The first, and I mean the FIRST guy who asks if this is “…one of those kit-cars…” is going to get one of these bronze windshield posts shoved right up his arse. Up until yesterday, I had the posts and windshield frame just loosely bolted on, and no hinge bushings in the posts, and it looked reasonably OK.
Until I tightened things down a little.
Then everything was all kinds of off. The left had post stood up several degrees more vertical than the passenger side, and didn’t lay right against the cowl. The windshield bound in the pivots with the bushings in, and the pivot stud would barely go through its hole in the (apparently twisted) left side post.
It was awful.
I ended up spending the afternoon getting these reproduction posts to fit the cowl of the who-knows-how-old, unknown maker fiberglass body, and accept the original, but chopped two inches, windshield frame. Some (OK, a LOT) of “finessing” with a 4″ angle grinder on the bottom of the post flange, a little work with a hole saw to allow the mounting bolt some wiggle room, some time clamped in the vise with some precision re-shaping with a big Crescent wrench, and “Ding-Ding-Ding”, we have a winner.
That was after I made new brackets on the cowl brace to move the steering column two inches to the left and down a half an inch because the wheel was in the wrong place, and the brake pedal hit it.
This car has been a series of challenges to make things fit properly. I started with the doors. Broken hinges. Poorly mounted latch hardware. Nowhere near enough bracing. Turnbuckles to twist the doors into submission. Shimming the body on the frame for gaps. Remounting and aligning the rumble lid hinges. Filling and finessing the fit of the rumble lid to the body and tulip panel. Making cowl to frame mounts (a vital part of old Ford body alignment that this car never had). Getting the Rootlieb hood to fit the Argentine reproduction grill shell, and then getting the hood to fit the cowl AND the grill shell at the same time. The splash aprons, which are still going to need a bunch of Mar-Glas and ‘glass mat and resin to fit properly.
And that’s just the body. I built the frame too, not having ever dealt with a buggy sprung Ford chassis before.
It’s been humbling, but fun, and great therapy. I’m actually a little sorry to have it close to paint and being done. Except for doing the interior, and a new top, and trimming the trunk, and the exhaust, and…
I assembled and welded the new legs onto the new coupler before I welded anything on the trailer tongue, which was a bit of foresight I usually don’t have. The bottom has strips of 7 gauge steel strips welded to the new legs, which I welded (from above) to the inside of the original channel. The top is welded solidly, as well as the ends. I’m proud of the stick-welded job, it looks good, and the ancient coupler/jack is headed for the scrap pile.
I temporarily wired up the thermostat/control for the roof mounted A/C-heat pump, and like everything else, it fired right up and works AMAZINGLY well. The A/C is ice cold, the heat works, and it’s all controlled by the wall mounted ‘stat. Pretty high tech for me!
I had gotten the fridge vent stack installed as well, and wired up the 12V feed to it, and started it. It cools down as it should, and while I had no doubt it would, it’s nice to verify it works after all that effort, and trading a really nice vintage camper I bought last winter for it! The water heater is also vented, the cap is on the roof covering both vent stacks, all that remains to be done is to plumb the 3/8″ soft copper line to them both, and the kitchen stove.
It seems like a long time since I worked on the trailer, in reality, it’s only been a couple weeks. I’ve decided that the goal of making Camp Dearborn and the Tin Can Tourist Spring Rally isn’t going to happen, so I’ve slowed down a bit, but I’ve still gotten quite a bit done.
The new axle is under the trailer, and the Dodge 17″ 8 lug wheels and Michelon 24575R17 10 ply rated tires are on. The trailer now looks like ours, it looks good and feels good having that chore done. In addition, both waste tanks are under the trailer and the plumbing is 90% complete, so there are three things (almost) checked off the list. Most of the trim is done inside, I have to steam and bend a couple pieces of quarter round, and cut the hole in the roof for the fridge and hot water heater vent, finally get the interior varnished, and a thousand other little jobs that I haven’t even thought of yet.
I’ve taken advantage of the lack of a rush on the trailer, to finally start organizing and working on the ’34 Ford roadster project I bought last fall after selling the ’48 Pontiac convertible. I lifted the body off the frame, and made a (sort of) frame table/jig using two Stanley Work-Mates and some steel rectangular tubing. I have the frame leveled, squared, tacked together, the engine mounts are in, and the front axle is hanging from the crossmember. I’ve started welding the center section in, and will get the ’40 Ford rear crossmember flattened and in tomorrow. At least, that’s the plan…
I have a little space heater in the trailer, a fire in the stove in the shop, and I’ve been busy doing what I consider “cabinet work”, although I’m sure my high school shop teacher, and my brother-in-law would shake their heads in disbelief and walk away, I think I’m making progress.
Once again, we’ll have a wrap around shelf under the panoramic front windows, that’ll continue down the top of the booth to display stuff. That was one feature of the ’46 that we really liked. This should be a notable improvement over that trailers seating.
The street side cabinets are framed in, with space for the stove, and the lavatory sink is in place behind the little partition between galley and bedroom. This all fits well and looks great, we’ll have a simple display shelf above the stove, no upper cabinets on this side of the galley.
Todays project, in bitter cold, was the wardrobe cabinet that is just inside the front door, where the original furnace sat. I all the interior doors, kitchen doors and drawers from a ’49 Imperial Mansion, and am using what I can in this Manor. Two of the wardrobe doors worked perfectly for our wardrobe, I’m very happy with how this turned out. The sink, a stainless double basin unit with built in drain board from IKEA, will be just aft of the wardrobe, and the fridge will set somewhere behind that, which will also determine where the partition for the bathroom will be.
I cut down a small pair of what had been overhead cupboard doors from the Mansion to use as upper doors. I’m pleased with how it all came together. It’ll looks original, but will be all modern and very functional for our needs.
Cool McCool's Garage 