build won’t handle.

Infusion yesterday so I generally feel a little crappy for a couple days. This was plenty for today, actually did more than I planned to.

SPark

 

Is the Peel N Seal for insulation purposes? I know it's not to prevent that tinny sound when you shut the door.

 

Insulation mostly but it should also cut down on any droning or drumming of the body. You beat on the outside it still sounds like a drum but not after I put this on the roof. Should help quiet it down a little.
SPark

 

2nd roll of Peel and Seal is down. Got everything above the belt line covered except one little corner. It seems to stick down well and I’m able to work it behind bars and around curved surfaces pretty well. Tonight I’ll pick up 3 more rolls.

The outside of the body is all blocked down to 320 grit. Have a list of 6 small spots needing glaze but all are close to door gap areas so I’ll just wait until the body is bolted back on the frame to deal with them. Needing a bit more work around the rear corners of the trunk gutters but want to wait on the insulation being on the trunk floor and walls before doing that work.

Sleep is overrated!

SPark

 

Are you visiting with your upholstery man before paint so he can make backer panels and add any needed bracing?

 

I’ve met twice with the upholstery guy. He uses commercial Velcro to attach panels to the car and said he would use the half cage to anchor them. He wanted pictures of the bare interior and liked those bars. Thought it gave him everything he needed.

 

Pretty slow weekend. Ran to Lowes for more Peel and Seal. Trying to find the right aisle and ask a worker which aisle it’s in. “We haven’t carried that for at least 3 years”, he says. I’m trying to decide what to do and while walking down the aisle to where my wife was, I see a whole shelf full of it! I pick 3 up and while walking back past the genius, I show him the rolls. “That’s not Peel and Seal, that’s aluminum faced storm seal”, he informs me. I show him the label, he shrugged his shoulders and walked on down the aisle. Also picked up a roll of aluminum tape to seal all the edges when it’s all down.

Spent this evening finishing the right quarter, the ceiling and most of the left quarter. At least there was a little progress this weekend. It’s only 90° in the shop this afternoon. Work a bit, cool off and repeat. Finished off the 3rd roll though.

Since we were in a town with a casino last night we stopped to play a little black jack. Ended up winning enough to buy another car! Of course it has to be priced about the same as a Hot Wheel. But.....

I have a retirement account I haven’t touched yet. Haven’t put anything in it for almost 6 years now. It made $20,000 the last quarter. I’m now shopping for a ‘55 Chevy 2 door sedan or sedan delivery. Has to be a 4 speed and driving. No junk, can need a few repairs but has to be a basically solid car. Let me know if you run across one for under $20,000. I might be a buyer depending on the price, car and location. Drop me a PM here.

SPark

 

For as hot and humid as it is I think I’ve had a decent day so far.

Ran down to the painter to check on frame progress. He’s on his final filler before primer and a couple coats of hi build. There was some progress there last week. The other rail is finished (the one pointed toward the floor) and ready for primer.

Decided to finish as much insulation as I could until I hit the battery box area. Finished the left quarter and tail panel then started on the trunk floor. Wiped out the 4th roll of Peel and Seal. All that’s left is the cowl and main interior floor.

Once I reached the battery box I had a couple issues. First, where are the battery cables going through the floor? Second, I needed to finish the battery box base.

Decided on the cable location and drilled 2 holes. Had to go underneath and flatten the bottom of the floor. Landed right on a rib underneath. Figured if it’s somewhat centered it would be easier to get power to the fuse box and kill switches. Easy to pull it off the bulkhead terminals.

Made the side plates for the battery box base and tacked them in place. Will try to finish those up when it’s a little cooler. Now nothing can hide under there.

Starting on my 5th roll of Peel and Seal on the cowl now. Very tight between the back of the half cage and inside of the body.

Getting too hot to work anymore this afternoon until the sun goes down. Fans running full blast just moving hot air now. I’m too big of a pussy to sweat this much.

SPark

 

No sleep again. Have an appointment today and then have to go 70 miles this afternoon to pick up a new area rug and runner for the wife. Found one she likes at Lowe’s so we get rugs, Peel and Seal and supper out tonight.

Think I’m headed on a road trip Wednesday to look at a ‘55 Chevy 2 door sedan. About 7 hours each way. Rust free, 350/4 speed Muncie and the rest is fairly stock. Well in my price range,too. Wife’s not too happy about it but she will have her new rugs to play with.

5th roll of Peel and Seal is down. Still need 2 more to finish the front floor and put 1 layer on the firewall. Think I’ll grab 3 more so I can double up on the firewall and front of the floor/tranny tunnel areas. Also started taping seams on the trunk floor.

