1939 Plymouth Coupe P8

[Sniper]

Don't know how I missed this thread/project. Just went through the whole works, very impressed. You do nice work. Your going to have a nice vehicle when your done. Reminder to self.......keep an eye on this one.

 

[DJ3100]

What a startling difference! Nice work.

 

[1952B3b23]

Looking good!

Don't know how I missed this thread/project. Just went through the whole works, very impressed. You do nice work. Your going to have a nice vehicle when your done. Reminder to self.......keep an eye on this one.

What a startling difference! Nice work.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm trying to kick my metal working skills to the next level. My goal is to use very little or no filler on the repair areas i've made. So i try and do it as well as i possibly can. Sometimes it can be real difficult cause there's zero access to the back of some panels for hammer and dolly work.

-Chris

 

[Torchie]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm trying to kick my metal working skills to the next level. My goal is to use very little or no filler on the repair areas i've made. So i try and do it as well as i possibly can. Sometimes it can be real difficult cause there's zero access to the back of some panels for hammer and dolly work.

-Chris

I would say that you are doing more than trying.[ [ [cl
When I learned to body panel weld back in prehistoric times it was all Gas. And yes we brazed as well and never had a problem with it.
Looks like Tig is the next best thing. Maybe better.
The man that taught me the trade had some interesting looking spoons that he made to reach into hard to access areas. One was a tire iron that he heated and flattened. And then ground and polished it. Ah. The old days.......
Torchie

 

[1952B3b23]

I would say that you are doing more than trying.[ [ [cl
When I learned to body panel weld back in prehistoric times it was all Gas. And yes we brazed as well and never had a problem with it.
Looks like Tig is the next best thing. Maybe better.
The man that taught me the trade had some interesting looking spoons that he made to reach into hard to access areas. One was a tire iron that he heated and flattened. And then ground and polished it. Ah. The old days.......
Torchie

Thanks Torchie. I've never gas welded sheet metal before but it looks to me like it would be harder than learning TIG. At least with TIG you can fully control the heat as you weld using the foot pedal. I think with gas welding it's much more difficult and introduces a bigger chance of really distorting the steel with all the extra heat. Then again i've seen photos online of guys doing sheet metal work with gas and it looks beautiful. I know my gas welding results wouldn't look like that .

Home made dollies can come in really handy. The tire iron idea is a good one. Ill have to make some dollies for those hard to reach places.

Thanks for the comment,

-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

Well i finished up a couple repairs on the passenger side fender (Pic 1 and 2). Those two slotted holes are where that fender shroud bolts to the radiator support, both where all rusted out. That completes all the metal work on the passenger side fender.

Next, on to the drivers side which is in worse shape. I've attached some pics of the rotted out areas. Stay tuned for more metal work.

-Chris

 

[kenny c]

Is that yellow piece of equipment in the background what you use for smoothing wrinkled panels.

 

[DJ3100]

Nice work on the fender. Isn't it wonderful discovering all those rust holes?

 

[1952B3b23]

Is that yellow piece of equipment in the background what you use for smoothing wrinkled panels.

Hahaha thats my "english wheel"

Nice work on the fender. Isn't it wonderful discovering all those rust holes?

I usually start off thinking that theres only a couple areas to fix. Then as i grind i keep finding more swiss cheese. I'm actually pretty amazed at how good of shape its in for being 76 years old. It certainly could be a lot worse.

Thanks for lookin' guys,

-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

I've been chipping away at the car when i can and have gotten a few things done. I rewired it, painted the firewall semi-gloss black, and got the engine and transmission back in the car. It's quite the milestone for me but there's still a bunch of stuff to get done. I've attached a few pictures of the engine installed for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for looking,

-Chris

 

[Torchie]

Looking great. [cl [cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Bamamav]

Should have painted the front frame while the engine was out. [ddd You know you're gonna wish you had of when you put the sheetmetal back on....

 

[1952B3b23]

Thanks guys.

