1931 Ford Restoration Diary

I think I found a good solution for the seatback tack strip. I ordered a strip of Low-Density Polyethylene from McMaster-Carr. A 3/8″ x 2″ x 48″ chunk of LDPE was only $7.50 plus $5 shipping. And it came the next day, packed in a nice sturdy tube that probably cost more than the shipping charge!  This material (the stuff that gallon milk jugs are made of) holds tacks well, and it is tough and flexible. I cut a couple of 3/8″ x 3/4″ strips, and drilled screw holes in it. The ends need to be rather curved, so I dipped them in boiling water to get them soft and bent them to the correct shape as they cooled.  Besides the LDPE, I had also tried a piece of that “plastic wood” that is used to make decks, and it did not hold tacks very well.

I also got a lot done on the wooden seat base frame.  I needed to make a sort of tongue-and-groove joint on each corner, and I had no idea how to do this without some sort of specialized machine tool.  I did a bit of Internet research and found that I needed to make a  “corner bridle joint“, and I learned the correct trick to doing it with a table saw.  The joints came out nice and accurate.  During the next week I’ll do some more carving, cutting, and drilling to get the frame finished.

In the last week or so, I installed new wooden tack strips on the seat.  Some of the strips were just 3/4″ x 3/4″ wood strips a couple of feet long, and Home Depot sold wood of the exact same size in oak.  To attach those, I re-used the original screws, which were in perfect condition.  There were two other strips that were originally make of some sort of fiber material, long since crumbled away.   I made replacements from 1/4″ plywood.  These had to be riveted in place.  The correct semi-tubular rivets were easy to get, but I had to make a tool to properly set them.  That was easier than it sounds- I just took a 3/8″ bolt that was lying around, cut off the head, put it in the lathe, and cut a donut-shaped depression in the end.

I still need to deal with the long metal tack strip that runs across the top of the seat back.  There is no big rush for that- it will be at least a couple of months before I get the upholstery kit for re-covering the seat.

I decided to try making a new wooden base for the seat cushion.  The original had been not terribly well fixed up by a previous owner, and I was thinking of buying a ready-made reproduction.  But the reproduction is rather expensive, and I realized that Home Depot sells the same 3/4″ x 4″ oak boards that the base is made from.  The base is just a rectangle made of 4 pieces of wood, with some fitted joints and a few holes of various sizes drilled in it.

The seat base springs are attached to the wooden base.  I’ll be ordering reproduction springs.  The original springs look usable at first glance, but several of the wire rods had been broken or badly worn, and a previous owner had tried heroically to fix it up.  But if I re-used them and something later broke, all the expensive new upholstery would have to be ripped up and replaced to repair it.

Last weekend the weather was nice, and I painted the front seat. Later in the week I bead-blasted the metal channel that is attached to the top edge of the seat back. The channel was originally filled with some sort of fiber/leather compound for holding the tacks that fastened the upholstery in place, and I will need to find a suitable replacement.

In the last week or so I managed to sandblast the lower part of the seat and finish fixing the bad welds. With the paint and rust gone, I was able to notice a couple of little cracks, which I welded. The rest of the seat has only light rust (or none at all), and I can clean up the remaining rust with a sanding disk. Weather permitting, I should be able to paint the seat in the next few days.

I also cut some strips of thin plywood which will replace a couple of tacking strips that were on either side of the seat base.

I used some C-clamps and bits of scrap iron to straighten out a bent spot on the seat back.  I also did a bit of grinding and cutting to remove some sloppy welds where somebody had once tried to fix a failed joint on the seat base. After I get a chance to sandblast the seat, I can re-weld it properly.

It’s been really cold for the last week or so. High temperatures in the 50s. I think the 2009 painting season is over.

I started block-sanding a rear door, and like the front door I did a few days earlier, it will need additional primer-surfacer and more sanding. But that will probably not happen until next spring.  To give myself something to do, I took the coil I bought at Hershey, bead-blasted it, and painted it satin black with a can of Krylon. Mounted on the firewall, it looks much prettier than the generic modern coil that I had been using.

Hopefully over the winter I will be able to get the seats upholstered. To get started on this process, I dragged the front seat down from the attic, removed some tack strips and tattered remains of upholstery, and gave it a quick cleaning with the power washer. Before it can be upholstered, I will need to fix up an old botched repair where a weld had once broken, sandblast it, and paint it. I’ll also have to order an interior kit, which is rather expensive and takes several weeks to produce. So I doubt any actual upholstering will get done before the end of the year.

I went to Hershey Thursday, and bought a bunch of bits and pieces. One them was an original coil, which cost $10. I Installed it, and it worked fine. At some point I will need to bead-blast and repaint it. I also got a used fiberglass rear fender, which I may use if I despair of ever getting the original fenders fixed up.

I removed one of the front doors and started block-sanding it. It had needed some body filler, and the sanding revealed several high and low spots. It will eventually need some more coats of filler-surfacer, and more sanding. A lot of sanding, repainting, and re-sanding lies ahead.

I finished bead-blasting the trim strips, and primed them. The trim strip that goes between the gas tank and windshield was a bit pitted, so I gave it acouple of coats of filler. In the next few days I should be able to sand it and install it, along with the welting that goes between it and the gas tank.

I also blasted, primed, and painted the steering column and its mounting bracket. Once the paint was dry, I re-assembled the control rods that run through it. Before doing that, I used my welder to fix up the spots on the control rods that rub against the click-stops on the steering column. Now the rods work with a nice click-stop action, like they did when the car was new. Finally, I installed the steering column and hooked up the controls. Now all the engine controls (timing, throtle, choke, etc.) are properly hooked up.

In a coffee can of random bits that was in the car when I bought it, I found the instrument panel light.  It turned out to be in very good condition, except that an insulating washer had crumbled away, causing it to short out.  I made a replacement washer from a bit of circuit board material, and after that the light worked fine, so I installed it over the instrument panel.

It is starting to get cool, so there is no way I will be able to get the entire car painted this fall.  I still need to do a lot of blocking and sanding over the entire body, which I can do over the winter.  During the rest of October I should be able to bead-blast all the hood panels, do a couple of little repairs to them, and get them primed and coated with filler-surfacer (just like the rest of the body).

Over the weekend I installed the gas tank. Once it was in place, I was able to hook it up to the engine, install the gas gauge, and put in some gas. I was also able to install the instrument panel (which goes on the rear of the gas tank) and hook up the ignition switch and ammeter. Of course I took out the temporary one-quart gas tank and ignition wiring. To fasten the gas tank in place, I decide to re-use the original screws, so I cleaned them up and Parkerized them.

I also started bead-blasting the trim strips that go between the gas tank and windshield, and above the windshield. In the next few days I should be able to paint them.

I re-painted the top of the gas tank, making sure to mix enough paint this time. In a day or two when it is dry, I will sand and buff it again, and the tank will be ready for installation.

I also rebuilt the gas gauge, which is a clean, simple, and pleasant task. It’s the world’s simplest gas gauge: there is a float on a lever, which moves a little panel labeled with “0 1/4 1/2 3/4 F”. You look through a little glass porthole to see the numbers inside the tank.

The paint in the engraved numbers had long ago fallen out, so I cleaned up the parts, put a layer of epoxy paint over the little panel, and once it was dry, I sanded off all the paint that was outside the engraved numbers.  Now it looks as good as new.