1955 Ranch Wagon Cruiser

Rat Rods Rule

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If you want to put some braces in the roof but are concerned about welding than I would suggest using body panel adhesive.
Copper pearl sounds like a cool color.
Torchie
 
DJ, the way I was talking doesn't have any welding on the roof just on the inner sides then, shim with something for anti squeak.
What ever you do I know will work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
 
Old Iron said:
DJ, the way I was talking doesn't have any welding on the roof just on the inner sides then, shim with something for anti squeak.
What ever you do I know will work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll probably end up doing just that.

I was planning on spraying some epoxy on the roof today, so of course, the sky clouded up and it got really windy. Supposed to rain tomorrow.
 
You could do a simple L or hat section across the roof and use 3M panel adhesive to bond it to the roof. As long as they are shorter than you r headliner depth you won't see them. Or you could make them in even sections and make your headliner into 3 equal sections between the supports.
 
voute110.jpg

picture.php
 
Yeah, Old Iron, how come Ford built this long roof without any interior bracing?

roof%20003.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

I'm thinking I'll bend some 18 ga 90 degrees and shrink the lower leg to fit the profile. Weld the ends to the inner structure and use NVH flexible foam to seal the braces to the roof. I'll need to check the headliner bows and be sure they are above the bows.

I'm going to wait until I get it on the body and shimmed, to make sure it doesn't change.
 
Most likely to save money and the engineer probably thought with the big arch in the roof it would be fine.
They didn't take into consideration the kids playing King On The Mountain
 
Old Iron said:
Most likely to save money and the engineer probably thought with the big arch in the roof it would be fine.
They didn't take into consideration the kids playing King On The Mountain
Click to expand...

Yes, Ford was big on saving a few pennies.

It's pretty amazing, the roof has very little, if any damage. No hail divots and no kids jumping on it. It's the only panel on the whole car that seems straight.

Late this week I hope to get the firewall painted and then get the body back on the frame. Then I'll be able to assess the roof.
 
How to make minutes seem like hours

Spent a few hours on the driver's front fender with hammers and dollies. Now I'm glad I didn't find another one. This one isn't perfect, but at this point it's usable.

3%204%2015%20001.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

I also have a pile of shiny parts - inner fenders. I'm using a stripping disc to get everything I can then changing to my small sandblaster and getting the rest. Very tedious.

3%204%2015%20003.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

When it stops raining I'll be shooting epoxy on them.
 
Stripping discs. You guys are all wrong

I'm amazed at how quickly 8 liter came up with the stripping disc. I was using these from HF. They are made for a 13,000 rpm grinder, but I found they created a lot of heat at that speed. The small one I got at a swap meet.

body2%20002.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

So I made an adapter for this 4500 rpm rotary tool. It works just as fast, but without the heat.

body2%20004.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Then I found one with an arbor. http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-polycarbide-abrasive-wheel-brush-94015.html
I ground down the riveted end and removed the arbor. I used the disc on the Makita for 4 hours before I took the above pic.

I spent those 4 hours on one fender getting everything I could with that wheel.
body2%20005.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Then switched to this to get a little more.

body2%20007.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]


Sarge, maybe they were thinking of me the they installed the sink on the right:

I sprayed epoxy on the roof and figured out I'm not tall enough to reach the center of the roof to shoot the color and clear. The idea is to start on the edge nearest you, spray to the center, then go to the other side and spray from the center toward you. I got some banding on the primer. I can't really reach far enough to keep the gun perpendicular to the surface and that sucker gets really heavy when it is held at an arm's length.

body2%20003.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

I'm going to have to build some real scaffolding and maybe a sky hook.

body2%20008.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
I painted a big Dodge van a few years back, I made a scaffold from two 55 gallon barrels and two 2x10 boards. Only way I could reach the top!
 
Bamamav said:
I painted a big Dodge van a few years back, I made a scaffold from two 55 gallon barrels and two 2x10 boards. Only way I could reach the top!
Click to expand...

Were you able to walk the roof? The stuff I see and read about painting pearls is that it's important to spray the entire length in one trigger pull. So you have to somehow walk at a consistent, relatively fast speed, while holding the gun exactly the same distance above the work and angle the gun so that it is perpendicular to the surface. (That's what the painters call walking the car.) Somehow you have to do that without dragging the air hose or your arm through the part you just painted.

I'll be getting the paint today so I'll be able to run some test panels tomorrow and see how critical that actually is.

I want to get the body on the frame and get the roof stiffened up before I put any more paint on it. (I need to paint the firewall before.) So the rotisserie would need to carry the whole car. Still, it's a possibility (the more I think about it, that's probably the solution). Some guy on You Tube built a car tilter out of 2 x 6 lumber.

The fork lift might figure in this somehow, 8 liter. I was thinking about all the people I knew with long arms and without a beer gut - you got any experience with a spray gun?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top