RPU, bodywork underway.

[donsrods]

Thanks, guys. Gonna head over now and shoot a couple of coats of high build on the dash rail. Will let the body completely dry for a few days and then get the white on the firewall.

It feels so good to get through this phase of the build. This bodywork/painting thing has kicked my butt !

 

[BillM]

Looks fantastic. Just enough shine!

 

[donsrods]

Looks fantastic. Just enough shine!

Thanks, Bill. I also like the sheen of this particular paint. It isn't glossy, it isn't flat, it is somewhere in-between. It also goes pretty far. I used a quart kit to paint the entire body, which makes 2 quarts when you add in the hardener and thinner, and a half of a quart kit to spray the doors , headlights, and windshield posts. So, I have 2 1/2 kits left to spray all of the bed components, which should be enough.

Yesterday I got the dash rail primed, and will sand that a little smoother and then fix any little spots and then prime it again.

Next I was planning on building the seat framework, but instead I think I need to actually start building the inside door panels and the panels that go beside the seat in the rear. Those panels define the seat area, so I think I need to have them in place first to then measure and build the seat framework.

 

[donsrods]

Today I worked on block sanding the primer I had sprayed yesterday on the dash rail, and then I shot two more coats of primer on it. Now, a little scuffing and I can shoot it in the final black paint.

When Dan got off work he came over and masked off the body and then we sprayed 3 coats of Wimbledon White on it. After it cured for a while we pulled off the masking paper and it actually turned out pretty good.

Next we can start figuring out what we need to do to get moving on the interior. Starting to look like a car !

 

[Old Iron]

That is really clean lookin

 

[zzrodder]

Looking great ! Whenever I get to this point in a build I have to control the urge to rush the assembly, get all excited to see it together...

 

[donsrods]

Thanks, guys. Yep, I have a tendency to want to rush things when I get this close too. I just want this bodywork portion to end, and when I get the bed all built that will be a big step in that direction. But first I have to get the main body done and mounted, wired, and all of that.

I guess this hobby is fun..........I guess.

 

[donsrods]

We really made some progress this weekend. The first thing we had to do was figure out how we were going to build and mount the seats in the car. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided to simply build a base out of 1.25 inch angle iron and then build a Starboard seat on top of that.

So, we went to the local metal shop and bought a lot of 1 inch and 1.25 inch angle iron, some of it for the seat framework and some for the bed framework. Then I picked up a couple of sheets of black 1/2 inch thick Starboard that we would use to build the seat base and backrest.

We got the framework built and bolted down to the floor, and then we cut the Starboard to go on top of it. I can have the upholstery shop put about 3-4 inches of foam on that and then cover it with rolls and pleats.

I also got the dash rail scuffed for the final time and then shot it with the Hot Rod Black paint, and it came out pretty good too. We also touched up a couple of spots on the firewall, where the tape pulled loose when I was shooting the white paint on earlier this week. Made it look a whole lot better.

Now we just have to build the backrest portion of the seat and then I can take all of it to the upholstery shop and have them do their thing on it. I feel really good about where we ended up tonight.

These pictures turned out crappy because it was after dark and they were taken inside the shop.

 

[BillM]

I'm really enjoying following along Don, it's coming along so well. Can't wait to see it going together!

 

[soltz]

Comeing along nicely and looking good doing it[cl
<[P>

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. Dan and I were talking about it last night, how it looks like we are finally getting near the end. When you start building seats and talking about upholstery, that seems pretty good. I have to admit, building seats is a lot more fun than sanding !

The only thing left to paint on the main body is the interior. For that, I think I am going to use a product called Rocker Guard. It has a texture to it and Dan used it on his interior and it is tough as nails.

Then, once I get the body back on the frame the bed will be the next thing we have to finish building. Dan and Don bought me a new Model A tailgate for Fathers Day, and we are going to use that instead of the tailgate we built a while back. The bed should be a lot easier than all the stuff we had to do to finish the main body.

 

[Old Iron]

I was wondering about the interior paint.
Rock Guard sounds like a good choice.

 

[Torchie]

I was wondering about the interior paint.
Rock Guard sounds like a good choice.

That's what I used to under coat my fenders when I was finished sectioning them.
I've used it for years. Holds up well and is Paintable.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[donsrods]

Yep, it is a good product, and we are looking at it and another product , Raptor bed lining spray. If you thin down the bed liner it comes out pretty smooth but with a nice texture. Plus, it is as tough as nails, being designed to hold up in truck beds.

Today we worked on the mount for the seat back. I am going to run a solid seat back that spans most of the width of the body, and am making it out of Starboard and I will have it rolled and pleated by the upholstery shop near my shop.

We looked at a lot of ways of fastening the top of that back to the body, and finally came up with a simple set of brackets that we fabricated. One part bolts to the body and the other part bolts to the back rest. To install the back rest you simply drop the one part down into two pockets on the part mounted to the body, and then insert a couple of bolts at the bottom to hold that panel in place.

Tomorrow night all we have to do is cut and fit the Starboard back rest to the brackets we made tonight and we will be done with the entire seat setup. Then I can run the body down to the upholstery shop and have them make up the foam padding and rolled and pleated upholstery.

Here are some pictures of the seat mounts we made tonight. Now I can get them painted and also paint the interior of the body with whatever I decide to use on it.

 

[Skip]

Pretty trick. [cl

 

[BillM]

Great idea - another one for the memory bank.

 

[Old Iron]

Great idea - another one for the memory bank.

Yep gonna file this one myself

 

[donsrods]

Ya know sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. We went to Home Depot and looked at tons of cabinet and door hardware, thinking we might find some setup that we could mount at the top of the seat back to hold it in place, and we found nothing that looked like it would work.

Finally, we just decided to make that simple setup where the back has a couple of "hooks" on it that will drop down into two slots on the body. Then we can insert a couple of bolts at the bottom of the seat back to hold it firmly in place. None of it will be seen, so it doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it holds the top of the back firmly against the top of the body.

Tonight we took some cheap MDF board and made a temporary seat back. I did not want to experiment with the more expensive Starboard, and this allowed me to stand back and see how the back would look if I did it this way.

I drew some lines on the MDF to simulate the top roll and the 1.5 inch rolls and pleats, so now I have a pretty good idea of what the finished product will look like. Now I can make the final back rest out of the Starboard and get it down to the upholstery shop.
When I make up the final Starboard back piece the area where the tunnel runs will be cut rounder, not square like this piece of MDF.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Looks like you have it all figgered out.

Excuse my ignorance, Don... but what in the blue hell is "Starboard"? Fear and common sense says it's a marine product. (In my defense, we don't sail many ships on the prairies.)

.

 

[BillM]

Geez I'm glad you asked that question Doc!