Good to see how you've fitted the roll down rear window. I'm doing the exact same job at the moment. Is your mechanism original '35/'36 coupe or have you adapted something else?
If this coupe turns out anything like your 36 Binder it will be nothing short of amazing. Keep up the good work.
Lots of little pieces that are time consuming since the last post. First set of pictures shows that I put a firewall insulator and insulation in as well as the cross bar to hang the Painless 12 circuit from. Wiring is still in the process of being plumbed, but I've got a good start on it. Next set shows the sound deadening for the cabin to get rid of the tin can noise. I had to build the roof bows and several other oak trim pieces to attach the interior pieces to. The one set of pictures shows the process i used to create a pattern and bring it to an end. Since the two sides are mirror images of one another I just attached two pieces of oak together and did the rough forming as one piece connected by a couple of wood screws. To find the placement for the screws in the original holes i attached a piece of duct tape to the inside facing part of the wood and hit it with a hammer to create an impression in the duct tape. I then drilled it out and fitted it to the original holes. I've got the headliner in and a rare speaker center piece placed in the center of the header panel. I ordered the interior pieces through Lebaron Bonney. Still a lot to do on the interior and its been pretty time consuming. A few wrinkles in the headliner I'm still trying to work out and I have to put the dome light up top yet. Hoping to finish before fathers day so i can toss him the keys.
Lots of interior work and a bit of engine stuff since the last post. It took buying the original interior from Lebaron to figure out where and how to place the braces and stationary stuff. I've never been able to find another post with these early 35 coupe details in it, so though my work isn't professional - it'll at least give the do it yourselfer a bit of insight into the original interior. Starting with a corner of the coupe you can see what it looks like in stages - first set of pics. A lot of work to deaden the floor. A rubberized material was glued in to dampen the tin and then an original matt up front and some patterned rubber taken from a bed matt out of an 8' pickup floor - about 1/2" rubber under and behind where the seat will be. Still have trim work to do around the windshield and need to respray the dash. The visors are on their way - will have to be covered. Pretty sure that the remaining wrinkles in the headliner will come out when the dome light goes in. I've done some modifying to a 37 sedan seat to make it work. Those pics will be posted later. I'll probably tackle the finish wiring next and see if i can get it fired up and running. The new tires are on the original spokes - went with 6.00 x 16 in the front and 6.50 x 16 in the back. New driveshaft is installed and ready to spin.
Started it tonight. Had to get the right voltage reducer to the 41 distributor. Changed the original push button starter from the floor to the dash and upgraded the starter to a mini. Ran a bit rough at the outset, but once everything got adjusted in, it sounds real smooth. Just blowing out of the headers for right now, but i plan to put a pretty quiet dual exhaust all the way out the back and through the frame rails. I had my worries about how it would run. Havent' tried the clutch yet, but everything is in place to move, except the steering wheel. A real relief to hear it run after all the up front work. Both heads warmed up appropriately, no drips runs or errors at the outset, but just running without water for now. Converted the original generator to 12v. Bought a few runtz to manage the voltage to the gauges. None of those are hooked up yet, so I'm not sure about my oil pressure or amps. Kept all of the appearance of an original fuel pump, but mounted an electric pump on the frame rail. Ran new wires through the old looms and redid an original 6v distributor. The carb seems to be holding its own, but not responding much to needle adjustments. Just shy of a dozen pieces to spray, quite a bit of interior work left yet. Thanks for the encouragement.
