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

No defrost at the doors. Have to have some sort of defroster to get thru Iowa inspection for my title. The inspector I talked with said if he puts his hand above the vent and feels air moving he approves the defrosters, don't want to bleed any air flow from the main 2 vents, there may not be much anyway. After all this work I only gained 1-1/8" of room for the ducts to fit between the back of the dash and the bottom of the windshield bulkhead. That tunneled dash makes this rough. I'm ecstatic that I got that much and it should pass inspection without a massive change to the looks of the deuce dash, not pushing my luck!
SPark

 

Looking good!

 

Day 392 on the defroster ducts....

Except for a little finish work they are done. Glassed in the other side of the top extensions and found a new problem. With the original tops of the plastic ducts now 1” below the top of the dash, there was no way to get the screws that hold the top grates on and hit that 6-32 threaded hole 1” below. I fumbled trying to get a screw started and never succeeded. You can’t even see these holes with the dash mounted.

New plan. Took some aluminum tubing just barely bigger than the 6-32 screws and made some guides for the screws. Used the screws to hold them in place and glued them there with kitty hair. Now the screws have no choice but to go into the holes. Simple solution.

When I was doing the final alignment of the top extensions I created a small gap. If I just tried to glass them in, resin would run down inside the ducts. Solution? Easy, stuff the inside of the ducts where the gap is with...are you ready...bread. Glass everything up and when it’s cured pull out the bread. Removed the bread when the glass cured, dumped it in the yard tempting neighborhood birds in so crazy Ethyl the shop cat can eat them. Win, win...unless you are a bird.

Also glassed in all the corners where I extended the depth of the dash. Time for some cure then finish work.

SPark

 

Could you glass the ducts to the back of the dash to make installation easier?

 

The way I've done it, it's pretty much trapped in there now. 2 bolts hold it to the header under the windshield, 2 screws thru the top hold the top grate in place. That's all there is to it now. Looked at glassing it all together early on but decided against it. The gauges sit right up against the ducts so it gets even tighter when those go back in and you try to attach the flexible part of the duct. Doing it this way gives me more room to install the dash after it's painted and already have all the ductwork installed without having to lay upside down trying to juggle everything into place.
SPark

 

Is that a miniature Kurtis Kraft you are using for a paper weight?

 

Steve, I used a one inch square tube across the back of my dash with a 2 1/4 inch hose to a center connector on it. Mine turned out to be a bad design but I am going to live with it for now. Not enough airflow through the one inch tube to clear the window. I would have been better off I think to make two separate ducts to the outlets to get more airflow. D

Just saw the rest of your post. It didn't come up the first time. D

 

God bless you sir, thoughts and prayers. Keep doing what you love, and obviously excel at.

 

I have a bit of a model building habit. Red one is a Monogram P1, the first kit Monogram released. This is a re-issue. The white one is a nicely detailed GMP die cast kit.

SPark​

 

...@LM14 I adjusted your model bench a bit...

Go LM Go...


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Took a couple days off. Kind of had to. Got my feet tangled up in a hose and took a pretty hard fall Saturday morning on concrete. Thought I broke my left hand (I’m left handed) and really tore up my left knee. Took a big chunk out of my left hand too. Not good if you are on Xarelto and Avastin. Doc said nothing broken, get back to work! First pic is my left knee. Yes, it’s a bit sore.

Met with the upholsterer yesterday. Plan with him is run back down after the car is drivable and finalize the colors. Green is picked. Going with an off white for contrast. Haven’t decided which one or which carpet yet. Will have to adjust my planned color layout a bit. No light green leather close to my color in anything he can get.

Finished the dash top. You can see where the defroster ducts will come out. Still need to cut the holes for the grates but they are screwed into their final locations in the pictures. Will pull it all back off, work the extreme edges against the A pillar and finish the end caps tomorrow.

Also headed to the chrome shop tomorrow to drop off the windshield frame. Got it all stripped today. After that is in their hands, I will come back home by way of the painter’s and pick up a few more parts.

SPark

 

A man's playground can be a dangerous place...Glad your bouncing back and it wasn't worse...Hotrod is coming along very nicely...

 

That is a mean looking bruise, mister, glad you're ok.

 

Had to smart just a bit.

