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Projects My 51 Shoebox build thread

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by Finnrodder, Jul 31, 2010.

  1. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    While waiting for the hood springs and bolts i decided to do something for the hood. Its rusted and sandblasting didnt feel like a good idea for a large panel like that. I dont want to stretch it with sand and i cant remove all the rust that is behind the hood factory structures.So the sandblasting is out of question, but citric acid could do the trick.
    So, i bought a kids pool...Well, i think its for kids, its hard to imagine any grown, mentally stable and sober man using that thing for the recreational purposes.
    Next step was to buy 50kgs of citric acid, i have messed with that stuff before and it works fine. I have used 5% mixture and it has worked great so far. I put old tires under the pool to get it a bit smaller. There is no point to make 800 gallons of mixture, just too expensive and stupid. There's something like 200 gallons of mixture in the pool. Thats a lot too, but enought for this project. Here's couple of pics before:

    IMG_5247 (Custom).JPG IMG_5251 (Custom).JPG IMG_5254 (Custom).JPG IMG_5256 (Custom).JPG
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2019
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  2. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    That was 2 days ago. I usually let the piece sink in mixture around 24 hrs, then rinse it with water and brush it with wire brush. I repeat that couple of times. But this is a large panel, so i decided to try something different. I rinsed it with power washer and it worked fine. The citric acid isnt a paint stripper, but it makes paint softer. The paint peeled off from the hood nicely with power washer. I am not sure was that a factory paint, but it got off easily. Its pretty close finished, but i am not rushing with it. I dont have primers yet, so i'll let it sink few days more than usually. So its not done, but its getting there. Lets see does that primer peel off too. Here's after pics.

    IMG_5258 (Custom).JPG IMG_5261 (Custom).JPG
     
  3. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    As usual, Finnrodder, you've come up with another "outside the box" answer to your problem. The pool was a great idea; I've seen it done before but not on that scale! Lots of time and effort saved, I wish my mind worked like that, lol!
     
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  4. Hey, Finnrodder, have you ever tried washing soda and a battery charger to remove rust?

    The link here is some miscellaneous things I share. ..scroll waaay down to the part about electrically removing rust. .

    https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Tips-and-Tricks/
     
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  5. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks! I've planned to do this for awhile, but summertime is best time for this kind of job. The weather is warm and i dont have to worry about the mixture freezes. There will be more guests in this pool party. Dashboard will be next one, after the hood is done. I really need to make somekind of simple stand, the washing/drying process will be easier with that one.

    Thanks for the link!
    Yeah, i have tried it. It sure works, but didnt have a proper power source for that job. I have kind of sticked with the citric acid. It just feels a bit easier, just sink a piece in mixture and let it be there few days, rinse it, dry it, primer it and voila.
    Ofcourse it doesnt work with everything, like spring steel or cast pieces. But with sheetmetal stuff its great!
     
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  6. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Round 2:

    I did an another rinsing operation with power washer and looks like its done at this point. The mixture doesnt do anything for the hood, even that factory primer sticks there. Unfortunately i dont have the primer yet, so i have to stash it in mixture couple days more. I have always primered the pieces ASAP after the final rinse and drying it, that way it doesnt get rusted again. I also pre-washed the dash before the acid bath, it doesnt actually look that bad after washing it. Sun has burned the paint from the top and there's few deep rust spots on lower inside corners. Otherwise its pretty good. Looks like the factory color has been gray on this car. Does anyone know what that color was called? I already have one gray vehicle, so i am not sticking with that. Just curious..

    IMG_5267 (Custom).JPG IMG_5272 (Custom).JPG IMG_5274 (Custom).JPG IMG_5276 (Custom).JPG
     
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  7. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
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    Looking good! The hood looks like it will work for you and the dash is in better shape than the one in my car when I started with it.
     
