Disassembling a Roadster Body-Need help

Model A Fan

Model A Fan

Senior Member
I have come to the point where I can disassemble the body of my roadster to begin prep to prime and whatnot. I am thinking I am going to go with the molasses rust removal method and then prime each piece as I am done. I figure if I go this route, I can have the whole body disassembled and in the molasses easier than having to build a really big box and use a lot of molasses.

What I'm needing help with is the disassembly of the body. How does one pull the body apart so that it can be reassembled? I haven't really seen bodies pulled apart to do this kind of thing. Any tricks that can be used to do this efficiently and without damaging anything?
 
My choice would be to leave the body together and use sandblasting. If you have a decent air compressor you could hang plastic to form a box, and reuse the sand. Keep the pressure at the gun to about 40 lbs. or less and hold the gun 3 to 6" away so you don't warp the sheet metal. I like Black Beauty, which is ground up coal clinkers made right here in the Twin Cities. I wouldn't use silica sand.
 
If you are talking about taking the body panels off the sub rails and that type of thing,I think you are crazy. Unless there in really bad condition and need restoring. The body is riveted together and realining these back together is not a job for the novice. Do as Tom said leave assembled . Frank
 
I was crazy and blew my body apart! I priced sand blasting and they wanted 800$ to do the outside, and a lease another 800$ to do the inside. When I removed the sub frame I should have stopped. It had the typical rot in the lower panels a recent thread show how to make the repair patches. I called a metal stripper and he said the further I disassembled the body the happier I would be. So crazy Ted blew it apart, no piece heavy that I could not pick up myself. Cowl without gas tank, quarter panels,rear panel,doors. What a nightmare, yes I pleased with the stripping but the long time to get the body back together! Don't do it! I think it was over a year to get it back together. Next was all new wood and top,then paint.
This was on a late 31 tudor, not worth the time and effort. DON'T BLOW APART
 
WOW, were they going to blast your body with gold dust?

I've never heard of such a crazy price for sand blasting.
I could buy the air compressor, the material and build a plastic cage for less money.
 
Buy an TIP USA made pressure blaster and carefully blast the rust off. The nice gray sandblasted metal is an excellent base for epoxy primers. Just use a lower pressure on the sandblaster to prevent warping. I have sandblasted lots and lots of sheet metal with no discernible warping. Using a small 3/32" tip, that helps a lot, but takes a lot longer to do.
Rusty Nelson
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
WOW, were they going to blast your body with gold dust?

I've never heard of such a crazy price for sand blasting.
I could buy the air compressor, the material and build a plastic cage for less money.
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haha yea... i had my AA frame blasted, new front crossmember, 6 20" rims and some welding done on the frame for $300....They used black beauty and it turned out great. Por-15 looooooved that surface.:D

I helped Rainmaker Ron put a subframe together and piece the body on top of it, i would leave it alone haha. Take the whole kit and kaboodle together and take it to the blaster. Shop around and definitely ask if their blaster is familiar with sheet metal blasting, some guys have only done industrial I beams/bridges...
 
I guess I will not pop it apart after all. The reason I was figuring I'd pull it apart was due to the fact that there is surface rust on every surface of the roadster. How would I get the sandblasting media behind the bracing and other parts of the inside of the rumble seat area?

I will be building a "blasting cabinet" big enough for a Model A I guess!

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it. I have my summer now dedicated to digging out my driveway for a cement parking pad and sandblasting the Model A body. :D
 
You have to pull all the bolted panels off it.

Do not waste your time blasting in thru the holes , say on the doors and rumble lid, all you will do is risk bucking the panel inwards, the grit will all get in there anyway, so cleaning out cannot be avoided .

If you werer thinking about separating the panels completely , say, the rumble lid skin from the frame, forget it.

When painted, spray in some liquid rust treatment,

I think you have waxoil over there, we use fishoil here.

 
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I was at Lowe's last night and saw a spray can of rust preventer. It said it contains lanolin, which comes from sheep. It's the oil in the wool. First time I've heard of that, so I have no idea how well it prevents rust.
 
I use a mobile soda blaster guy for all my resto's.. He does the body inside and out plus all the sheet metal fenders, aprons etc... For approx 750..money well spent


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I hope your guy is wearing eye protection, Mitch. He's already lost his socks and the lower half of his pants!
 
Ray...he was wearing a mask and ear muffs no eye protection.....it was almost 100 degrees out that day, lost a few pounds in the process..
 
Mitch//pa said:
Ray...he was wearing a mask and ear muffs no eye protection.....it was almost 100 degrees out that day, lost a few pounds in the process..
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Mitch,
Looks like you started with a REALLY nice body:) I feel for the Guy, I once worked at sandblasting, wore a BIG hood & breathed compressor air, all day:eek:
Dad Wheez
 
"It said it contains lanolin, which comes from sheep. It's the oil in the wool. First time I've heard of that, so I have no idea how well it prevents rust. "

Well, have you ever seen a sheep rusting away in a field? Or a sheep that needed its rust to be sandblasted off? The stuff MUST work! :)
Marshall
 
My suggestion is to see if you can borrow or rent a rotisserie and lay down a bunch of clear plastic and buy a sandblaster from eastwood and have at it. I have a rotisserie and it is the best way to sandblast and paint your body and frames. I just replaced my subframe on my roadster and if your subframe is salvageable, leave it intact.
 

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Tom,the lanolin based stuff was probably Fluid Film.You don't want to use it on anything you might want to paint in your lifetime.I use a lot of it.I haven't found anything yet to clean it off with,solvents just smear it around.They say to clean up with hot water and strong detergent,but that doesn't seem to do much more.I have the gun and the wands to apply it,I still have not been able to clean them.I have a friend trying to do some bodywork on a 31 Chrysler that the owner Fluid Filmed.The owner had it blasted a few years ago,and knowing it it was going to sit for a couple of years before he got the body done he treated it with the best stuff he found through online research.That stuff creeps,and every joint in that car is loaded with the stuff.At this point they are not sure how to approach it,cutting,heating,welding,all seem to make it migrate into the work area.
 
I have been watching the advice on this, ...and I guess my thoughts are different than others. I don't see it as a big deal to disassemble a Roadster body, --or any other body for that matter. If you have a body that is already intact, half your battle is won because you can get your measurements before you begin the disassembly. Then when everything is disassembled, you have access to the rust damaged areas.

For us, we use a large pneumatic Planishing hammer to remove all of the dents. The speed & quality of finish in which this machine does is faster & superior to hand work, this offsetting the time it takes to disassemble the body.

.
 

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