Thread: '32 Cowl Reshaping

Tweet

Listen to Dave---He knows what he's talking about!!! If you fill a gap that big, you will have a big mess on your hands. That flat, horizontal section of your car gets the most sunlight, and a humungous build up of material in the top of the cowl will expand and contract at a different rate than the rest of the glass body, causing it to crack out and ruin any finished paint job. I think the only way to fix that properly is to make about 5 evenly spaced relief cuts which extend from the passenger compartment about 3/4 of the way to the firewall across the top of the cowl, parallel to the centerline of the car. Work from inside to jack all the peices of cowl out to the proper position, as determined by your windshield frame, then put a layer of mat and resin on the outside to hold everything in place. After it kicks, wait 24 hours, then remove all the jacking from inside and lay up a couple of layers of mat and resin on the inner cowl surface. Wait 48 hours after it kicks, then bondo finish the glassed area on the outside. It appears that the cowl is the correct shape at the firewall, as the hood seems to fit okay. That being the case, the actual "bodyworked" area will be relatively small. It looks like they may have pulled that body from the mold while it was still "green" and without proper support the area directly below the windshield has sagged.

It may just be the photo or the angle of the photo, but the windshield frame looks like it has way to much curve in the bottom ... to me.





Owned a original 32 roadster for 30 plus years ...
I believe I would check the windshield frame against another one ( that fits good ) before I went to messing with the body

Originally Posted by Deuce

It may just be the photo or the angle of the photo, but the windshield frame looks like it has way to much curve in the bottom ... to me.





Owned a original 32 roadster for 30 plus years ...
I believe I would check the windshield frame against another one ( that fits good ) before I went to messing with the body

Hi Deuce,
I know what you mean about the curve of the bottom. That's the first thing I thought when I got it and matched it up to the body. The frame is the right height in the center for a 3" chop (length of a dollar bill) but Monday I'm going to make sure everything is right by matching it up to another guy's windshield, just to make sure.
Pat,
I held the frame up on the body and it doesn't match the shape of the cowl.
Dave & Brian,
Thanks for steering me away from using alot of (thick) "bondo". I like Brian's idea about cutting, jacking and reglassing the cowl. I'll have to look everything over real good and plan that out.

Still open to more suggestions but THANKS EVERYONE so far!!
Bruce

It looks like they may have pulled that body from the mold while it was still "green" and without proper support the area directly below the windshield has sagged.[/QUOTE]

Damn Dave---This is just like Deja'Vu all over again.

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

It looks like they may have pulled that body from the mold while it was still "green" and without proper support the area directly below the windshield has sagged.

Damn Dave---This is just like Deja'Vu all over again.[/QUOTE]

Yeah Really!!!!! Just please don't ask me how I learned that lesson..........

Minor problem ... the cowl/windshield fit.

Now this is a problem ...





My friend Don Dillard was hit and then forced into a curb today. Steel car with lots of charm. At least the the E-250 Ford van driver had insurance ( company van ).

Now, that's absolutely sickening!!!! I did a search and found his site and saw how the car looked when he got it, etc. Hope he's okay! Makes my problem seem like nothing at all.
Bruce

Deuce, gotta ask you--is this the Don Dillard that played baseball? You mention that he's your friend and I see that the ball player was born in SC where you are.

If the body's cowl is the problem, the best solution may be to fabricate a new lower piece to the windshield to match the curve of your cowl. Pain in the a$$, I know. But I would look toward that as a solution to the problem rather than trying to build up the cowl to fit the windshield you have. It would be less work but more expensive as you would have to have it re-plated.

Originally Posted by NSRA905

Deuce, gotta ask you--is this the Don Dillard that played baseball? You mention that he's your friend and I see that the ball player was born in SC where you are.

Not the same Don Dillard.

The roadster owner Don Dillard is younger and lives in California, just outside Los Angeles. We usually eat Mexican @ a little Mexican place just behind the tower @ Pomona Drag Strip. I was in California twice last year. Once for the Grand National Roadster Show and again for the LA Roadster show.



I did meet Don Dillard the Greenville SC native one time. I lived in Greenville back when he first turned PRO and went to the Major Leagues.