  8. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks! Yeah, looks like that dash is the most solid piece on this car. I did a rinsejob for the dash and its getting there too. I guess its near done, but i let it sink in the mixture few days more. I also primered the hood. Its not most beautiful primerjob ever, but atleast it doesnt get rusty again. I am pretty sure that i have to primer and sand it several times.
    Its pretty straight and bondo free, but there is a lot of work ahead with that one.
    The front inner structure is really crispy and so is the front hood lip. The inner piece is really pitted and thin and there isnt many spotwelds that holds it on the hood. I guess my best shot is to drill off the spotwelds of the another hoods inner piece and use it as a donor part. I think that donor piece needs some fresh metal too,but no so much than this crispy one.

    IMG_5277 (Custom).JPG IMG_5281 (Custom).JPG
     
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  9. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    A quick update before the roadtrip. The dash is finished with the rust issues. I am glad that it doesnt need anything else than fresh paint on it.
    I drilled spotwelds out from the inner structure and gave an extra acid bath to it and to the hood front part too. There was couple of spots on the backside of the structure that needed some attention and so did the hoods front part too.
    Its impossible to do the hammer/dollywork when the structure is on, so this will make life a bit easier. Next step will be working with the fender lip and the structure needs some fresh metal too.
    But that will be next weeks job. I am going to Sweden at today with my bro and friends. There's an event called Hang'em hi, the plan is to get there. I heard that there's also a Ford swapmeet, i guess that could be cool event too. We are going there with motorcycles, so its not possible to carry anything large sized parts from there, but we'll see..

    IMG_5283 (Custom).JPG IMG_5288 (Custom).JPG IMG_5291 (Custom).JPG
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2019
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  10. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Great progress! Get out there and have some two-wheeled fun! I'm leaving on a month-long no-set-destination tour June 23. If I can stay sane that long.
    Heve a good time, Finnrodder.
     
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  11. I needed to acid dip the front of my '59 Ford hood, wish I took some pictures. I bought an under-bed plastic storage unit, took the lid off. I leaned the hood up on my back deck and lashed it to the deck with bungee cords, submerged the hood for about 5 days in the citric acid solution. Got all of the rust off the hood, thin sections I ground out and rebuilt with fiberglass mat and primered it. Looks quite passable.
     
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  12. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks! Yeah it sure was fun. Month long tour sounds pretty cool. I guess this country is too small from one month roadtrip. A country that is smaller than the state of California is seen quickly...
    Same to you, have a good time!

    I was scared how thin that hood will be after the bath, but luckily only the corners and sides are thin. I think i can fix the sides etc by welding them, but if the hood skin were thin i would be screwed with this hood..
    Earlier at this week i went my bro's shop, he has a way better sheetmetal bender than i do. So we made new lips for the hood skin and for the inner hood brace. I got the inner brace done, the hood skin lip will be the next one.

    IMG_5328 (Custom).JPG
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2019
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  13. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That looks good; I wish I had the metal-working skills you are showing. So far all my attempts have ended up in the scrap heap. I'm a solid mechanic but metal work is like dancing to me.... a mysterious art that I see others do but I can't quite figure out. Ask any of my (ex) girlfriends, lol.
     
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  14. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks!
    Well, tough guys and i doesnt dance:D
    I dont understand a shit about the choreography either, but i guess thats not a big loss.
    Most of that patchwork was quite simple metal work. A piece of sheetmetal that is bent to L-shape and cut a notch on center to make it V-shape, to get it follow the hoodskin lip profile.
    The ends of the patch were a bit trickier. The patch end have to pass the hoodskin sides, so i had to bend the lip ends to opposite direction and shrink them a bit with shrinker/stretcher to get them line up with the opposite lip profile. There wasnt much left of the lip ends and there wasnt a single spotweld that holded the skin and brace lips together. But i think this is what the lip ends should look like. The skin lip is a lot simplier than this one, just needs a lot more hammer/dolly work than this piece. Here's a pic of the lip end, if someone wonders wtf i am talking about.

