I have been collecting parts for around 10 months or so. I finally came across a body and frame that is in pretty good shape, so now I have enough parts to actually start working on the project. My plan is a traditional style build with the Bishop/Tardel books as a guide. I have an 8BA that needs some work, a 39 Ford sedan as a donor car for the rear banjo, radius rods, toque tube, transmission, steering shaft, and front spindles. It also has an 8BA in it, but I doubt its any good. The guy I bought the car from said it has a 3/4 cam and 4" crank, but that's yet to be confirmed. I've also collected an F1 steering box, F1 front brakes, 1935 wire wheels, Stewart Warner gauges, tach and speedo, F1 cross member and pedals. The 29 Coupe body is in pretty good shape and came with all the fenders, hood, deck lid, grill shell and headlights. I don't plan on running fenders but it's nice to have that option. It also came with a nice leather covered front seat and rumble seat with matching door panels, all of which are usable and have that old hot rod feel to them. So far I have reversed the eye on the rear spring and removed 3 leafs, the spring had 11 when I started. I have also fixed the crease in the left lower cowl panel and firewall. I'm now working my way around replacing old Bondo repairs with metal patch panels. I'll start posting more pics as the work progresses. I hope you enjoy the build. Aaron
Put the car in the garage, not much room but it will work until the shop gets built out back. I don't have enough room to pull the body off the frame like I would like to so I'll be working on the body for now. The first thing I noticed was the cowl panels were not fit right. They look like reproduction panels that were made to flat and didn't curve in at the bottom like they should. I took them off and put some slices into the inside flange and used clamps to pull them into the correct shape, then welded the slices back together. They fit correctly now. I also found a Bondo patch filling up a rusted are in the bottom of the A pillar. Took the Bondo out and replaced it with a metal patch panel. Started fitting the wood body mount blocks, nothing is lining up on those so far! Aaron
Spent most of the day aligning the body to the frame. I need to make the subrail extensions up front, but in order to do that I needed the body mounted correctly first. I had to drill new holes in the subrails and frame where the mounting blocks go because whoever put the subrails in drilled them in the wrong spots. I also trimmed the thickness of the body mount blocks down to get the body lower on the frame. I also made up the passenger side A pillar mount plate to replace the rusted out one. Progress is good! Aaron
Started off the day by cleaning off the bottom of the drivers side hinge/A pillar. I found an old patch that had rusted through around the perimeter. I made a pattern, cut out the area and put in a new patch. The whole bottom of the pillar was rusted away, I rebuilt the front, the back and the bottom. There is a low spot on the bottom of the patch, but not to bad for a novice guy like myself. After that was done I wanted to see how bad the rear of the drivers side quarter panel was. I could tell there was a bad attempt at repairing something back there and I curious how bad it was. Turns out to be not so bad. It looks to me that someone back in the day tried to do some repairs with brass, then someone later on in the cars life used a ton of Bondo. I scraped and then sanded all the Bondo off. The rear quarter looks pretty good actually, but the front lower patch is pretty bad. Instead of a flush patch, they did a lap patch with brass. There is about an 1/8" to 1/4" difference between the patch and the original panel. Would it be a good idea to grind the brass off then slice the panel at the line and bring it back flush with the original? Aaron
I have never had much success with trying to weld where brazing has been done previously. The bronze seems to form such a good bond at the molecular level it just won't grind off. I would cut out the whole section with the braze if I were going to weld in a repair. Matthew
Well the purists will say that to be an A V8 it has to be a roadster. but let 'em eat worms if they can't take a joke. I like it so far, looks like you got a good solid foundation to start from. Keep up the good work.
Nobody says that. Av/8 is flathead,model a frame. Coupe,rpu,closed cab pickup,tudor,fordor,roadster,whatever. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Im missing whatever holds the wood in place up front. Does anyone have a picture of what's supposed to be where my finger is pointed? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Keep up the good work! Looks like you're having one of those 'experiences', where everyplace you take off the old primer, you get another nice 'surprise' - we've all been there! Looks like somebody thought that brass was a good welding rod - hate that stuff. You're making some great progress and you'll have her on the road soon.
Thanks Rand Man I finished spraying the epoxy primer on the back portion of the body today. Lots of prep work on the interior. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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