Hot Rods 31 Model A Victoria Build w/Pics – Miss Vicky

You were right, Dave!!
The white firewall looks great!!

What did you use to seal the floor??

Keep us updated!!

 

By the way... I meant to tell you how I got the red oxide off the visor panel... media blasting!!! Even aircraft stripper wouldn't cut it, for some reason. Strange.

 

Good to see this one in the final stages. I've tried to keep track of this build for some time as I thought it was on track to becoming a super ride. The fact it's going to be blue didn't hurt either. Blue is my favorite color. Keep us up to date, I'm getting anxious to see this one drive down the road.

Frank

 

Nice work Dave. You are really moving this project.

 

Looks REAL good!
You'll have it on the road before I finish mine....

 

nice job!

 

Well, it's been a while and Scootermcrad is making me look bad with his progress updates, so I figured I'd post some of the little projects I've been working on.

In addition to doing lots of body work (I hate sanding), I've figured out what I'm going to do with my windshield frame. I'm using the bottom of a Model A frame and the top and sides of a 32 frame. I've cut the bottom off the A frame and I'll weld the little "L" brackets from the 32 frame to the Model A piece. Then it will fit together basically like a 32 windshield frame. I'll use a 32 gasket for the top and sides and a Model A gasket for the bottom.

Here's an in progress pic of how it's fitting.




I bought some reproduction upper door jamb pieces, but I ended up having to modify them pretty heavily. In order to completely enclose the wood above the doors, I had to lengthen the repops and then add two additional flat sections to the entire length. Then I welded them to the drip rails.






I also finished up the mods to my dash and installed my instrument panel. I bought a rusty 32 dash on eBay and decided to weld it to the model A dash rail so it would fit nicely. I added a couple of pieces of round tubing cut into quarters on each end to close the gap between the dash and the A-pillar door jamb. The gauges are from a 62 – 69 International truck – I paid $30 for the set. The cool thing about them is that they're the same size as the popular gauge sets from Stewart Warner, Moon, Classic Instruments, etc., so I can upgrade them down the road without modifying my dash if I want. Here's a few pics.

 

Looking good, I really like how the windshield is turning out.

 

Very cool, Dave!
I like the idea with the windshield.

So what about one more inch??

 

That's it?? That's all you got done!?

Just kiddin' Dave! Looks great! I KNOW what you're going through with all these little things. They take forEVER to resolve, it seems!

Keep goin' man! Can't wait to see what's next!

 

You're both making me look bad. Thanks! Keep it up. You'll get yours..... Way sooner than I'll get mine.

 

No way! Your progress looks great too! Gonna' need to see an update from you soon!

 

looks great..some nice personal touches too

 

A HOBBY??!! **GASP**

Just ribbin' ya' a bit...

OH! And I'll vote right now that it doesn't need more chop! Looks perfect, IMO!

 

Looking good. I like the idea of using the '32 top windshield frame and the model a bottom. That's the shit that will have people scratching their heads puzzled why this Vicky looks so much better then the rest. Keep it up!

 

Looking great, Dave. Got any pics of the body?

I like the gauges- they're similar to SW and Classics, but just different enough to be interesting...

 

Thank god I'm not the only one in that boat. I think my hemi overhaul should have come before the kitchen renovation but you all know who won that battle.
The Vicky is looking great. Did you end up getting it soda blasted?

 

They don't really look like SWs, but hey, they were cheap.

Here's a pic of the body. I've been having a bondo party!

 

My wife's been talking about renovating the kitchen the whole time I've been building this car. I'll do most of it myself so the deal is the car runs and drives before the reno starts. Let's not even talk about Cub Scout meetings and camping trips and coaching pee wee football and little league.

I didn't get the body blasted, I used chemical stripper and then three 50 grit 3M 4.5 inch bristle discs on my grinder. The bristle discs worked great and really cleaned out the pits. Then I wiped it down with Ospho. So I spent about $100 in materials to strip the whole body.

 

Awesome I love the windshield treatment..

 

Looks great - color really pops. I can't wait to see the body mounted.

 

looking good man, i love the chassis. very clean!

 

A $100 in materials to strip the body is great. That beats hauling it to have it professionally done and waiting god knows how long. It's coming along great man.

 

Hey Dave get that thing in primer yet?

 

Your car has been in primer all along and Scootermcrad's has been in bare steel since the start, what is the current window hight on both cars right now. They both look good to me, just wonder if the primer vs. bare steel makes the chopps look different?

 

Dave,
Man with all the other stuff you got going, your doing a fantastic job! Windshield looks great as does the rest. That abused Vicky got lucky......

Terry

 

No, but I'm really close. Sunday I realized I needed to add a channel inside the A-pillars at the last minute for the 32 windshield sides to seal against. I also need to fab up some system to keep water channeled to the outside of the cowl where the 32 and 31 windshields meet. I'll probably use a leftover section of rain gutter angled forward. Other than that I need to caulk the rain gutters and door jamb sheet metal, and mask off the firewall and bottom, then I'm ready to spray. Maybe next weekend if weather permits.

With the exception of the doors, my car is in bare metal now but I've always kind of wanted to chop it a little more (thanks to the Rolling Bones and 3W Larry). I've been resisting the urge, however, because I think the red oxide PhotoChop I did looks good proportionately because the frame is red oxide too. That's why I want to shoot the DP60 (blue) before I decide – the frame is blue and it would be hard to decide with the frame and body different colors. I guess what I'm saying is I think the chop could use another inch when I look at the body off the frame, but when it's on the frame, the extra 5 or so inches of vertical height that the frame adds to the body makes the chop look perfect. To answer your question, the door and quarter window openings measure 9 inches right now with a 2-1/4 inch chop, but remember Vickys and A400s had a shorter roof height from the factory (about 2 inches) than Fordors like Scooter's.

Here's the PhotoChop I'm talking about. (Thanks again for the killer frame Rolf)

Thanks Terry, I appreciate it.

 

I just think of all the time and work to rechop things, how about a side by side photo to show that one inch differance.

 

Thinking outside the box you could raise the bottoms of the window sills like Chrysler did with the 300 series.

 

If you need a hand, on the weekend, let me know!!
Looking forward to see it "together".