Will do Greg. A little each day and it slowly comes together. Lots to do on the body yet that will really slow the curve down, I had hoped to put it on the road this summer but there may be too many outside home projects that will interfere.
Work continues on several things. I have had a set of commercial headlights hanging around for some time so I pulled them out of storage to use. These are Ford licensed units with H4 bulbs and naturally they would not fit the new Socal stands. Got some ideas from some other members before I made some slight mods to the bases so they would drop into the stands correctly. After realizing that the stands have a right and left things began to come together. Mounted my fan and the radiator and just by chance looked at one blade which seemed very close to the lower hose. Of course I had grabbed the wrong fan (I have 3 units) so I am glad I didn't overlook that for sure as it would most likely have ruined something!! Put the correct one back on which looks much better. Had little clearance between the frame and the gas line, maybe 3/4of an inch. Been looking at that for a week so decided it had to go. Pulled the line out and will have to reroute it up the firewall and feed gas from the rear of the engine. So a little back and forth most of the week...guess that's how it goes. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Very little going on lately. Had to finish up some small projects in the house and then it has been near single digits which keeps me in the house. We are beginning to prepare for sugar season and will be tapping trees this coming week. Then it will be 6 weeks of doing that so updates will be slow for a bit. Got the spacers for the valve covers out and have set up the early covers with revamped wires. Sent off the primary 97 to Uncle Max to-do his thing. Mocked up some carbs but really need the body on to route the lines etc. All of that will most likely follow sugar season. Bear with me, more to come soon. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Looks great Walt! Where did you get the valve cover spacers? I have a set of early valve covers I want to use. Have you considered having the lower fitting on your radiator moved to the other side? That’s what’s done on my car. Enjoy the sugar season; locally made is the only kind of maple syrup I buy! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
good point on that radiator outlet. Always a back story ya know.... I had bought this project from another member who had set it up for a SBC with a new Walker unit. Of course the easiest route would have been to keep it that way but hell what is the fun in that. I mean to say it couldn't be anymore expensive to use my Olds block setting over in the corner could it? Then I figured I had better lower that coupe body a bit over the frame in the front to get that neat look. So when all of that was done (you know what is coming now) I rolled it out for a look and soon discovered that the radiator and shell have that "too high" appearance. When all is said and near done I will need to order a shorter radiator to solve that issue so in the meantime I just fabbed up a crossover pipe to make due. I will sell that Walker some time in the future. Those aluminum spacers I bought from another member several years ago. I do not know anyone making them but I would think one could use a vc gasket as a template, digitize it and water jet them for a reasonable cost. One water jet in my town but I have no connections with that group.
Small update! Been right out straight on projects around the property since winter has left but did find enough spare time to locate another 15x5 rim that matches the other rim for the front. Only issue was that it was setting down in Rockville, MD. After a few inquiries and assistance from some of the members in MD. I got hooked up with @drivewaycustoms who was just super with his help in grabbing the rim and shipping it up to me. Big thanks to Joe for all his help. This week I managed to get both rims cleaned up and shot in black. Cool and rainy so I will wait till next week to mount up the tires. That ought to give the paint time to set up good. 2 weeks ago we ran down to KY to see my son and family. Due to covid we haven't seen them in a long time. On the way we stopped in Williamsport to talk to Andy at Kohler Customs about a 4 inch dropped axle. As it turns out the axle and spring that came with the project is one of those aftermarket units that is shorter to tuck the wheels in further if you were running fenders. Not comfortable with that premise so Andy is dropping me a Henry ford original and I will change out the spring at the same time. I will certainly feel more confident with that under the car. More to come.......
looks good walt, i bought a welded model A USA built 3" chopped aluminum rad.. the A chassis is flat from cowl to rad... the '32 chassis raises 1.5"... that and your body channel merit a chopper... i bought a 3" chopped flattie radiator, for multiple port choices... fords swapped lower port sides in 1970... go walt go !
Thanks fellas for the compliments and encouragement! I now have the body off the lift where it has been stored for what seems like 10 years. Put it on my wooden roll around platform and started hammering panels. Smoothing out the usual places and sanding/blocking. Did I say I hate body work This project came with an aftermarket trunk lid which of course needed much attention, taking more time than I expected. Then I decided that sunken tail lights would look better than those Pontiac pieces setting on the surface so I made up a round wooden buck, bent up some metal on the roller and fitted the pieces to the buck. Welded them up and cut some holes in the tail. Finished welding those in yesterday so now more bondo work. Progress is slow but encouraging. This a pic of the buckets that are just tacked in place. More to come as work continues.
looking good, do your perch pin have keyways ? IMO... they are on backwards, the shock should mount outside the pin center...
yes they do have keyways and I have had them off and on a couple of times. Actually I need the extended perch pins as mine are not intended to have the lower shock mount attached. Changing them is on the list so when that happens I will make certain I get them outside the pin center. Thanks for looking Smitty. Always glad to have someone looking over my shoulder
Pushed the body into the paint booth and my buddy sprayed it with high build primer. Today I blocked it off with 180 and now need to fix some areas, then more high build but that is the process.
round 2 in the paint booth today if I get my butt moving. Fixed a bunch of little things so we will see how the next layer looks. Pics coming, if I can remember to take them
i once ran '33-'36 tail lights sunken in the lower panel like yours, just the stainless bezels showed, liked it, haven't seen another rod with that combination...
