'37 Oze build

Well, I don't want to burst your bubble but if you simply ground out the bad gel coat as it's shown and filled that corner with one of your "bondo" products you're asking for future failure all along the edge. IMO the repair of that corner would entail grinding away the gel coat at least an inch back from the edge, then grinding into the base fiberglass ~1/16" to 1/8" deep tapered back to good material, then laying in layers of glass mat & resin to re-build the corner and topping it off with a skim coat of quality filler to level. I don't care what material you used, if you bonded to gel coat you're asking for trouble. That said, it's just my opinion and you've never yet asked anyone for advice here that I recall, so I don't expect that you really care about my opinion anyway.

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Originally Posted by daveS53

The repair process has been discussed before. See posts # 176, 262, and 264....... IMO, bondo glass filler is totally adequate for the edge repair, since the body is not lacking in strength - there's a thick layup of fiberglass in the corner area. All that's needed is rough sanding and tapering to remove all of the thick gel coat, prior to applying the filler.

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Yes, you've described your "repair process" before, and we'll just agree to disagree on the value of "bondo glass filler" with it's small, random glass fibers in a low quality substrate.

I'm not sure why I came back to your thread and commented again, but I won't make the mistake again. I'll wish you best of luck on your continuing saga, and bid you adieu.

I agree; there is no point in repeating past criticism. Since I'm the builder, I'm making the decisions on when to use resin and fiberglass mat or a fiberglass reinforced filler. Your method would certainly work, but it would take much more time and it's just overkill for what I consider a cosmetic repair.

I have to rebuild the upper part of the grille mounting flange on the nose section, where the OZE folks buggered it up to install the original ill-fitting grille. I'll 36 grit sand both sides and probably use 6-8 layers of mat to build that flange up thicker than when new. I'll post some pictures that you would approve of.

Don't know,Dave,,if it's going to be much comfort to you,,but,, the main reason why you have the issues around your trunk opening,,and possibly other openings,with a corner,like the trunk opening,,is because the monkey who was supposed to be on roller duties,,didn't roll the glass into the inside corner of the mold..As most of these companies probably use a chopper gun to lay up the bodies,,the lay up quality is nowhere near the same as a hand laminated body..Plus all the other issues with a lot of them,,such as the development of items like your dash,,and anything else custom built,,an item is made(the plug),,then fitted..''yup,,close enough'',,then prepped,painted,and prepped for the mold.. If the plug isn't in the mold for at least three weeks,curing,,and the mold braced well,,it will shrink,and go out of shape..I have seen a few of these OZE bodies down here,in NZ,,but only as finished cars,,so am not sure,even by looking at pix,,what the overall quality is really like.. All I can say,,is battle on with it,,and if you fancy replacing it with a Deco Rides Lincoln Zephyr body,,forget it,,specially the sedan delivery body..Mate,,you will go krazy... I have first hand experience with one of these,,and know very well,that they are all to be avoided,if you want conformity with dimensions from one side to the other...

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What I need now is a good quality grille. I took a picture of a '37 that has a show quality grille, at the Road Knights car show this last weekend. That's one fine quality grille, but the owner thought that it might have cost him $5K. I asked him who made it, but he really didn't know. His '37 tudor was built by Showtime Customs, somewhere is California, but there's no telling who they contracted to make the grille.

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I always get my fiberglass work all done then spray a nice coat of gel coat over everything before spraying any type of primer, etc. This seals the fiberglass up perfectly. I have made several consoles from scratch forming them with only fiberglass, then spray my gel coat, then do my bondo work, then poly primer to make ready for paint. Also do this over any fiberglass repairs before adding any bondo or primer or paint. On complete paint jobs on old Corvettes I always spray all new gel coat on the complete car to get all the old and new fiberglass sealed perfectly so no stray hairs stand up later on the glass and poke through the paint as I have seen on many jobs that just primer over the fiberglass. I get white brushable gel coat from our auto body supply house which also does a lot of sales to boat repair businesses. I thin it with acetone and you can then spray it to whatever thickness you want.

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Originally Posted by daytonagary

I always get my fiberglass work all done then spray a nice coat of gel coat over everything before spraying any type of primer, etc. This seals the fiberglass up perfectly. I get white brushable gel coat from our auto body supply house which also does a lot of sales to boat repair businesses. I thin it with acetone and you can then spray it to whatever thickness you want.

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That's a good tip... I'll remember that one and try it out sometime..:3dSMILE:

I spent about 9 days doing more body work. I matched and aligned the running boards to the fenders, did some more work to the hood sides and started doing some work on the belt line on the doors. The belt line is particularly difficult. I expect to several days getting both sides straight, with a uniform radius.

