1929 Hupmobile project

[Guest Dean_H.]

I've been busy lately and haven't had much time to work on my car. But there are a few things I managed to get done, including finishing the last door, it fit well. This is the end of the cars exterior.

The door strike plate screws were stripped out. I used a skill saw to make a cut into the center post and pushed in a steel plate. Then drilled and threaded for machine screws, it feels solid and all the doors open and close now.

Finding cheap mohair upholstery took some effort. This remnant was the exact color of my original. I got it for $35 per yard and I took all eleven yards they had. Hopefully it's enough, I set up our spare room as a sewing room. Let the fun begin!

Decided to start with those strips that go along the door openings. In this pic I cut the first piece.

I bought this sewing machine about twenty years ago at a garage sale and basically never used it. When I pushed the pedal the variable speed wouldn't work - fast or off was not good. So I did some cleaning and oiling, before long it was running like a Hupp and I was sewing like a pro.

Picked up some 3/8 tubing at Orchard Hardware. Here I'm pushing it into the freshly sewed fabric.

And the last pic - nailing it in the car. The upholstery seems like it's going to take awhile.

[HarryJ]

Dean..............and you can do upolstery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........Awesome!

[Guest Dean_H.]

Harry, My options are - sit on a milk crate or start sewing. I chose the latter, it's my first attempt at upholstery work. Doesn't look too tough.

I had left the drivers seat back rest in while the body was off the frame, because it acted as a brace to help hold dimensions. Now with the body bolted to the frame, I unscrewed and removed it. There is a steel back, to support the springs. When I pulled off the fabric and springs, there were scraps of mohair, burlap, cotton, and even pieces of paper thrown in to prevent metal to metal contact. It appears the factory workers swept the floor for this needed anti-squeak material. Over the years it's sunk to the lower half of the seat back. But it amused me how we Americans were recycling long before it was politically correct.

[Guest Dean_H.]

I decided to leave the original fabric on the seat back and just cover it with new material. This also saved me some time with the layer of cotton padding under the fabric, and... I'm recycling same as the factory did in '29. Just for fun, I glued a piece of an old T-shirt on the original material, and wrote my name and the date.

Here it is after I installed it into the car. Sure glad I ponied up the extra cash for mohair, it looks reeeeeal nice.

[Guest Stllrng.]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dean_H.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I decided to leave the original fabric on the seat back and just cover it with new material. This also saved me some time with the layer of cotton padding under the fabric, and... I'm recycling same as the factory did in '29. Just for fun, I glued a piece of an old T-shirt on the original material, and wrote my name and the date.

Here it is after I installed it into the car. Sure glad I ponied up the extra cash for mohair, it looks reeeeeal nice.

</div></div>

I had to laugh when I saw the note in the seat. My Dad died in 1977, and he was famous for doing that. I found a couple of those notes ten and twenty years after he was gone. It's good fun and I think it adds to the history aspect. Thanks for showing us.

[Big Beat]

Is that a Russian sewing machine?

I have a similar one in the back of my garage.

The upholstery looks great already!

[Guest Dean_H.]

My sewing machine is a 'Brother' made in Japan. It wouldn't sew through panel board which I needed to do. After making a few calls, I got someone to loan me an upholstery machine. It looks older than the car, but it has a walking foot and big enough horsepower to sew through anything.

I'm waiting for some thread that I ordered, so I decided to paint the wood grain on my trim pieces. Having never seen or done anything like this, I got some quotes from the pros, but after learning it'd be $1500+ I decided to give it a try myself. First I painted the piece a light brown, and then using a fan brush, painted on the darker brown.

Once I had a 'wood like' pattern, I darkened the whole part by going over it lightly with a dryish brush. This picture is my finished product.

[keiser31]

Dude, you are killing us with all of the blatant "go for it" attitude and the skills to learn the first time!!!!!!!!

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

hey that looks great now clear it and it'll look just like the pro.s

Vern

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks guys, I think, the not too complex shape of the trim pieces, made it easier.

I finally got the pitman arm done, it turned out to be more trouble than I anticipated. The dealer I bought the steering box from (White Glove Collection) gave me the run around for months. When I realized they were flaking out, I visited a few local junk yards and found a '70s Cadillac with the right size arm. All I needed to do was file out the indexing teeth in the spline and it fit perfect. Unfortunately the attaching ball for the drag link was not easy to find. After scouring the earth, I found a ball on an old Toyota forklift that had a slightly larger taper. In this pic I'm re-doing the taper.

