1939 Chevy coupe

[1946Austin]

Just a idea.....
do you have the original "bat wing" supports?
maybe you can incorporate those in to stiffen up the fenders...

As far as I can see the '39 didn't use those. The only supports I found in my '39 Shop manual were the ones under the headlights that my braces attach to now. Since I'm not going to use running boards I think I'll add a brace from the frame to the fender drop at the lower rear. That should help a little too. I might do the front, but it will require welding a tab to the inside lower edge to run a brace out to that point.

[1946Austin]

next time youre in a oreallys, autozonk, etc ask to look at
a bottom hose for 68-82 sbc vette, its got a 90 at the pump
end and maybe you could trim the radiator side back to
what you need.....

Thanks! I'll look online to see what it looks like first. Sometimes cutting down hoses works well. But sometimes the ends are the size you need and cutting down get you to smaller diameter, and they wont work.

[1946Austin]

I got my brace built and installed to tie the fenders together today. Took no time at all to build it, but a lot more time to take everything apart to sandwich it into the fenders and my other braces. It stiffened things up so much I bet I could stand on those fenders now! The U shape will give me plenty of clearance for the fan.





I also made up my 3/8 radiator support rods. That took way more to thread than I ever guessed! I figured it's aluminum, so couldn't be that hard? But the short threads at the radiator end were brutal to get done. A 1/4 turn at a time or the die stuck to the rod! I decided the other end's 2" of threads would be impossible at this rate, so I turned the rod down on my 1" belt sander to reduce diameter. I think the 3/8" size they call it was much larger! Even after reducing it was tough, but not nearly like before!
After threading both ends I bent the offsets to get them widened, and drilled holes at both ends. They went in great, and the radiator is also really solid now.







Next I bent up some 1/8" x 1" steel flat bar and drilled two holes in it for my hidden hood pins. I drilled two pilot holes first, and laid it on my grille top plate and then opened all the holes up to 1/2". I bent up the flat bar so it contoured to the inside of the hood. Then spaced it up and put it over the hood pins so I could bond it to the hood. At this point things went a bit sideways as they sometimes do. I set up the 3M panel bond in the double caulk gun, but no matter how hard I squeezed only the gray half moved! The cream colored half wouldn't budge at all, and eventually it started bending the caulk gun. So I stopped and removed the tubes from the gun. I grabbed my band saw and cut the ends off of both tubes, and used a paint stir stick to dig it out of the tubes. I mixed it together on a pallet, and applied it to the inside of the hood where I'd pre marked it. Then sat the hood in place over my bracket and let it set up. It worked fine, and the bracket is extremely solid. I'll need to open up the holes in the bracket slightly so the bracket slides over the hood pins easier, but not much. Maybe 9/16" should do it.
Stripped both headlights, and shot them with primer. I need to weld these holes up on the side, so didn't bolt them down yet. There's one hole per light, but both on the right side, so maybe these were off two different cars and both from the same side?

[1946Austin]

I decided today was time to just concentrate on cleanup. After all the fiberglass work the whole shop was covered in a layer of fiberglass dust. Couldn't work on anything without it looking dusty, and me itching.
So I got out today and opened up the doors and set a fan in one door. Then started blowing everything outside. After that I did tool pickup and returned tools to my main garage that I'm sure I'm done with. It will be a lot easier to work now without the dust, or searching for tools, or tripping over tools.

[DanStokes]

Sometimes you just HAVE to, My poor shop is well past due for that.

Dan

[fatguyzinc]

. It will be a lot easier to work now without the dust, or searching for tools, or tripping over tools.

i will have to take your word for that, as its never happened here
yet--and i really dont see it happening anytime soon either!

[1946Austin]

Sometimes you just HAVE to, My poor shop is well past due for that.

Dan

Considering the size of my little shop, it doesn't take much mess to make things more crowded. I really need to do a deeper cleaning, and toss some things too. Since the swap meet exodus of extra parts recently, I could begin to move some bins into the storage shed, and clear out even more space. But that's time I'd rather use towards the coupe, so a semi cleaning is good enough for now.

[1946Austin]

Got the rust hole welded up on the passenger lower front fender, and the crack in the driver's front fender welded up. Also welded up the two 5/8" holes in the headlight housings. Then I stripped the rest the paint off the driver's side fender and after prepping both fenders I shot them with primer to make sure they don't flash rust.
Got out the Rustoleum gloss black and painted the inside of both fenders also. Should have done the weld repairs, and painted them inside and out before hanging them as it would have been way easier. I ended up with gloss black everywhere I could get it on me! Hands, face, hair, you name it. Not a fun cleanup, but they're ready for bodywork now.

[Captain]

Painting my trailer project,
I'm not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed.....
It finally dons on me, I have paint booth head socks !! A bag full of them!!
By the time I got one on, already 1/2 way done with the Black.......
I always paint, even rattle cans with nitril gloves on, scrubbing yourself with minerals spirits is no fun

[1946Austin]

Painting my trailer project,
I'm not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed.....
It finally dons on me, I have paint booth head socks !! A bag full of them!!
By the time I got one on, already 1/2 way done with the Black.......
I always paint, even rattle cans with nitril gloves on, scrubbing yourself with minerals spirits is no fun

Even worse when the paint drips right near the corner of your eye! I too have nitrile gloves, and had my paint coveralls on, but regular gloves. It was just tough to paint overhead, and not get some drips. Especially so when I was trying to get a good heavy coat of paint on this area.
But it's done now, and I can look back at what I should have done, and hopefully remember for the next time!

[1946Austin]

Well the first light of day in over 6 months! And I'm very happy with the stance, and pretty much everything so far. Got a tow strap on the rear and pulled it out front with the old Suburban this morning. Took some pictures while I waited for my nephew to get here. It's on our sloped front yard, so sitting low on the passenger side, and high on the driver's side. But just slightly uphill in front.











My neighbor came over to see it also, so the 3 of us pushed it back into the shop easily.

[fatguyzinc]

love, love, LOVE that !!!

[1946Austin]

love, love, LOVE that !!!

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with how it looks outside too.

[1946Austin]

A guy building a ratrod '36 Chevy just bought the old glass fenders! Glad to see those go away!

[SuperBuickGuy]

wow