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Hot Rods Rich's Coupe - a ten year odyssey

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Rich B., Nov 10, 2019.

  1. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I drug this home in April of 2008 , hard to beleive it was that log ago ! I was in no rush
    to build it, needed some thing to keep me busy. It was pretty rough, but the price was
    right. It was out of state (just over the line in ILL) but requiers vin check. A call to the
    local Gendarms to bless my frame, and it was game on ! coupe1.jpg
     
    AHotRod, Lil'Alb, Dave Mc and 10 others like this.
  2. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I got a xtra set of doors, one good fire wall, and real rough set of fenders. coupe2.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  3. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Has quite a bit of bondo, and the bottom 6" is full of pin holes. in other words normal. coupe3.jpg
     
  4. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I mounted the body on my frame jig and braced the inside of the cab to keep it square.
    coupe5.jpg
     

  5. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I first removed the center section of the roof, and removed the T molding by cutting althe spot welds.
    I than reinstalledd the panel adding washers to make up for the molding. coupe6.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  6. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Well that was fast! I lost a bunch of pics in computor crash!! Oh well it's pretty
    straight forward on an Model A. coupe7.jpg
     
  7. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I only took 2" out as I'm tall and like the head room. I think it helps the look of the profile also. coupe8.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  8. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    another pic. coupe9.jpg
    It really cuts down on warpage the lower you make the cut.
    Have ground all welds including alll door poosts.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  9. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    while the doors were off I replaced all the hiinge pins with over size stainless pins . also replaced the
    bottom 6" of the doors. coupe10.jpg
    Little did I know this would come back to haunt me !
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  10. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Here's the center roof panel after blasting ready to have the T molding tacked back
    in after cutting 2" off the end. See you don't have to cut it in the middle ! Actually
    I'm determined to have no rust any where on the body. coupe11.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  11. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I cut the gas tank out, and filled the feed hole. I have set up the other side of my shop
    to blast every thing myself. coupe12.jpg
     
  12. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    After the chop I pulled the entire car apart to blast all panels. the pics
    here do not show how rusty it really is. coupe14.jpg
     
  13. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I stored all pieces in my family room while working on one part at a time. coupe15.jpg
     
  14. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I braced the front cowl section, and cut off the rear sub frame. I repaired the edge off the
    firewall which was a real mess. Also repaired bottom of the cowl. coupe17.jpg coupe18.jpg
     
  15. GordonC
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,140

    GordonC
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Looking good! Keep it going!
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  16. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Thank's Gordon !
    The replacement rails did not line up very well, so I ended up making a finger joint
    which is stronger any way. I fabbed the cross pieces from 16 gauge CR . The condition
    of the old sub frame shows the actual amount of rust I'm determined to get rid of.
    coupe20.jpg coupe16.jpg [ATTACH=
     
  17. That's where it was the first time I saw it!
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  18. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Here's the cross members for the sub frame, and a view of the finished piece.
    coupe21.jpg coupe22.jpg
     
  19. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    I had planned on preinstalling all the wood, but I had it in and out many times.
    I did stain, and poly urathane all the wood.
    coupe23.jpg coupe24.jpg
     
  20. Thor1
    Joined: Jun 6, 2005
    Posts: 1,664

    Thor1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Wow!, that looks really nice!
     
  21. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Starting to look like a car again , believe me it took longer to get this far
    than pics make it look! Lol
    coupe25.jpg coupe26.jpg
     
  22. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Anotherview, also tacking in that T piece.
    coupe27.jpg coupe28.jpg
     
  23. Rich, I wish I had met you when I was in my twenties. Maybe I could have learned some craftsmanship from you. Instead I’m a lazy hack in my 50’s !
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  24. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    This pic shows the new Brookville trunk lid, and lower panel. The latch hole was off center,
    the latch would not fit in the lid, and the mounting holes were off. The lower panel had no curve
    to it, and the deck lid was wavy in several spots. other than that everything was normal.
    coupe29.jpg coupe30.jpg coupe31.jpg coupe32.jpg
     
  25. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    The above pics do not show the porta power used to adjust lid gaps. Also
    the time it took to curve the lower panel with my trusty shrinker stretchers.
    coupe33.jpg
    This pic shows the good firewall installed for body intgrity. I repaired the firewal edges
    and welded 1/4 20 nuts to the backside. I had to fill in all the old spot welds. I spaced
    all the attachment holes to match the upper cowl panel. Iwant this firewall to be
    removable as I have plans for this area.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
  26. Deuce Daddy Don
    Joined: Apr 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,544

    Deuce Daddy Don
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You are a real CRAFTSMAN!
     
    48fordnut, kidcampbell71 and scotty t like this.
  27. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,174

    manyolcars

    I love the step by step pictures.Keep'em coming. A 2" chop is smart. 6 inches is insane. Excellent cuts!
     
  28. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    In the previous pic every thing looked fine, well it wasn't ! This is many weeks later, and
    the body is on the frame, and the frame is on the jig. I repaired the front mounts by
    the cowl, and fit all the wood body mounts. I also attached the wood blocks to the
    body so that I can remove, replace body easily. The visor does not fit for crap. coupe34.JPG
     
  29. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Iv'e had that wood header out more times than I care to think about ! All the wood is in the cab now.
    I'm finally commited to welding the visor to the roof. There are a couple steps at leading edge
    by the visor that I hammered flat, also some relief cuts to have smooth transition for the
    top insert. coupe35.JPG coupe36.JPG
     
  30. Rich B.
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 761

    Rich B.
    Member Emeritus
    from Portage,IN

    Been awhile since I done any leading, but still remember how, showing my age now .lol
    I have seen too many Model A's with cracks in this area, so there will be no bondo here!
    coupe38.JPG coupe39.JPG coupe40.JPG
     

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