Great job. Looks like you would be able to spray gloss black! Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
Right let's deal to that new car shine now the paint has had some time to harden off! Yep I know it all looks very pretty being shiny but that just doesn't fit with the overall theme of the car I pictured in my head. So it's out with the [stainless] steel wool, fine 3M pad, P600 wet 'n dry and of course Ajax. I reckon that lot ought to do the trick hehe! I was not expecting the paint to be so hard after only a few days! Sheesh - this is not going to be as easy as I'd thought. So a bit more elbow grease was required in the end but basically I took the gloss off the surface with the P600 and detergent followed by a light rub over with the fine 3M pad and Ajax. The key is to avoid actually scratching the surface but rather finely buff the gloss away carefully by hand. I don't trust myself with a machine for this job. I was careful to not tear through any edges and I finished off the tight spots with the steel wool. I didn't take off any gloss from the firewall or door jamb paint as these areas are not normally subjected to as much harsh weathering. Plus that shiny finish did look good so I'll leave some of it alone. I was a bit harder on the topsides as those areas supposedly suffer the most from the effects of ageing. It looked nice before but I do like the nice dulled-off finish the metallic paint now has. It didn't take long at all to significantly "age" the paint - only a couple of hours - not a couple of decades! So with that job done I can finally attach some of the jewellery to the outside of the car - door handles, lights and so on [fun] before starting the next big job
Well done Chris! , hey I see fuel in the pump bowl! - something you're not telling us ?? Question , have you had your certifier looking over the car as you built it? I didn't think we were allowed to run a single circuit brake master , and have you boxed/fish plated your rear frame kickup ? Not meaning to piss on your bbq , just asking. Coupe looks great .
Yep the fun police have been watching over the build. This car is being registered as built in 1930 (with a modification certificate) not a 2013 LVVTA deal. Now that would open a big can of worms! Frame kickup was deemed to be okay as is - braced top and bottom per BT. There's plenty of metal and welds with the braces in there - certified welds too! I'm more concerned with how lightweight the rest of the original frame is! Single circuit brakes were eventually considered to be okay as they "match the rest of the brake system" - all factory '40 Ford. There were some lengthy "discussions" about this......... Still got to be better than the original mechanical brakes - which ironically would not have needed to be certified! All very interesting..... Oh and yeah the engine has been test-run on the little engine stand seen in the earlier pictures.
Thanks man, Sorry no paint code for this paint. This color was mixed "over the counter" off a paint card booklet. I was going for a Gunmetal/Charcoal color out of the Ford book but it turned out to be more of a Graphite sort of shade. While it wasn't my first choice I reckon it has worked out better. I just hope I don't need any more in the future as it could be a challenge to redo a match!
Really great build, kudos! I am at the other end of the build, just starting out. What size wheels/tires are these? They give a nice look/stance.
Thanks for the comments... I'm pleased with the way she sits too! The wheels are standard old '40 Ford 16" steelies x 4.5" wide all round. Front tires are 4:50/4:75 - 16 Firestone 4 ply poly. Smallest size with tread that match the rears. Rear tires are 7:00 - 16 Firetone 4 ply poly. I went for 7:00 rears instead of 7:50 as the 7:00 have slightly wider tread vs height. The 7:50 are also a heavier duty rated (more of a truck type) tire and I was concerned with ride harshness. The 7:50 is a taller tire by about 1" o/all too. This is why the HAMB is so helpful - so I hope that I've help you....
Love the finished product! Great work. Until I read the posts, I thought it was bare metal with some sort of preservation oil finish. I love the look!!
With the paint job done it's now time to install the windows. I had no original windows for the car so it's down to making patterns for new glass. I set to and installed new window channel kits into the doors so they fitted nice and tight. I then made up patterns to get the right sliding fit all the way up and down - snug but without any binding etc. I then made up patterns for all the fixed windows sized to allow for the rubber to sit properly in the openings. The patterns were made from ¼" MDF to match the intended glass thickness and marked 1x LH & 1x RH for the door and quarter windows. Glass was ordered in ¼" thick light green tint with edges ground smooth and then factory toughened. I found I had to shorten the new door glass bottom runner/channels by about an inch each end as they were too long. Damn lucky I found that before they got fixed onto the glass! I then used a Sika-Tac product to set the glass into the runner/channel which is way easier than trying to press or bash them in the old-fashioned way. I also found the new repro window regulators needed a bit of tweaking to work properly keeping the little wheel in the glass runner/channel and not rub on the glass half way up the travel too. Nothing is ever straightforward! I also raised the bottom stop in the doors to stop the glass winding all the way down and disappearing too far into the door. Final tweaking (again) to make sure nothing clashed as the door glass was wound up and down - hey presto they work! Time to finally install the door tops with the proper spongy top seal glued in place. The new quarter windows and rear window were then fitted in with the chopped and newly painted garnishes screwed inside to hold them in place. I used original type rubbers with old-school windscreen mastic to seal things up nice and watertight. The windscreen pattern was easy and the glass for this was made from slightly thicker laminated glass - with the same light green tint. I didn't bother with the hassle of using the original style cork bedding. Instead I glued a ¼" wide soft rubber strip around in the channel and set the glass centrally in place on that. A bead of modern windscreen urethane was run all around inside and out. I figured the only reason to ever take the glass out again was because it would be broken so it doesn't matter if it's glued in and had to come out in pieces. With all the windows in place and the screen fitted into the car I have to say I'm real pleased with the subtle green tint glass - especially against the color of the car.
