Jump to content

32 Nash 1063 convertible sedan


F&J

Recommended Posts

Did you buy the auto salon picture off of ebay? I see your car in the background but it would be great to have a bigger scan of it.

I have not purchased a copy yet.

Those are the 1st series 1932 Nash cars made for around 3 months using the leftover boxier 1931 bodies. (like the tan one on ebay that White Glove has for sale) They also have a "barely V'ed " radiator compared to the totally new 2nd series that came out in March 1932. I can't find an original pic of a 2nd series "new car".

Easiest ways to spot the difference are the new hood doors on 2nd series and the deco parking lamps that look like spaceships :). 1st series has hood louvers and round park lamps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

First time back in over a year. I ended up back here while using Google to look for any new info or other Model 1063's.

As I posted a long time ago, there was Nash Club archive reference to one in Panama back in 2000, and the owner finally posted above in post #88. That is why I used the Model number in this thread's title :)

Also today, I refound the Maroon colored 1063 from South America, It is back up for sale in Argentina. I posted a pic in this thread.

So, that makes 3 for sure, but I think there is one more in the USA. I saw a carshow giveaway Hat Pin from a Lions Club car show held in western PA or NY on ebay. It had the likeness of a 1063, right down to the 4 hood doors, but also the artist drew two later style fog lights, so I'd bet it was drawn from a pic of a local real car. It was Yellow which is not original.

I actually worked on the Nash today, first time in over a year. The starter switch had broken the last time I moved the car. There are 4 bakelite roller wheels in the switch that fell apart, causing a huge short circuit. I made new ones from heat resistant material from a chevy truck fusebox, and it works great. Then I charged the battery, added a remote gas can, and it fired right up.

I am tied up with other peoples old cars for a while, but I will get back on it asap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad to hear back from you, F&J.

Hope you find time to update the thread when you do get rolling on this great project again.

A.J. don't you think the Glastonbury show would be a great place for this car to debut? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest prs519

I believe one of the early Hemmings Classic Car Magazine had a nice article on a car

like this. Passin it on.

Perry in Idaho

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad to hear back from you, F&J.

Hope you find time to update the thread when you do get rolling on this great project again.

A.J. don't you think the Glastonbury show would be a great place for this car to debut? :)

Absolutely Steve! Even in semi-finished condition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
  • 10 months later...

The car is still here, but in deep storage due to other projects.

I have only one work bay, so I decided to occasionally make some of the missing parts that I could never find.

Starting yesterday on one missing glove box door, and using the other side as a guide.

Consists of a back dish shaped pan, with a flat painted inset cover on the face that sits on a miniature shelf step that is pressed into the pan edge. The outer edge of the pan was nickle/chrome? plated, and is a bead shape. That bead is open on the back side.

It took a lot of thinking on how to tackle this complex part, and I decided to make the dished pan in two pieces and weld them together.

What I decided to make first, is a long strip of sheetmetal with that shelf and bead preformed, and then bend it to the shape of the door. Next post will show that strip that took over 2 hours to make.

post-59419-143141726055_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141726061_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141726065_thumb.jpg

post-59419-14314172607_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the very long strip of 18ga sheetmetal that I preformed. I started by pressing in the shelf that holds the inset painted cover, using a air powered step flanging tool.

Then I messed with the adjustments on my sheetmetal brake, to be able to bend the bead detail on the edge. So far, the shape is good, and the inset cover is at the right height.

Maybe today I will try to bend this strip around the painted cover, to form the corners. This is where it could go real bad, as that bead will try to crush on a tight corner.

I've been thinking on how to prevent that, and I may try filling the bead with lead before bending, or make a steel filler strip to stick into the bead. Not sure yet, but I hope I don't ruin the strip.

If I can get the strip bend around the inset cover, I will then make the bottom of the pan. That part will be easy.

Spare parts for a 32 Nash of any series are almost impossible to find. In the last few years, I have never seen a parts car on the net, or anyone parting one out. So, I need to just start making some of the more difficult ones I need.

post-59419-143141726075_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided to make two metal shims to put inside each corner, while bending the radius. These get bent up as you bend the corner, but I straightened them back out for the next corner.

I am using the existing left hand glove box door cover upside down, to make the missing right hand side door. They are not the same.

Shown here is about 2.5 hours for setup and fighting the first two corners. Anything you do, affects the other corners, while fighting to hold the pieces in a big vise.

