Coumpounding Fender Underside Tip

[pgerhardt]

OK, I know I said in another thread that I had no intention of color sanding and rubbing out the underside of my 29 tudor fenders. That was before I shot the black enamel. I don't have a paint booth, or "clean room" to paint in, so my enamel had plenty if dust nibs. I already spent 5 weeks on it, so what the heck another week won't kill me. Color sanding and compounding it is!

However I did not want to use my Portercable DA on the concave underside. It's long handle/motor makes it impossible to get into all the needed areas. Plus I don't have a small air powered DA or the compressor needed to drive one. I went to Home Depot to see what was available. I found a Milwaukee 6021 (see picture). It has variable speed so that I can dial it down to "1" to apply compound and up to "5" or "6" to cut - just like the Portercable, and using 5.5" pads it easily gets into all the areas of the fender underside that need compounding. If you are going to paint your own model A, you might want to add one to you tool kit.

So six weeks to do the underside of one fender, and three fenders to go! If in the future you go to a new england car show and some some guy is enjoying a warm new england Sunday - stretched out next to his 1929 tudor - with his head UNDER a fender enjoying the view - that would be ME!

BTW on my shelf with all my old supplies (the one with all the cans of dried up Ditzler lacguer) I found an old bottle of "Liquid Ebony" (see photo) swirl remover. It still looked good so I tried some, and it worked great. This is some old school stuff! Has anyone ever used this and have any opinions on it's effectiveness?

[Barry B./ Ma.]

I used to use it(liquid ebony) Paul and I agree, it was great. Are you doing the tops of the fenders too? they really need it. I have to do my coupe fenders over too but keep putting it off, had a new roof put on half the barn last week as it was starting to leak, being post and beam I didn't want water getting into the beams. I think Ill redo the hood shelves first. Take your time and enjoy what your doing, Barry

[pgerhardt]

Yes I'll be doing the top and bottom of all four fenders and the running board splash shields! I'll be busy for a long time. I am hoping the top's convex shape will mean much easier sanding. We will see.

[Brother Hesekiel]

I'm a big fan of hand jobs. My late T Speedster you see here I painted myself, in the shop, using Rustoleum high gloss paint. I used Rustoleum not because I wanted to save money, but because it fades quicker and has a nice brown undertone, for the antique look I was looking for.

The stuff flows nicely, but leaves a rather orangy-peely surface. I color-sanded every part of it, inside and out, using 2000-grit wet sand paper only, then hand rubbed it using Mother's Aluminum and Mag Polish. That's it. I did not wax anything, nor did I ever wash the car again after that, so please excuse the dust. But the surface was like a mirror, and it's actually easier to do than it sounds.

[Kevin in NJ]

Here is another tool to consider for the budget conscious.

3" polisher

Bought one of these and it made quick work of my inner fenders. You will want to get the 3M pads as the ones that come with it are not very good.

[Synchro909]

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Yup, I've used Liquid Ebony. Great stuff. Pity is no longer available. I was disappointed when I found out it was part of history.

[pooch]

Wow, do stop and reverse when you see a stone on the road .

[d.]

3" HF polisher...requires 15 CFM @ 90. What level of home compressor could supply that much air? sounds like commercial shop use only.
please explain if this could work on the average home shop compressor.

[Roadster62]

Nice Tudor, I'll check the fenders in the Spring when you roll into the Sycamore. Merry Christmas! Bob

[pgerhardt]

Originally Posted by Kevin in NJ

Here is another tool to consider for the budget conscious.

3" polisher

Bought one of these and it made quick work of my inner fenders. You will want to get the 3M pads as the ones that come with it are not very good.

My compressor won't drive that polisher - unfortunately. Which is why I sought out an electric solution.

[pgerhardt]

Originally Posted by pooch

wow, do stop and reverse when you see a stone on the road .

lol!

[pgerhardt]

Originally Posted by Roadster62

Nice Tudor, I'll check the fenders in the Spring when you roll into the Sycamore. Merry Christmas! Bob

I hope it is ready by this spring! But if not my plan "B" is to go to the Sycamore with my friend Tom Seagriff in his new (to him) 35 three window coupe.

BTW I just joined the Fairfield County "A"s. I hope to get to a meeting eventually.
Merry Christmas to you as well!

[pgerhardt]

WARNING This is off topic. If that bothers you skip this post. If not read on.

Roadster62, I see from your profile that you are from Ridgefield, and also into model "T"s. Ridgefield has more beautiful classic cars than just about any other town. I used to love the Ridgefield Car Show every September. You would see cars at that show that you would never see anywhere else.

What follows is my Halloween Model T story so again if not interested skip.

In the early 70's I got a call on Halloween from my friend and fellow car nut Chris Rowland. He had found and bought a 1926 model T coupe from a widow up in New Milford, and wanted to know if I could drive it back to Danbury. I was the only one he knew that at least knew what the three peddles were supposed to do, so I was elected! Being young and foolish I said, "Sure! sounds like fun!"

I traveled up to New Milford with Chris and found the 26 T up on blocks in the lady's garage. It had not run for about 10 years. We spend all day getting it ready to run. As the sun was setting we set the ignition to "battery" and with coils buzzing, got it running! Yeah!

With one hand on the throttle I released the parking brake and pushed down on the high/low peddle and we were moving. Double Yeah!! But very soon the end of the lady's driveway was coming up fast! So what is your normal reaction if you find yourself going too fast? You lift your food off of the accelerator. But my foot was not on the accelerator! The 26 T popped out of low and into high gear! After 10 years of not running that good old 26 T coupe made a fantastic (luckily no other traffic was around.) high speed "Keystone Cops" turn out of the lady's driveway and onto RT 133 toward Danbury. We were cruising now, and very proud of ourselves. Then it got dark. I got the headlights on and felt even better! Until the headlights got dimmer and dimmer until I was holding a flashlight out the window to see where I was going. Another bit of good luck is that we met no police on RT 133 that night. You mean you were supposed to switch from battery to magneto once running - who knew! We eventually figured that out and the 1926 model T Coupe and I made it safely back to Chris's house in Danbury. It was a very cool Halloween and my introduction to driving a model T Ford.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread!

