Roadster pickup build, take two.

Since today was a holiday, Dan and I got to spend the whole day working on the rpu. We got the body pulled back off and put on the work rack, and we made a list of all the repairs we need to do to it before body work can start.

One area that Dan worked on was welding up a zillion holes in the cowl and windshield area. While he was doing that, I trimmed up the old gas tank fill so we could weld it in place. It will just be for decorative purposes now, and I have a new cap to put on it once it is installed.

Dan repaired the edge of the cowl where he had cut it up to clear the Olds distributor when he had this body. After some welding and grinding it looks like it had never been cut up.

While he was doing that I worked on permanently mounting the floor shifter assembly. I greased it, got it all adjusted, and used Locktite on all the bolts to keep it from coming loose.


He is pretty much on his own when doing the welding and grinding, I just stay out of his way and find ways to keep busy and do other kinds of work. One thing I did was dig into my parts stash and assemble all the electrical parts I will need when wiring time comes. Luckily, I have been buying all the switches, fuse panels, wiring, and other parts to complete the job. That is when I can do what I really like to do...…...wiring a car from scratch.


While the body is off the frame I am going to finish running the brake lines, fuel lines, and all of that kind of stuff. I bought all the fluids I need the other day for the motor, trans, and rear axle, so will prelube the motor and maybe try to fire it up in the next week or so.

It's starting to feel like the end is in sight !

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Torchie

[dr[dr[dr
[P[P[P

Little at a time gets er done [S
[P

Old Iron said:

[dr[dr[dr
[P[P[P

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soltz said:

Little at a time gets er done [S


[P

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Yep, when you stop needing to buy the $500 items, and get down to the $30 items, you know you are getting close !

Today I ordered two $30 items, a neutral safety switch for the transmission, and a toggle switch turn signal switch. Most of my primer, paint , and catalyst showed up, only the red coming from Summit is coming and that is due tomorrow.

It was like Christmas today, I opened my front door and there were 3 large boxes there with all the paint supplies. I still need to buy some Wimbledon White for the firewall, dash, and steering column, and some body filler, but that is about all I still need to do the body.


I really am impressed with TP Tools on the paint supplies I ordered from them. Their tech guy went out of his way to guide me through all the stuff I needed, their prices are great, and it came quickly and packaged very well. A lot of packing around the gallons of paint to protect it all.

I have also begun to lay out my wiring diagram, and it looks like I will have everything I need, when the turn signal switch comes next week.

Here are a couple of pictures of the firewall area Dan welded up, and also my Christmas presents.

donsrods said:

I have also begun to lay out my wiring diagram.

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Your wiring work is always so immaculate... can we see that? [dr[dr[dr

BoB

Nice job on hiding the holes!

I love how the body tag sits there... nice work man, can wait to see it painted [cl

Tripper said:

Your wiring work is always so immaculate... can we see that? [dr[dr[dr

BoB

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Well, "immaculate" is a stretch, Bob, but at least when I flip a switch, things seem to come on. I have learned a few things over the past few years about wiring though. This one is going to have Weatherhead connectors in a lot of places so I can just unplug things like the dash to remove it, rather than having to unscrew each wire individually.

smallfoot said:

Nice job on hiding the holes!

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Thanks. Dan is a fanatic and is doing a better job that I ever would have. I keep telling him to do what he thinks is right because when I die, this car will be his. He used to say " Stop it, Dad, you are never going to die !" Now he says " Yeah, that's a good idea !"

dutch said:

I love how the body tag sits there... nice work man, can wait to see it painted [cl

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Thanks, Dutch. That body tag is going to save me a whole lot of time and effort. I would hate to be worrying about having to get this thing titled when it is finally done.

I'm getting excited to get it into paint too. I know the final job will not be everyone's cup of tea (sanded through, aged paint with patina) but around here I never see any hot rods done that way, so it will be a little different. I know a lot of times people will be asking me "What color are you finally going to paint it ?" so I might get one of those stickers that reads " It IS done !"

I am finally going back to work Saturday, so working will be cutting into the free time I have had healing from the knee surgery, so evenings and days off will be critical now. Only 83 days left until we leave for Turkey Run.

donsrods said:

Thanks, Dutch. That body tag is going to save me a whole lot of time and effort. I would hate to be worrying about having to get this thing titled when it is finally done.

I'm getting excited to get it into paint too. I know the final job will not be everyone's cup of tea (sanded through, aged paint with patina) but around here I never see any hot rods done that way, so it will be a little different. I know a lot of times people will be asking me "What color are you finally going to paint it ?" so I might get one of those stickers that reads " It IS done !"

I am finally going back to work Saturday, so working will be cutting into the free time I have had healing from the knee surgery, so evenings and days off will be critical now. Only 83 days left until we leave for Turkey Run.

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It's looking great, Don! That little stamped tag is exactly what I'm going to do on my A.

