Starting with the body
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Starting with the body
Posted: April 24 2006 03:36 PM
 
Mitch Samuel (aka crash12888) [ View ] [ crash12888@comcast.net ] [ Car Ads ] [ Blogs ]
Chesterfield, Virginia
(804) 748-3376
 

Starting the work on the firewall has me thinking. Should I do all of my metal work and welding to the body like firewall, floor pans, roof fill, top chop and anything else and then have the body and parts blasted or have it blasted first and then start the list. One better than the other or pros and cons? Mitch

 
 
Comments
 
Posted by crash12888  -  04/20/2006 06:14 PM
Well, The plans for the body fell through so it's being done at home. I got the body hung on a roll around steel frame and the cowl tacked solid to it. I took a bazillion pictures, drawings and measurments for crs reference. The first thing I found were sloppy hinges and doors sagging. I had to get them off, blasted and oversize pins put in before I could do any aligning. I'm sure you all are aware how much time is spent on taking things apart, getting bolts and screws (wood screws) out without tearing everything up that have not moved since 1929. My plan is to work back from the cowl, hang the front doors on the good hinges, set the gap on the sills and center posts and align the height of the posts to the door body line. Add abunch more front to back cross bracing and then hang the back doors and align them to the center post in the same manner. Anyone see anything I've missed?
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by crash12888  -  04/20/2006 07:36 PM
Brian, your response just made me laugh out loud when I read it. I was wondering when I took my hinges off why some were bent all to hell. Well, They're all straight and primered now so I guess I'll have a consistant starting point. Thanks for the info, I welcome all I can get. Mitch
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by 29robert  -  03/03/2006 03:06 PM

Mitch: I had mine blasted before I did anything else so I could see what I was really working with then etch primed it right away so I wouldn't get any surface rust while I was working on the car, not to mention hand prints on raw steel from all the neighbor kids. Problem is, I now have to remove the primer from every place I need to do any welding. In hindsight, the blasting and priming was a good idea because it's taken me a lot longer to do this project than I had anticipated and I'd hate to see what that raw steel body whould look like after sitting in my garage for a couple of years. Not necessarily correct, but just the way I did it.

29robert [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] La Verne, California Charter Member since November 2004
 
Posted by carpro1946  -  04/21/2006 07:40 PM
Hey Crash, don't know how much stuff you need but Bratton's is a fine Company. I use them for all of my Model A customers. They have always been great to deal with.
carpro1946 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] hebron, Maryland Charter Member since March 2003
 
Posted by crash12888  -  04/21/2006 02:16 PM
Terry, I'm not 100% but I've heard the hidden hinges are too big for a model A. I already got the webbing from Brattons in Md so I'll be using it. Don't see why rubber won't do the same thing. Depends on the compound how long it holds up. I'll be posting some pics of the body wood transformation to steel as soon as my daughter gets back from Fl with my camera.
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by carpro1946  -  04/22/2006 02:41 PM

Brian's right. They didn't have any.By they way, I use 1/4 inch Teflon for body supports. It does'nt collapes and won't squeek.
carpro1946 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] hebron, Maryland Charter Member since March 2003
 
Posted by crash12888  -  04/22/2006 08:40 AM
I agree Carpro, I ordered oversize hinge pins, hinge screws and other door parts on Monday 10:00AM, showed up Tuesday by noon. great prices also. Any Ideas on door weather striping for Model As? It didn't seem to have any
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by crash12888  -  04/23/2006 11:36 PM
So what do people do that want to add weatherstripping? What kind of noise do I look forward to if left out? I am worried about whistling or other air noise and just want it quiet when driving down the highway. Softseal or anyone else make anything? Mitch
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by 26stude  -  03/15/2006 01:38 PM

Mitch, Do you weld the uprights at all to the body sheeting, I know it will leave a dimple in the weld area, but it would add alot of strength or will it cause the outside sheeting to start to crack. After I install the roof which is a bitch on the older cars, can't just fill the center in, need to redo the whole top.Then when you chop the top you have to cut all the new uprights you just replaced. There must be a better way? Sound like you are moving along.