 

Sorry to hear about the tumble. Glad it wasn’t worse and you were able to get back on the car.

 

Plater couldn’t get to my windshield frame for 6 to 8 weeks. Took it back home with me. Will get it plated this winter.

Stopped by the painter and my front hubs still weren’t done. Brought them home too. I still have some of our original dark green paint so I masked off the fronts that they had painted and finished the backs this evening. Front end is all together.

Anything to speed up the process at this point.

SPark

 

Today we finished up the defroster ducts. Bolted everything together, mounted the top grates and drew around the perimeter. Removed the grates and dash and set up the Dremel with a flat faced cutter with a drill stop on it. Set it for the vertical height of the edges of the grates. Marked my limits with tape and removed 1/8” of material from the grate area. Made it a hair oversized.

Bolted the dash back in, taped the grates around their perimeter and used filler to make a nice tight fit for the grates. When it was cured I sanded everything back level then used an air saw to remove the dash material the air will blow up thru. Little filler to finish up the sides and corners, primer and it’s done!

Later tonight I will reinstall everything for a final check.

Made all the cuts in the tube that will pick up the hot air from the heater and direct it to the defrosters. Used some JB Weld to glue the pipe into the heater body. Hope it picks up enough air to do a little something.

SPark

 

Everything together for the first time with all the holes cut. This should work fine. Still a little body work to finish but the structure is now in place!

Now to build the plenum that hooks the feed pipe from the heater to both defroster ducts. It's a simple piece.

SPark

 

Looks really nice, like a factory option.

 

That actually mimics vintage defrosting in later Model Years. When was Fords first installed defrost systems?...

 

Now you will get some oldtimer that swears he had vents like this in his old stock ford.

 

Then I will have succeeded!

SPark

 

Something I knew early on when I decided to extend the dash was it would effect my headlight and heater switches. They were going in the panel under the dash bit it’s now almost 2” behind the dash face. Gets cut back off tomorrow. Moved the switches to the gauge cluster.

Stopped by Yogi’s today and picked up a fan shroud for the Walker radiator.

Cleaned up and painted the heater where I inserted the pick up tube for the defrosters.

Painter sent me a message they are back to work on the body work on the frame.

SPark

 

Your progress looks good!

 

Almost no progress today. Had to travel to South Missouri for an aunt’s funeral. Have another one on Friday. Guess it’s a bad time to be my aunt!

Late last night/early this morning I did get all the holes drilled and tapped for the header panel, including those for the rear view mirror. It’s now been glazed, sanded and primed again. Also did the last little bit of body work on the dash. The header panel and the dash are going to the paint shop tomorrow if everything works out.

Started final body work on the door jambs and the base of the windshield opening. Little putty, little glaze and a lot of sanding. Hope to get those areas finished tomorrow.

Getting hot here. Apparent temps of around 105° the last few days and not cooling much at night. Absolutely can’t get dehydrated with the meds I’m on. Constantly drinking..... water

SPark

 

Tedious details. Spent the last couple days working on pinholes and edges of the dash, header panel and side trim for the windshield opening. These are all sanded with 320 grit and headed to the painter in the morning.

Working on the edges of the windshield opening. Filler work is done, now working on the pinholes, deep scratches and edges.

Another funeral tomorrow so there won’t be any progress. 2nd aunt’s funeral this week. At least this one is an hour and a half closer than Tuesday’s was.

SPark

 

Condolences on the passing of Family and continued thumbs up on the progress as tedious as it is...

 

I love reading this thread. Great work and educational. About those vent grilles... if you are a little concerned about the amount of air flow I would suggest you close off the openings closer to the passenger compartment so the flow would be better focussed on the windshield. Another option would be to cant the grilles to angle the air flow towards and up the windshield.

 

If the DOT inspector holds his hand above the grate and feels air, it passes. That's all I'm worried about. My other thought was to make a cover that could snap in place over the front grille of the heater unit and force all air to the defrosters if needed. I'm waiting on one little part to come in then I'll wire it up and see how it actually does. Here is another front that can snap in place on the heater I have and be used to stop air flow out the main unit and force it up thru my defroster intake.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Slimeline-Plenum-for-Mojave-Heater,58824.html

SPark

 

Did the windshield post covers need modifications at the bottom to fit around the Extend-O-Dash?