Finished welding the battery box base and ground all the edges. Came out decent. Like I’ve said all along, I’m not much of a welder but I’m a hell of a grinder!

SPark

 

Car & frame are looking great! Glad your treatments seem to continue to be working. Good luck with the 55 sedan.

 

looks like u could be a professional insulator!!nice job.

 

That will never happen. Know how much it hurts for a fat old man to twist and turn in some of these spaces? It goes faster once I developed a method to the madness but it still sucks. So sore I can barely move!

SPark

 

LM's professional at a lot of things...

 

Roll #6 and about 6’ of roll #7 and the firewall is done. 2 full layers with all the seams offset. Even the tape is on. Pretty happy with how it turned out.

Took a little 14 hour road trip to Minnesota yesterday to look at a ‘55 Chevy 2 door sedan. Looked OK on the outside but it was a complete mess underneath. Absolutely no inner rockers, only 3 body mounts still existed and most the floor braces were completely gone. They had layered replacement quarters over the top of the original quarters and tacked them around the edges. Didn’t even remove the rusty original quarters!!! This was all done 33 years ago and you can’t tell a thing is wrong until you look up standing under it. Won’t even start on what all was wrong with the suspension. Why do people tell you lies over the phone then act like it’s all new to them when you point things out? He’s owned the car for 27 years, should have known more about it.

The ‘55 search continues.

Next up the remaining floor area. Going to double that area up too.

SPark

 

Finished up the first layer on all the floor last night. It was only 90°in the shop at 10:00 PM. Slow going when you have to stop all the time to dry the floor where you sweat all over it. This morning it was double up on the floor from the firewall to behind the seat. Then taped all the joints. The floor and firewall are 100% finished! Good thing too. It’s around 110° apparent temperature and humid. Time to call it a day until later tonight. It’s supposed to drop to the 80’s!

The last 2 pictures are a box of scraps/odd shape cutoffs I have left and a 22” piece of insulation. That is all that is left of 8 rolls of Peel and Seal. Single layer everywhere and doubled up On the firewall and front floor to behind the seat. $132 of Peel and Seal plus $6 for the aluminum tape to seal the joints. Bargain.

All that’s left is taping the sides and ceiling. Taping is a lot faster and easier than I thought it would be. Hope to take a big bite out of that tonight.

SPark

 

Everything below the belt line is DONE!!! Got all the seams taped (150’ worth so far) and everything trimmed. I think it looks pretty good, very happy with it.

Started taping the roof and ran out of seam tape. A quick 140 mile round trip and I have a new roll of tape and another roll of Peel and Seal. I forgot to put any in the doors. That dawned on me last night while I was patting myself on the back for coming out perfect on quantity.

Will finish taping the roof and cowl tomorrow and that part of the project will be done.

SPark

 

Insulation is done! Taped all the joints! Even the master cylinder and fuel pick up/sending unit access hole covers are done! Cleaned up my mess!

Think it looks pretty good, a few areas I’m not real proud of but it should look just fine after upholstery. I do believe the 2 heavy coats of primer followed by 2 heavy coats of gloss enamel to seal the rough fiberglass was the way to go. Seems to be stuck really well.

Final tally: 8 rolls of Peel and Seal, a roll and a half of aluminum seam tape and a half a gazillion hours. Check off another box!

SPark

 

I think we can say the interior is insulated!

Phil

 

Going to sound like you are driving a new Caddy down the road.

 

Caught another potential issue just in time. While getting my infusion yesterday I was telling the wife about a friend stopping by to check my progress. He mentioned wanting to specifically see the deepened dash. When I was telling her this a light went on in my head.

Will the deep dash clear the doors when they are closed? Ran back down to the painter today and grabbed the dash. Bolted it on and the short answer is “NO!”

Had to remove a little corner from the garnish molding and a tiny bit from the actual door frame. Quick pass with the DA loaded with 120 grit fixed the door frame and a flap sanding disc on the 4-1/2” angle grinder took care of the garnish molding. Little 220 grit on some sanding blocks finished everything up.

Easy fix for great clearance. Better now than after paint.

He thought he would finish body work on the frame tomorrow and get everything he has there ready for some paint this week. Sure hope so!

SPark

 

Good catch and good timing.

We had talked earlier about whether the dash would blend to the door. Sorry I didn't press for details at that time.

Project is coming along nicely. May see the road before winter!

Phil

 

Better see the road before winter! Going to interior in October and it has to be inspected, driven, debugged and painted before it can go down there! Had a little talk with the painter today about that.
SPark