While I was waiting for the window glasses to be made (4 days is forever to an impatient person like me) I thought Id tackle the roof insert. Im going for the exposed timber look inside with no interior lining above the belt line. For the most part the interior will be painted flat black and I wanted something nice for a roof lining. I opted for black Stay-Fast canvas to contrast with the roof wood. After wiring up the interior roof light I stretched the material to each corner and then stapled all sides working from the middle outwards. I had seen how this is done on the HAMB before. Next up was a layer of ¼" reinforced foam mat stapled in place to support the padding without pressing down on the interior layer between the ribs. It was also stapled onto the ribs and then trimmed just short of the steel roof edges. I didnt end up putting any chicken netting in there as I reckoned it worked out firm enough without it. Then it was on with the padding layer (I used white polyester upholstery batting) which was held in place with a bit of spray adhesive so it wouldnt slide around in between the material layers. I would have liked to have used the Stay-Fast canvas on the outer layer too as I like the look of this convertible top material. Unfortunately that idea didnt work out at all well. I could not get the wrinkles out along the edges no matter what I tried and when I sprayed some water onto it really went all saggy-baggy! So off it came for plan B - the old tried and true grainy pattern vinyl - like the original stuff. That worked out heaps better nice and tight and no wrinkles! It looked good. Once tacked down and trimmed to size I fixed around the edges with the proper Hidem edging tacked in place. I even used the special little metal caps on each end. The front edge of the vinyl roof insert was then fixed down using aluminium half round bent and held down with countersunk grabber-nails. This piece was then masked, primed and painted the body color. Im quite pleased with the overall job and the interior looks the part too when you look up. Its much darker inside now .
Happy days! The Walker radiator I ordered ages ago has finally arrived. I got sick of trying to get a radiator done on the cheap and no one locally really wanted to do the job - too hard. So I bit the bullet and went for it - order in a brand new proper "Flathead V8 into '30 Model A" radiator. I couldn't wait to get that big box open! It mounted straight in onto the mounting bolt kit and with all holes in the old surround lining up beautifully too. It wasn't cheap but definitely worth the expense. I got it made with the pressure cap type filler and a dummy stock neck. A thing of beauty! Not only that; but the centre-dump headers I ordered also arrived the same day. Now we will see some serious shit happen! I also installed the headers the same day ready for the exhaust fabrication. I needed to rotate the starter motor upside down to clear the rear tube - didn't expect that but no worries. So with the radiator mounted up with the brace rods and hoses cut to fit along with the headers fitted on; it was time to get the car down to the exhaust shop ASAP. I got these guys to bend up and install the exhaust going up over the rear cross member and out the back. I'm going to try it first with 1-7/8" pipes and NO mufflers - hopefully it won't be toooo loud he-he! I'm getting a flanged joint put in at the reducer and a slip-joint further back so if I do "need" to put in some Smithys it won't be a problem. Also while at the exhaust shop I'll get them to fabricate the top radiator pipes. This is one of the few times I'm having to out-shop work as I don't have the tube bending gear to get these two jobs done at home. I also don't have a hoist or pit and I really hate working underneath cars - especially on exhaust or brake line jobs. So I loaded the car onto my trailer and down to the exhaust shop I went.... Picked up the car that night - job done and awesome! It must be getting close to firing this thing up for the first time with the engine installed in the car! - Oh wait - I've still got to finish that damn generator mount and get a big vee belt.
Turns out they have more of an issue with the original outside mounted vacuum windscreen wiper motor I spent a whole lot of money on! Go figure....
Hi Christom, I am doing a very similar project (roadster) in NZ, just wondering if you had to install seatbelts for the Cert?
This will make you go Mmm! Seatbelts are a really confusing ruling it seems. I'm still working through this but so far it seems that if the car is considered to be "modified" seat belts are required. Because mine is still deemed to be 1930MY it can have lap-only. Belts have to be to a "recognised" standard (with labels) but it's the mounts that have to be certified. My car is considered "a modified car" because of the roof chop - not the engine and driveline swap - that's just "a modification" requiring certification. Confused? Because I chopped the roof they say I have to now ditch the neat old wiper motor and put in 2-speed electric wipers - ie 2 arms. Sheesh! Chris.
interesting, my body & frame are unmodified apart form the bolt in F1 crossmember. wonder if it will be worth waiting to chop my windshield frame down until after certification. Those $eatbelts aren't cheap!
Yep it's a tricky one - I'm not sure how important a top chop is to the Cert man when the car is topless anyway. Still worth checking for sure. As for seatbelts; the good news is that I can use (new) old-school lift-latch lap belts in my 1930 car. Crazy stuff all this I know! I plan on attaching the anchor points to the cross subrail behind the seat and the other points on the inner side subrails in line the rear of the seat. Doubler plates will be used of course - only one belt per anchor point too. Sort of mocked up in position in these pix.
Must show off the new pipework I had done this week! Ignore the cable-ties etc you can see - a lot of temporary shit to finish off! The local exhaust shop did the top Rad pipes and the exhaust pipes onto the Redman centre-dump headers. I future proofed things so they can come to bits. I plan on eventually running lakes headers out the side (I bought a kit) and I will need to set up a pipe when they're capped. Also may have to insert mufflers in if it's to noisy for the Po-Po...
Yup , arn't our rules confusing! When we ran brother in laws '28 Roadster pickup through for cert we got the same answer on the original wiper motor. So we wheeled it back through with the windshield and posts removed .... The cert man grinned at us and said " That works" ! .... Ajays have some neat options in stock for electric wiper motors and a decent range of repro arms and blades too . .
I'm doing a 30/31 coupe too and I'm proposing to use MINI wipers and two speed motor. They have a bundy tube linking themselves together that has a reciprocating wire coil inside. I was going to mount the motor under the dash and run the bundy tube up the A pillar somehow. Repro new parts are readily available on the net. A lot of British cars use this LUCAS system. Regards, Graham.
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