On my 46 I have a sticker that says "IT IS FINISHED!" In the back window. Instead of questions about paint I get to have conversations about how funny the sticker is all the time.

LoveIt

,,,,,,[cl,,,,,
--[P--

05snopro440 said:

It's looking great, Don! That little stamped tag is exactly what I'm going to do on my A.

On my 46 I have a sticker that says "IT IS FINISHED!" In the back window. Instead of questions about paint I get to have conversations about how funny the sticker is all the time.

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soltz said:

,,,,,,[cl,,,,,


--[P--

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Thanks, guys. Yep, once I had the title work out of the way, I ordered that tag on Ebay. You give them your Vin # and they stamp it on a "Ford" number plate and ship it to you. A couple of rivets and you are good to go.

Yesterday Dan and I got a lot done...…….him more than me ! We worked all day, and I bailed out around midnight because today is my first day back to work after my knee surgery, so I wanted to get some sleep. I think he was there until maybe 2 am or so.

He got a lot of the sins on the body fixed, welded up a lot of holes, ground them smooth, repaired a lot of rough spots , and welded in a patch around the one windshield post. I keep telling him I am not building a show car, but Dan has one way of doing things and it kills him to not do it the right way.

While he was doing all of that, I got the driveshaft and rearview mirror painted. I had some old dash mounted mirror that I got somewhere years ago, and the glass was good, but it needed painted, so I blasted it and got that done. I also started running wiring, got the top radiator hose installed, and drilled holes to install wiring clamps down the inside of the frame rails.

Rest of my paint showed up, as well as my turn signal switch. Today the sender for my electronic speedometer should come too, so I can get the wiring run for those now.

No pictures, he was still working when I left. I promised him I won't bug him today to go there, so he can get some of his own things out of the way. Still a lot to do, but getting closer.

Thank you ebay

Makes vin's eazy.
My 45 Willys same yr i rolled out of the assembly line i gave it mine
007040045 went right throw DMV

soltz said:

Makes vin's eazy.
My 45 Willys same yr i rolled out of the assembly line i gave it mine
007040045 went right throw DMV

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That's funny. Easy to remember too !

Well, Saturday was my first day back at work in over a month from my knee surgery, and I wasn't sure how I would hold up on my feet, but I actually did very well. I hope I have turned the corner on healing, it is still a little touchy, but no serious pains for the past couple of days, so hopefully...……

Anyway, while I was at work, Dan was off and put in another full day welding and grinding on the body. He got a bazillion holes filled and ground smooth, and he also put nutserts in the dash area so that I do not have to fumble behind the dash to put nuts on, I just screw the dash bolts into the threaded holes and tighten them down. Much easier.

He also repaired the dash rail that goes over top of the dash panel. Being 90 years old, it wasn't perfect, but I looked on Ebay recently and thought maybe I would find a better one, but they were all worse than mine. But, after his work, it just needs blasted , a little filler in spots, and it will be ready for primer and paint.

I think I am going to do something on the dash I haven't seen for years. Remember smoked dashboards where you spray the paint on, and while it is wet you take a smoking acetylene torch and let the torch put little black lines on the surface ? Then, you shoot a coat of clear over that to preserve it. Gives the dash a unique look, but I haven't seen anyone do it for decades. Right now, that is the plan, at least.

When I got off work I stopped at the shop to see what all Dan had gotten done, and decided to do a couple of small things myself. I want this one to have better rearview mirrors than my 27 has, that car has very small peep mirrors and no mirror on the dash. I never know if a cop is directly behind me or not !

So, I drilled and tapped a hole in each windshield post and screwed in a couple of mirrors I bought at Turkey Run from a vendor a few years ago. They are larger, and, combined with the one I painted black the other day that will go on top of the dash, I shouldn't have any blind spots.

With the full two days Dan put in this weekend, this thing is starting to look like a car !

Here, on the smoked dash thing, I found this picture on line. I would not do it to this degree, just a little black smoke , but this is the general idea. I would just put some subtle black steaks down, then clear over them.

Not everyone will like it, but everything we do on a car has people that either love it or hate it, so..………….

You have to do this outdoors, or you get smoke cobwebs all over the place. Basically, you light the torch with a low flame and no oxygen, and just pass the smoky flame near the wet paint, then clear over it.

I am still on the fence, but we will see when that time comes.

I'm not a fan of this look
[P[P[P

Old Iron said:

I'm not a fan of this look
[P[P[P

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Yeah, I understand, like I said, I am on the fence too. But since I haven't seen the smoked dash thing done in years, I am entertaining doing a MILD smoke job on the dash, just to make it a little different than the other 100,000 rods out there, and also as a conversation piece.

As much as I change my mind more than my underwear, I probably will go a different direction, but we will see.

I don't love it either. I was envisioning little whisps of smoke, not "Dalmatian" spots. But its not my ride... [P[P

Me either, the first house I bought had that same technique on the bathroom ceiling.

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