[Dean_H.]

Thanks for the tips guys, I like your idea Kiwi. Since I happen to be in an excellent engineer shop (my garage), [img]<>/smile.gif[/img] I may try that. There are some reproduction steering parts available for 1940s jeeps that look close to what I need. That's the other option I'm considering.

One of the forum members stopped by yesterday, with his family. It was nice to meet another Hupp owner, good people. After they left, I spent the rest of the day tinkering with my car.

In the last couple weeks I replaced some top bows on the body, three of them had lost the curve. I also got the sun visor on and replaced the front wood under the visor. With the chicken wire tightly stapled I'm ready to put the top canvas on.


A previous owner of my car had started the restoration in the 1970s. The rear fenders had been repainted black and looked pretty good. Of course I have to repaint these parts so everything matches. But after applying primer sealer I noticed a hairline crack in the finish. Using paint remover, I discovered a thin layer of bondo covering the entire fender. After stripping off to bare metal the fender looks in nice shape, the bondo really wasn't necessary.

[keiser31]

Your top is supposed to have cotton batting between the chicken wire and vinyl top material, isn't it?

[Dean_H.]

keiser31,
Yes, there were a few original pieces around the edges that I have for example. I'll get something from the yardage store to fill that need.

[huptoy]

I have a MoToR's FACTORY SHOP MANUAL Copywright 1937 that covers 1931 through 1936. I believe the Ross Steering Gear is the same on the 1928 through 1932. The following is the adjustment instructions for a 1931 or 1932. This may help when you are adjusting the reassembled unit.
-------------------------------------------
STEERING GEAR, ADJUST
S, L C, 214, 218, 221

Detach drag link to eliminated possible misalignment and binding of steering gear, loosen bolts housing to frame and loosen steering column bracket at instrument board and retighten both. Loosen clamp which holds steering column jacket tube. Tighten the cap screws in the cover on the engine side of the housing.

Cam End Play Adjust
Loosen the screw which adjusts cross shaft end play, located on the engine side of the steering gear housing. Loosen the adjusting plug lock screw, located near the top of the steering gear housing. Turn the adjusting plug down until there is a barley perceptible drag when the steering wheel is turned by grasping it lightly between the thumb and forefinger. Tighten lock screw and nut.

Cross Shaft End Play.
Turn steering wheel to mid-position. Tighten the cross shaft end play adjusting screw, located on the engine side of the steering side of the steering gear housing, until a very slight drag is felt through the mid-position when the steering wheel is turned slowly through this range. Tighten the lock nut.

Lock the jacket tube by tightening its clamp. Turn the steering wheel to see if any stiffness exists. If it does not turn freely, adjustments are too tight or steering column is out of alignment. When adjustments are ok, connect drag link

[Dean_H.]

Thanks for the info Huptoy, that is the same box as mine. I haven't done anything with my steering box yet, been working on other items.

I noticed my other rear fender also had hairline cracks. After applying paint remover I discovered it too was full coverage bondo-ed.


In this close up pic the cracks can be seen


Using paint remover I finally got all the bondo off. Small rust lines can be seen where the cracks were.


Here are both fenders after stripping. There are a few dings but overall they are in pretty decent shape. I'll do a little hammer and dolly work on them and use a smaller amount of body filler to get the finish I desire.

[Dean_H.]

I roughed out the rear fenders and got them in primer


Installing the top is uncharted territory for me, but I figured I'd give it a try. I started with putting canvas over the chicken wire.


Cotton batting went on next. The fabric store indicated this "warm and white cotton batting will not separate or bunch even after a lifetime of washing. Plus you can leave up to 10 inches between quilting lines" Don't know what any of that means, but it seemed impressive. [img]<>/smile.gif[/img]


The person I bought the car from, gave me the vinyl material for the top and it is just wide enough. I used a staple gun and small nails to attach it. The nails were going in hard so I pre-drilled 1/16th holes. Unfortunately the tiny drill broke, and the half still in the drill motor went through a finger nail and finger tip on my left hand. Boy did that hurt!!! As it bled on both sides of the finger, I danced like I just won the lottery. My wife noticed the commotion and put some disinfectant and a bandaid on.


After I pulled myself together, I finished, hopefully it's tight enough. I still need to put the trim around the edges.

[durant28]

Dean it's coming together fine, and really looks great. Your doing a great job for sure. I was told that you start with the front of the top and pull and work back is that what you did to keep the wrinkles out and the top tight? I've got to do the same on mine, so I'm very interested in how it's done.

[Dean_H.]

I started from the middle and worked out. It didn't come out perfect, right side is great but the left side has a few small wrinkles. Today was sunny here, I pulled the car outside to see how direct sun would effect it (only got up to about 65 degrees F.) It appeared to get a little loose, but still looked OK. I'm afraid on a hot day it might stretch out enough to look bad. I think I'll re-do it on the next warm day we have, which will be a few months from now. I have plenty of other stuff to do til then.

Here is a picture I took about half an hour ago just before I put it back in the garage. The old car is fun to yard drive, but all I can do is go back and forth. Really need to get that steering going.

[keiser31]

Best to install the roof covering in the heat of the day to be able to stretch to it's fullest. If not, you will end up with a big bubble on the roof as you go down the road. Make certain that the leading edge in the front it sealed well to prevent air from "puffing" the roof up. You are doing an absolutely wonderful job and I wish I could see the car in person.

[Dean_H.]

Yeah, it'll take a warm day to get the top right. Keiser, stop by if you're ever down this way. The car looks even better in person and when the motor starts... sweeeet!

I decided to polish out the aluminum steering hub. It was a little tarnished, but in good shape. I used my grinder chuck to spin it while polishing. The products used, are in the pic. I got my polishing and buffing stuff from murrayfinnauto.com in Oregon. After some instruction emails, Murray even spent time on the phone advising me how to buff paint, great guy.


I had refinished the steering wheel a while back. Sure looks good when bolted to the shiny hub.