Leatherback to Steelback – Vicky's Got Curves In All The Right Places...

My car, a 31 Vicky, was what's known as a leatherback. That means that the entire top and C-pillars were once covered with vinyl, canvas, maybe even leather, I'm not exactly sure. Doesn't matter though, because I wanted a steelback, which has a top more like that of an A coupe.

The leatherback body is a bit different from a steelback – the rear window opening is unfinished because the top material wraps around the opening and is attached to the wood inside, and there's no body line behind the rear of the quarter windows because the top material wrapped around the C-pillars and attached to the wood just behind the windows.

This meant I had to source the body lines for behind the quarter windows and a rear window section and graft them in. I'll start with the body lines on the C-pillars. Here's a pic of the area behind the windows after a 2-1/4 inch chop:




I bought a set of 32 fordor sedan body lines from a guy from Texas here on the HAMB – sorry dude, I cleaned out my PM box and I don't remember your name. When I bought them, I didn't realize that on sedans, the body lines curve forward at the bottom. Hmmm, what to do?








The solution was easy – I cut them in half and switched the tops from side to side.






I had to pie cut the tops to tighten up the radius of the curve a little.




Then it was a simple matter of cutting out the old metal and fitting and welding in the new piece.

 

That's some nice fabrication right thur.

 

Dave, this car is going to be one hell of a ride when you get finished. I am still gathering parts for mine and won't be at it for a while. But I have to say I like watching you and now Plowboy's builds. I have a Crazy Caddy to build first and then the Vicky

~~ Lockwood

 

Looks good to me. Nice job.

 

What a difference that body line makes, must look waaaay better from a distance.

 

Your creativity is amazing! You have been holding out posting TWO killer threads in one day!!!

 

i agree!!! top notch!!!

 

YA! it's freaky the talent that is on this site.

 

Great work, I still struggle with dent removal!

 

Selling my '32 Vicky project was the right thing at the time, and I'll have another some day. Thanks for the update on yours, it sure is progressing nicely. Bob

 

Nice work!

 

I know why you're so smart. Cause you work on hot rods and live in Richmond,Va. Looking cool ,keep up the good work.

 

Nice work Dave. That little Vicky is lucky to have fallen into your capable hands.

Terry

 

Great job looks A+ You should do some work on a firewall like a 29 or something like that.

 

I was at Wescot motors in Boring Oregon the other day and the had a leather-back just like yours and i think the wanted 15000 for it , oh I forgot to mention that it was just the body.

 

looks great.....nice metal work.

 

looks TITS... details

 

Wow- more nice work, Dave.

 

Nice!!!!

 

Very nicely done. It takes vision and talent to pull off something like that. Kudos!!!

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys, it really keeps me motivated. And Paul, I'm happy to help you out with your firewall, we just need to figure out a good time.

Now, here's the second installation of my leatherback to steelback conversion.

The Vicky came with a rough unfinished rear window opening with plenty of rust in the belt line. Apparently the top was holding water for many years.




I found a rear window section on Ebay – I think it was from a fordor, but I'm not sure. I bought it because the bead around the back window was bigger at the bottom so it would match the side windows. On original steelback Vickys the bead around the back windows is of equal thickness all the way around and it doesn't match the side windows. Go figure.




I chopped it 2-1/4 inches before I started fitting it.




I had to cut out the rounded bead in the wooden framework that runs around the window so the finished steel opening would fit through it. Once it fit into the opening in the wood framework, I marked the position with a Sharpie.




I braced the top and cut out the old window section.






Then I just tacked it in. Since the original belt line bead was rusted out, I used some of the belt line from the new window section to fill the gap.






And here's the rear window grafted in.




Now all I need to complete this conversion is a set of drip rails. I'll take Model A or 32. Anyone? Anyone?

 

Vision, creativity, innovation and skill - you got 'em ALL, brother!!

Beautiful workmanship.

 

Dave,
Any pictures of how you filled in the stock drip rail grooves- the ones that go diagonally upward to the top rear corners of the body?

 

All I can say is

 

If I understand you correctly, the holes you're asking about weren't for drip rails, they were holes for the tack strips in the original leatherback top. Most of those holes went away when I put in the new roof section and I just cut a 1/2 inch wide strip of 18 gauge sheet metal, bent it to the right curve by hand and welded it in to fill the rest. There was no need to cut the old metal out because the holes for the tack strips were recessed into the roof about 1/8 inch, so I put the new metal right on top of the indented channel. The end result is flush with the roof skin.

 

Nice work. I didn't even realise the body had been modified until you showed what was done. It all looks right at home.

 

THATS AWESOME!...glad to see her comin along...More progress pix please!

 

man that thing is going to be awsome!!!! great work

 

Well, I've finally completed the last step in my leatherback to steelback conversion – the drip rails. For a factory look, I decided to modify a set of Model A Tudor drip rails to fit the Vicky. I traded Jackandeuces an illustration of a car he built for a nice original set. Thanks a ton Jack!

The driver's side was really solid, but the passenger side had some rust pits and holes to weld up. Once the rust was repaired, I gently bent them into shape by hand so they followed the contour of the roof. To get the downward curve in the front, I pie cut the end, bent it into shape and tacked it together. Next I drilled holes in the flat part every four inches. Then I clamped them on and plug welded them on through the holes.

Here are a few pics:

 

Looks first class Dave when that vicky is done it will be one of a kind.