To mount my 31 A body onto my 32 frame, I had to channel the body slightly so the body's flat subrails would fit the graceful curve of the frame. Once I did this, the bottom front corner of the cowl hung down over the frame about 3/4 of an inch, and I thought it conflicted with the flowing lines of the deuce frame. Since I needed to put patch panels in the lower cowl anyway, I decided to address both issues at the same time. I made a simple pattern that flowed upward with the shape of the frame. Next, I transferred the new shape to the patch panel and made a few cuts. After a little welding and grinding, I had a new curved patch panel. I then fit the panel to the cowl and welded it in. Here you can see how much the lower body line will be moved up. Next, I cut off the remainder of the lower cowl and moved it up to align with the patch. You can see how the original body line is cut and bent down to line up with the new body line on the patch panel. A little more welding and grinding (plus a future skim coat of filler) and it's done.
Yup, one of the first cars I really looked at up close had the same thing done with a '32 patch panel. And sodbuster, if you're reading this it is your boss' roadster I'm talking about.
Druss, looks great, love the curved part. Looks like Henry did it. I had to clean up my server, the pix should be back now.
Love those Vicky cars. I have a neighbor with a minty 31 that makes me drool when I drive by it. Really nice work on this dandy. Rock on dude. ~sololobo~
In the last photo, the patch panel bead appears to be somewhat wider than the door bead. How will you address this? Also, if you are working on a Coupe, the door bottoms are not straight. Replacement cowl panels are mostly crap.
The Jalopy Journal
