Reconstruction of a '34 Chevy Master Coupe

[Luv2Wrench]

Finished stripping the fenders. Massaged the one front fender that I had repaired myself. I wish I was Flop.

Put together the locks for the locksmith. He will rekey them & remove the barrels so I can send them to the platers.

Sorted & selected a pile of little parts to send to the platers. Removed the knobs off the window cranks. Ordered new ones along with a ton of other stuff. Today I seriously stressed the Visa.

My guess is that there is probably $1200 of chrome in that second photo. :eek:

We all wish we were Flop. At least you are the Flop of the wood world.

[Landman]

Received some bling & rubber today. Among other things, the running board moldings, sill plates, hood handles, pedal pads, various grommets etc.

The hood handles are for 36-39. They are gorgeous but the stem is too large for the latch plate bushing. I drilled out a scrap one to see. They would fit like this but I wonder if that would weaken the bushing. The alternative is to get the originals rechromed at 4 times the price of these.

Started looking at the old harness to see what fittings, pigtails and connectors were'nt included in the new one. How does one clean a switch like the headlight switch shown?

Painted the hood latch rods.

Still haven't been able to start the rebuilt engine.

[mike brady]

Pat,

I've used 3M pads and wire brush wheels on a dremel to clean the exterior of switches. If the switch tests OK using a meter, you might not choose to take it apart. I have taken several apart, cleaned out the old grease, cleaned the contacts and reassembled. You need to be careful with those small metal tabs. In my case, I had spare switches, so if I messed up, I wasn't out of luck.

[Landman]

The pictures in tonight's postings all have today's date but are in fact over the last few days. More odds & sods.

• Placed another big order of goodies.
  
• Completed application of seam sealer on floor
  
• Completed the partition between cabin & trunk
  
• Found a part of the pedal seal box which was original to the car. Sandblasted & painted it. Painted the new rad hose elbow as well.
  
• Sanblasted the dome light cup and installed a "new" socket which I stole off the old wiring harness. Painted that Too.
  

[Landman]

Here's the rest of it:

• Purchased some stainless 3/16 rod & made two hood hinge rods.
  
• Snaked a wire along the roof rail and down the windshield pillar for the dome light.
  
• Marked my quarter window patterns to be enlarged where the rubber didn't contact the wall. Tried out my new scroll saw cutting the new ones. The passenger side will be a b***h. The driver's side snapped right in.
  
• Cleaned up the headlight switch.
  

What I should have been doing is work on the body to get it ready for the painter. I did give the motor a few twirls though and it almost felt like it was trying to start.

[Landman]

Set out to install the accelerator rod grommet which, for some reason I had missed when I built my floorboards. I used measurements and photographs supplied by Sambarn on this thread (#146, P.6).

I found the grommet very tight on the rod so I took the paint off. Still tight in the bottom. So I went back to the confuser and looked at Sambarn's photos . Guess what, I have the wrong grommet. :mad:

With all this fiddling and the rod now through a hole I found it was binding at the bell crank. I had installed the linkages based on photos I took when I disassembled the engine. This time I compared it to the GM engineering features book and found it's installed wrong. :mad:

So I gave up, went to my neighbour and asked him to come with me for a ride in the bush where there is a '34 Master hulk. We retrieved what's left of its cowl. And it still has a very special bolt which I need for my cowl vent.

[sambarn]

Glad I could help - If you need more pics - let me know, I'd love to see her on the road. -Sam

[Landman]

The following odds & sods occured over the last week.

The new hubcaps came in. They're very nice but don't have the black stripe the old ones had. Tried one on for the hell of it. It is a tedious masking job.

Cleaned up & installed the special bolt for the cowl vent linkage. Still not working perfectly. :confused:

Tried my homemade garnish moldings over the "glass" & rubber of the quarter windows. They stick out a bit. I wonder if it is too much or not enough for the upholstery panels.

Refitted the windshield header on the passenger side. It didn't sit right. Better now.