Well, I didn't make the Fathers day deadline and I didn't have it fixed well enough to let him take it for more than a few mile ride - all that later. I'll begin with some of the painting. Found a single stage that was very close to the original repaint black enamel. Sprayed the tail light stands, windshield garnish, head light buckets, spare tire cover pieces, and dash. Readjusted the suggested thinner dosage and was happy with 8 parts paint, 2 parts thinner, and 1 part hardener. Had a little too much orange peal in the dash so I had to color sand that and buff. Pretty sure that the glove box clock didn't start until '37, but cut the door and put an original clock in after making a bracket to hold it in place. Wired all the instrument lights into the dash and added an extra courtesy light in the middle of the dash on the cowl bracket I'd built earlier. Lots of fun creating the gear shift to make it look close to original, added a nob from a 70's jeep. Had a hell of a time getting all of the gears to mesh right on the original steering gear and instead of adding gear oil, just filled the box with grease - works pretty nicely now. Added the banjo wheel and the original light switch and horn button - only the horn button is operational. Finished the interior on my own finding a very close vinyl to make the door panels. Put an original design in the door panel (3 - 1.25" spaced stiches begining 4.5" below the top of the panel). Had to cut about 3" out of the front of the '37 sedan front seat mounting bracket to make clearance and appearance correct. I could go on and on about the parts and time it took to make the interior work well. One of the funest things to figure out was the radio. The old tube types don't warm up quickly and are bulky. I took a mopar radio from about 1980 and created some bracketing to fit it up under the dash. The original radio face and cables run to that radio and make it operate the 6.25" round pioneer speaker I put in the original speaker compartment. Waited as long as I could to get the restored chrome grill back from the chrome shop, but ended up putting the old black one in. The new one will get put on when that time comes. Original horns are both operable. The headlight buckets were updated by welding in 7" sealed beamed pieces that were cut down to the rim width (sorry if that doesn't make sense - in short they are sealed beam now. Rechromed original bumpers and new tips. New dual exhaust, with just a bit of flathead rumble all the way out the back. I took several in town trips with the car and though it didn't run fantastic it was good enough to get me sailing down the road as fast as the original rims would take me - that 5-speed is fantastic. Dad lives on a gravel road about 17 miles from the pavement. Unloaded the car from the open trailer and put the kids in with me. Nice little drive for about 5-6 miles on the gravel when she started dogging on me. Came to a stop - reloaded and slowly trailered it the remaining miles. I had a dream in mind all those months of dad seeing his car driving in. Still plenty of happiness on his face though. Unloading the car - it started right up again, but I can't take it more than a few miles without it stopping. Heat is good at 160ish. It acts like vapor lock, or a coil issue. One of the things I didn't realise is that the early fords worked on a positive ground system. I updated to a 12 circuit from Painless, but went with a 12v negative ground system. At this point I don't know what the problem is - happy to hear the wisdom that I know resides on the H.A.M.B. He's got a big 100th anniversary celebration for a nearby town coming up - hope to have all the bugs worked out by then.
Woo-Hoo, I love what you're doing with your (dads) car. My EFV8 1935-36 book shows the clovebox clock as standard equipment for Deluxe models. Some other Deluxe items were two windscreen wipers (the passenger wiper was operated by a slave bar from the drivers vacuum motor), chrome grille, two tailights and two horns, different fabrics were used for the interior as well as a walnut wood grained dash. I personally prefer the black grille over the chrome for that understated look, which so far you have in spades. Just wondering why you went to all the trouble of putting in the wind down rear window, are you going to convert to a rumble seat? I can see the attraction, your dad driving, you in the passenger seat and the grandkids in the rumble seat would make for a very pleasant drive in the town parade. And if the kids get too noisy? Wind up that window! Good luck with your great project.
Well a year ago I took it home to dad and had an electrical issue with the coil. I was burning out voltage reducers. I am running a 12v painless system, but an original 41 distributor. After all kinds of head scratching and a couple more reducers we settled on running another line from the fuse box (not the 30 amp fuse set up by painless). No more problem and I got to drive it enough to learn that i had a horrible wobble in the wheels. Put some spacers between the wheels and the drums (just a 1/8" piece that can be bought for this application). I can run 60 now, but the original steering gear is too sloppy to make that safe. I've got a Vega box that I'll put in sometime and I'll catalog the process. This past weekend I put the white walls on. Certainly dresses it up, but I'm not sure if I'm sold on them. Dad and I plan to put some miles on it this summer.
Jeez Hank!?!??!?! I missed this whole thread! WTF. For teh rest of the HAMB crowd, cseries and myself go back 24? years!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy, still feel like the college Frosh watching what looked like two tanned surfer dudes decorating their dorm room that was known as the Passion Pit! I had an Oster Grill daddy. Call me about the open drive deal. Dixon Bros during the day.
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