1931 Model A Cabriolet 60's rod rebuild

The outer part of the wrap around fits real nice.

Now the frame table is rolled in set level & the new repo 32 frame rails set on it.

A new upper wheel well arch had to be made for the right side, it was bent, shaped & contoured to fit.

Inside reinforcement being end & plug welded to the frame rail

Right pillar ready for install Cass did a great job fabing these up.

The one of many test fits the cowl & doors first.

The inner channel is starting to fit real nice

Lots of lay out time so things will fit correctly.

Repaired & cleaned up.

Dash with speedo only no gages

King Bee after market head lights with T3 Bulbs.

After lots of scraping & whipping down with lacquer thinner it is starting to clean up.

Body mount blocking on the right side just plain scary.

Almost all the clean up done on the pillar.

A member getting fully welded in on the inside.

lower rear mounts fully welded & ground clean

Its really starting to take shape.

The 3 to be patched areas were painted with rust preventative paint before the patches were welded in

All the welds were ground smooth, it looks clean & is a lot stouter now then the wood.

A few last shots before the owner picks it up he will be bringing it back in the fall if things go wright to finish it up.

The rear upper coil over shock mount is fully welded & ground clean.

The body sitting on the new frame for the first time.

The main body was sanded pretty clean with the da, over all it has a real nice outer skin just some minor touch up stuff.

Ah flow thru ventalation

Cass tig tacking the sub structure together.

This car was originally built but never finished in the late fifty's or early sixty's, it was last driven in the early sixty's then it sat in dry storage that's about all the current owner knows. So now its time to freshen her up for lots of fun driving. So stay tuned & watch the turn key build.

Just a little more adjusting for the back part of the wrap around.

Parallel four link will be used.

Yikes the high tec body to frame mounts a back yard hack job for sure & yes it is sitting on a 32 frame.

Rear torque tube differential is out. Also notice the hack job on the inner wheel tub.

Now working on the inner structure.

In a previous build some hack artist cut up the cross member with a torch real iffy for strength.

The model A front cross member will drop the front a little more.

Its looking stripped.

The front is dialing in real nice now.

Starting to mock up the chassis for ride height.

We removed the wood blocking & now it just sits on the 32 frame.

After clean up the left & right rear body sub frame sections look great.

Some initial trimming & fitting of the boxing plates.

A set of full length frame boxing plates.

Slight arch as per factory.

Now its time for the rear triangulated 4 link.

The rear will come later.

Now its disassemble time first the interior comes out.

They were tig welded & ground clean.

Sence a $60,000 plus tubing bender is not in my budget we have to make the rear body mount the old fashion way.

More welding & grinding of the x member to main rails & the front cross member.

We now have most of the chassis parts here so its time to start mocking up the chassis, a bell 4 inch dropped tube front axel with 54 Chevy spindles & Camaro hubs. The rear differential is a custom 9 inch ford centered center section.

Ah yes the 60's custom yellow accent paint.

Bottom of the flange up tight aginst the sub structure

Then the welds were ground clean.

The soft top comes off next a cazillion nails.

Top is ready to lift off.

Test fitting the cowl to the sub frame.

The wood not so good, very week & tired.

First patch the right lower cowl.

Fuel tank support mounts, we wanted to put the tank lower but due to rear suspension travel we were not able to .

Re checking for fit we love it when a plan comes together

The first one will have a double reverse down from the center both sides & back.

Grill, hood, fenders & running boards next.

Cass finished stripping the rest of the hard ware off of the body.

Its nice having a chassis table that tilts for loading & in loading.

We have custom made rubber body mount groments

The new wrap around being plug welded in place top & bottom, now the old floppy body is firming wright up, no loose goosy any more.

Tig tack welding the pieces together.

The body is not quite centered here a little shove forward

Type your paragraph here.

Now its time to box the rest of the frame rails.

The motor is a late 50's 283 by the looks like conversion was never finished the intake is not bolted down & the front motor mount is hoky at best

It cleans up nice.

Then it was flipped over & tacked on the other side & the welds ground smooth.

The new lower body sub structure, clamped down to the old wood for alignment.

We are using a Unisteer rack & the mount bracket isn't quite wright so we will end up fabing a better one.

Pattern made for the filler cap.

1/2 of the old lower wood.

Nice clean & smooth just like nothing was there.

Additional weld on the inside was ground down.

Checking the x member for fit & level it will need some trimimg

More arch tuning on the Baileigh power hammer.

Using my Baileigh deep throat shrinker stretcher its not a long process.

Pillars have a real nice fit & are tack welded in place.

Time to fit the rear body section for the last time.

The x member is level & nicely trimmed for a tight fit.

An insert was made to add strength to where the sections are joined together then corner gussets added.

its now welded to the body build table.

They were all fully welded & ground but still need to be hammer and dolly finished.

New flush mount cowl supports are made in 10 gage steel.

3 small body patches will need to be made.

The sub frame spaced up off of the jig table so the body panels will fit

With some tweaking to the body & slight mods to the frame it will fit nice on the 32 frame.

