Thread: 34 3 Window Re-Build

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Started some work on the gas tank cover. When I bought the coupe the gas tank cover was one of the few pieces not included so I bought a glass one. Still have the glass one but I wanted the all steel coupe to be "all steel" so I bought this steel one for $25 a few years ago and it needs some work. Did I mention that I'm a tight wad. Here are a few pics of what I have done so far. The patch is a little tricky as the parent metal is a little thin. I Tiged the patch in but I think I will try to Mig the final weld as I think a steady stream of filler wire will help me with the thin metal. Any opinions welcome before the final weld. Also added some wall art pics. Anybody from Sacto know anything about the Pushrods?

Hiya Jack, heck a gennie steel '34 coupe,you lucky thing. It should be sharing garage space in my garage, yeah right. I would continue with the tig as I find the mig leaves too much of a buildup of wire which is hard so that one ends up grinding away which also results in grinding away the original steel,IMHO. Can the panel be reinforced somehow where the bumpers bolt through the chassis??

Cool pics Jack, where`d you get the sacramento plaque from....?

Whiplash,

Thanks for the comment. I have thought of making the patch out of thicker material (.1875) but I was afraid that would push the cover too far away from the bumper bracket causing some panel or seam misalignment. However, at your suggestion, I think if I just double the thickness of the sheet metal (.050-.060) it won't be too much of a problem. I also might try O/A for the final weld as I think I can control the heat better with that.

Rich,

My father in law had that plaque hanging on his garage wall and I aquired it after his death. Don't know for sure but I think he picked it up during summer recess when he was a janitor at Hillsdale H.S. in San Mateo, Ca. He had some good stories about what the kids left behind in their lockers after school let out.

Jack.

As you may already know, that stress cracking comes about because of misalignment of the bumper bracket mounts on the rear spreader bar under that tank cover. Rather than mess with trying to fortify the cover I'd suggest you work at bending the tabs on the spreader bar so they are nearly right up against the back side of where you patched, I say nearly because I like to put some antisqeak material in there too. If the spacing can't be tightened up without a bunch of modification to the under brackets then some shimming might be necessary. It can be fun to get the bumper mounted straight on those sometimes.

The plaque looks like one of the local car clubs type. I see them on the back of hot rods around here from time to time.

Its an older car club that has`nt been around for a while, I`ll ask some of the older guys when I see them at the Tuesday night cruise. I live in Sac/Elk grove area I vaguely remember those from years back say 1970....

Bob,

Thanks for the tip. My reason for reinforcing the metal in that spot is mainly because the metal is thiner there because rust. I will try your tip on bending the bumper mounting tab to better fit the cover. I'm at the point now where I just hope I can salvage the cover.

Rich,

Thanks for the info. Feel free to post any new info.

Jack.

Just an update on the progress, there has been no progress. Between the travels, yard work, a minor bathroom repair turned into a major repair and upgrade and other projects there has been no progress. After we get back from a week long trip to Idaho the bathroom project gets top priority. Maybe by mid Oct., oh wait, deer season starts.

Jack.

Originally Posted by Jack F

Just an update on the progress, there has been no progress. Between the travels, yard work, a minor bathroom repair turned into a major repair and upgrade and other projects there has been no progress. After we get back from a week long trip to Idaho the bathroom project gets top priority. Maybe by mid Oct., oh wait, deer season starts.

Jack.

I know exactly what you mean! Pretty slow progress on mine lately! Maybe this weekend I can make up for it. Have a great time in Idaho (my home state)!

OK,

Made a little more progress (found a little spare time between other projects). Made a new board for the rear window crank and hollowed it out for the crank. More pics coming of the shifter improvement (getting too late tonight, will add tomorrow).

Jack.

Come on Jack, I'm sure that Barb would be keen to see photos of the new bathroom too! Is the channel that fits to the bottom of the glass a new aftermarket piece or a reproduction part??
Also I hope you leave that new bathroom clean after washing up??

Whiplash,

The channel is a new 34 channel repop. A day late on the shifter pics but here goes. The shifter as last built wouldn't return the stick to neutral even with the stiffest springs I could find and I couldn't bore for larger springs because the housing wouldn't allow it so...I decided to add some meat to the shifter socket tower. Used some scrap bar stock from my stash, drilled a hole with the biggest drill I had then bored to size for a press fit to the top and bottom shifter ball sockets. Then drilled new holes for larger springs. I haven't finished this yet but thought I would show some pics of the process.

1st is a shot of the lower ball socket with old springs before the new ring.

2nd is lower socket with new ring.

3rd is the top ball socket with new ring + ring for lower socket

4th is a shot of one of the rings being bored on the lathe

5th is drilling top socket for larger springs.

Jack.

Thought I would throw in a pic of the shifter stick with the ball and shifter pin with ball end. Also a shot of the shifter with the tower off showing the guts. I know, what a mess. This shifter has gone through several changes but please note, all will be re-made made once I get this prototype working to my satisfaction. BTW, I turned the ball and the shifter pin with ball on the lathe with a ball turner that I also made. I made each half of the ball socket with a 1 1/2 ball end end mill, then turned the ball to fit. It took a lot of fitting.

Jack.

Whiplash insisted I show some pics of what has slowed the progress on the 34. The project isn't done yet but here is the progress to date.

1st is the new "curb". Old curb was rotted and leaked water to the kitchen below.

2nd is the concrete board put down for the floor tile + my helper Chloe.

3rd is the new curb with tile added + a little of the new floor tile.

4th is more floor tile.

Jack.