    IMG_5332 (Custom).JPG
     
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  15. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    A small update:
    I got the hood lip fix done and plugged the trim holes too. I figured out what to with center of the hood. I have seen pretty cool peaked hoods on shoeboxes, but i think i'll keep things simple and fill the center trim bead with lead. The inner brace isnt there yet, i have to paint the inside of the hood skin and the brace before its ready to go. The hood skin looks like this at this point:

    IMG_5345 (Custom).JPG
     
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  16. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
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    She is going to have a nice smile, won't be much longer now!
     
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  17. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Well, i hope so. But i guess that will be few thousand euros ( or dollars) later..
    Anyway, here's an update:
    I welded the inner structure piece back to hood, made couple of patches on the both sides too and primered it. The hood was a kind of flexy before that repair, most of the spowelds were rusted out of the inner structure. So its sturdier now with fresh steel and spotwelds.
    I bought correct hood hinge bolts and springs, but it isnt much better than it was without the right hardware. The rear corners are too high, i have to do some homework how to solve that problem.
    Sometimes you have to take few step back to go forward. Before the hood/fender hell/mayhem/nervous breakdown, doors must be ready to roll. I havent paid much attention for the passengers side door for some reason. Its pretty solid, so i guess thats why i havent touch it. I stripped everything off from that door. I still have that pool with citric acid, so i put the door in there. The mixture is kind of murky and the white crap thats floating there is pollen, but it still works. At this point i have noticed only one small hole on the inside of the door, near hingeside lower corner. I guess it doesnt get much worse than that when the mixture has kicked in.

    IMG_5347 (Custom).JPG IMG_5350 (Custom).JPG IMG_5354 (Custom).JPG IMG_5359 (Custom).JPG
     
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  18. Finnrodder likes this.
  19. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Yeah, thats the problem. Rear corners are sticking up a bit and they are not even with fenders or cowl. I got few ideas from your blog, so thanks forthe link. Its an adusting issue, just need to figure out how to do it. There wasnt anything about the hood adjusting in green bible. But if the methods are same than with the other body stuff in that book, i think the factory body guys were really violent fellows when they were working.
     
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  20. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    The door cleaned up nicely. It was a bit worse than i thought, some pinholes on the bottom and few on the lower doorskin too, but nothing really radical. What comes to drivers side door, that was a lot worse than the passengers side and i guess it was ok after my repair, but i wasnt 100% happy with it. So, over month ago i noticed a NOS shoebox door at ebay under 200 bucks. Solid door, but surface rust, lower corners were bend slightly and the biggest minus on that one was that was '49 door. But i bought it anyway, that surface rust doesnt scare me, thats why i got the pool thing going on.
    So i have to modify it a bit, to make the '51 latches work with it and chop it too.
    Well, shipping, taxes etc doubled the price, but still its a new door with brand new hinges. Earlier at this week i went to pick it up from forwarding company and it was pretty much what i expected. I hammered the bended corners straight, removed the hinges and put it to the pool.

    IMG_5364 (Custom).JPG IMG_5371 (Custom).JPG
     
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  21. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    I havent updated this thread for awhile, so i guess its time to do it. The NOS door cleaned up nicely. I gave a longer bath, just to get rid off the factory tar. The acid mixture did most of the job, but there were couple of spots that needed a heatgun and puttyknife.
    The passenger side door looked better than it was. It wasnt completely rotten, just a lot of small pinholes here and there, so i made new bottom part and around 1" slice of fresh sheetmetal on the bottom of the doorskin. I havent sorted my photos yet, but i'll post few pics of the passenger side job later. But here's a pics of rustfree and "brand new" door.

    IMG_5384 (Custom).JPG IMG_5386 (Custom).JPG
     
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  22. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
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    Wow the door is perfect, isn't it? Keep plugging along, we all know that it takes awhile!
     
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  23. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Yeah, i am happy of the result. If that were a '51 door, then it could be perfect:D
    It needs some modification, its not a bad job but extra stuff...