[Roadster62]

Tom got a THREE WINDOW!!!!!!!! Love car stories like that! Was the T coupe a gray one? Wonder if the former owner was the fellow I got a Model T single seater body from way back in the late 1960's? The Ridgefield Meet was a big part of my life, Mom dropped me off there to spend the day when I was 10 years old and I got hooked on the hobby for life. I had a restored 1927 chassis in 1967 that I wanted to show at the meet. The fellow I worked for after school had a wood deck trailer and dump truck that hauled a Ford 8N tractor, that he would haul the chassis on. Saturday dawned with light rain, and I took about two or three laps around the drive to get the tires good and wet, just like that wooden trailer deck. I did the same fancy foot work with the hi low pedal and launched the chassis off the front of the trailer. I had installed a pair of NOS front bumper brackets but not the bars, they hit the truck and saved the radiator and shell. Driving home from the Sycamore in a 1912 T Touring without lights is another story. Merry Christmas! Bob

[BlueSunoco]

Originally Posted by pgerhardt

WARNING This is off topic. If that bothers you skip this post. If not read on.

Roadster62, I see from your profile that you are from Ridgefield, and also into model "T"s. Ridgefield has more beautiful classic cars than just about any other town. I used to love the Ridgefield Car Show every September. You would see cars at that show that you would never see anywhere else.

What follows is my Halloween Model T story so again if not interested skip.

In the early 70's I got a call on Halloween from my friend and fellow car nut Chris Rowland. He had found and bought a 1926 model T coupe from a widow up in New Milford, and wanted to know if I could drive it back to Danbury. I was the only one he knew that at least knew what the three peddles were supposed to do, so I was elected! Being young and foolish I said, "Sure! sounds like fun!"

I traveled up to New Milford with Chris and found the 26 T up on blocks in the lady's garage. It had not run for about 10 years. We spend all day getting it ready to run. As the sun was setting we set the ignition to "battery" and with coils buzzing, got it running! Yeah!

With one hand on the throttle I released the parking brake and pushed down on the high/low peddle and we were moving. Double Yeah!! But very soon the end of the lady's driveway was coming up fast! So what is your normal reaction if you find yourself going too fast? You lift your food off of the accelerator. But my foot was not on the accelerator! The 26 T popped out of low and into high gear! After 10 years of not running that good old 26 T coupe made a fantastic (luckily no other traffic was around.) high speed "Keystone Cops" turn out of the lady's driveway and onto RT 133 toward Danbury. We were cruising now, and very proud of ourselves. Then it got dark. I got the headlights on and felt even better! Until the headlights got dimmer and dimmer until I was holding a flashlight out the window to see where I was going. Another bit of good luck is that we met no police on RT 133 that night. You mean you were supposed to switch from battery to magneto once running - who knew! We eventually figured that out and the 1926 model T Coupe and I made it safely back to Chris's house in Danbury. It was a very cool Halloween and my introduction to driving a model T Ford.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread!

I enjoyed reading your post! Neat story I felt I was sitting in that Model T riding along!! Thanks!

[pgerhardt]

Originally Posted by Roadster62

Tom got a THREE WINDOW!!!!!!!!

Yes. I went up to his house two weeks ago to help him clean out a bay in his garage to make room for "the new baby" along with his 1932 four door.

It sounds like you know Tom. He and I taught in the same middle school for 35 years! We are both retired now, but still car buddies!

[bikejunk]

Originally Posted by pgerhardt

WARNING This is off topic. If that bothers you skip this post. If not read on.

Roadster62, I see from your profile that you are from Ridgefield, and also into model "T"s. Ridgefield has more beautiful classic cars than just about any other town. I used to love the Ridgefield Car Show every September. You would see cars at that show that you would never see anywhere else.

What follows is my Halloween Model T story so again if not interested skip.

In the early 70's I got a call on Halloween from my friend and fellow car nut Chris Rowland. He had found and bought a 1926 model T coupe from a widow up in New Milford, and wanted to know if I could drive it back to Danbury. I was the only one he knew that at least knew what the three peddles were supposed to do, so I was elected! Being young and foolish I said, "Sure! sounds like fun!"

I traveled up to New Milford with Chris and found the 26 T up on blocks in the lady's garage. It had not run for about 10 years. We spend all day getting it ready to run. As the sun was setting we set the ignition to "battery" and with coils buzzing, got it running! Yeah!

With one hand on the throttle I released the parking brake and pushed down on the high/low peddle and we were moving. Double Yeah!! But very soon the end of the lady's driveway was coming up fast! So what is your normal reaction if you find yourself going too fast? You lift your food off of the accelerator. But my foot was not on the accelerator! The 26 T popped out of low and into high gear! After 10 years of not running that good old 26 T coupe made a fantastic (luckily no other traffic was around.) high speed "Keystone Cops" turn out of the lady's driveway and onto RT 133 toward Danbury. We were cruising now, and very proud of ourselves. Then it got dark. I got the headlights on and felt even better! Until the headlights got dimmer and dimmer until I was holding a flashlight out the window to see where I was going. Another bit of good luck is that we met no police on RT 133 that night. You mean you were supposed to switch from battery to magneto once running - who knew! We eventually figured that out and the 1926 model T Coupe and I made it safely back to Chris's house in Danbury. It was a very cool Halloween and my introduction to driving a model T Ford.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread!

also love a good story. thanks