Yea you make a good point but in the interest of time I decided to skip painting the frame. It would bother me to know only the front part of the frame is painted and not the entire thing. Down the road (after a few more projects get done). I'd like to take the car completely apart, blast the frame , body, and really go through the entire thing to make sure it'll last at least another 76 years. Right now I wanna start driving and enjoying it again as soon as I can. So the mechanicals and safety stuff are my biggest concern.

 

[DJ3100]

Thanks guys.

Yea you make a good point but in the interest of time I decided to skip painting the frame. It would bother me to know only the front part of the frame is painted and not the entire thing. Down the road (after a few more projects get done). I'd like to take the car completely apart, blast the frame , body, and really go through the entire thing to make sure it'll last at least another 76 years. Right now I wanna start driving and enjoying it again as soon as I can. So the mechanicals and safety stuff are my biggest concern.

The problem I always have with that plan is that the wiring and plumbing have to come apart. (I hate brake fluid, especially where there is paint.) So, keep the disassembly in mind when you're building. Or be happy with the patina.

 

[Old Iron]

I'm a paint the thing instead of taking it apart again too kinda guy.
Don't like doing my job twice.

 

[1952B3b23]

The problem I always have with that plan is that the wiring and plumbing have to come apart. (I hate brake fluid, especially where there is paint.) So, keep the disassembly in mind when you're building. Or be happy with the patina.

I'm a paint the thing instead of taking it apart again too kinda guy.
Don't like doing my job twice.

You guys bring up good points. The engine/trans are easy to take out so i can always remove them and paint the frame, before re-assembling the front end. I have a bunch of rust repair on the body to tackle first.

-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

Here's a few pictures of some of the rusty areas on the right rear of the car. Not surprisingly the area where the rear fender mounts to the body is looking like swiss cheese. The last photo is a shot of a hole inside the trunk area. Although I'm quite surprised at how solid the car is for it's age. I'll be working on fixing this up in the coming weeks. I'll try and do a decent job of documenting my process with pictures for you guys.

-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

I have some rusted out areas on my car that are completely gone. So i have nothing there to help guide me in recreating the patch panels. One of these areas is the lower rear quarter panel right behind the passenger and drivers side door.


Could someone take some close up pictures of what this area looks like?


This might be a long shot but... if someone near me has a '39 coupe they would be willing to let me come and pull patterns off of I'd greatly appreciate it (and buy you lunch)! I'm located in Western, MA.


Thanks in advance,


-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

I've been chipping away at some of the metal work on the car lately. I removed the rear fender on the passenger side and found some rusty, crusty metal. So i began the slow process of removing the rust. I like to use naval jelly to remove rust when i can, it doesn't harm the metal at all like it does grinding, and no chance of warping as with blasting. The problem with naval jelly is that it takes a long time and multiple applications to work. The important part is that it does work. I usually wire brush wheel the area first to remove as much flaky rust as possible. Then cover the rusted areas with jelly and put plastic wrap over them (this helps the jelly not dry out). I then let it sit for 24 hours and work its magic. If the area isn't to badly rusty ill wait 30- 60 mins (no plastic wrap). Next step is to scrape the jelly and rust off with some wood chisels. Wood chisels are good because they're sharp and scrape up the rust and jelly well. Then i wipe away any excess jelly and use the wire brush wheel on the surface. It takes multiple rounds to get all the heavy rust off and out of the pits in the metal. This is what i did to the rusty areas where the fender bolted to the car. I've attached a couple pics of the process, i'll have to get some pics of the final result.

While i was busting away the rust i began to work on the trunk support bracket which was completely rotted away at the bottom where it meets the trunk floor. This piece is made of 16 gauge steel. I got a chance to use my "new" ( aka 1930's Dreis-Krump finger brake) that i purchased for my self as a Christmas present to bend up the channel. With a bit of cutting, TIG welding, and grinding i got the new piece spliced in. I think it came out well and fits back in it's spot just like it should. Almost like i knew what i was doing . Some of the pictures of it didn't come out that great with the crappy lighting, sorry for that. Next up i'll strip the paint off it and paint it up.

Thanks for looking,

-Chris

 

[bob w]

Very nice metal work.