Making progress - My '30 Coupe

Onlybackroads

Onlybackroads

Senior Member
Hey everyone, just thought I'd put up a picture of the current state of my '30 Coupe (split ownership with my girlfriend.) After taking out the upholstery, finding that it was moldy, the wood was completely shot, and there was rust behind it all, it was decided to take it all apart and paint it. One thing led to another and it snowballed into a huge project of taking the body off and getting rid of all the rust and flaky paint, I'm sure many people have been in that situation! Well, we didn't want to spend a whole bunch of money restoring it, and we just want to drive the heck out of it and don't mind getting marks and dirt all over it, we decided to do everything ourselves. Plus, full restoration sounds like a lot of money, and a lot more time NOT driving our car! Anyway, here's a picture of how it sits as of now, in the process of mounting the fenders, soon to mount the body. The wheels on it now are the 16's that came with it, we'll drive on them for a while until we clean and paint our 19's which will have brand new tires!

 
A picture of the body being sanded down, also had to patch some holes on the cowl. There was a little rust on the bottom, but not too much. The biggest holes were from a previous radio that a previous owner had installed. So long radio! The body stand was made from fine yard scraps, custom...

 
Cool Project! Its nice to do things together, and I think you're lucky to have a gal that doesn't mind getting grease on her rings.
Keep building her the way you want and then drive the heck out of it. That way it's fun and not a "chore"
 
Did you fix the leaking rear ? It would be easier now then after the body is on it I think.
 
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I know what you mean about kind of wanting to just keep it in the red primer. On the cars I restored, once I got them to that point they kind of look like sculpture or something. Hard to describe but they sure represent the fruits of a ton of work. Keep up the great work.
 
Hi 'Onlybackroads'. You would not happen to be Shawn (Sean) from the Diablo A's? That is a nice looking coupe you go there. Get her painted and done then just drive the heck out of her. Have fun and I might see you at the NCRG this month-depending on work.

Mike
 
You better marry her before she gets away .

They don't come along like that very often .

Just kidding , car is looking good , wont be long now .
 
Looking good. While you have the body off, you may want to check to see if you have a straight frame. Good time to fix that rather than trying to adjust your hood later.

The green is what it will look like if not straightened. The blue is what it should look like.
 

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I didn't try anything to fix the rear leak, just tightened down all the bolts and drain/fill plugs. I know it would be much easier to fix now and probably should be dealt with asap, but we just got the car in February and are really excited to drive it soon, so tearing apart the rear-end right now doesn't sound like something we wan't to do at this point. Just gotta carry some cardboard and gear oil!

As for the frame, everything looked fine when it was all together, not something I'd want to replace at this point in time, we plan on having the car for a long time and love to work on it, so everything will be addressed at some point.

Hey Mike in Oakland, I am the Sean you met at the Diablo A's meeting. I don't know what event you're talking about this month, but we won't be at the next meeting, then we're going out east until November, we'll have to go driving in the fall!
 
Lay a known straight 2 by 4 along the top of the frame rail & check for frame sag at rear motor mounts.It should be level.It is not uncommon to find a 1/4 to 3/8" or more sag which will cause hood & choke rod alignment problems.you would also find that the hood latches may not stretch enough to hook in place without shortening the springs or putting a few washers under the latch mounts.Miner sag can be corrected with body shimming,but much better to have a straight frame to start with.
 
Update for today - Got the fenders and aprons mounted, got the welt in, put on the radiator shell and light bar, and best of all... PUT THE BODY ON! (picture of that tomorrow, got it done by dusk.

 
Here's some pictures of the deconstruction, and how bad the wood was. Also, one of the many dustpans full of old rotten Ford parts:

 
The car is looking good.
I hope you aren't throwing away those screws in the dust pan. Slotted screws are getting harder to find each day, and especially an exact match to original.
 
Sometimes it's difficult to determine exactly what the situation is from photos posted in forum threads, but if the seat belts are only attached to the thin metal seat-cushion-to-seat-back transition piece, they might not provide much protection. The usual procedure (or at least the one I've used in both of my coupes) is to attach the belts to something more substantial. There is an article on this in Volume 6 (pages 51 thru 56) of "How to Restore Your Model A" ["A Bear on Safety" by William Henry.]
 
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