29 coupe - replacing siderail advice?

thebanjoman

thebanjoman

Senior Member
New here,

Been working on a '29 coupe in original condition that sat in a barn in Ohio since parked in '68. It was a driver until it was parked.

I've just about got the frame and drivetrain ready to go. Engine rebuilt at Schwalms and am moving to the body.

The body is in fair shape but the side rails need replacing.

siderail1.jpg



siderail2.jpg


siderail3.jpg


The cross braces, seat and trunk pans are in decent shape as well and I will have to patch the rear wheel wells but I what I am asking for advice is.

Should I expect to disassemble the entire car, doors and pillars to replace the side rails and build it back from the ground up? This sounds like an easy way to get the vehicle out of alignment if I pull lots of it apart.

This is not going to be a show quality restoration but I'm meticulous enough to try and do it right without making it a hack job.

It also makes no sense to me to buy the side rails and then cut them up and use them as patches.

How would you do it?
 
I am restoring a 28 special coupe that was in very similar condition to your 29 coupe, actually worse. I had almost the exact same problems as you have - the cowl was cut off at the subrail extensions and there was a lot of rust outs in the fender well and the outside of the rear part of the subrails. What I did is first sandblast the metal to clean it up. You will probably see more areas that have rust holes after sandblasting. I removed the cowl section (gas tank also) to make it easier to work on. I also removed the quarterpanels, as that is really the only decent way to repair the subrails. I then cut off the outside of the subrails and made new outsides from 14 ga sheetmetal. I also made fender well patches from scratch, as the ones you buy are not correctly aligned with the original stiffening ribs. I cut off the lower 2 1/2" of the fender wells on the quarterpanels and welded on the homemade patches. They turned out very well - you can't tell it was ever patched. I like to use original parts and try not to cut out any more metal than I really need to repair rusted out areas. I have lots of pictures of what I did, if you want to see them. I don't know if you have a MIG welder with gas (or TIG - $$), but that is the only way to repair the rust holes, weld in patches and where the sheetmetal is cracked. You are starting on a long project, so you should be aware there is a lot of work involved if you do it yourself. You do get a lot of satisfaction bringing the car back to like new, however. I don't know if you know about using a copper backing plate when welding sheetmetal, but it really helps. Let me know if you want me to send you some pictures of what I did. I just painted my car last week and hope to get it mostly done in a few months.
Rusty Nelson
Lakeville, MN
 
With my schedule this has already been 3 years in the making with the drivetrain rebuild and life in general. I commute 3.5 hours a day as well so I really only get weekends. This is actually my father-in-laws car as he how lives with us. He bought it in the late 40s and it was his every day driver for a while as the tractor repair shop he worked at was 2 miles from his house. He parked it in '68 with the hopes of it being a project when he retired but his health faded and my wife couldn't part with it so I'm trying to bring it back to life.

I probably should just bite the bullet and take the body to be media blasted instead of messing around with my little hand blaster. The body is now on a rolling dolley so It would be easy to just roll it on the trailer, send it out and get it back with a coat of primer and go from there.

Body metal is not my forte. I usually MIG 11ga or thicker so I was hoping to minimize my welding and replace by riveting in new panels if I could. I fear warping anything.

I've got the cowl removed now and purchased new sub rail extensions and cowl patches and rivets to rebuild the cowl and that will be fairly easy. I really didn't want to have pull things apart because flat head screws are such a pain and bolts break even with lots of penetrating oil. From your post it looks like I will have to remove the rear quarterpanels to adequately repair this so I'll not be looking forward to that. But it would probably be best to give room to work on the fenderwells.

Given some of the project starting points I've seen here and elsewhere I seem to be getting off fairly easy as there still is a lot of metal still intact.
 
The model A bodies were assembled in heavy set up jigs to keep them in good enough shape to be able to drop them on a frame with minimal shimming of the body blocks. After 80 plus years and who know how many miles, they lose their original shape. I wouldn't worry about taking a body completely appart as long as you have a good straight frame to align and build it back up on. Once the cancer starts it's impossible to arrest unless you can get into every nook and cranny. It is a long, dirty, nasty, tedious job. Not for the faint of heart or those that don't have the time or skills to put into it. A good body man could easilly spend a month of labor on a rusty critter. You need to have access to decent welding equipment as was mentioned before and you will also need riveting equipment ie pneumatic air hammer, rivet sets, special bucking bars, plus a good compressor to keep up with that and the priming and painting chores that will follow.

If you have all that or access to same and a lot of time you better get after it.
If you have the where with all to farm it out then why not. You don't have to build the whole car to get the enjoyment from it. Food for thought. Check this site out and scroll to sheet metal and body details. There is a 30 coupe restoration in pictures that will give you more infomation.
www.fordgarage.com
Kerby
 
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Steve Plucker said:
Send it to Brent...he will do you a great job and be done with it!

Pluck
Click to expand...

In as much as I would love the opportunity to turn the work over to a competent person who has the skills to complete these tasks I'm not in a position to properly compensate talented people for their skills so I'll have to try and tackle lots of this effort on my own.

Unlike my Government I have to pay as I go on this and and can't run a deficit in my "Model A Economy"

My budget at the current state may allow for a media blasting and primer to expose the problems and will tell me where my next steps are. I'll be here forever with my little blaster and would probably do more harm if I tried.

I have the equipment and should have the competence to keep going if I can rely on the generosity of others to help educate me and answer those questions I can't find answers for myself.

The frame is straight and the bodywork required isn't above my ability, I just need to make sure I understand what I am doing and why.
 
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