I spent about 6 hours reinstalling the hood sides, front fenders, running boards, hood, headlights and grille. I took the car out for a spin in the downtown traffic yesterday afternoon. I get more thumbs up in the hot rod than my new Corvette.

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This area required a lot of work to extend the peak of the fender all the way down to the running board, and match the bolting flange to the running board. The peak of the fender only clears the door by about 1/8" when it's opened. The rolled edges of the fenders and running boards all need some work to match them up. Also notice that there's about 2 inches of the hood side that rests against the running board. Some cars are built to have a large gap that matches the door to running board gap, but I matched the running board to the body everywhere, except the bottom of the doors.

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I installed the grille, but won't be using it, due to it's poor quality. No use doing any body work to fit the body to that grille.

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It's definitely looking alot better! It's really hard to get those grills perfect. I've tried to make a couple and it is very time consuming and takes great patience. I had to step away before I wrecked them. :LOL:

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

It's definitely looking alot better! It's really hard to get those grills perfect. I've tried to make a couple and it is very time consuming and takes great patience. I had to step away before I wrecked them. :LOL:

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It's really sad how much work went into this grille, with such a poor result. There are 50 fins, 1/8" thick with about 5/16" space between them. The MIG welds down the center rib look awful and there are many grinding marks that would be next to impossible to remove. I would never have put that grille into the plating tank, unless it was to apply a heavy layer of copper, followed by a lot more polishing to remove the grinding marks.

The fins are all laser-cut. I have to assume that the top fin is the same shape on both sides of the center. The hood matches the shape of the top fin fairly well on the driver's side, but on the other side, it appears to lack up to 3/16" of material.

I can only dream of this:

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I'm adding a line to see if this post comes up in a google search. 1937 OZE grille.

I moved on to working on the belt lines of the body, behind the doors. Both sides had plenty of ripples, but the driver's side was the worst. The whole area lacked definition, so I built it up a little. The intricate shape over a long line makes this slow work. In the photo below, I just applied some glazing putty to bring up a couple of low spots.

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I also did some work on the hood, to match it to the cowl area and the passenger side of the hood side. The other side didn't require any filler to match the hood side, just some heavy sanding on the hood.

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I sent a scathing review of the last grille that I received, to the OZE Rod Shop, in May. I never got any response, so I inquired again, to see if there was any plan to improve upon the poor quality chrome plated steel grille. I was told that I wouldn't get a grille that was any better than what I have, and to quit asking about it. I also got a lecture for posting the truth about the poor quality products that you now get from OZE.

Since I'm stuck with the crappy grille, I decided to do a little alteration to it, to improve the fit. In the photo below, you can see the end of the top fin protrudes well beyond the mounting flange, so there's a big gap between the mounting flange and several of the lower fins.

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After some filing, I reduced the gap between the mounting flange and body, on both sides. Of course, the chrome plating is now compromised, so I applied some clear epoxy to the ends of the top fin, to reduce the chances of rusting. Notice that I still have a gap problem between the hood and the top of the grille. The grille is mounted as high up as it can go (tight against the lower part of the "nose" section of the body), but there's a gap of over 3/16" between the hood and grille. The gap tapers to zero at the very front of the hood. Also notice that the gap between the top fin and the fin just below it is larger than it should be. The gap between the second and third fins is much too small. I could cut the mounting flange between the two fins, and weld it back together, so that both issues are improved, but that would destroy a lot of chrome. This grill is looking like it may become a paint-quality grille.

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Nice work getting the grill to work. It sucks to hear OZE could care less about their crap fitting grill. I can't imagine you're the only customer to complain about it either?

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Nice work getting the grill to work. It sucks to hear OZE could care less about their crap fitting grill. I can't imagine you're the only customer to complain about it either?

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If I'm not the only one to complain, then the other buyers are clueless. Most of these cars are built into show-quality trailer queens. The current grille would be a huge contrast, if it was positioned next to an older, Canadian built product.

It's been over a hear since I received my roller on August 6. I think that I've accomplished a lot, but there's a whole lot more to do, if I'm to finish this car.

I got the car running in late December and logged almost 1000 miles on the road this year. I've taken the car up and down Highway 34 from Loveland toward Estes Park and found that if can take the twisting corners at far above the speed limit, with little body roll. I've got no need for sway bars unless I decide to take up autocross. The ride is OK, as long as the road doesn't have many sharp mismatches. The springs seem stiff, if the road has sharp mismatches. I'm considering getting some springs with a 10% lower spring rate. I found that I have been using too little spring preload for quite awhile. Ride Tech wants to see 60% of the shock travel dedicated to compression. I had mine set at less than 50%, in attempt to keep the ride height low. I've increased the preload, to raise the car about 1/2", but that's still below 60% compression.

