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1942 Ford Fordor Revival


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I'll call this a revival beacuse it's not going to be a restored to original car. I'm taking liberties, somewhat. I'm trying to go pretty much OEM parts, trying to buy NOS parts when I can. I just found the engine is going to have to be completely overhauled, so that's gonna put a little bump in the road to running/driving. The whole car had a medium coat of surface rust, making me slowly sand the entire car down to metal, the epoxy primer with 2K primer on top of that. This past weekend I had it outside and pressure washed the underhood area, and scraped what the pressure washer wouldn't take off. That took about 4 hours, but it will be worth it in the end. Heres some of the pics I have accumulated so far, and i'll take more and post as I get things done.

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The picture in the front yard is when I first got it home. The pic with the dog house off is the way it is at the moment. Waiting to take the engine to the machine shop next week (its supposed to rain here the next three days).

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Dropped the engine off at the machine shop, it turned out to be a sunny day after all, and was told it will be a while before they start on it. They've been recommended by several people so I'll wait, it's not like I don't have plenty other things to do.

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I see that you found your way to the Our Cars and Restoration Project section. I think that you'll find a good number of people that visit here will find interest in your project. Besides there's a lot of knowledge that passes thru here as well. I saw your comment on the other thread about maybe you should be doing a better job on your project. The fact that your tackling your project is a pretty good start and we all know that time and experience goes a long way and of course a bit money now and then doesn't hurt either. Do what you can when you can and tackle those things that you feel comfortable in doing. Asking questions is also not a bad thing. With all that said I'll close this long winded post, but at least I'm now subscribed for updates. Good luck with your project. Scott...

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DJ, that's something I never heard of, OHV conversion for a flattie, hmmmmmmm. It's more than I'd want to do I think. I called the machine shop back, we talked about it and they said if I have the skills to reassemble it that will definitely save me time and money. I definitely do have the skills and the tools so one day next week I'll go get the engine and strip it to the block. I'll take them just the block, cam and valves in it still, and the crank with rods and pistons loose. they'll give it back to me that way but reconditioned in 1/2 the time and cost.

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Went and got the engine from the machine shop to do the tear down to save time and money/. Got it home and got the pistons / rings out of it. It has one cylinder with broken rings, but luckily no real scoring in the cylinder walls. It does however have a couple chips, for lack of a better word, in a couple cylinders. I thought when I first took the head off that I may have done that, but upon closer inspection there are a couple places so far down in the cylinders I couldn't have done them if I had tried to. Got out the digital calipers and checked the cylinder bores, dead on 3.300 inches - std bore. Crank looks really good, I think just polished will do. Here's a funny thing I found though, every connecting rod is stamped on the rod and the cap with that cylinders number. It also has two different style pistons in it, in alternating cylinders. I would think Ford wouldn't do that from the factory, I wonder if the engine hasn't been worked on. I am attaching pictures of the pistons, if you look you'll see where there are relief slots up top how they are cut different. Plus, three of the pistons say Ford in Ford script, the other three have no writing on them. I am also attaching pictures of the dried sludge crap that is inside the valve spring area, geeeez what a lot of crap. Oh yeah, the pan is full of sludge too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Well, I guess any progress is progress. I spent nearly 8 hours today taking the doors off and sanding them. That orange color is the result of a vinegar bath, which I was told will stop rust cheaper and as well as the exensive stuff. That info came from youtube from a body shop in Cali - Southwest Rods and Customs, lets hope its good info. Anyway, next week I hope to resand the doors again, clean that dust off, tack cloth them and put a coat of epoxy primer on them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow time flies when you're grinding away rust. I spent 3 hours tonight with a right angle grinder and a wire wheel hitting all the contours of the door jambs, fire wall and window wells and running board wells etc. I think I am finally done with the grinder work on the body, I have to re-check the door edges and all the window trim rings. Went and got the disposable cup system for my spray gun, that'll make it much quicker clean-up. With the weather gonna be raining the next 4 days I won't be spraying any thing but I can be geting ready to late next week. I may catch some heat for this but from the people at Eastwood I bought their rust convertor and rust encapsulator. I'll be using this on the inside of the body and in the wheel wells. Inside the car I plan on using it everywhere it won't be seen. It's going under carpet, behind door panels, under the dash etc etc etc . It's going under the hood too, like on the frame rails and basically all the chassis parts from front to back. the rust encapsulator is an eppxy top coat so my thinking is that it will serve as a good protector of that part of the car, especially no more than it will be out in bad weather. I think the next update will be when I have picture worthy progress. i didn't think anyone would be interested in seeing more pictures of a sanded car.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ford 226 flathead six?

