1931 Ford Restoration Diary

I welded up all the cracks in the splash shields. I also filled in some rusted-thru spots on the bottom lip of one of them, where the inside edge of the running board goes. To do this, I got a 1/4″ x 1″ x 12″ slab of copper, rounded one edge, and fitted it into the slot where the inner edge of the running board goes. Then I was able use my MIG welder to build up new metal in the rusted-thru spots, and the copper kept the inside shape correct. Then I test-fitted the splash shields, running boards, and front fenders to the car to be sure that everything went together like it is supposed to. Because the splash shields go between the body and the frame, I had to remove the bolts holding the body to the frame, and jack up the body about a quarter of an inch.

The next step is to make sure I have gotten all the dented and bent areas of the splash shields as flat as possible, and start painting them.

I went to a nice car show in Pennsylvania last weekend, and managed to pick up decent used rear right and front left fenders.  So once the splash shields are done, I will start working on the fenders. The first step will be a couple of  sandblasting sessions.

It’s been so hot, I can’t stand to be in the garage for more than a few minutes! But I managed to spend some time with the shrinking disk getting rid of dents in the splash shields. Once the heat wave passes, I will start fixing some warpage where the running boards attach to the splash shields, and welding up some cracks and localized rust perforation.

I also went for a drive in 102-degree weather, and was pleased to see that the car ran fine, without vapor lock or overheating.

I got back from 3 weeks’ vacation, and I sandblasted the splash shields that go between the doors and the running boards. It was quicker and less unpleasant than I expected. The next step will be to fix some dents and cracks, and start refinishing them.

I finished upholstering the rear seat back, which required a few test fittings to make sure that the contour of the top corners matched the curve of the body.  Then I installed the seat back, bolted the rear seat belts in place, and put in the seat cushion. Now I the car looks a lot more respectable, and I could actually drive around with three passengers.  I also installed the front passenger door panel, but there were some issues with it.  Like  most of the other panels, it is a bit too big, and the front and rear edges tend to jam up against the windlace and the door posts, making it hard to completely close the door.  Unfortunately it would be hard to trim the door panels, since some of the covering is stitched as well as glued in place.  I’ll have to consult with the manufacturer of the interior kit.

I’m going on vacation in a few days, and when I get back I’ll change my focus to the exterior: the finders, splash shields, and running boards.  Besides the door panels, the interior still needs a lot of little things like screwing all the window moldings in place, but I can do those bit by bit over next fall and winter.

I got the last fixed interior panels installed, and I also finished applying the sound-deadening material to the rear of the body. All that’s left to do in the interior is installing the door panels, finishing the upholstery of the rear seat back, and bolting the rear seat belts in place (I drilled the mounting holes a couple of weeks ago). I will also have to mess with some simple stuff like the window cranks, but those sorts of little tasks are not at all tedious.  I also finished one last thing on the roof:  I applied more caulking around the molding that surrounds the roof fabric, and I installed a rubber sealing strip that covers the nail groove in the molding.  Now the roof is (theoretically) 100% waterproof.

I’m just about finished with the interior panels. The most time-consuming part was trimming and installing the long piece that goes over the driver’s side doors. This required a lot of un-gluing, cutting, re-gluing, and test fitting.  Just about all the windlace is in place, and the only panel left to install is the one on the driver’s side with the rear seat armrest, which should not require any modification.  I also have to install the panels on the doors, but those basically snap in place, with no gluing, stapling, cutting, or nailing required.

I’m about two-thirds done installing the interior panels. It is a rather tedious job because the panels are mostly a bit oversize, and each one needs some trimming. Peeling away the fabric, doing the actual trimming, and gluing the fabric back down again has to be done with great care, and is rather nerve-wracking. So far, I have done all the panels around the rear window, and all the panels on the passenger side, including the windlace that goes around the door openings.

I installed the new polyurethane tack strips above the doors.   On each side there are upper and lower strips, and I decided to replace only the lower ones. Then I started installing the headliner. This is very tricky, since it has to be smooth and tight, without any bumps, dips, or wrinkles. Part way through, I decided that I could not trust the original upper tack strips above the doors to hold it in place. So I made some more plastic ones and installed them.  Then I realized that I really ought to install mounting points for front shoulder harnesses, since it would be much harder to do after installing the interior panels.  I made some reinforcing places from steel strips, with a mounting nut welded to them.  These were fitted on either side, above the rear doors, just behind the B-pillar.  On more modern cars the mounting point would be on the pillar itself, but on my car the front seat is too far back for this to be an effective location.  Once all this prep work was done, I finished stretching and stapling the headliner all the way around.

The next step is to start fitting the interior panels, and the windlace around the door openings.  Some of the panels are a little bit too large, and I will first have to peel away the fabric from the back surface, cut off a bit (1/8″) of the cardboard all along the edge, and glue the fabric down again.  I started doing this; it is tedious and requires a lot of care to avoid messing up the fabric.

I got the rear seat base all upholstered, and the seat back about half done, before running out of hog rings. I also assembled the armrests on the panels that go on either side of the back seat. I had to take apart the crumbling original side panels, remove the wooden forms for the armrests, attach them to the new panels, and pad and cover them. Fortunately the wooden pieces were in excellent condition.

I also cut several strips of polyethylene for replacing the tack strips that run above the doors. I used a wood plane to carve them into a semi-circular cross section, so they would fit into the channels in the body sheetmetal above the doors.

Spring is finally here!  Soon I should be able to resume body work, such as getting the splash shields sandblasted, repaired, and repainted.

I repaired both rear seat springs. I had to remove some of the damaged wire pieces, bend replacements from the new wire, and use the special metal clips to put everything back together. To do an accurate job of bending the wire, I made a couple of little jigs from bits of scrap metal.

I painted the seat base spring, attached it to the wooden frame I made a couple of weeks ago, and began the process of upholstering it.