I finished the 3rd corner after this pic was taken, and it must have been almost 2 hours, as it keeps changing, and gets harder to hold all 3 corners in place.

I quit for the day, and will do the last corner soon, and then start making the bottom of the pan.

post-59419-143141726705_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided to make two metal shims to put inside each corner, while bending the radius. These get bent up as you bend the corner, but I straightened them back out for the next corner.

I am using the existing left hand glove box door cover upside down, to make the missing right hand side door. They are not the same.

Shown here is about 2.5 hours for setup and fighting the first two corners. Anything you do, affects the other corners, while fighting to hold the pieces in a big vise.

I finished the 3rd corner after this pic was taken, and it must have been almost 2 hours, as it keeps changing, and gets harder to hold all 3 corners in place.

I quit for the day, and will do the last corner soon, and then start making the bottom of the pan.

Is there a way to put the end of the stainless steel (where you started) into the vise while you bend the last bend?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there a way to put the end of the stainless steel (where you started) into the vise while you bend the last bend?

Well John, the problem is that this door is so small that everything on the vice gets in the way, and gets worse as you go to the next bend. Also, this is mild steel; I can't imagine how hard it would to make this out of stainless as it is so miserable to work with. This will get plated like original.

I did not try the last bend till the end of the day. Lacking confidence I guess. I made the bottom of the tray instead. I will post that piece later today.

Back to that last bend; Because there were so many things in the way, I just could not get the last bend tight enough. The spare metal on the end of the strip was very short now, and not enough leverage.

I just kept trying anything to try not to scrap this part. I finally figured out what I should have done from the start. I took 2 pieces of 3/8" round stock and chucked then into the vice standing straight up, and 1/2" apart. One rod acts as the fulcrum for where you want the bend, and the other rod acts like a stop. Geez, I don't know why I did not think of this, because I have used that system before.

I bet I could have done all the bending in one hour!...and without some of the damage I have made on the sides of the pan. Oh well..

Here is where it sits, waiting to get the seam butt welded. It fits good.

post-59419-143141728271_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the very backside, or bottom, of the pan shaped glove box door.

It has two pressed areas, one for the hinge pocket, and other is a pocket for the latch. They are different depths, so the simple dies need to be sized to the right thickness.

The dies are nothing more that random scrap; Make the male die to the the correct LxW, and the female die is just 3 pieces of scrap to form a 3-sided rectangle.

Then tape them on the correct sides of the sheetmetal, and press it all together in a big vice.

Then find the correct thickness pieces for the other pocket, and repeat.

These are so simple and easy to do. Fast, too.

The back cover was rough shaped in the pics to allow a little extra. I did finish grind it to correct size later, and will weld it up soon.

post-59419-143141728304_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141728308_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141728311_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the roughed in tray. This was a lot of fussy work to fit it together, tack weld it, test fit the cover...over and over. But it came out real good, and it does fit the hole in the dashboard perfectly.

A bit of hand filing and sanding, it will be done.

That was the hardest part. Now I will make the hinge, the latch, and the cover.

post-59419-143141730096_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This level of fabrication is just fascinating. Great work!
I agree, a real nice job of fabrication there. It's good to see this project getting some attention again too. Scott...

Thanks, Guys.. I followed Dean H's resto thread and I also learned to follow his train of thought. He took an obsure, long abandoned project car, and turned it into a finished beautiful car. He found as many pieces as he could, but then rather than wait for years to find the rest, he made do with handmade parts or reworked parts.

I started on the hinge this morning. I made a paper pattern wrapped around the biggest half first. Then transferred that to 18ga metal.

The bends were mostly done on the brake, including the radius, but at some point, the part won't fit back into the brake. I had to hand bend a bit of the last bend, and then I could get it to fit back into the brake for the last tight 90 degree bend.

I left the tails that will become the hinge pin end, a little long, so that I could make sure I had enough to make the wraps around the pin. I might finish the whole hinge today if all goes well.

post-59419-143141731701_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141731705_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141731709_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 4 eyelets took longer than I thought, because there was not enough room for tools, due to the shape of the part.

The eyelets would be easier to make on a flat unbent piece first, but then one of the 90 degree bends would be impossible to do on the brake, after doing the eyelets first. Catch 22

Anyways, it did come out real good and all 4 eyelets are aligned, and the pin is on the correct planes, so it should operate the door the same as the original. Meaning, it "should" let the door close without some part of the hinge hitting on the dashboard opening.

