39 Ford Project

[Custer55]

Nice work on making it all fit together. It?s amazing some times how much time it takes to get things to fit together as they should!

Thanks Richard
Always something to make it more of a challenge!!

[redmanf1]

Nice work..

[WagonCrazy]

I spy with my eye....a rack and pinion steering on the front of that old car... What'd that come out of?

[BamaNomad]

It's for certain NOT a '39 Ford part...

[Custer55]

I spy with my eye....a rack and pinion steering on the front of that old car... What'd that come out of?

Good eye guys!
It's a mustang II steering rack and cross member which I had installed twenty plus years ago just after we bought the 39. I got that much done before running out of time money and ambition after our son was born. He will be 26 tomorrow.
Brian

[BamaNomad]

So that partly explains the rapid great work, Brian!! You're making up for lost time...

[Custer55]

So that partly explains the rapid great work, Brian!! You're making up for lost time...

Yep, Hard to believe it has almost been over 2 years since I started working on this again, 1st post on the project on here was March of 2020 but I think I had started to work on it in October of 2019. If wasn't for all those other projects around the house I'd be farther along (last week I had our front load washing machine apart to replace the drum bearings for a 2nd time. those things sure don't last long).

[bigblock]

My dad always said the older we get the faster the time flies by.

[busterwivell]

Your Dad was right!

[markm]

I could change the Clutch & Pressure plate in my Camaro on ramps in HS with basic tools faster than I now with a lift and cordless and air tool and all the other fancy tools I have at my disposal. I believe that a Muncie 4 speed has gained about 50 pounds too.

[busterwivell]

So have I

[Custer55]

Progress update

So when I last posted the firewall was done other than welding everything up I decided to put that on the back burner to work on the lower cowl sections before I finished that up.


I posted this picture previously but here is what the drivers sided looked like before I started. The crease in the cowl looks like the fender was pushed in against the cowl at some point because the crease is right where the fender bolts up.


Before removing the lower part of the cowl I added a couple of braces to keep things in place once it is removed.


After lots of drilling spot welds and some cutting at the lower hinge area the lower section is removed for repairs.


With the lower section out of the way I got the crease hammered out closer to where it needs to be. I had to use my welding torch and heat up the metal to move it back out which was fine as it will need shrinking anyway as bad as the crease in the cowl was.


Next I cleaned up the running board, bolted it back in place an mocked up the front fender to make sure everything would still fit.


Another view of the fit. A few high and low spots in the cowl compared to the fender so more hammer and dolly work and shrinking will be needed.


Before I did any more work on that though I wanted the lower door pillar more secure so I started by making a replacement for the rusted piece at the top of the picture. The original piece had a bumped up section in it but I made mine flat as the new floor pans that I have you need to flatten out that part of it anyway.



Bolted and tacked into position with 1/4" spacers. The spacer at the door pillar I threaded it and used a spacer so the bolt is centered on the body mount hole in the frame. That way everything will line up properly when the body mount cushion is put back in place.



After doing a lot of shrinking with the torch and hammer and dolly work I think it is pretty close. I didn't get a picture as I just held the fender in place to check the fit but it was much better and all the oil canning was out of it. At this point I reset the door as well to make sure that still fit as before which it did.

[Custer55]

Progress update continued




The removed lower section cleaned up and ready for the repair process. I ended up cutting the area by the door pillar out in a couple of pieces so that will have to be welded back together as well.



View from the other side.



With the end by the door pillar tacked back on to check the fit. I left a gap to match the saw cut thickness where I tacked the end back on so it wouldn't get to short to fit right. A couple of the holes that were drilled out to remove the spot welds make good register points to make sure it was back in in the proper location.



Clamped and pinned back in place after cutting out the rusty areas that would need to be rebuilt. The plan is to fab and tack in place as many pieces as possible to maintain the proper fit.



First piece fit up ready to tack in place.



And with the next 2 pieces fit up and tacked in place. At this point I took the whole thing back out to make the last piece of the puzzle and weld everything up.



I ended up cutting out a bit more of the old here as it made the last piece an easier shape to fit up.



And the last repair piece tacked in place ready to finish all the welding and grinding.



All welded up and ready for a bit of primer before reinstalling on the car. At this point I had all the spot weld holes welded up also except for one that I will use for alignment when It goes back in.



And a shot from the other side.

[Custer55]

Progress update continued




Before it could go back in I need to fix some rust here where the metal was very thin and had some pin holes to big to weld up.



The repaired lower cowl section back in place again to make the patch so it would all fit together.



Repair section formed and tacked in place. I didn't get it tacked in perfectly centered so the gap was a bit big on the one end but I made it work ok.



All welded up and finished out. Not perfect but it will be hidden behind the fender in the end anyway.



Here it is with primer on the sides that will be hidden when welded together. You can see some round bare metal spots. I punched out some masking tape and covered the areas where the spot welds will be before spraying on the primer.



And finally clamped back in place ready to weld it in place for good. I have a couple more rust spots on this side to repair yet then I can move on to repeat the process on the passenger side.
Brian

[bigblock]

Really nice work Brain.