Went to order taillight buckets from the suppliers. Both out of stock. I guess I'll have to try & fix the old ones. Replaced a few sheet metal screws by rivets. Welded in a big hole on the driver's side.

Had another run at starting the engine. No go. :mad:

[Landman]

Since I'm going to Toronto for the auction this weekend, I'll take my seat springs to Diamond Trim to get refurbished. www.diamondtrim.com

Cleaned up the door rain troughs and the taillights for the painter.

Finally started addressing the weld valleys I created when I transplanted the roof panels. Cleaned up the old primer & applied a coat of All Metal on the passenger side.

Started cleaning up around the roof patch in the right rear.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Are there not too much distorsion at the roof panel due to the welding?

[Landman]

No, they are amazingly straight for someting I did myself. Also they all are double thickness. They were tacked at 6" intervals, then in between and so on. The body was off when I put in the corner patch. See post #47 on page 3. It was mounted in place when I did the side panels above the doors . See post #51 on page 3.

[Landman]

Received, sorted out and stored a fairly big order. That is what $1000 looks like.

Sanded down the weld valleys in my roof that I had filled with All Metal. You see, if I was Flop, none of this would be required.

[Luv2Wrench]

Looks good Pat. I'd love to be Flop as well, but I bet Flop couldn't pull a Fir tree out of the creek and make a Hope Chest!! If he can, I'd rather not know about it as life would be really depressing.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Received, sorted out and stored a fairly big order.

I't looking like Christmas!

[Flop]

looking good landman!!

i havent dabbled in wood work yet luv2wrench!!

[Landman]

Thanks Flop. If that roof thing had happened later, after my welding skills had crept up to rank amateur, I might have attempted a butt weld. I still may try to salvage the one fender that is original to the car.

[Flop]

blow some primer in the lap and use seam sealer to close the void between the 2 pieces of metal and i think you will be just fine in that area!

[Landman]

Actually, it was POR15 that I forced into the lap, then after it cured, put the seam sealer on it.

[Landman]

More stripping of welds and application of All Metal to the valleys. Next comes the sanding. Sanding that stuff once it has cured is very similar to sanding concrete.

A visit to the painter revealed a very busy young man. So I gave some of the stripped parts I hadn't taken over there a coat of rust converter. We are now looking at later in the summer.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Landman (see edit history)

[Landman]

Many discs later it still looks like the surface of the moon but any divots that are left should be taken care of by the plastic filler.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Landman (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

To have a perfect shape, more sanding will have to be done! Do you apply yourself the body filler?

When I restored my '56 Biarritz, I had to use some plastic filler as there was some welding needed on the body; I sanded it by hand (with a long tool), good for the muscles!

[Flop]

i agree with Roger. You are going to have to block that out some with a long board or you are going to be fighting it when you start using rage or whatever the plastic of your choice is . also the smoother you put on the filler the easier it is on your end to sand!! Dont think you have to put a coat on the whole car at once take you time and get a nice even coat on a small area! hope that helps you out a little!!

[Landman]

You are absolutely right Roger.

What I was doing here is filling my welds with All Metal to reduce the amount of plastic filler required. This sort of replaces the lead they used to fill seams. The actual finishing with filler, build-up primer and all the sanding will be done by the painter.

[Landman]

i agree with Roger. You are going to have to block that out some with a long board or you are going to be fighting it when you start using rage or whatever the plastic of your choice is . also the smoother you put on the filler the easier it is on your end to sand!! Dont think you have to put a coat on the whole car at once take you time and get a nice even coat on a small area! hope that helps you out a little!!

Actually Flop, it was the painter who asked me not to level it. He said it will be easier for him to fill small depressions 1/16" or less than having bumps. He also aked me to keep it rough, sanding with 60 grit to give mor tooth for his filler.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Landman (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Well, the painter will have some work to do! You intend probably to do it: before the paint is applied, I would check his work; when the paint is done it's too late...