    Anyway, here's some story about the door fix. My crappy sheetmetal brake is too narrow, but luckily my bro has a way better brake than i do, so did the braking work with bro's tools. The bottom of the door is slightly curved, so i needed 3 slices for this job. One for the skin and 2 for the bottom. I made cardboard template of the door bottom profile and shrinked the skin piece and one bottom piece (which will be against the door skin) to match the template. I think it is possible to do one piece bottom panel, but i thought this method is a lot faster way to do it. I also fixed the crispy spot on the lower hinge side corner. The rust issues are done with this door, but there are couple of spots that i dont like. So, it still needs some work. Here's few pics of the patch work.

    IMG_20190723_170114_4 (Custom).jpg IMG_20190724_173225_8 (Custom).jpg IMG_20190730_172344_5 (Custom).jpg IMG_5395 (Custom).JPG
     
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  24. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Allrite, like i earlier posted, there are couple of spots i dont like in this door. One is this B-pilar side window frame. There's a piece of the corner missing, i think that piece is cut off because its a relief cut when making the slanted pilars to door. Its not a big thing and i guess most guys just leave it like it is, but it was annoying the crap out of me. So i had to patch it. It was cut off nicely, so it wasnt bad job to fix. I made a patch with my shrinker/ stretcher, cut some extras off and welded it. Dremel cutting discs were handy, when removing the extra material. Its a bit too tight spot for angle grinder and pneumatic cutter was too clumsy for the job. Well, here's some progress pics.

    IMG_5407 (Custom).JPG IMG_5412 (Custom).JPG IMG_5415 (Custom).JPG
     
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  25. Hey Antti, nice work again, i'm looking forward to see your car some day in person somewhere!

    P.S.: did me miss again at the osw or weren't you there?
     
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  26. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks, Carsten. Yeah, hopefully at some day...
    I wasnt at the OSW at this year, i was at Hang'em hi earlier at this summer. So far its been the only trip to Sweden at this year. Not sure will it happen, but there are swapmeets in Sweden that i like to visit. But we'll see..
     
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  27. Robert DiAnni
    Joined: Oct 20, 2016
    Posts: 24

    Robert DiAnni

  28. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks!

    Here's a little update. I guess it doesnt look like much, but there was a much more work than it looks in the pics.
    I guess the easiest way to shave doors, is just lapweld the bigger holes. Its one way to do it, but personally i am not a huge fan of jobs like that. The passenger side door was shaved like this, but it wasnt a huge issue because my plan was to use the Lincoln pushbuttons with stamped frenching rings. I think those frenching rings are only way to do it on these cars. The door is just too curvy on the spot where pushbutton is supposed to be and it doesnt seat well. I made a dies for those rings and stamped them long time ago and now was time to use them. That frenching ring covered all of the lapwelded patch, so there was no problems with that. The biggest issue was below the pushbutton, the metals was stretched, so i cut off the stretched piece. Unfortunately there was still some extra stuff on the door and it caused some oil canning below the patch. It was a kind of shitshow, but i got it done with shrinking it with heat and wet rags. I did the fine tuning with shrinking disc. I really hope that drivers side NOS door is easier than this one..

    IMG_20190819_142324_4 (Custom).jpg IMG_20190819_144309_8 (Custom).jpg IMG_5436 (Custom).JPG
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2019
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  29. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
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    It's just one cool thing after another with you @Finnrodder
     
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  30. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks!
    Looks like there's more surprises with this '49 door conversion. Its not a big update again, but i guess this could be useful info for someone who is using '49 doors on '50 or '51 shoeboxes. The outer door handle is completely different and the door latch is different too. I guess most guys & gals know that. But this was new to me. I welded the '49 OEM latch holes on the door and made the conversion holes for the '51 latch. It didnt seat well and i noticed that the "pocket" at end of the inner handle assembly channel was too deep on '49 door. I think there's not much use for the crappy '51 door, so i cut off a donor pocket and welded it to the '49 door. It wasnt a bad job with that donor piece, but it could be a lot time consuming work without any donor parts.
    So, that's an another pain in the ass with '49 doors. Here's a pic of the result.

    IMG_20190904_231044_6 (Custom).jpg
     
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