Model A job

[crdnblu]

On the '31, consider raising the license plate panel a"bit" on the right side, instead of extending the trunk lid?  From the pic, that looks to be the issue.

[idrivejunk]

Made a drop-down well panel behind the frame-



Took all that out to work on it-





This is the trunk pan viewed through the right side window, showing the front of it. It is laying on top of the 3" tall tubing that it connects to the bottom of. It will meet the cabin pan there.



From behind the car. Not clamped to anything, ran out of time. All the contours are there though. Wheel tub uprights will need modification or redo.



Other fun stuff... Trimmed rear window panel patch front edge where it was giving me fits being too long-



Don't know if I showed any detail of the hinge areas. That peg is all you get-



Unscrew one peg to remove lid. I can see that lid flying right off in a crash with these and they are an open-end only pain to get to-



This is me using CAD to see how the tail light would look done like a ball vent on a 66 Pontiac dash-



Somebody say Pontiac? I petted the Cat today. Don't ask me whats going on here, I dunno. :?

[idrivejunk]

On the '31, consider raising the license plate panel a"bit" on the right side, instead of extending the trunk lid?  From the pic, that looks to be the issue.

I will be able to confirm or deny that in the next day or two. Measurements to the best of my ability indicate that the spare tire mount panel at bottom, and the top of the license panel with reinforcement... are exactly level at the same time the rest of the body and frame are. Including the trunk hinges. My assumption is that the lid and quarter were both on the car when it was damaged at the right rear. It had a replacement tail panel skin on it and the spare tire mount panel is also a replacement. From the last repair session /paint job. The rumble lid is also a replacement but from earlier I believe. All the fenders are replacements.

The pictures do lie like a rug because if the phone is ever so slightly tilted or off center, distortion often appears. Thats all I can say about that, really. Gravity says the whole tail assembly is level. Theres actually a level with a flashlight shining on it in one of the pics.

[crdnblu]

Hi Matt.......Looking at the license panel again,where the panel intersects the body rear quarter panels is different, from right to left.

[idrivejunk]

Hi Matt.......Looking at the license panel again,where the panel intersects the body rear quarter panels is different, from right to left.

Yessir, thats correct. First things first!

I have a few screws and tacks holding the parts together now, and the spare tire mount panel is connected via the trunk pan to the cabin structure. It sits in the correct position.





As you can plainly see in those two pictures, I have more work to do. I'm afraid one whole quarter has more rake than the other. Neato! What I am saying is if viewed from the side and one quarter is pointing at the 3 o'clock position, the other side would be indicating a minute or two past three.

You guys can study on it all you like. History shows that I know what I'm doing. Just not always what I'm talking about.

Shown below is yet another relevant factor to consider-

[idrivejunk]

crdnblu, Its looking like the quarter patch behind the door is too tall perhaps. Like the right quarter will need to come down in back. Not a tremendously big deal because I already planned to cut both of those patches to line the beads up to the door skins. Thats not all there is to it but yeah something is up. The left and right trunk hinge pins are the same distance from the dash but the gutter bolt holes were not. Thats what made my side pieces on the gutters look so off. The gutter was not on the quarter in the same fore/aft position on each quarter. Thats part of this problem.

Here is another contributing factor-



You can study this shot all night but bear this in mind... The camera is not square to the world but the car is. The valid thing to see here is the center line. Me being right handed and that hand being crooked could be why you'll never see a perfectly centered and distortion free shot with perfect perspective.



I have begun doing something about it all, and some length is coming back to the quarter bead which is good news.

[crdnblu]

Matt........I never meant to offend; you have "mad" skills!!!

[idrivejunk]

You haven't, and thanks. Sometimes I have to talk like Friday on Dragnet. What is going on with the A this half Friday is so complex that it might be after dark before I can post about it. Its crazy, this car is like a fun house at a carnival and can of worms all in one!

[idrivejunk]

[chimp koose]

This last problem with the wheel openings is what would give me a nightmare . I am waiting to see how you do this repair as I basically have little idea what you are about to do . I feel a bunch of learning coming on . Take me to school IDJ !  

[idrivejunk]

OK, but you'll need a shiny apple.  