[Landman]

Oh yes and he knows it too. Here's some of his work on my firewall and on a friend's car. My friend had attempted to weld a brace in the roof and ended up distorting it. You can't see that now.

I'm not worried. That is why I selected a light color as opposed to the dark blue or red that my wife would have preferred.

I'm more worried about it not wanting to start.

[Landman]

I was informed by the platers that the grille is on its way back here. So I redid the ornament in a lighter yellow after looking at several photos. There is a good one in the current edition of Collectible Automobile.

[Landman]

• Received the grille. Put the ornament on it to see.
  
• Prepared & packed the hood louver stainless for the polisher
  
• Found out the floorboards I had made ealier don't fit with the transmission & levers in place. Looks like the toe board goes to the bottom with the floorboard against it as opposed to what I made. Checking with VCCA.
  
• Removed the bumber brackets to get the bumpers ready to ship to the platers.
  
• Cleaned one bracket and washed it with rust converter. Ended up with a face & headful of rust dust. Will do the others outside.
  

[Landman]

Not much car work this past week. Had to build a new roof on the shed as the old one had collapsed under the weight of the snow. Made it out of wood. Won't collapse again.

Sorted, cleaned and reorganized the shelf that runs around the top of the garage. Got rid of a pickup load of stuff & gained about 12 feet of shelf.

Started on the new toe board. This one will go to the bottom and the footboard will go against it instead of under. Another of the many things done twice.

[Luv2Wrench]

SNOW!!?? My oh my, it has been in the 80s for the past two months and I'm not *that* far away from you guys.

Nice job on the shed, you will not be needing to do that twice.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history)

[Landman]

I checked on the City Distance tool and it is 1082 miles from here to Atlanta as the crow flies.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Landman (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Further than I thought but then it isn't usually in the 80s during March down here either.

[Landman]

Spent about 7 hours on the new toeboard with not much to show. First I marked and drilled the holes for the mounting screws. Then I installed the toeboard to measure in order to shorten the floorboard. Cut the floorboard so it could rest against the toeboard. Then tried to fit all the plates so nothing interferes. Removed and reinstalled the lot at least six times. Marked the firewall with the location of the accelerator rod and drilled the toeboard accordingly. Every thing appears to fit. Enough for today.

[Landman]

Went to what's left of the parts car & took the two old wheels that were there along with two others from the shed to put on the car for its trip to the bodyshop. I can't imagine how I'd feel if we got some overspray on the good wheels. Turns out one of the old tires was ripe and split so I used a '36 wheel that I had.

[Landman]

Last night I heard a gunshot. Went out to investigate. Turns our the tire on the '36 wheel was ripe too.

Installed the dimmer switch. Fiddled some more with the cowl vent. Ended up installing a different one. Works much better.

Worked on the toe & floorboards. Installed felt seal and t-nuts. Assembled everything. Accelerator rod is free and all fits snugly. A couple more holes and we're done.

[Landman]

Finished running the wires for the dome light.

Secured the right edge of the floorboard to the support plates. Installed battery cover & screwed to siill. Same with floorboard on left side.

Cleaned and primed the other bumper brackets. Unless I forgot something that should be the last of the rust dust.

As you can see I'm going from one thing to the next, then go back to the first. I've often wondered if I have ADD.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Pat, that is sure looking good!!

Ben

[Roger Zimmermann]

I'm all the time amazed to see how much wood was used for the bodies from that time.

The last 2 pictures could be almost mines; I used the same tools when I restored my cars!

[Landman]

Expensive last few days!

• Crated and shipped the bumper bars to the platers.
  
• Found out I wasn't finished with the rust dust. Cleaned up & primed the cowl vent.
  
• Put a first coat of base color on the garnish moldings & dash.
  
• Ordered a seat upholstery kit and had it shipped to the trimmers where I had left the springs the other day.
  
• Ordered the trim rings for my spare tire covers from a company called Northfield Forming. They were referred to me in the technical forum below.
  

[keiser31]

Pat, that is a GREAT idea for the interior trim to use those rods to support them while painting them!!