Projects ON HOLD... hotrod ['38-9] or ['40] dashes, gb door

Got [3] '40 dashes, [1] glovebox door... had some scrap 14" x 12" pieces of sheetmetal,
measured and cut the corners to fold behind the "skin"... I left the hem at 1", thought I would need it to weld hinges to... NOPE...
KEEP THE HEM TO 3/8" OR LESS , it will CREASE THE SKIN when you run it through the slip roller...
marked ;

cut;

rolled;

 

Nice work!

 

Looks great.

 

@sloppy jalopies...looks great...you made it look easy. A couple of things.

Perhaps for those that are new to this,
- how did you cut it
- how did you fold it
- just a profiling observation the bottom of the door looks to overhang the bottom profile of the dash. Does the door possibly require one more bend to match the dash profile?

I am sure your going to continue your great tech article but a couple of suggestions which you may be already considering.

- show hinge fabrication and attachment
- show lock and or finger pull addition

Lastly show a side by side with the original as it helps the understanding of how close this is to Henry's version.

Great stuff and thanks for sharing Sloppy.

 

cut with a shear at a buddy's workplace.
hems were folded on a buddy's 4' brake.
skin was rolled through a buddy's slip roller.
.
Its just a plug to fill the hole... note the lower right dash has been cut and welded, the door bottom may still need tweeking... this was a "wonder if I can" thing... and a new one is just $50.00 ...
I have 3 dashes, this door will get wired to the back of one and then hung from a nail... might even make another one...
.
Also if I were to modify a '40 dash to sell, the buyer's 1st impression often sells the thing...
having the hole filled really helps.
When he tries to explain the purchase to the wife the more complete looking the dash the better.

 

Cut another [fill the hole] blank, sanded all the edges that will be folded over to help stop them from creasing when rolled....
also made the hems narrower this time... headed to a buddy's to slip roll them...
'40 ford glovebox door "skin" ;

.gonna try and bend a '38-'39 standard glovebox door "skin" only...

 

excellent.This kind of work is what makes the hamb great

 

got them rolled.
the new '40 ; note the shorter hems, it bent easier.

.the '38-'39 was tougher to roll, relatively flat except for the upper and lower edges... ;
.
Used a 1/4"-20 x 2" screw, screwed 3 nuts onto it, the last one a flanged or navy nut, flange toward the skin, sat it against the edge of a stock g/b door, the 3 nuts are the same hight to the hinge contact surface, welded the 3 of them together, screwed them to the hinge with the navy nut's flange against the door's skin...carefully duct taped the door right where it needs to be, welded the navy nuts to the skin, removed the tape, bingo, and cheap... wish I had an easy fix / swap for the hinge but '40 to '48 cars is the best I can do...
ashtray, right side knob stud showing...

 

stogy...
I measured the distance between the '39 skin and hinge contact surface on a stock door, about 3/8"...
[2] 1/4"-20 nuts are close enough, ran a screw through them, welded them together, measured, marked and welded down onto the skin's hem... gonna use Velcro latch...

 

Can't seem to find the '39 ashtray/lighter panels... I had bent some channels to use as overdoor header wood when using longer tudor doors on a '30 coupe... they were 1.75" wide... I tipped one on edge and it slides into the ashtray panel slot, not tight, but not bad... gonna trim the sides so I can shrink them for a little bow top to bottom... pix Tuesday... could be 1/8" wider...
Even though not perfect, with key, light switches in one, fan and heater switches in the other they should break up the background and should be ok...

 

'39 ashtray block offs... first try... may just work...

 

HA! This makes me feel good, I did the same thing with my missing glove box door for my Model A dash. (39 ford dash) I even attached the hinge the same way.

 

On mine, I did not need a latch, the spring on the hinge holds the door shut.

 

My '38 dash was a cabbie or woodie, dash tapers down on the ends...
Cut out a blank, marked it, broke the edges, hems, hammered them flat...
welded a 2" long piece of 9/16" shaft to a new roofing hammer... makes a handy tool for a tight bend near the edges... I bent up this cabbie glovebox with the new hammer and by clamping the very edge in my vice and gently leaning on the door to add arch...
... did not use the slip roller...stack of nuts welded to the door skin, screwed the lid to the hinge, fair enough...
... edges sanded,

I may cut out the speaker grill, ashtray and lighter panels on a '39 closed car and make a large insert rather than straighten the s/g teeth, make 2 ashtray / lighter panels and have all the gaps be even I will make another g/b door the total size, and weld it in ...
[2] mid '30's garish cut and welded along the lower edge...

 

Cut out the '39 speaker grill, hemmed, hammer and hand bent the center panel...
propped it up... mikie likes it.

kind of looks like a Packard or some other orphan dash...

 

Instead of a latch, use small magnets.

 

A little too lazy to make all the seams and edges have even gaps, I cut, hemmed, bent and hammered a panel just bigger than the lighter, ashtray and speaker grill... ashtray knob for the g/b door, 5 switches in a bezel in place of the radio and a half standard, half deluxe instrument cluster to come...

 

I duct taped the panel where it fit best, z bent and tacked 2 tabs that will pinch the lower edge...
ran a screw, flat washer and nut through both stock upper tabs, welded the flat washers to the panel...
trimmed a flat washer and welded it to the upper dash, ran a screw, flat washer and nut through the welded washer, welded the inner washer to the panel ... the panel is removable...
.before ;

.after ;
View attachment 3802072

 

Looks good "Smoothed Over" , from not usable to pretty cool looking rig.

 

Feb's sun has started to throw a little more heat our way, time for me to get back to working on my coupe...
the coupester's parts will go back upstairs till after I get the '30 on the road... see you then...

 

1939 dash has been modded to bolt into a '30 tudor cowl...
Removed the "oil canned" fins from the speaker grill...
grabbed a piece of scrap sheetmetal, hemmed the edges...
the hems were just inward of the cut off edges, tacked them there...
I like how it sits against the dash like the glovie does...
I have some individual chrome louvers [boat ?], 4 of them might look good on the new insert...
hmmmm, I have a nice chrome script "super deluxe" from a '41 sedan...?

 

Looks like you're having a ton of fun! They look great considering what you started with!

 

I can't help myself... dashiz, dashiz, dashiz... and w/s frames.

 

I liked the '51-'52 truck dash to cowl treatment...
so I looked for the right size steel tube with a real tight 90*...
found a flattie road draft tube hanging on a nail...
.
want it to round the upper ends to the cowl bar surface...
.

welded in...
.
in an A cowl...

 

Your dashing thread has been fun to watch. I am considering some of your modifications for my 39 dash project. I really wish I had considered using the 40 standard instrument panel before I bought my gauge set...

 

Decided to run the gauge panel, maybe slide a tach into the left 4.5" hole..
welded it in, added the curled sides to sort of hide the gauge sides / wires...
tried to keep the little reveal around the edge but the last couple inches got hot... 4 holes for '41 super deluxe grill script.

 

That looks cool SJ. I cant remember...will the glove box door be operable?
This is a fun thread to watch!

 

yes sir, also it appears that the cheaper '48 to '52 truck glovebox hinge can be made to work on these '38-'39 dashes...

 

Good job, lots of patience and ingenuity!

 

Can't leave 'em alone... '38 convertible or woodie dash... bottom rotted off... twisted...
I used some '35-'39 garnish mlds to make 34ish grills...
.
the leftovers [armrests] were welded to the lower edge as it rolls under and out of site...

.welded and has the upper corners flattened to better match the A's dashbar...