Here's the arm on the car. In the end, I'm pleased with it, turns equal and full travel, in both directions.

[Guest Dean_H.]

After practicing on the trim pieces, I felt brave enough to attempt the wood grain painting on the dash and used my pinstripe tool to do the pinstripe. Got all the gauges hooked up and working except the fuel, still need to figure that one out. This afternoon I test drove the car around the yard, it's a ton of fun.

[Durant Mike]

Beautiful job on the dash and of course everything. I've got to do the woodgrain on my 28 Durant sometime. Going to buy the kit from Gran it thought I think and work with that. She's going to be a show winner when she's done for sure.

[Guest Dean_H.]

I'm missing the original hand crank for the car, so I decided to make a new one. Decided to go with stainless steel so it would look shinny. In this pic I'm using the torch to make the first bend.

After making the bends, cutting it off, and cleaning it up, it needed a hole for the cross pin.

Here it is after a little buffing.

I cranked started the engine OK, but I dislike the way you need to get into a tight area. And I had to make the leverage short to fit, which also makes it less than ideal. It's still better than nothing if the battery get's low.

This link is a short video of the car on a test drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=213Q1YD8II4

Looks like my cruse speed is only about 45 MPH. With the freeway traffic doing 80+ I'd get killed out there. I might have to change the 5.22 to 1 gears in this rig... if I want to leave town.

[keiser31]

My wife wants to know if you will marry me?

[keiser31]

Were you sitting on the milk crate for the test drive?

[Guest Dean_H.]

You're too much Kieser. We might have similar wives. The other day I was checking out a neat old car going down the road. When I gave the thumbs up to the driver, my wife started making a kissing noise. Boys and their toys, we'll never change.

I'm afraid the milk crate did come into play on the test drive.

[Guest CarAdMan]

from Sept.7,1929 Saturday Evening Post - RICK

[keiser31]

Dean....I am gonna hafta come down there and meet you one of these days. John

[Guest Dean_H.]

John, definitely stop by if you're ever down this way.

I purchased mohair material for the headliner off eBay. This charcoal color looked similar to the original scraps that were left on the car. Unfortunately, the eBay seller sent the 2 1/2 yards, in two pieces????? After some thought, I decided to use it anyway and just put a sew line at every rib. In this picture I'm taking apart what I just sewed. Evidently... there's something wrong with this machine, it keeps sewing off the line.

Getting it stapled up

...and I have a headliner, that was easier than expected.

[HarryJ]

Dean be careful with your hand crank,,,yes, you can start your car with it ; the one you made is lovely; however it may hang up in the crankshaft sprocket and will put the hurt to you. It is a great aid in timing the car and performing tasks requiring precise crankshaft orientation; but a word to the wise avoid starting the car with it.

[keiser31]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HarryJ</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dean be careful with your hand crank,,,yes, you can start your car with it ; the one you made is lovely; however it may hang up in the crankshaft sprocket and will put the hurt to you. It is a great aid in timing the car and performing tasks requiring precise crankshaft orientation; but a word to the wise avoid starting the car with it. </div></div>

If you learn the correct way to crank, it is safe. Just make a fist and push with the palm/knuckle apex. Never grip the crank like a hammer or the "kickback" (if there is any) will push the crank handle backwards and break your wrist.

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks for the concern Harry, but I agree with Keiser on this one. I grew up on a small farm where my father taught me how to crank start a tractor when I was about ten years old. I still have (and use) several old tractors that must be started by hand crank. No injuries yet. With that said, this car makes me feel vulnerable when cranking, because of the cramped location. I'll use the electric starter, and by the way, it has a great starter. I've never seen a six volt starter work so well. Feels like a twelve volt system.

[TexRiv_63]

Dean,

Your upholstery skills match everything else we've seen here, amazing. I like your sewing seat, you really get your money's worth out of that milk crate!

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Great job Dean. Makes my day to visit your posts.

The milk is pretty rare itself.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

OOPS. Milk CRATE.

[Guest Dean_H.]