The power steering is light and quick. The car practically drives itself at 80 mph (2100 rpm). Apparently my do-it yourself 4-wheel alignment is working well. I've seen no evidence of unusual tire wear, up to this point. I'd still like to have more power assist for the brakes. The car stops fine, but it still requires considerably more effort than most new cars.

The engine has been running great, since I changed the intake air snorkel, to follow GM's instructions for the MAF sensor location and bumped the idle speed to 600 rpm. I get about 20 mpg in city driving.

One thing I can complain about is all the noise - lots of creaks and rattles, road noise and exhaust noise. I've got no sound proofing installed, so I can only hope that it works miracles. If not, a sound system would be worthless. I did reduce some noise just by laying a doubled-up blanket on the trunk floor, to cover all of the large access holes.

Another problem is gasoline smell. I installed a cap that I got from Tanks, Inc., with a spring loaded trap door that allows gas to be put in, without removing the cap. It's similar to what's used on many new cars (including my Corvette). Unfortunately, with only a 3-4" long filler neck, the cap can't seal out the splash from the tank and I see gas around the filler hole, that probably accounts for most of the smell. Tanks sells an O-ring sealed pop-up cap with the same threading, so I may try that. Otherwise, it's a new external cap (with a long filler neck), to replace the one in the trunk. I'm certain that the tank still has a small leak at the weld seam along the top of the tank, that needs to be fixed. I see a dirty spot that returns, after wiping it off. I've already had the tank off once and did some welding to repair an obvious leak at the seam along the bottom and did some welding along the top seam at the same time. It's not all fixed yet. I suspect the leak at the upper seam extends to the driver's side mounting bracket. I'll probably have to cut through the welds holding the bracket and weld several more inches of the seam to stop the leak, then weld the mounting bracket back in place.

Who's tank is it? Sounds like you have enjoyed the car a little and all is going pretty good. Yeah, sound deadener and carpet go along way in sanity after a bit. :LOL:

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Dave, for all your misery with the purchase of the Oze product, it should make some shiney-suited lawyer eager to gather a list of othe Oze purchasers that had the same sad experience.....he could file suit....from the story you have told so far, their products have been grossly misrepresentated, possibly fradulent stuff going on. Just think, if the lawyer were successful, you just might own a piece of a body manufacturer!!

Dave, Don't give up, I am nearing a wildrod sedan project I bought from them when they where in Canada in 2006, been working hard on it the past 4 years. The stainless grill mine has is very nice and was made by Alumicraft, you could always powder coat the grill in a polished aluminum easily after getting it fit. I had fitment issues as well on the body, alot is because the builder/owner see's every imperfection, until the body work I was always impressed how great a fit everything was (just like we see'em at the shows when they where selling them), but while doing body work I realized it wasn't and it took alot of work too. I did not have the shabby workmanship on layup though it sounds like you have got, just fitment issues and gap issues. If I can be of any help let me know. My body did get about 5 years to cure before I touched it!! Matthyj

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I did some more work on my poorly made grille today. Since I've already filed through the chrome in a couple of places, I decided to do some more grinding to make the fit at the top even better. Only a few minutes with a belt sander accomplished that.

I still needed to get the top fin up higher, so I bent the lower portion where it wraps under the nose, in order to allow the grille to come up a little higher. While I was doing that, I noticed what looked liked bubbles in the chrome, so I got out an Xacto knife and poked on one of the bubbles, to see if it was hollow. Sure enough, the chrome was coming loose. I easily scraped a long stretch right off. The under side of the chrome was black, indicating that it was applied to dirty metal. The bare spot is along the top edge of the lowest part, on the right side. There's even a little curled up chrome hanging along the edge. If you click on the picture, it should take you to my photo bucket library. There you can zoom in on the picture for a closer look. One of the other things that you can see is the big globs of mig weld on the under side of the fins, at the center. While this places then out of your direct view when standing in front of the car, you still see the welds as a reflection in the fin just below the weld. The welds all need to be behind the fin, where they can't be seen.

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I noticed that the grille rattled a little some times, so I inspected the fins more closely and found a broken weld along the center rib, on the 9th fin from the top. With a MIG welder, it's easy to place a big glob of metal, but have no penetration.

If I want to have the grille powder coated, it looks like I need to take it to a plating shop, just to have the chrome stripped off. I was thinking of just a light sand blast to improve the powder coat adhesion, but if more chrome falls off, then so will the powder coat. It's bad if you have to pay extra, just to get a paint-grade grille.