Yep, this engine debuted in 41 and lasted until either 46 or 47 as a G series engine. After that they were modified and called an H series engine. 90 hp, same as the V-8, but I understand the 6 had more low end torque while 8 was more powerful further up in the rpm's.

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Guest Al Brass

I heard from an old guy once that the 6 was a complete embarrassment to Henry, it performed better than the V8 in many ways !! I know in current times, people that have them love them.

Al

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know i said I wasn't posting again until I had some good pics, but I have news to report. Had a guy come look at it to give me a guesstimation on paint, and a minor amount of body work. His best answer was $10k would be a start. When I told him I wasn't going to be spending that much on just a paint job and minor body work, he informed me they only do show quality work is why the high guesstimate. The last discussion we had was that after I do all the body work and primer work he'll come back and do another closer guesstimate. Also got a quote on the motor today, $2800, thats a complete engine overhaul from top to bottom, it is going to be higher because that was if he didnt pull all the head bolts out and machine the deck. I've decided to do that too, it just isn't worth risking all that work and money for a few dollars more. It's going to be another month or so on the engine, but that's life.

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The real reason is simply that I don't have $10k to invest in just a paint job. I do agree I'd be afraid to get it out of the garage with a $10k paint job. I feel pretty certain I'll be able to get a good paint job for less than that, it may not be concours show worthy, and that's okay by me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Okay, I maybe opening a can of worms, but I going to open it anyway. I have had several people come look at my car to paint it, and if from a real body shop they say they;ll only do top quality work, not any weekend driver quality stuff nad teh price starts around 10K$. I am looking for someone in the Guston,KY area which is near Fort Knox. Any one have any one they know and will recommend??

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A good quality paint job is only as good as the body work underneath. You can't make bad body work look good no matter how well it's painted, but you can make a bad paint job look good by properly color sanding it (given that there's enough paint on the car to begin with). Too many people start out their color sanding with WAY too high of a grit number, such as 1000. The problem is that the smooth grit will simply "follow" the divets or "orange peel". It's best to knock down the orange peel peaks with 600 grit paper first (being ever so careful and using it lightly), then gradually move up through 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, etc.

Of course, if its painted with metallic paint, especially the "bass boat" type metalics I see too much of, it's much more difficult to color sand without ruining.

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I wonder if there were any overhead valve conversions for the flathead 6 like there were on the 4's and 8's?

That would be an neat period modification if there were any.

I agree! An Ardun head on an inline six, with maybe a split exhaust and dual carbs? That would probably look and sound awesome!

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Okay, I maybe opening a can of worms, but I going to open it anyway. I have had several people come look at my car to paint it, and if from a real body shop they say they;ll only do top quality work, not any weekend driver quality stuff nad teh price starts around 10K$. I am looking for someone in the Guston,KY area which is near Fort Knox. Any one have any one they know and will recommend??

I believe I read an article in "Rod and Custum" magazine a couple years back, on how to get a really nice paint job using Rust-o-leum rattle cans. Don't laugh! 99% of a nice paint job is in the body and prep work and rubbing and polishing afterwords. I plan on investigating this further and trying it myself.

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I believe I read an article in "Rod and Custum" magazine a couple years back, on how to get a really nice paint job using Rust-o-leum rattle cans. Don't laugh! 99% of a nice paint job is in the body and prep work and rubbing and polishing afterwords. I plan on investigating this further and trying it myself.

