The Ressurection of Daphne - a 1932 DL

[Phil 32DL6 15]

Finally! The answer to the mysterious rubber channel. Thanks 34doger. I'm sure I'll have good luck finding one of those. Looks like another trip to my sheet-metal guy.

Find out how much he'd charge for a passel of 'em. I'm sure we aren't the only two who might be missing one of those.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Phil 32DL6 (see edit history)

[ply33 254]

Ian,

Can't seem to find the Restoration Supply Company you're speaking of. I found Restoration Specialties & Supply Company but they don't have what I'm looking for.

The two I know of with similar names are:

Restoration Specialties and Supply

P.O. Box 328

Windber, PA 15963

Telephone: +1.814.467.9842

Fax: +1.814.467.5323

email: info@restorationspecialties.com

Restoration Specialties & Supply, Inc. | Windber, PA 15963

Restoration Supply Company

15182-B Highland Valley Rd.

Escondido, California 92025

Telephone: +1.760.741.4014

Fax: +1.760.739.8843

email: info@restorationstuff.com

Restoration Supply Company

[1935EB 21]

Taylormade,

Here is a photo of what they could be.

You mentioned a 1/2 inch nut. Did you mean the wrench size or the bolt diameter?

These are made of brass as they should be for plumbing work. In reality most that you find are cad plated carbon steel. This style of bolt is used more for shear than anything else, and also places where the head is blind and not reachable by a wrench.

A bolt with a 1/2 inch wrench flat is usually a 5/16 bolt diameter.

Hope this helps. Chris

[Taylormade 455]

It is a 1/2 wrench size. Those look close, but I would certainly opt for steel as they are body mount bolts. They are also thinner and flatter on top. thanks for the heads up!

Edited August 27, 2013 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 455]

Find out how much he'd charge for a passel of 'em. I'm sure we aren't the only two who might be missing one of those.

I will. Looks like pretty thick steel, however. There could be a problem bending something that thick. I suspect the part was originally stamped.

[32bizcoupe 16]

Talormade Have you already bought your glass? If so who did you get it from and does it fit? Glass will be next for my DL.

[Taylormade 455]

32bizcoupe, I just went to my local glass shop. They will cut (and polish the edges) new laminated glass for me based on my old windows - which I'll bring in to them. Just make sure your glass shop has glass the correct thickness.

At least you have a coupe! I have eight pieces of glass to deal with.

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[Phil 32DL6 15]

Talormade Have you already bought your glass? If so who did you get it from and does it fit? Glass will be next for my DL.

If you can't find anyone locally, I had a passenger side window made for my DL made by Vintage Glass U.S.A. in Tolland, CT (860-872-0018). Todd Misiura did a great job. A large part of his business is mail order for vintage cars of all ages. He even had the original patterns on file for our DLs!

The one thing that is CRITICAL (and I can't emphasize that enough) is that whoever reseats the glass in the bottom channels, MUST locate the panes front and back EXACTLY as the originals are lined up. Otherwise, you may not be able to squirm the window back in the door...especially the front side windows on a sedan, and I assume, the coupe.

[Taylormade 455]

I started on the wiring today and immediately ran into a new problem. (Seems like there is one a day lately!) All of the wiring harness is neatly encased in a nicely made woven loom. Rhode Island Wiring has looms of different sizes, so I thought I would be alright. as usual, WRONG! The loom seems to have been woven OVER the wiring harness after it was put together. The problem is, where the loom joints off into smaller offshoot looms, the connection is woven together. It's these connections that have me baffled. How can I joint the two different loom sizes seamlessly as the factory did it. I have a feeling the answer is - I CAN'T!

In these pictures you can see how the various looms join together. I brought up the levels so you can see the pattern of the loom threads. Notice the loom actually expands in one area.







Where the loom branches off into a Y it looks like the two smaller looms may be jammed into the larger one. I don't know how much the loom will stretch, and I might be able to pull that off, but where the smaller loom comes out of the larger at about a 90 degree angle really has me stumped.

All the other harnesses I've done have had cloth tape wrapped around the harness. This is the first one with looms like this. Leave it to Dodge Brothers to give you a quality job in 1932 rather than saving a few pennies per wiring job. But it leaves me in a quandary. Any loom experts out there with a solution? I'd call Rhode Island wiring, but it's the holiday weekend and I doubt they have an answer other than taping up the joins.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[bostonhemi 12]

Lots of skill there. Looking great.

