Saturday, March 17, 2018

SHOP UPDATE: Bill's roadster

 So I finally got the tail light bracket for the 34 tail lights. I was able to finish the wiring and install the lenses. The back of the roadster is done.
 Al did a great job on the tinted windshield. Susi and I installed it, It makes the car look more complete for sure.
 I installed the trans dipstick and trans pressure gauge and put the first 8 quarts of fluid in. Once the heads and intake come back it will be time to get it fired up.
 All wiring is finished except the engine and headlights. We are waiting on those engine parts to finish everything under the hood up. once it is running we will be able to finish putting the fenders on and finish this one up.
It looks like it wants to go for a ride.

SHOP UPDATE: Making door jambs on John's delivery


 So I finished roughing in the front jambs on the delivery. I am waiting on the door latches so I can finish the fabrication and move to the rear door.
 I also started fabricating the rear sub-rail extensions. Once the extensions are finished I can build the door threshold and door jamb. Slow but sure, things are coming together.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

SHOP UPDATE: Making some progress on John's 31 Delivery

Let me introduce you to John's 31 Ford Deluxe Delivery. This is a rare car for sure. 3000 or so were built. All were built by coach builders. This car had a wooden skeleton with tin skin on the outside. My job now is the replace all that wood with a one off steel structure.
 I already replaced the lower sub-rails with steel 2 door sedan rails so I have a solid base to work my way up from. I decided to frame in the front doors first. So here goes. This photo shows the rear door opening before I got started.
 Lots of measuring and cutting paper templates went into this final steel pattern.
 Here is my pattern trimmed to final size and I put a step in the back side to help stiffen the panel a bit.
 this is the step in the back. I will do a similar step in the front so the lip on the skin fits flush into the new lower door post.
 Here is the panel folded into the shape I want for the door post.
 I needed to put a dog leg in the post to follow the  edge so The wind-lace seal will seal the door when we are finished. I took a pie cut so I could fold the post. I will weld the cut once I an happy with the posts.
 Here is the first of 2 posts. Drivers first, then move to the passenger side.
 Notice the post follows the shape of the door. That is needed for the type of seal used in early Fords
Passenger side lower post is complete as well. Tomorrow I should get the upper posts and start above the doors.



Sunday, February 25, 2018

SHOP TRUCK: Susi is killing it in the shop




 I just wanted to see what it looks like outside from a distance. Stance is just right for my tastes
 So, the last few days Susi and I have worked on the 40 I have given her a project. Simple discription of what I want and turned her loose. This is her first task. Build the rails that span the box under the seat that I will mount the seat tracks to for the new seat. Absolutely perfect. She cut, bent and drilled by herself. Exactly what I was hoping for.
 Next task, Build the upper grill panel for the new hood latch assembly. Here she is cleaning up the cut out part.
 There she is checking the fit before we drill and mount it

 Perfect for sure. Looks like it belongs there. I could not be more proud of her. Her skills in the shop are getting better every day.
I spent the last part of the evening building the upper panel. Next round I will get the latch installed and move to the next project.

SHOP UPDATE: Bill's roadster

 Well, we got the body on and started the next phase
 Battery in the trunk
 Susi started the Dynamat throughout the car
 I mounted the fuse box and started pulling wires


 I assembled the dash and wired the back side
 Dash is in and all gauges are wired
 I made some battery cables and powered up the roadster

 The rear of the car is wired. The brake system is complete and we have been bleeding the brakes

 Did a little more paint work on some of the final parts


 Did another round of paint. Almost finished painting roadster parts
 We installed the trunk lid
 We finished installing the rear fenders, bumper and tail lights

 We installed the radiator and trans cooler lines along with the shifter and E brake

Susi sanding a few more parts so I can get them buffed and installed. We are just about caught up on the roadster. I am waiting on a few engine parts from the powder coater and the polisher. Once they arrive we will finish the assembly and get it running.