The final half of the hinge has only one 90 degree bend, I can do that bend on the brake after I form those 4 eyelets first. I hope it goes quicker.

post-59419-143141731953_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sharp eye John spotted the reversed tab pattern on the first half of the hinge :) That happened by bending the first 90 degree bend the wrong way in the brake. Does not matter, as long as the final piece fits it. That's my story on that :)

I was able to bend the remaining eyelets about halfway on the brake, then finish them in the vice, wrap & hammer them over the pin.

Then made the last 90 bend slightly off, as it is easy to lose or gain 1/16" as you bend in a brake.

Oh well, it all seems to line up good to me. I am now starting to wonder why I thought I could make the entire missing glove box door and it's parts....now that I found out how many areas could have been a disaster.

Next job is the very simple latch that is just a spring loaded detent pin. Some lathe work and some scrap 18ga, a spring and two machine nuts. Then make the cover and it's weld-on mounting bracket...easy job, I think.

post-59419-143141733421_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141733425_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141733429_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It took almost 2 hours to make the latch. I put a penny in the pic to show how small this part is.

I made the stepped pin in the lathe from a 20d nail that was laying on the bench :) These nails are good steel that machines well.

Threaded it for 6-32 nuts, and found a spring in my stash.

Note the flat steel T that was bent up for the body of the latch. It had 2 notches on the face, right where the first 90 degree bend was. Those notches allow the bent down part to not stick out along the side of the latch body. Pretty clever, and I did it the same way. Despite how small it is, I was able to bend both 90's on the brake.

Next and final part is the flat cover and it's mounting bracket.

post-59419-143141733787_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141733792_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141733796_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frank, nice to see you back on the project. Your work is great and this is such a worthwhile car to put the effort into.

Hi AJ, Yes it will be worth the effort eventually.. But I am just starting the next mind boggling step; I need 6 nice wire wheel hubcaps. Maybe you can help, or ask around in your group?

I only had 2, but bought as many as I could find in any condition in the last couple of years. One member here with a 32 big series Nash 4dr conv sedan, told me he bought used/dented hubcaps to salvage the center Nash crest/logo, and use them on remade hubcap bodies....but I never asked if he made new "skins" like original, or maybe made the body from a casting?

I had planned on making one thick steel female die on the lathe, then add a bolt-on thick back plate and use hydraulic pressure to make new, very thin skins like original, and then somehow salvage my center emblems and find a way to silver solder them on before plating.

Now, I am thinking maybe trying to get a good casting, but I lack a mint undented hubcap to use for a lost wax type mold. I put up a pic of my best 2 caps; one is a slightly dented original, and the other is NORS but lacks the "NASH" letters in the logo...so I can't use that one as a pattern for the mold. Besides, that one has a wider outer chrome ring; I suppose that is not a big deal though, if all 6 were the same.

So, if I do try the hydroforming, should I use thin brass, copper, mild steel, or stainless steel? Near as I can measure, the brass skins are .020. I would not get a great sharp detail on the emblem with hydroforming, even "if" I could carve those tiny details in the die. The only way to get sharp detail, is to multiply the pressure to crazy levels...from what I've read.

So, if anyone has an idea or suggestion, I would like to hear it.

One hubcap in the pics was taken apart for banging dents out, many decades ago, so I was able to pop it apart to show how the skin fits over a shell.

Basic sizes are 7-3/8" diameter, and they crown up about 3/8", and if you measure how far the entire cap protrudes from the painted wire wheel center hub, it is 1/2". Not much of a dish, so it will form OK, but I know there will be "spring back" when the pressure is released, and I don't know how much deeper I should make the die, to compensate.

The bottom 3 caps in the pic of all 9, show 2 smaller, different year Nash caps, and one of those is also NORS without the NASH letters.

post-59419-143141735312_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141735317_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141735321_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141735326_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went to the local scrapyard 10 minutes from here, looking for 2 thick steel plates to make the mold plate, and a backer plate for hydroformimg. I did not find anything at first because they rearranged their stock piles.

I had hoped to find pieces that were square and did not need to be cut to size at home. These being a minimum of 5/8" or so thick, that would be a chore to resize them to be able to fit in my lathe.

