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Old 12-17-2010, 07:20 AM   #1
Flop
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Default 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Hey guys new to posting to the ford barn. 25 years old from Pittsburgh.

Customers car. He wants it all stock. Just figured you guys would enjoy some sheetmetal work and the fiasco of new patch panels that i am going through. All the sheetmetal work is tig welded and as close to metal finished as possible.




needs typical patch panels but man is this car solid

mess







needs some sub frame work



gotta fix this hole.seems like ti was made with a chisel



tight gaps are important



see what i mean by tight?! see that little slit





this is gonna be a pain in the ass!!



the ol tape and bondo trick



fillin some random holes





some holes in the visor







some kinda mess from ages ago







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Old 12-17-2010, 07:23 AM   #2
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

and we are donnne



my guess was an antenna?









more random taped up holes i found.





some more damage





a few marks left from the stud gun









these are gonna be no fun. body line doesnt match to save its life

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Old 12-17-2010, 07:27 AM   #3
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

1 thing i learned is you can really beat 16 gauge sheetmetal.

heres another poorly made non fitting heater hole patch panel.



the mess im working with



fit



notice the extra 1/8 inch of bead



the blue line is how wide it should be.i hammered the hell outa the area on the other side of the blue line to flatten it out so the beads matched





the bottom piece was really no fun










what i ended up with
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Old 12-17-2010, 07:29 AM   #4
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

i really have no idea how it came out this clean but hey im not complaining!!

















next im onto the patch panels...joyyyy!!
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Old 12-17-2010, 07:30 AM   #5
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

wheel well time. customer decided to put the patch panels we had in for the wheel wells



trim trim trim

mess mess mess



subframe cracked and thin





cut it out!



patch



look mom no clamps!!! got a nice tight fit





welded up



didnt get a pic of the bottom trimmed down



doneeee



onto the wheel well next
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Old 12-17-2010, 07:32 AM   #6
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

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wheel well patch sittin in place



some primer on the subframe and some weld-through primer on the lower part of the patch because i dont know if the patch gets spot welded to the subframe once ya wrap it around or not.



tacked in .

i usually dont work with that many tacks but for this one it seemed impossible not to. there were alot of variations in where the patch panel wanted to sit and where the og wheel well was so a ton of tacks it was





finished up!



for future reference it took a little more then 18 feet of tig rod to weld in the patch haha



another view

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Old 12-17-2010, 08:07 AM   #7
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Nice work and nice narrative (--albeit a little crude with some of the unnecessary foul language!!!). Thanks for sharing.


You are correct that in most instances the commercially available patch panels are indeed junk. While I did not see it mentioned, I am sure you also found those inner fender patches did not have the correct shape stamped into them, nor is the beads like the originals. Truly sad for all the effort that goes into this area. I'm sure that you will probably fabricate those next time too just so you can make them look closer to original. I guess that is why they say "experience is something you get after you need it!" Next time your experience will let you be able to tell the customer that he will need to let you make them yourselves!!

On a side note if you don't mind me asking, did you do this project on a 'Time & Materials' cost to him, ...or did you quote a turn-key price for the whole project beforehand, --and if so, would you do it for the same price again now that you know what all was involved??

Again, nice job & thanks for sharing. (...and BTW, I could not get your website to open.)

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Old 12-17-2010, 08:10 AM   #8
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Update; kept trying and it finally opened so there must have been some cyberland issues due to 'cold weather'!

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Old 12-17-2010, 08:15 AM   #9
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Hats off to you on the work.Just glad im not footing the bill. RAY
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Old 12-17-2010, 09:37 AM   #10
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

You clearly do nice work, but I have a question.

Why did you do the whole wheel well patch?

There was only a little bit of metal at the bottom that was bad.

From my experience it is fairly quick to make and weld in a a patch at the bottom of the wheel well. When you consider the length of the weld to do the whole arc and the cost of the panels. In the end I think you use less time and materials to make your own patch and weld it in.

I have encouraged several other people to make their own patches. In each case they have been surprised with how easy and quick the job went.
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Old 12-17-2010, 09:50 AM   #11
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

WOW! Thanks for sharing, and looks like excellent work. What color(s) has owner selected/
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Old 12-17-2010, 09:58 AM   #12
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Not a bad days's work!!!

Really looks great and so nice to see another Model A come back to life as an original.

Man, am I glad my 3 Model A's don't need patch panels!

Just curious, about how many hours to do this much work?
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Old 12-17-2010, 10:47 AM   #13
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Keep the updates coming. I think this is the first build thread I've ever seen on this forum, whereas on the HAMB there are litterly hundreds of them. Keep up the good work and as I said, keep the updates coming!!
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Old 12-17-2010, 03:23 PM   #14
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Some nice work Brent. Looks like the Coupe had all of the regular weak areas. The Tig does a nice job. I've got to learn to Tig. Only a Oxy-acetylene and Mig guy. Nice to see some metal finishing as well. Keep up the good work.

Here`s some picture of a 30 I`m working on that someone had brazed in sections of the Upper Quarter panel sections.

The Old Tinbasher. John Poole
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Old 12-17-2010, 05:50 PM   #15
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

thanks for the criticism i appreciate it guys .changed some things to be more well spoken.

Brent i dont know if i would try to make the wheel wells myself . im sure if the customer was picky enough i would be .i would not know how to make a bead that big and the way the panel bends in at the front.

this project is strictly time.

thanks ray

Kevin .I did the whole wheel well because 1 .the subframe was trashed . thats the main reason. def less work puttin the new piece in then all of the hammer and dolly work to straighten the orig piece plus the metal was torn and thin around all the fender studs. wheel well install was about 5 hours to what ya see now.

1931. He mentioned a 2 tone light brown dark brown.

Tom .right now ill be in around 26 hours after i weld the passenger side wheel well in. thinking a hair over 35 to finish everything up that needs addressed .

Loumo .i appreciate the feedback!!

Tinbasher. ive never used the torch to weld but man is a tig amazing !i dont think i will ever use a mig on sheetmetal again if i can help it at this point.


more pics when i get some more work done.thanks alot guys!
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Old 12-18-2010, 12:41 AM   #16
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinbasher View Post
Some nice work Brent. Looks like the Coupe had all of the regular weak areas. The Tig does a nice job. I've got to learn to Tig. Only a Oxy-acetylene and Mig guy. Nice to see some metal finishing as well. Keep up the good work.

Here`s some picture of a 30 I`m working on that someone had brazed in sections of the Upper Quarter panel sections.

The Old Tinbasher. John Poole

John,

You are a bit too modest in your postings and I'm sure some others would like to see some examples of the quality work you do on your web site.

http://www.tinbasher.com/order.html

I've seen a couple of your son's race cars and they are show quality.
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Old 12-25-2010, 06:37 PM   #17
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Thumbs up Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Nice work Flop! What did you do the second day?
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Old 12-17-2010, 05:16 PM   #18
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Ready to try fiberglass instead?
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Old 12-21-2010, 05:23 AM   #19
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

Flop, would you mind post pictures of the tools you used to shape the body lines?

thanks
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Old 12-21-2010, 03:56 PM   #20
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Default Re: 1930 Ford Sheetmetal Work

you sir are truly a artist and work fast!why couldnt i ever find someone such as yourself when i needed something fabricated. keep up the good work !!!
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