Thread: Followed Me Home, '33 Build

Tweet

Before pulling the body I pulled the engine and looked at the HVAC and battery bulkhead location. I'm using a XS Power AGM battery mounted up under the dash, so I was looking for a location that was close to the starter but somewhat hidden from view. The '33/'34 has an ideal place in the kickout adjacent to the kick panel area, right next to the bellhousing area. I got the 90 el bulkhead fittings from Vintage Air.

I made a set of reinforcement plates, 3x4x1/4" with Grade 8 bolts for the seats, to be bonded to the underside of the body. I also mounted the Lokar E-Brake handle, and noted that the cable connector was going to interfere at a frame crossmember unless I rebuilt the unit to extend the connecting arm, which would have totally changed the geometry and forces in the E-Brake linkage. I marked the frame to look at with the body removed.

I pulled the body, and decided that modifying the crossmember was the best approach, and I elected a bridge approach. I had a strong 3/16" clear between the floor and the crossmember, so I first tacked a 3/16" plate in place and cut the crossmember at 45's, for a nominal 4" bump up. I ended up with 3/8" across the top, and 3/16 end caps on the tubes. Here's a couple of shots of the process, plus one of the primed result.

I primed the chassis before doing the fill, to seal any pinholes in the welds and joints. It looked pretty good to see it all black. I got all of the low spots filled and shot another coat of primer, but messed up the gun and ended up with drips and sags I spent Friday fixing everything, and this morning went out to try again, having picked up the color and clear yesterday at the paint shop. I noticed some sanding residue, so I decided to wash down the chassis one more time. I used Dawn to cut any oils, rinsed it good and then blew it dry. Wiped everything with wax & grease remover, using a wet rag/dry rag approach, and mixed the primer. Shot the differential first, then hit the chassis - Fisheyes!! I went around the whole thing, then decided to go ahead and use the remainder of the paint I had mixed. Looks like I made two mistakes - 1) using Dawn, which has some additives for soft skin, and 2) using clean rags that had been through the laundry cycle, and had fabric softener residue. Now I get to wait a few hours, sand down an area and hit it with primer to see if the epoxy sealed the contaminants beneath the primer layer. I'm not calling "Uncle" yet, but I'm getting a bit frustrated with this paint process....

A few shots of the progress.