Today's lesson is: The back of the drip rail, back of the side window opening, point of intersection under the bead that goes across above trunk with top of side bead, inside of lower bead's radius at corner ahead of wheel, and last but not least rear edge of apron, from top to bottom...

... are pretty much in a straight vertical line. That bit of information would have helped me with making the quarter patches had I only realized it.    I will have to remember to get an average of the height measurements along that line and post those as documentation. With a YMMV clause due to height being greatly affected by roundness of the large double bead section under the side window. Another point to bear in mind is that Henry made the quarters of two halves, fused just above the big bead and below the qtr windows. Heck, you can see that seam in this pic. A little, on the roof corner. It is a point of suspicion for me yet.

Something that did occur to me was to tilt the paper template so that the rear tip has the correct height to match the left side's end bead. Thats the tips of the flats between beads, the important visual spot. In this pic, the green line is at bottom of bead just to make that visible with the lighting, and top of template indicates another clue to add up. Despite all the detective work, this case isn't quite ready to take to court yet. Investigation is active though. I did not make a revised horizontal reference mark with the template in this position, yet. But I feel a little less lost as to how to fix.



My conclusion is that the side bead aft of the roof is an invalid reference point. An "eyeball" area, and an important one, where the parts provided are chock full of loose manufacturing and damage issues and failure to get a fair match of bulge alongside the side bead as it tapers in could have visual consequenses since this one is built more like a unibody fit now and anything off will stand out. The nail-biter for me is whether theres enough quarter panel there or not. In a way, however, it puts my mind at ease knowing what available patches look like for the quarter rear tips. They are a foot tall or so, meaning this drama is as new and unique as Ford itself. Well, durn near. I'd bet on myself for the win but don't ask for a calculation of casualties.

The guys want a seal bed similar to the door jambs here, so my seal strips swapped sides-

[idrivejunk]

By making this cut...



...and nothing else, I got the right quarter tip to here and tacked the side strips to the tail reinf.







It appears to me, now, that getting the bead line on the right quarter's rear tip to come down the rest of the way will probably be done by a horizontal chop at oh, say 9:30 -10 o'clock relative to the wheel, and for some reason I want a vertical jog like how some guys do top chops. To preserve the curve, Merv. Get on the bus, Gus. Drop off the key, Lee. And set yourself free.  

Did you like that segway into song?    :?:

More like into goofy land but hey... what song was that in my head? That theres your musical interlude and my diversional tactics for the evening. No charge, BYOB. :b-d:

I digress, I am happy today because we had a nice visit with the A guy. Figured out why maybe many of our ideas jive, he has a souped up Grand National with low miles and also a Typhoon. Oh    Yeah... force-fed 3800s are the common thread. I need to do some more edits, rear this time.

Back to the shop, uh... what was I in here for? Ah. yes... a fun part









Can everybody see whats going on there? Ask if not, I only bite occasionally and you all got as good a chance as the next guy at a straight answer. It is responding to logic now that the lid has been halved.

I left off at finessing the lid shell shape, and this particular stamping left a bit to be desired on uniformity. The back edge is sloppy and it turns out that was hurting me up front. Now I can get it to look good up front and out back at the same time. The skin sets in there nice by itself also now, but of course it sticks up because the edge isn't folded over yet. I am resisting the temptations to ask for a fresh lid skin and to make a shell. But its tough.

By fax, got instructions for the alum hinges. Oh. :oops:  I envisioned them backwards, never mind. Should look sharp! By the way, I am lagging on the variety pics because as you can see... my hands are full.

Be on the lookout for tail light ideas I may conjure and post in quest of inputs. If you know of a cool tail light arrangement that doesn't look like a Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars reject, the empty yellow suggestion box below is for you, use it. I would genuinely appreciate some help finding what would qualify as customary "period" or modern, street rodded examples to look at. We have a heap of ideas but the thing I recently demonstrated with cutout cardboard in a pic is about a two-base hit with all of us. I intend to somehow illustrate a few variations on that. Thank ye, gents.

[enjenjo]

50 ways to leave your lover. Paul Simon. Are these hinges for the trunk? I have an idea.

[GPster]

With the trunk lid backing in that position with out the skin it looks like the hinges would be in the position to be for a rumble seat  GPster

[chimp koose]

I always liked 48 chev tail lights on a model A