26stude [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Casselton, North Dakota
 
Posted by brianangus  -  04/20/2006 07:11 PM
Crash---I'm sure you know this already, but just in case-----I had always been told, by others who I assumed were smarter than me, that on model A fords you adjusted the door gaps by bending the hinges. This seemed perfectly logical to me, as there is no provision on the hinges for any kind of adjustment. I found out more or less after the fact, that they are adjusted by placing shims at strategic points between the sub-rails and the frame, either ahead of the front body mounting bolts or behind them, (depending which way you are trying to move things), and then tightening the body mounting bolts to "tweak" the sub-rails, thus bringing things into alignment. This can only be done with the body in place on the frame that it will be used on, and with all body/frame webbing in place.
brianangus [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Barrie, Canada
 
Posted by 26stude  -  04/21/2006 01:32 PM

When making your body mounts would rubber pad between body and frame work or just use the webbing?



Would hidden hinges work, like on my 26 stude, doesn't look like alot of room and what do they do with the top hinge.

26stude [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Casselton, North Dakota
 
Posted by brianangus  -  04/22/2006 10:10 AM

I don't believe that model A's used any weatherstripping at the doors.

brianangus [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Barrie, Canada
 
Posted by orphans2  -  04/24/2006 03:36 PM
My 34 Plymouth has no weatherstripping on the doors or the body. Just windlass around the door interior perimeter. No wind noise, no air or water leaking.
orphans2 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Stewartstown, Pennsylvannia Charter Member since November 2001
 
Posted by crash12888  -  03/15/2006 07:54 PM
Hey Terry, I'm not real sure what direction I'm heading in yet. I kinda have an idea what i'm doing but my brother in law that owns a bodyshop, sorry, I mean "Collision repair facility" will be holding my hand through this part of it. I'll be posting pics and progress reports as we go.
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by crash12888  -  03/08/2006 07:15 PM
The body will be set up on a big steel table at a friends shop. There it will be shimmed and doors aligned before all the cross and support braces welded in. Then I'll start on replacing the wood around the body with square tubing. This will be interesting since I have more mechanical skills than bodyworking skills. I built the frame for the car using the original frame and a print from Wescotts as references. The frame is flat as is the steel table so it should work out.......How many times have you heard that before?
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by crash12888  -  03/10/2006 05:59 PM
Since the wood measures 2" around the body and where it mounts to the frame, I'm going to use 2" thin wall tubing for the lower body edge and run it right up against the body and down the frame rails. I have a friend that can roll thinwall tubing if it doesn't get to tight in the radius. Then I'll run 1 1/2" sq tubing from side to side and tie it all together. I had planned on replacing all of the wood in the body but because it is so solid and just bolts to the wooden frame rails I'm just going to rebolt it to tubing and add some extra braces. I will have to replace or remove and reinstall the wooden pieces where I will be doing the roof chop and doors. This is my plan so far but it might change once I get into it. Kinda shootin from the hip at this point. Mitch
crash12888 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Chesterfield, Virginia
 
Posted by 26stude  -  03/10/2006 01:51 PM

crash, when replacing your wood what size and gauge tube are you going to use? I'm working on a 26 stude, I have been making cardboard templates of the wood uprights and cutting steel pieces to match. then I will make weld them into a channel. Is this an over kill? Do you fit the tube to match the body or just get close as possible. Are you taking all of the wood out?
26stude [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Casselton, North Dakota
 
Posted by pasadenahotrod  -  03/03/2006 12:19 AM

The first thing I would be doing is bracing the body after making sure it is square and everything is hung right and works. The work should be done with the body bolted to the frame or a reasonable facsimile to insure correct fit when finished.



Since you'll be cleaning all the weld areas anyway no reason to do the blast work until metal work is finished. You may, of course, run into more filler or bad stuff than you anticipate and change the sequence.
pasadenahotrod [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Pasadena, Texas
 
Posted by brianangus  -  03/03/2006 08:23 PM
Mitch---I did all the work on my model A first, then when I was all done chopping, shortening, and adding floor and patch panels, etcetera, I took it to the sand blaster, then immediately primed it with an epoxy based primer.---All the mudwork was done over that epoxy base.
brianangus [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Barrie, Canada
 
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