I decided to work on the grille some more, to try to improve the fit. The spacing between the 2nd and 3rd fins was obviously too narrow. Making it wider, to match the others would both look better and reduce the gap between the top fin and the hood. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. As soon as I cut through the mounting flange, the top two fins moved inward, indicating the builder had pulled the top fin into a wider position, before welding. The top fin is about 1-3/4" wide and requires a substantial force to spread the ends wider. I corrected the fin spacing on one side with no problem, but getting the other side moved out to it's original width proved impossible. After one botched attempt to use vise grips to force the fin into position, I finally gave up and cut the top fin nearly all the way through, so it could easily be bent to the desired width. I spent the better part of two days getting the grille welded back together. Along the way, I discovered a second broken weld and fixed that too.

I found that cutting the mounting flange (1/8" thick by 1" wide bar stock) and bridging a 1/4" wide gap was not easy. Both sides required a small filler strip, to bridge a 1/4 inch gap.

After all that work, the grille still doesn't have the desired angle on the top fin. It needs to be a little lower at the very tip.



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Dave, One thing I have done on interior panels that saves a ton of time and makes it a lot easier is to make your patterns out of clear plastic, like whats use for convertible top windows, cut it rough size of your panel, go to Dollar General and get some really cheap Elmers spray tack glue (for temporary bonds), spray the clear plastic with the spray tack, stick it to the door, mark all the holes and locations of bolt heads etc. on the surface because you can see through it! You can use the stuff to make patterns for all upholstery, even seats, draw the pattern you want on the door, copy to the plastic then tack the plastic to your upholstery board and drill and cut right through it, peel it off and throw it away. I wish I could stake claim to this trick but it came from a great interior shop. Best of luck Mat

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Originally Posted by Matthyj

Dave, One thing I have done on interior panels that saves a ton of time and makes it a lot easier is to make your patterns out of clear plastic, like whats use for convertible top windows, cut it rough size of your panel, go to Dollar General and get some really cheap Elmers spray tack glue (for temporary bonds), spray the clear plastic with the spray tack, stick it to the door, mark all the holes and locations of bolt heads etc. on the surface because you can see through it! You can use the stuff to make patterns for all upholstery, even seats, draw the pattern you want on the door, copy to the plastic then tack the plastic to your upholstery board and drill and cut right through it, peel it off and throw it away. I wish I could stake claim to this trick but it came from a great interior shop. Best of luck Mat

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Thanks for the tip!

I finally managed to make contact with Dan Baker at Alumicraft. Soon, I'm going to send my grille to Alumicraft, to be used as a mock-up grille. My grille is mostly junk anyway. I ran into more problems while trying to improve the fit of my grille. I needed to lengthen the mounting flange on the driver's side, so I picked a couple of places where the fin spacing was too close together, so they could be spread slightly, then welded back together. When I cut through one of them, a group of about 15 fins all moved outward close to 1/8", making them wider than the body. There was no way I'd ever be able to apply enough force to moved the fins back to their original width, so I got out the belt sander and spent several hours sanding them back to a width that would match the body.

I also applied some bondo to the grille, just to show Alumicraft the exact width and curvature of the mounting flange, in a couple of areas. The angle on the top fin is now a lot closer to matching the angle of the hood, but still not perfect. I decided to quit while I was ahead, rather than risk any more cutting that would allow the internal stresses to distort the grille.

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Dave, Let us know if you have any problems filling the tank, I have a 1 1/2" hose about 6" long go straight down into my tank on my '32 from the filler and I can hardly get fuel into it due to it backing us and shutting the nozzle off, takes forever! On my 37 I actually went over kill and used 2 1/2" hose due to all the problems with the '32. I guess you could yank the hose off and put on a gas can with the filler and take to the station and try it, maybe it will all work fine (I hope so) but it sure looks great! Matt

I put some gas in the car (at the gas station), soon after I installed the gas cap and had no trouble at all. Maybe it helps that I have over 12 inches of vertical drop in the hose, before it bends to nearly horizontal.

I finally got word from Alumicraft, that they can build an aluminum grille for my car, using the mock-up grille that I sent them, as a model. It will require modifications to their welding fixture, to make a grille that matches mine.

I will also have them add an aluminum top plate to cover the area between the grille and radiator, just like the grilles that they make for the '37 Wild Rod bodies.

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Lookin' good, I had a friend show me you can head to the local lazer engraving shop and have them make new emblems for about anything for usually under $10, they might be able to make something that looks custom to replace the caddy emblem. Your doing a nice job!

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Very nice!

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