Strengthening up the rear of the car has been fun. Taking forever but with the shelter in place in here Texas I have been hitting the car. I was able to get the side braces removed and install new ones. Took out the old under deck lid section and replaced it with a new one as well. The old one was very swiss cheese. I also had to extend the notch in the sub frame to account for a upper shock mount to attach to the cross member .
I have been staring to assemble and make a template for the floor riser to connect and strengthen the rear section of the sub frame I notched to allow for the cross member to drop below and or inside the trunk. Folks seem to go about this step in many different ways. I went the the Rusty from dirty s speed shop in Denton route. Here are the photos as follows.
I first made a cardboard cut out template of the box/riser and made sure it would fit and would be easily removed from the car when needed.
I then traced out the cardboard template on the sheet steel i was going to use. Being that I don't have a large brake I was forced to use the old clamps and pipes to create a good edge and hammer away. The results are not the prettiest of boxes but totally works.
The fit came out reasonably well once in the car. I had to make alot of adjustments and will need to make some small patches but came out great.
After getting the fit correct and realizing that I will need to get to the cross member for a while longer I attached some tabs at the back and drilled holes to attach fasteners on the top and sides. I still need to changed out the Model A rear with the 40 rear I have, and shorten that tube and shaft. I also want to be able to play with the leaf count because I don't like how high the car is sitting presently. Bolting with fasteners will allow me to take this riser in and out till I finally weld it in place.
Very nice work... I see you cut off new sub rails to weld to your kick ups, need the same thing for '32 frame rails... … does anyone sell the front half sub rails for '30-'31 coupe ? …
I’m not sure, I know brookville sells alot of subframe parts separately. Howell sheet metal is also a possibility, however warning ordering and customer service can be shotty. I have had luck with howells but I know a lot of folks that have not. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
thanks, I have parted out a few A coupes... there is a triangulated bracket that connects the B pillar to the quarter window wood... I use it as a gusset from the subrails to the wheelwells... helps support the quarters ...
during the Covid mess I started digging into the sheet repairs that needed to be done to make this a more solid body. I have almost 0 experience with sheet metal repair, but came out ok in parts and not so great in other parts, but Ill try to massage it more. I started with my quarter panels. Both had large cracks from previous stress spots.
Both the driver and pass side quarter along the B pillar were Swisscheese and needed repairs as well.
Next was on to a small section on the pass quarter where a previous owner had put in a piece of flat in a body line and tried to make it work so I ended up cutting it out and mating a small patch by hand forming the line to follow. Not super happy with the results and it will need more work, but it is stronger than it was. Just looks a little impregnated which i might be able to shape a little. The section behind the wheel well is also crunched in some and hammer and dollyd it pretty good, still needs more love as well.
Then i moved onto the inner wells of the quarters. Per usual these were rotten and cut up. Came out ok, im happy with these, both still a need a little more work.
Wow, that roadster body is rougher than a stucco bath tub...........I have never seen a roadster rust out in the body where the doors close, were those bondoed in at one time, strange rust area ? ......when they are rough like this they good ones to learn on because whatever you do is an improvement , your work looks good
Totally agree. I feel like no matter what I do will be better than it was. Hahaha. I’ve found almost no bondo in this car. But who knows if bondo or a poor prime job soaked up moisture and then was ground off prior to me. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