Well, I scored way better than I hoped; finding these 2 large round! plates; one is 1/2" thick for the backer plate, and other is 5/8" thick and should be thick enough to machine the height of the crown on the hubcap skin. These 2 big plates are barely big enough in diameter, as I need to add bolts all the way around to hold the die and plate together, and I hope there is enough grip on the sheetmetal that I will form. If the grip is not good, the edges will start to pull inwards as the forming starts, and that will make wrinkles in the new skin. Not sure what type of seal I will use there.

Then the smaller round piece will be welded to the back of the thicker female die for 2 reasons. Firstly, it now gives me a place small enough to grab with my 4 jaw lathe chuck. I could have drilled and tapped the 5/8" plate to install the lathe face plate that I also have, but that is too much work. 2nd reason for that small piece welded on, is that the center of my die will be kind of thin in the center after machining, and this piece will keep the center of the die from deforming under pressure.

I still need to figure out how much spring-back I will get on the new hubcap skins when the pressure is released. If I make the crown too shallow, then it won't fit over the domes of the old hubcap shells. Any ideas on how much it will change?

other pic is a local swapmeet score; a melting furnace for casting I think. It was $40. I will try this when I do the lost wax casting for 4 inside door handles and 2 window crank handles.

post-59419-143141735663_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141735667_thumb.jpg

Edited by F&J (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a guy who regularly advertises in the New Zealand Car Club magazine Beaded Wheels, who says he can press out a perfect reproduction of any skin type hub cap up to

10 1/2" diameter so it may be worth while contacting him to see what he could do for you.

The contact is: Dave Patten Replica Manufacturing Ltd, email: patten@wise.net.nz Ph. NZ 027 247 7956

Edited by DavidAU (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a guy who regularly advertises in the New Zealand Car Club magazine Beaded Wheels, who says he can press out a perfect reproduction of any skin type hub cap up to

10 1/2" diameter so it may be worth while contacting him to see what he could do for you.

Thanks for the info, but he must be using a very expensive scanning machine to develop a CNC program to run a CNC milling station, just to make the 2 piece dies. I would assume no less than $1500, and the customer does not get the dies, just the skins.

I had already started with setting up the thicker plate to fit on the lathe. I decided that I really needed the faceplate installed, rather than a chuck, so it took a bit of time to index, drill and tap some holes. I am using 4 of the 8 holes to hold the part, and later, all 8 will hold the 2 plates together.

Well, I am working with the worst piece of steel I've had in a long time. Must be offshore junk of an odd mix of carbons. I could easily machine from the center out to about 1-1/2" from the edge, and then I hit hard spots like I've never seen before. Sparks were flying off the high speed steel cutters, and even a carbide insert cutter would not cut it. The only thing I can think of, is that the circle was cut out with Ox/Acy and the "waste" circle drops into a tray of water. That would have heat treated the outer part if there was enough carbon mixed in the steel.

So, then I tried a die grinder with a cut off wheel, and it would not cut. Then a 10,000 rpm angle grinder with a 4.5" grinding wheel...which also did not work. Finally tried a kryptonite milling bit :) in the die grinder, and it did cut through it slowly.

I've almost finished making the outer part that will press the first outer chrome band. Then I will be cutting the rest, where the metal is soft. Should go much faster.

I've come up with an idea for a seal device to withstand the pressures, as well as a plan to make the emblems.

In the pic, it shows a sectional paper pattern of the crown and the raised beads. I use that to get depth measurements from.

post-59419-143141740479_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose I should have scrapped this piece of steel and tried to find a place to buy a piece of steel billet...but that would be mail order and very expensive, and stall this project.

I already had time invested, so I just kept at it. I have never seen steel act this way; it seems like any cutting I do, work hardens it even more. To see tool steel cutting bits melt at the tip, as soon as it touches this part, is incredible.

I just kept regrinding different profiles on the bits, tried different speeds, etc, and got it close enough for finish grinding. What seems to work best, is a 4-1/2 angle grinder with a 80 grit flap disc, with the lathe speed on high.

Starting to look more like a die now, but I need to grind a bit more crown into it. I am using the depth of the grooves to let me know when the crown should be correct. I precut the groove depths for that reason. The grooves are not finished widths yet; I will correct that after the crown surface is finished.

Looking around locally for thin brass or copper, but can't find any yet. I will test run the die with thin aluminum that I do have here.

post-59419-143141741334_thumb.jpg

post-59419-143141741338_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...