Left rear

I finished the metalwork on the left rear quarter and started on body filler, I plan on wrapping up this entire side of the car by Friday and the other by the end of the weekend. I added the lower bead and axle arch support made of strap steel and hammered out the bottom corner radius.

Fabrication and finishing

This weekend I had a chance to get a great deal done with the time I gained from removing the body from the frame a day early. I started by completing the firewall welding and patching Then the lower cowl patch Next up was creating the rear panel over the axle Then in primer getting ready for finishing bodywork Since the body was off, I also took this opportunity to change the trans pan, filter and oil filter then painted the rest of the frame.

Back to the beginning

Sort of back to the beginning, the body is off the frame - and a day early. I had scheduled a few friends to come by on Saturday to help lift the body of the frame so i could finish the body work and other odds and ends. When I found myself at a standstill Friday night Matt and I decided that it needs to happen right now. Matt made the bucks to sit the body on while a call was made to another friend who lives a block away - who happened to have a few guys over at the time. Moments later Chad and his crew arrived and the separation was done.

Woodworking

I have been helping a buddy of mine with a 70's Datsun truck restoration who is a long time woodworker so I have enlisted his help (or entire effort) in creating the roof wood. I sketched out the plan then gave him free reign to build it.

The wood is old oak flooring from another friends house that he needed to get rid of so we sandwiched some pieces together and got started.

Cowl filler trim

Cowl filler
I started on the cowl filler trim which is normally a separate piece but with the removeable cowl setup I am building it made more sense to integrate the entire thing into the cowl. I plasma cut out the rough shape and started fitting it in.

Push-Pull turn signal

I purchased an aftermarket turn signal stalk that is supposed to be clamped up near the steering wheel but when I put it on it just didn't fit well. I decided I needed to move it further down the column and go with a push-pull type setup.

The lever is a 1/4" rod that runs down the steering column and attaches to the turn signal box. The rod pushes in for right and pulls out for the left side - off is still in the middle. The handle is a spoon gas pedal from a '30s truck.

I also mounted the brake light switch to the housing that hits the brake pedal and the entire assembly slides on the column then attaches with a bolt & lock nut.

Tail Lights

I made up a cardboard template to cut the holes for tail lights that can be flipped mirror image to do the both sides. I used the 1937 Ford style tail lights that I had left over from a previous project, blasted and welded in then primed. They will be smoothed in when I do final bodywork.

Headlight wiring

Here is a quick pictoral that I shot while re-wiring my Guide 682-C's. I will be using the turn/park light kit from thehotrodcompany.com which has not arrived yet so that part is not pictured but provisions are made.

I jumped around a bit while making these with the pics so the wire color may change throughout but the instructions are the same.

Parts used:
Park/turn light kit
Wire
Asphalt loom
Crimp ferrule
Ring terminal
Heatshrink

Tools:
Vice (or big crimping tool)
Soldering Iron
Wire stripper
Pick

The old harness


Pry out the clips holding the connector in the harness


Slightly push in the tabs on the connector from the top


Remove old wire and clip, open up the crimp slightly to remove the old wire.


Re-crimp then solder new wire onto old terminal


Use fingernail, pick or anything slim (i used a razor blade) to gently pry out the little tabs on the connector, this is what holds it into the socket. Note, the ground wire will go to the ring terminal and ground to the bucket)


Put the clip back on that you removed in the first step and insert completed tab into the harness and repeat for each connector.


Put your wires through the asphalt loom


Add the ferrule to the loom and crimp with vice (or large crimping tool)


Completed harness, note the ground wire with ring terminal added.


And finally, installed in the headlight bucket


Last thing is to heatshrink the loom to the wires


And for aesthetics, I remove the printed lettering from the heatshrink with a bit of acetone on a cloth.


Additional info:
The old harness was 3 wires, the new one is 4 to accommodate the new park/turn lamps. There are 2 wires that are not terminated at this point, they will be soldered and heatshrinked once those parts arrive.

In short, we went from this...


....to this

Battery and fuse block

I bent up some more below-the-cowl pieces then mounted the battery and fuse box. The fuse box is hinged so I can swing it down for easy access without pulling the cowl off. The fuse panel is hinged with a removable pin and latched with a dzus fastener.

A mad rush

I took some time off work over spring break here and was able to put in some long hours on the car. I didn't take many pictures along the way so what you will see may be a surprise from the last entries.

I disassembled and painted more. This time it was all frame & suspension. The axle was repainted cast iron grey, spring was disassembled, cleaned and painted to match the frame. Bones and steering linkage are now a nice gloss black. The headlights have been mounted up but no wiring yet.







I completed the front brake system from the prop valve forward and connected it all up. I still need to put clamps on the frame for the lines but that will wait until the very end.







Wired up the gauge cluster into a harness so it can be removed easily. Since this wiring sits behind the dash I will be using modern PVC jacket wire. Anything exiting will be done in traditional cloth braid.



I put the first coat of paint on some interior pieces that I may not be able to reach as well moving forward. Finishing coats will be done after the body is off the frame again.





There is a great deal not pictured here as I said since my goal was to push forward. These few dedicated days that I had - well, mostly dedicated as I worked on some of our other cars as well getting them ready for spring - really brought everything back on schedule. The roof wood, electrical and interior sheetmetal are the next big items to tackle then the body is removed to finish the metalwork and move into the home stretch.