I bumped into an article online about some guys doing a Falcon in rustoleum... turned out looking good, but it was a crapload of work!

Closer to home... I did a motorcycle tank a few years ago in rustoleum. I prepped and prepped, then prepped more before I shot the paint. Turned out good and really looked like a professional paint job but man did it take forever to dry!

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I am going to do a true auto paint job in either acrylic enamel or BC/CC. It definately won't be a rattle can or Rustoleum brush job. I may end up doing it myself but I would prefer a real Body/Paint person do it.

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If you are not interested in a show car, then you can paint it yourself. Been there three times, and there are tons of YouTube videos on the subject, but Only YOU can make that decision.

If black or solid color piece painting probably work.

i wish you well,

Dale in Indy

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"If black or solid color piece painting probably work." I want it to be a midnight blue body, hood, deck lid and doors and the rest to be a dark charcoal grey. I plan on attending some local shows, only to be proud of what it is and have some fun, not to win any points or money. What I don't want to do is mess it up by letting some idiot that thinks they can spray do a terrible job or pay someone that can spray good too little to do a decent job, or pay more than the car is going to be worth just for the paint job. I maybe am asking to much, but I don't think I am, yet.

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Can you post a picture of the color theme you are wanting, would love to see.

If you get referrals, and go look, and talk to those that had their car painted by a person, then you should be ok.

I have heard of some great paint jobs, CHEAP in low rent areas of town, but referrals are a MUST.

Dale in Indy

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do it youself. i bought the TIP HVLP system and did a couple of jobs and it works just like they say. in the last 12 yrs i have tons of thophys and get compliments all the tim. BC/CC

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I am going to do a true auto paint job in either acrylic enamel or BC/CC. It definately won't be a rattle can or Rustoleum brush job. I may end up doing it myself but I would prefer a real Body/Paint person do it.

I just saw an advertisement on TV from Maaco saying that they will paint your car for $299. It may be something to look into. Probably just single stage, but if you do the prep work it may turn out to be a pretty good deal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Glad to hear you aren't considering the Rustoleum. I stripped enough of that crap back in the day to know that even if you get it looking good, your problems are not over. Find out who is selling automotive paints to body shops locally and talk to them about your options and pricing. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to cash and carry a good quality paint with hardners and sealer for under $500. If you are doing your own bodywork, try to find a friend of a friend that's in the industry to check your work over before you pay someone to shoot it. I had a lot of backyard guys bring in work for me to paint that I wouldn't touch without redoing their work. What you think is good, and what a professional painter thinks is good, may be 2 very different stories.

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Thanks for the info, I have a local auto paint/body supplier in teh area. They have been answering questions for me along the way too. The my idea of good and the body mans idea being two different things is why I want a real body/paint guy to do the work. that difference in ideas is why some of them wont do anything less than show quality -- no room for opinion difference that way they say. I have another guy coming to look at it simetime next week. a neighbor has recommended him, they have a vehicle they are having him paint. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

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I can perhaps shed some light onto the question of why almost every body shop will resist doing "driver quality" work. Part of this is because experience has taught many body shops that if there is an imperfection the customer almost wants it repaired, and invariably for free. Few people are willing to accept flaws with the understanding that they come with a lower price. The other part is because a body shop's reputation is based largely on the impression others have of their finished work. No body shop wants a sloppily painted car out there with their name on it. This could have the potential for the following conversation: "Who painted this piece of junk?" Body shop XYZ. "Oh really? Body shop XYZ did this? Usually they do better work. I would never have paid for a job like that. You should take it back." The owner will never say "I told him to short cut the work to stay within my budget." Having been around a lot of body shops and a lot of body shop people, I have heard such a scenario played out on a shop floor after a bargain hunter leaves the premises. Believe me, no body shop worth their reputation would not put themselves in such a position. Just my two cents worth.

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