1931 Ford Restoration Diary

I got the spring I needed for the last window regulator, and I fixed with worn part with a bit of welding and the mini-lathe.  Now all four doors have working latches, all six side windows roll up and down, and I have no more window glass lying around waiting to be installed.

I also wired up the interior dome light, and painted the front fender braces and bolted them to the frame. I also got the front fenders down from the attic where they have been for the last four years, and temporarily bolted them in place. It’s amazing how ratty they look next to the refinished body…

I am away for the next week, but when I got home I will probably finish refinishing the steering wheel (it is already 90% done) so I will be able to install the light switch and the rest of the wiring.  Unfortunately I cannot leave the fenders in place, even temporarily, because without the running boards, they can’t be securely mounted.  One of the original running boards is too far gone to be useful, so I need to start looking for a replacement, either original or repro.

Over the weekend I got the last door latch installed. Then I started on the windows. I bead-blasted and painted the metal channels that go across the bottom edges of the glass. For each window, I put the metal channel onto the bottom of the glass with a rubber strip between them, fitted the fuzzy side channels into the window frames, put the glass in the window frame, and install and hook up the regulator mechanism. It went more quickly and smoothly than I expected. I finished all of the windows except the front passenger’s.  Before I install  that one, I have to fix a worn spot on its regulator and find a replacement for a broken spring.

I’ve gotten 3 out of 4 door latches rebuilt and installed.  On a couple of them, the bolts (the part on a door latch that moves in and out when you turn the knob) were quite worn, and I had to build them up with the welder and grind, file, and machine them back to the correct shape.  I turned my mini-lathe into a poor man’s milling machine by making a fixture to hold the bolts to the tool rest, and putting an end mill bit into the lathe’s chuck. Other parts of the latches needed various sorts of welding, filing, and drilling to get them back into shape.

The last door latch is mostly done, and over the weekend I should be able to get it installed. There are some other door parts that still need attention, like the dovetails, but those can wait. The important thing is the doors open and close properly, without needing bungee cords to keep them shut.

Once the latches are all installed, I can install the window glass and regulators. Installing the glass is pretty easy, but one of the regulator mechanisms has a worn spot that needs the same sort of treatment I had used on the door latches.

I got back from vacation, and I installed the quarter window glass, channels, and regulators.  Now the quarter windows roll up and down. I also installed the rear window, which involved gluing a rubber strip around the edge and fitting it into the opening in the body, with a good amount of caulking.  So now 50% of the windows are in place.

I also finished rebuilding the driver’s door latch mechanism.  I had started working on the door latches about two years ago, and I was able to cherry-pick pieces of all four latches to more easily get the one of them working.   Now I no longer have to use a bungee cord to hold the driver’s door closed!

Over the next few weeks I will try to get the other three latches rebuilt.  This will involve restoring worn parts with welding and grinding, and making a couple of bits on my lathe.

There won’t be any more major painting (e.g. the hood or fenders) this season.  Not enough time, and I was getting sick of painting all summer.  Until next spring, I will concentrate on the interior.

Last week I took my old window glass to a shop in Philadelphia, and they made a new set from laminated safety glass. It was done more quickly than I expected, and for less money than ordering it from a vendor. The shop also installed the windshield glass into the refinished frame.

While I was waiting for the glass to be made, I attached the windshield hinge and trim strip across the top of the windshield opening.  I also attached the rear bumper brackets to the frame, first painting the bolts that hold them in place.

After bringing the new glass home, I installed the rubber weatherstripping in the windshield frame, and installed the frame on the car.

The next stop is to install the (fixed) rear window, and start installing the rear (crank-up) quarter window regulators and channels.  But that won’t happen for a few weeks- I leave on vacation in a week, and there’s too many other things to do before then.

I finished painting the windshield frame, the windshield trim strip, and the two large rear bumper brackets. The rest of the bumper brackets can wait. They all got a coat of epoxy primer and a coat of gloss black paint (except for the inside of the windshield frame and the trim strip, which got semi-gloss). The next step is to bead-blast the bolts and screws that hold all these things and place and paint them (a simple can of black spray paint will be fine for this). Once that is done I can bolt the bumper brackets in place, and mount the windshield hinge.  Hopefully during the next week I can make more progress on getting new windshield and window glass made.  In any case, no more painting for a while!

I almost forgot: I painted the spare tire holder, and temporarily bolted it to the rear of the body and attached the spare tire to it. It makes the car look a bit more complete.

I wanted to paint the windshield frame, all the bumper braces and supports, and the spare tire carrier all at once. That’s about ten pieces.  So I hung them all from sawhorses and 2x4s and started spraying primer.  I quickly realized that there was no way I could maneuver around so much stuff without missing places or bumping into freshly-painted stuff.  So I primered only the windshield frame and gave up on the other stuff for the time being.
The next day I sprayed polyester filler on one particularly pitted part of the windshield frame and sanded it smooth, and the following day I sprayed urethane filler-surfacer on the front part of the frame, where it actually needs to look nice. That was a tiny job- only an ounce or two of paint.  After a few minutes of sanding, the frame will be ready for its finish coat, which will be semi-gloss black on the inside and gloss on the outside.

I want to get back to dealing with the bumper parts, since the car could actually use a rear bumper at this point. The rear of the body overhangs the frame, and it would be easy to accidentally bump it into something when moving the car around.

After bead-blasting the windshield frame, I decided to also bead-blast the front and rear bumper brackets. They can be painted the same time I do the windshield frame. But it is going to be so hot for the next few days, I don’t know if I’ll be able to paint…

I got all the window glass down from the attic and removed the metal channels from the bottom of each piece of door glass. I noticed that a majority of the glass had been replaced at one time or another. The replacement glass was generally thinner than the original. The next step is to visit a couple of glass shops and see if they can make replacements from safety glass.

I also started bead-blasting the windshield frame, and I installed a welting strip that runs around the front of the cowl, to provide cushioning for the rear edge for the hood.

I hung the doors, and painted the exposed heads of the hinge pins. For that, I had to mix about one milliliter each of maroon and black paint. I also sprayed some rustproofing compound in some of the body seams, such as the base of the cowl panels. This could be done only after the entire body was painted.
I need to figure out what to work on next. There are a lot of mechanical assembly steps, but some must be done before others. I will probably look into getting new window glass made locally. Then I could refinish, assemble, and install the windshield.