Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

Tweet

That would be a bad deal! Nice counter weight. Would cinder blocks work as well?

Great Job on that door ! Want some to fix some more, I just happen to have some 40 Ford doors that need that kind of TLC ! again great job !

Originally Posted by Navy7797

Great Job on that door ! Want some to fix some more, I just happen to have some 40 Ford doors that need that kind of TLC ! again great job !

I think most all of the 30's to 50's doors are in the same boat.. needing help.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

That would be a bad deal! Nice counter weight. Would cinder blocks work as well?

Those were actually solid cinder blocks. I don't think hollow ones would have been heavy enough.

Today Kyle worked on prepping the driver's door for epoxy primer...





Meanwhile, with the passenger door unchopped, I turned my attention to the slots for mounting the stainless trim and drain holes.. The old door's "window sill" was aligned and clamped in place to mark the slots..








Then the slots are marked onto the new skin, and that location transposed down to the proper location..











This is what happens when you pull the carbide cutter out too far while joining the holes...





Weatherstrip holes drilled, drain holes laid out...











Kyle has the driver's door scuffed and ready to go, once the passenger door is finished we can spray some more epoxy..

Sneak preview of the powder coating, here's one of the inner fenders...











Kyle working on more media blasting, we should have another batch for powder coating this weekend....











With the passenger door removed and out of the way, I worked on the radius-ing and repairing of the lead gap seam. First to check the radius of the completed driver's side with the Gatormeet radius gauge...











Radius patch is bent using roll former dies in the Diacro press brake and checked to the radius gauge...

















The patch is trimmed for the fit to the A-pillar, and a horizontal tail is left to have something to hold on to while tacking in place. A score is added using the cutoff wheel so the excess can be snapped off after tacking...





























Welded and dressed..











Roof skin patch trimmed and fitted...

















Welded...

















Welds dressed and radius checked...

The idea of scoring the patch to make somewhere to hold it in place is one of the cleverest/simplest ideas I've seen in a long time.
When I think of how many times I've fought and cursed when 'precise cut' patches fall or move while I tried to tack them...
Thank-you very much for that.

(Sheesh! Why didn't I think of it?)

Oh; excellent work by the way!
Very impressive.

You make it look easy. Great work.

Thanks guys!


More progress on the wagon today. Kyle had finished the media blasting on the hood brace, so we had a few areas to address. As the hood ornament no longer exists, we didn't need the mounting holes going through the brace.





A piece of brass flat bar is radius-ed to make an anvil..





High spot is heated and tapped down with the hammer.. Then pick the next high spot and repeat....











Slot is welded closed, welds dressed, area media blasted once again...











Kyle working on prepping the passenger door for primer... Sorry for the blurry picture, gonna have to fire the photographer!





The hood ornament hole in the cross brace was also welded closed and dressed...











Next on the list were the stress cracks on the ends of the hood brace.








Some 16 gauge CRS was used to make some stiffeners inside the corners...





test fit..





Plug welded in place and the flanges wrapped around... cracks repaired...














Test fit to the hood...

As always... NICE!

What he said.

Your work looks like it was original and never touched when you're done with it. Very nice.

Thanks guys!


Tonight Kyle was putting the finishing touches on prepping the passenger door for paint. Lots of nooks and crannies. We ended up moving the drill press so we could open the media blast cabinet door wide enough to put the door inside. It was a snug fit, but made easier work of cleaning the door on the ends... The rest will be done by hand...








After adding the radius to the doors, it only made sense that the lift gate needed the same modification. Sorry to bore you with more of the same, just wait until we get to wet sanding








Test fit the radius...





Scoring the second cut location, and tacking in place..














Snapped of the excess....





Checking the radius, and welded in and dressed...








They're calling for a heat wave this weekend (in high 40's on Sunday), so we should get some more primer sprayed....

That's one mighty fine trick alright.
Very impressed.

Great work. The heat wave will be liked by all!

30 would be a heat wave here.