Pulled the body out of the booth. It seems to be taking shape, going to hit it with 320 and see what it turns out to be. First, I remembered that I needed to relocate the windshield stanchion pin as it was too high to work with the chopped windshield frame. I moved it down to about three inches from the bottom. Pulled the windshield frame out of storage and attached it with metal lathe screws which have a big flat head and seemed to work perfectly. Check the fitment with the new pin location and it all seems ok. Filled the old hole on the stanchion covers and made new holes for the relocated pins. Wasn't thrilled with the OE rubber bumpers for the trunk. I have been looking at them now for a while thinking I should change them so today I filled the 5/8 hole and then drilled a 5/16 hole in the center for the adjustable hood bumpers from earlier GM cars like this one: This will allow a little adjustment that I bet will be needed before I am done with this trunk deal!
Looking good Walt! Glad to see some progress, can’t wait to see paint on it. . Have you decided on a color yet?
Henry Ford black, no brainer heh? Thinking early Ford white on the firewall though. Found some usual little highs and lows on the 2nd go around. Fixed those yesterday and have finished the cut with 320. Now I can't locate the filler panel under the windshield so that is holding up the progress a bit. I am searching every box from the move again today. Will high build the doors today. My buddy has to go in for a heart procedure Tuesday down in Boston so we will be at an "all stop" in the shop till he returns and recovers a bit. Not very invasive procedure but still when you are 80 you need to rest a bit(but I bet he won't, not in his D&A) Before we paint I have to move the rolling chassis up to the shop and mount the body, then install the doors to check final fit. Then we are going to make a hood, fit it and then blow it all apart again for paint. Lots to do as always.
yup ! every time i loose something, when i find it it is at eye level ! found a new carb i was looking for for a year, thought it was in a white box... found it upstairs at eye level but in a black box... errrrr ! found the long lost signal-stat switch about 2 feet from it, after buying new to replace both...
How did I NOT see this thread some years ago? Hmmm... Walt at 69, building an 'A' on Deuce rails. Nice. My own '27 tub on Deuce rails sat for awhile, now my own body is much improved. Birthday in October, 79. Sure want to take a little ride... Love that Olds, Walt... What was with the valve cover spacers??? Couldn't find that in the text.
Mike, I grabbed a set of aluminum spacers years ago from somewhere knowing I was going to run early Olds valve covers that would not work with adj rockers. I am using McGurk rockers which in the day required dimple valve covers like on the J2 version. The 3/8 thick spacers with gaskets on each side lift the oldy covers enough for clearance. On another note, I should change my title to read "at 75" as I have been realllly slow in getting this thing to the front burner. Big shout out to Smitty @sloppy jalopies for his help in providing that filler strip! We are back in the booth today waiting to spray the last coat of high build, then will hit it with 600 and finally some color post mounting and door fitment.
Took a little time off as my buddy had to go to Boston for a heart procedure to correct an irratic heart rate. He had to law low for a week before going back in the shop. This week we are back at it. Working on the doors fixing some issues and trying to find some missing pieces which is getting to be more difficult than I imagined. Someone in the past had drilled straight thru the door tops in order to attach the door tops. Had to weld up those holes and insert a fix for the missing nuts in the door frame. Now that this is done I the doors are ready for the last shot of primer. May get to do that today. Then I have to move the chassis up to the shop and mount the body for the last fitment exercise to make certain the doors and trunk are going to line up then maybe we can get serious about splashing some color on this project.
Laid down the final coat of 2k on the body and have it blocked. Concentrating on the doors. They need a lot of attention. Did more hammer and dolly work after candling them with a shop light to catch any discrepancies. Surprising how straight they look until you put a light across them. Few low spots are now fixed and we will shoot them tomorrow with another coat of 2k. Hope that is the end of that!
Yesterday we put the body on the lift and set it on the frame. Today I checked on a few fitment issues and came to the conclusion that I have to change the connections for the Mc and the clutch system. Just to tight and am worried that I will have a difficult time routing the speedo cable so I removed the left exhaust pipe to get some room to work in and reconfigured in my mind what has to be done. Need a longer brake hose for the clutch slave and some clever rerouting and we should be fine. Bolted the body down and then installed the doors for a final fitment check. They are all messed up. The PS door ha s serious hinge bind so I drilled out the rivets on the door and removed the hinge. Knocked the old hinge pin out and redrilled for 1/4 inch. Then I bent the hinge a bit to try to alleviate the hinge bind. Tomorrow I will reattach the hinge to the door and see if the modification helped at all. Yesterday we took a hood from another build and sat it on the 31 and clearly recognized that my radiator is too tall so I will be ordering a shorter unit and will sell this new Walker. Love these surprises!
The Jalopy Journal