The body area was also painted with rust preventative paint

The radiator is shot & some temporary mount tabs will be made for fitment.

60's style fuel filler cap

dannypascoemetalshaping.com

Quality custom & restoration sheet metal work & repair

The front going under the cowl needs a slight taper. So its slice, dice & tack weld.

1931 Ford Cabriolet 60's Rod Rebuild.

X member center plate getting fully welded then the welds a ground clean.

the front cowl support sections welds are ground clean

Lots of mount jig fixtures are welded to the table.

At the present time we have a wide variety of projects going on.

Where the upper body wood was there was 7 fatigue stress cracks plus a couple of elongated holes.

Cowl supports tied into the steel sub frame.

Its now pretty well stripped to the bone.

The new atchment piece was pre drilled for plug weldeing then painted with rust preventative paint.

Getting close to finalizing the hood gap.

start fitting of the brake pedal assembly & the x member welds are ground clean

The sixty's era dice.

The right rear patch being checked for fit.

Both front lower cowl sections had a previous lead repairs.

Looking like it is supposed to.

The front flat tube is the mount area for the soft top hinge mechanism.

The right rear quarter inner support will need a some repair also I guess the nut was left from a previous repair of some kind

Top shot of the cowl on the sub frame.

The patch was made to fit the original shape in like after market panels.

Building some additional sub structure parts.

The rear trans mount plate is lightly tacked to help keep things in alignment.

The bottom sub structure is starting to take shape.

Welds ground clean, then good old hammer, dolly & some torch shrinking to bring every thing into alignment.

Fitting pretty nice.

Now for the rear wrap around the old wood was shot it was removed which unveiled several body cracks & stress areas which will need to be repaired.

The floor will need some attention

The new tub section is fully welded & ground clean

The top front isn't fitting so well any more but close.

The frame will have to be notched for the body to sit down nice.

Old wood door pillar & starting of the new steel ones.

The Patch was cut to size then some hammer work so the contours would match the cowl shape, then tig tacked in place.

The frame is taking real nice shape.

One of Cass's tig welds better then my 69 year old shake hands.

Both sections carefully removed.

Welding up the front 4 bar mounts.

Cass starting to check for fit of new lower steel body support.

Overall its starting fit real nice there is still a lot of work ahead.

The door panel fit isn't the best any more.

Layout for the rear frame notch.

The owner stopped by with a bunch of parts for the chassis build. the front axel is from Bell with a 4 inch drop, parallel 4 bar with 54 Chev spindles & Camaro hubs plus a UniSteer rick & pinion.

The tub is fully welded then ground clean.

Using my Baileigh Magnetic brake we bent them in a 90.

Now the front cowl support will get some attention.

Over all the sheet metal looks real nice we will find out as we strip it down.

Starting construction on the lower body support rails.

The rear body was set on the jig for a mock up checking for alignment.

I have 3/8 thick drop in plates for my big table

Cass welding up an adapter for the body table.

Cass turning the flange on the right inner wheel tub to match the sub frame contour.

All the welds are ground smooth and clean.

Cass tig welding up one of the door pillars.

The inner support will need some minor repair.

The rear after market inner tubs are to long so they were trimmed to match the frame & lower body support with a flange turned under neath.

The frame is fully boxed except the front frame horns & the rear behind the coil over upper mount bar.

Fitting like it was made for it, O that's wright it was custom made to fit.

This project is coming to an end for now so its time to put the body back on the frame showing the custom rear rubber body spacer.

Grinding the welds on the boxing plates.

With the 4 link mounts fully welded is now time to clean up the welds.

Body sub frame to chassis mounts being made.

The rear body section was remover so the lower substructure could be drilled for frame mounts.

The cowl filler neck is going away.

These door pillars are the most complicated part of the wood replacement structure but will be well worth the effort over time.

The rear tire is centered in the wheel arch.

Finishing up the right pillar.

With the suspension and chassis set at ride height the rear differential is dialed in at 3 degrees the lower 4 link bars are tacked into place.

Motor & trans out, Cass is removing the front axel assembley

Original Sport Coupe landau bars.

Constant checking of square ness & level as every thing is being fit.

We did not want body bolts sticking up in the floor so they are recessed into the sub frame.

The notch is cut out & the bottom is then fully welded then starting grind clean

Time for the rear C notch it will flow better laid out like this & the differential clears better.

Both x member sides and the top plate are tack welded into place, the frame is starting to look like its supposed to.

The old paint soaked up the paint stripper like a sponge

Now over to one of the jig fixture weld tables.

The upper four link mount is tied into the x member & the main frame rails.

The 3 patches were tacked into place

The four bar front is taking shape.

The old floor toe board supports were removed & some additional cowl support was added.

It was then fit in place & fully welded.

Aluminum floor pan & trans tunnel.

The rear end moves up & down smooth as butter.

Between us we had enough wheels & tires for mock up about a 2 inch stager.

Cass going for a test drive.

Clean looking parts.

After making the 3 patterns Cass cut the blanks then started making the repair section, first using the magnetic brake, then the bead roller to put in the offset lastly my air power planishing hammer to form in the slight crown needed to match the original stampings.