I recently acquired a 1928 Australian Phaeton from a friend that has had it for a number of years. I have spent the last few months figuring out exactly how I wanted to build it and most importantly how to save as much of the original paint as humanly possible. The story is that it belonged to a sign painter in Australia and he is the one who lettered it all up. Some of the detail in it is pretty amazing to say the least. The body is really rough in and around the bottom areas so fixing it while preserving the paint is going to be the hardest part of the build it seems like especially considering it is a full wood subrail car. Here is the run down for what the car is going to be... Body: 1928 Australian Phaeton with original sign paint Frame: Original 1932 ford frame. Stock 32 banjo rear end, 32 heavy axle with an early drop by MOR, split 40 bones. Drive train- 1949 Merc Flatty, Thickstun PM-7 Intake with 97's, Grancor Heads and an old vertex Mag. 1939 Toploader Trans. Wheels and tires- 16in Kelseys with 500-525 Firesones up front and 17 in Kelseys in the rear with 750 Firestones. I attached a photo of the car how Ben had it mocked up; on a stock a chassis. Should be a fun build. The body now Engine/ Thickstun without the Grancors Some of the paint details...
Keep on trucking with Ford. Very cool, I guess the dash will give you a timeline as to when that was done. Look forward to seeing how you save the outside sign work.
This is awesome, I can't wait to see it in person! Hit me up when you have some time and we'll catch up, glad to see your new project is already off to a great start! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I like the idea of trying to preserve as much as possible but take a lot of detailed photos of the sign work . If for some reason you can't save the work when making the rust repairs you can always have a sign guy replace the original art work. HRP
Phaetons rule! Wood subrails? Wow! It's crazy the differences there were in the same models. My 29 has steel subrails. Congrats on a kick ass little car!
As to preserving the signage you might experiment on another surface using 1-Shot Sign Restoring Clear with a bit of talcum powder mixed in to flatten the gloss.It shouldn't affect the clarity and will help preserve the lettering.If you want to try aging it a bit you can use a satin finish marine spar varnish which has a bit of yellow toner in it to stabilize the clear.I would experiment on another surface before using it on the car.The more coats you put on the darker it will get.Be advised that spar varnish usuallt takes several days to cure between coats.
Thanks for the info. I have used the one shot restore clear a few times but never the marine varnish. I'll grab some old sheet metal and what's best Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Good call there. That was one of the first things I did when I got it just in case. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Worked for a few hours with Justin Baas on the frame yesterday and got it mocked up. I am pretty excited with how its looking.
No kidding that you're pretty excited with how it's looking! Good build. Subscribed and can't wait to see how this turns out. Ed
The 32 frame I have was cut down massively at one point, probably to build a dirt track car judging by the tow bar welded on the front. Here is a photo of how short it was compared to where it needs to be with the 32 rear end all attached.
We cut the rear cross member out and squared up the frame. Justin fabricated a replacement rear section out of 6x3 trimmed down then pie cut and tapered in the back half to mimic a 32 frames taper around the axle section and some 3x2 tubing to give us the kick up and support for the rear seat in the phaeton. We also added some rear legs that go from the K member to the rear kick up for some extra support. The whole rear section will also be getting boxed.
It seems like I've seen that car in a movie - Mickie Rooney maybe? I'll keep thinking about it though. Dave.
3 or 4 years ago I took alot of reference photos of the sign painting on your car. It was at Chickasha OK pre war swap. Classic style of the late 30's. Kool project.
A little update on the Phaeton... I have been really busy with work so I have not been able to work on it too much. My Grandfather came into town for the Roadster Show and just to visit from the East Coast so we took 2 days off too get the motor assembly started. He had a 49 Merc Convertible in 1953 that was a pretty cool custom for that time. Nose and Decked, Carson Style top etc.. He also rebuilt the motor that year. The reason I am putting a 49 Merc motor in there is because thats what he had so Assembling it with him was cool. The rundown is as follows. 1949 Stock Mercury Engine Grancor Heads Thickstun PM7 High Rise Dual Stromberg 97s Vertex Magneto Reds Headers Cloth wire and Raja screw top fittings Putting all 59 parts on an 8CM motor presented some challenges but you know how that all goes.
thats awesome! You can kind of see the orig. color in these photos too. There are some areas of really bright purple that I am guessing was the original color. The lettering on that body is nothing short of amazing.
Mason don't want to hijack your thread,but thought you might dig these.this is the Sign shop it belonged to Cheers Mark
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