The milk crate is rough, I'm suffering 'waffle butt' as I write this. Going to make the seat a priority. I've been awful busy lately and haven't done much on my project. Tinkered with the upholstery some though. The original trim pieces were wrapped with mohair and simply nailed to the car. In my attempts to duplicate this it didn't work too well. So I bought some contact cement and tried gluing the fabric to the panel board. I found it takes a lot of glue because it soaks into the fabric, this could get expensive. Looking for a cheaper route, I sewed the fabric to the panel board.

Then wrap the fabric around and hand sew it, works pretty well.

and installed in the car

Painted the seat springs of the drivers seat cushion and stuffed cotton into the end springs. (I have an upholstery book that recommends this)

The lady at the upholstery shop told me enviro's are currently using cotton instead of foam rubber for re-upholstery projects. This old Hupp just get's greener all the time, great looking car and saves the planet.

Marking the the fabric for sew lines.

Sandwiching cotton between two thin boards to stuff it into the the cleats. This is as far as I've gone.

[KenHupp20]

Dean you may want to find some "seam stick" tape to keep the fabric from slipping as you sew it. It is a narrow version of carpet tape ( sticky on both sides ) made for sewing . I used it when I worked in a sailmaking loft. Hope that helps . Good work !

Ken

[JFranklin]

Do you have paper patterns of the interior or just using the old to go by? A previous owner of my car removed the interior completely from my Hupp and I could use a pattern. he had pictures tho of it before the mice and rats got into it. The origonal mohair color was named "mouse". I read that in some liturature a had.

[Guest Dean_H.]

JFranklin, Mouse is a good name for the interior fabric. Mine had a lot of them. It took me two days to clean out all the nests, walnuts and debris, it was nasty. My interior was also stripped out from a previous owner. Fortunately a few pieces and nails were left to give me some clues how the factory did it. I measure the area I want to cover and draw it on panel board. Then cut it out, cover with fabric and nail it in. It's surprisingly easy, keep in mind, I'm not trying to make a show car. The long thin piece I just installed might've been two pieces. I guess a little, your pictures will help you. As for the seats, they're mostly intact, just rat damage, I'm coping those.

[1929Chrysler]

Dean, You mention you have an upholstery book.. What is the name of it and how helpful has it been to you?

Thanks

Dan

[Guest Dean_H.]

Dan, The book is for modern type cars. But it's probably worth reading if you're new at this (like me). It was certainly helpful in figuring out what type of equipment is needed.

Getting the seat sewed up was a bit of a job, it really helped to have the original material to copy. Here I'm hoping it fits over the springs.

It's almost too easy, just staple around the edges.

Fit is good, just need to put the buttons in. The local upholstery shop used a button machine to cover these buttons with my fabric (25 cents each).

Sewing up the back rest went pretty fast, now that I'm getting the hang of this. Here I'm trying to fit it up in the car.

And done! I've gotta pinch myself, can hardly believe this beauty is mine.

[keiser31]

That is one SWEEEEET interior job, Dean!! You are like a one man restoration shop.

[F&J]

Wow

[Guest abh3usn]

Wooo Hooo! Go man GO!

[keiser31]

I cannot wait to see what you do with the 1932 coupe'!!

[Guest Dean_H.]

Happy Fourth of July everyone and happy 233rd birthday to our great country. :)

I loaded the Hupp on a trailer and took it to a local car show on Father's Day. There was about 130 cars on display and I'd say my project looked better than most. But, I didn't bring a camera, so you'll have to take my word on that. Did get a lot of positive comments though.

Back at the shop I went to work on the back seat. First step involved cleaning up the wood and getting a good coat of linseed oil on it. (This new forum looks like it can handle bigger pictures without scrolling, so I increased the size, and set the quality low, so they'll still load fast. )

Painted everything for preservation.

The backrest, hooking buttons on the cross wire.

Almost done with the seat cushion, it's all down hill from here.

And there it is, almost too easy, maybe I'm forgetting something.

[Scotts_DG8]

Dean,

It's been a bit of time since I spent much time on the AACA forum along with your progress and after getting caught up I find myself compelled to tell you just what a fine job you've done. You still set a very high bar with the talent, creativity and ingenuity you've demonstrated. What a fine job and one great looking car...

[HarryJ]

Dean............Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest B1rdman]

Hi Dean

have you found a source for pistons???

thanks

gene

[keiser31]

Hi Dean

have you found a source for pistons???

thanks

gene

For pistons, go to egge.com. They make and supply pistons for the early cars.