[keiser31 3,590]

For what it's worth, my '31 had the same braided cloth over the harness.

[bostonhemi 12]

If you cant find the bolts you are looking, did you consider a strong grinder to modify the head of a standard bolt? Just a thought.

[ply33 254]

. . . The problem is, where the loom joints off into smaller offshoot looms, the connection is woven together. It's these connections that have me baffled. How can I joint the two different loom sizes seamlessly as the factory did it. I have a feeling the answer is - I CAN'T!

. . .

All the other harnesses I've done have had cloth tape wrapped around the harness. This is the first one with looms like this. Leave it to Dodge Brothers to give you a quality job in 1932 rather than saving a few pennies per wiring job. But it leaves me in a quandary. Any loom experts out there with a solution? I'd call Rhode Island wiring, but it's the holiday weekend and I doubt they have an answer other than taping up the joins.

You actually need to complete the harness then run it through the looming machine to match the factory.

Easiest is to just buy the complete harness from a reputable place like RI Wiring, Harnesses Unlimited or YnZ's. I haven't done it but I understand that if you have special needs (turn signals, etc.) they can add that too.

But I've also heard that some of the harness supply companies can take the harness you make and put a loom on it using their machine. So when you call RI you might ask about that if you really want to make the harness yourself but have it look like factory.

Or, I guess, you could take a look at how the looming machines work (videos on the Internet) and make your own machine. I've idly thought about it and think it might be possible using materials like MDF, old motor, etc. and normal shop tools (router, etc.).

[Taylormade 455]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid off. Building a wiring loom machine is beyond my pay grade I'm afraid.

[1935EB 21]

The wiring harness for my 1933 PD Plymouth has the outside braiding as well, also my early 30's Chevrolets. I purchased a new one from Y n Z. These folks were very helpful. They modified my harness to include turn signals, fog lights, etc, and blended this wiring into the harness.

The wire braiding machines are special equipment and the operators are specially trained. This is one of those areas like chrome plating and pot metal repairing where I leave it to the experts.

Chris

[1936 D2 16]

I had my wiring done at Harnesses Unlimited. They were very helpful adding wiring inside the loom for turn signal wiring and fog lamp wiring. It is invisible. I see in their ads that they also have a looming service. So if you make up your own wiring, they can machine the braided loom over it.

All in all though, I would consider having them make the whole harness up (to your specs) completely. It really saves you time and headache.

[Taylormade 455]

I checked Harnesses Unlimited and they don't carry a harness for a 32 Dodge. Both Y and Z and Rhode Island Wiring have them with RI being somewhat less expensive. I bought my harness for my 48 Plymouth from RI and was very happy with the product.

I talked to Rhode Island Wiring this morning and they will do the looming for $4.50 a foot plus a $7.00 set up charge. They were very helpful on the phone. So, now I have to decide whether to go with a completed harness or try a partial DIY and let them do the looming.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[zeke01 127]

Wiring is one of those projects best done all new and all at the same time. If you do a partial job you won't get the tape and side cutters put away before you start wishing you had done it new from scratch.

[Taylormade 455]

Well, I lost about a page and a half of posts thanks to the recent hack. Let's see if I can remember what I posted.

I spent an evening doing one the the hundreds of "little" jobs necessary to finish any restoration. This one involved the bell housing. It was a greasy. oily mess. It was so covered with stuck on road grit that it was impossible to figure out what was what - everything just looked like a shapeless blob.





Luckily, all the oil had kept the sealed inside pretty clean.



I sprayed everything with foam engine cleaner, waited ten minutes and broke out the power washer.



Other than the fact I need to lose some weight, the picture shows how effective the washer is in removing the crud. Everything came out nice and clean.



And even better news, I miked the clutch fork shaft and there was no wear. A new set of bushings and I should be ready to go.



Now just a wire brushing (I saved a sample of the paint for my paint shop to match) and cleaning, and then a coat of epoxy primer and shiny gray paint.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 455]

My wife Kathy and I spent last Saturday at Ed's watching him make the lower section of the body that needed replacement. It was Swiss cheese and had to go.



