Thread: Followed Me Home, '33 Build

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Yes, indeed that's the ticket for the plate much more finished, looks at home and not as an after thought.

Killer well done,
Greg

'33-'34 cowls, grills and hoods seem to be a problem for a lot of people. A good friend of mine built a '33 coupe several years ago, and he had a lot of fitment issues with the hood, cowl and grill. It took him a lot of time to get it right.

Keep going,Roger..Love the licence plate recess..It looks kool..Nice work..
I think just about everyone I know who has built a 33/4 has had to play with the hood/cowl area,too..

And don't think we aren't interested as I am learning too from your pictures and how you approach different small issues as I have made a major cock up on my T where I cut first without measuring and having brain engaged , so ,yes, I need to learn from you.

Yes Roger! Keep the pics coming, we're lovin' it!

OK, on to the hood! Earlier in the thread I went through laying the grille & radiator back due to the fact that the stock hood was something like four inches short when I set it in place. I talked to Duane at N&N and after a good belly laugh he explained the options to me, thus the decision to re-do the radiator mounts, extend the splash aprons, and jump through all kinds of hoops to get it right. In the end I really, really like having the grille angled, so all's well. That said, I still had a pretty good gap in the back, and some mis-fit up front, as shown here:









In the back I have fresh filler, so waxing the body and using it as the mold is not really an option so I covered the cowl top with aluminum foil, smoothed it to the contour, and waxed the foil. The front was still gel coat, so I simply waxed it good and got ready to do some 'glass.





A 40 grit wheel in the angle grinder made quick work of cutting down ~1/2 thickness of the back & front edges of the hood, and made a TON of dust!! (Note to self: Move grinding operations OUTSIDE!!)





This morning I cut a stack of strips of varying widths using a big old paper cutter, and started glassing in the back. The first half was a learning experience, and I expect that I'll have a very thick back edge to deal with on that side.



Next moved to the front, and it went quicker, and should be easier to deal with on the bottom side & front lip.



The peak in front may need a bit of fill yet to smooth the curve, but it's pretty close. Hoping now that the wax releases clean in front

Lookin good Roger

The hood popped off clean, and without much effort. I'm very happy with the lines defined by using the body (rear) and grille surround (front) as the actual molds. It should be pretty easy to trim for the desired gaps, and also to grind away the excess thickness on the bottom side to give the inside of the hood a nice finish, too! Here's the back side, and you can see the mold line defining the cowl conture:





And here's the front. Again, it's easy to see exactly where the inset around the grille is, which defines the cut point for the hood.



Once you get over the fear of cutting into a nicely finished panel amazing things can happen! Even the blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while!!

Nice work, Roger!!! Going to be a huge improvement on the hood fit!

Makes me want to itch looking at that glass!

Originally Posted by stovens

Makes me want to itch looking at that glass!

Steve, your comment made me smile, remembering years ago my wife saying, "Itch my back for me!", and the following discussion, about "...itching a scratch", or "...scratching an itch"! Regardless, handling the glass cloth doesn't bother me much, but when I took the 40 grit disk to the hood I looked like a ghost with fiberglass dust head to toe. Yes, I was wearing a good mask, rated for dust, but probably should have had a respirator!! Even with a long sleeved shirt my arms & back & face itched for hours!!

On a side note, I tossed my old faithful Nikon CoolPix in the trash after posting the pictures of the glassing process.

DSC00006.JPG

It took a bath on our Costa Rica trip last Fall, and had never really been the same even after a hair dryer session . Plus I had a new Sony CyberShot point & shoot that I had never opened so it's my new "pocket camera". The last four shots of the hood off the body and the NIKON trashed are with the new SONY.

About 20 years ago helped a freind redeck a boat. Spent many hours itching in the Florida Keys!

Today's sunshine and warm temperature let me move outside with the hood, using my flatbed trailer as a sanding bench. I think I've had the hood off & on more times in the past week than in the past two years! It's not perfect, but it's a darned sight better than it was a week ago, and pretty close to being ready for a coat of primer to really see how smooth it is. Here's a few shots of the front - after getting the front lip trimmed I built up the leading edge a bit with Fibral Lite, and shifted the curve forward a little.







And here's the back edge. There will be about 1/16" to 3/32" of fill on the cowl in a couple of places, which should be an easy fill.

I really enjoy your build thread, Roger...except for all that itchy gives me flashbacks. It really looking excellent. It makes me want a '33 coupe and I can see owning a coupe someday in addition to my roadster and a '33 would be it for me, too.

Originally Posted by Hot Rod Nick

I really enjoy your build thread, Roger...except for all that itchy gives me flashbacks. It really looking excellent. It makes me want a '33 coupe and I can see owning a coupe someday in addition to my roadster and a '33 would be it for me, too.

Thanks for the kind words.