In watching the process, we discovered that careful planning, thinking ahead, and exact measurements are necessary for a good job.

Ed began by taking measurements of the panel to be replaced. He discovered that it curved on both the horizontal and vertical axis. Getting the correct curve was critical, so he hauled out his curve templates and determined the correct arc in both directions.



We all have a rack of curve templates in our workshops...right?

Anyway, Ed noticed that the front horizontal curve was different the the rear part of the curve so he had to clamp a 12 degree radius to a 15 degree radius to get the correct compound curve.



With that problem solved, he cut out the proper shape from a large sheet of steel and bent it about a third of the way in to a 90 degree angle.

Then he went to work shaping the piece - first getting the correct curve in one direction using this foot operated machine.





It took a lot of time and work, shaping, then walking over and comparing it to the templates, more shaping and more comparing.



Finally, he had the curve correct.



But this shaping process distorted the piece and it was now necessary to hammer it back to the correct shape and introduce the other curve using this device.



This baby was loud and the earphones were a real necessity. Once the curves were correct (more comparing to the templates), Ed went to the PullMax to hammer in the profile of the part. He had made a template directly from the body to start with.



Then he ground these forms from a single hunk of steel to match the correct profile. This is no easy job as you have to know how much to round the corners and smooth the surface so the dies will form the metal to the exact shape needed.






With the dies installed on the machine, Ed slowly formed the profile, making eight or nine passes, letting the machine work at its own pace.







Now Ed used still another machine to bend a perfect 90 degree angle in the part. This also took about nine passes to make it perfect. Ed says you have to ease the metal into shape, and working too fast can ruin the job.








The final process was to score the part so it could be bent 180 degrees to form the welding bracket on the bottom.



A lot of work, but the final results were amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 455]

Unfortunately, it wasn't just the outer panel that needed attention.

The next step will be to replace the rusted out inside section below the doors. This is an easy part to make since it is basically flat with a few access holes. Once the rust areas are replaced, the outer section will be removed and new outer section we made in the last post will be installed.



The inner driver's side is all good and will remain.



The outer side has a few small holes that can be welded up and a rusted through section that will be filled with a patch. No need to make a full lower part on this side.



The rear of the body also needs some help. This is a double-wall area, which causes some problems. Ed will have to remove the rusted section visible in the picture, repair some damage to the layer under it, then prime that layer, then weld in a new section to replace what he removed. He always primes under double sections to prevent rust from returning.



After all the metal is replaced, Ed will sandblast everything again and then use a spray wand through the access holes to coat the inside of the panels with epoxy primer. He'll then spray the exterior with epoxy primer to seal everything. He is very conscientious about preventing any rust from returning.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 455]

Ed also finished up the driver's side lower hood section that had been badly damaged in the ice fall mentioned earlier. This was no easy job - a basically flat panel that had to be made perfectly flat once again. The original damage was ugly and extended much further than we originally thought. The bottom of the panel was also buckled and had caused the damage done to the base of the fender we had to repair earlier. I was lucky and found perfect top hood section. As far as I know, it will be the only body part not original to the car, but the amount of work to get the old one right was prohibitively expensive.



Ed did his usual magic and got everything back into line. He spent a lot of time on the raised trim around the louvers and the louvers themselves, which were bent every which way.







Getting the hinges straight was no easy task, either, but the part is now ready to take to the painter.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 455]

I headed over to Crin at Undercover Upholstery and Paint to see how the fenders were coming. He now has the final primer coat on over the Evercoat Slick Sand spray filler he used to level everything out. He didn't have to use any conventional body filler on any of the fenders. You can see the guide coat on the fenders in some of the pictures.









He thought he might spay on the basecoat/clearcoat today, but he discovered a slight wave in a couple of places on the front fenders and added a bit more Slick Sand and is continuing the sanding. I'm glad he's such a perfectionist, as black will show every wave and tiny flaw.





The difference in the fenders compared to the first day I saw them is simply astonishing. Check out these before and after pictures - and this is before a little more work and the final paint.





















I can't wait to see them in shiny black!

Edited July 10, 2017 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[keiser31 3,590]

That car is going to look sooooo beautiful!

[Taylormade 455]

I sure hope so. I must say I'm happy so far. Still a long way to go to make it by next June and the 100th, but we're trying.