Chapter IV - Reassemble the Model A
With the paint work essentially done, it was time to get the Model A out of the temporary paint booth.
Dan had graciously allowed his personal work space to be used for painting. This included what paint
was done on my Sprite as well as this Model A. It was now time to
thank him and give the space back. We moved the body to the common area, took down the curtains and
removed the exhaust fan from its temporary spot in the window then cleaned up as much as we could.
Dan constructed a semi-permanent hoist system using a building truss in the common area at the end of
Dick's space. He permanently added a pair of 10 foot 2x6s to the truss and a removable 2x4 stiff leg
at each end then hung a 1 ton chain hoist from the center. We built a 4 point lifting harness attached
to the body floor members from inside and, with the help of a friend, lifted the body then rolled the
chassis under it. After carefully lowering it down onto the frame, we were finally able to get all the
body bolts inserted properly. The left photo is the body actually sitting on the frame with the bolts
in their respective holes for this initial fitting. That was enough for the first day.
The next day, being satisfied that the fit was good and that it could be repeated, we lifted it back
off to begin the preliminary steps for installation. The splash aprons, the long straight panels
between the body and the running boards and fenders, are the first pieces on the frame. There is a
thick fabric anti-squeak webbing between them and the frame though. We punched holes in the webbing
every place bolts or rivet heads go through then lightly glued it to the frame rail. The photo above
is the boys applying the fabric webbing material to the second side of the frame. You can see it is
already on the closer side. Then the aprons were installed with one bolt at each end to hold them in
place before the body is installed.
Some of the body mount points have a wood block between the frame and body. Under each mount point, wood or not, we added a rubber leveler shim about 3/16 inch thick. Then we rolled the chassis back under the body and carefully lowered it again, aligning the mounting bolts as it came down. With the body on the frame again, we determined that two of the mount points needed more shim so we lifted it just enough to get those inserted then set it back down. Satisfied that all was good, we then tightened the mounting bolts, all 16 if I counted right. With that done, we rolled the car back into Dick's work space, dismantled the hoist and stored it for possible future use. There is no weather stripping or other padding around the doors yet so they are tied to the body with rags for paint protection. You can see the masking around the right back seat window for touching up the light blue reveals. I need to finish removing that.
While I finished the brush touchup, Dan and Dick added a few more items to the body. These included the spare tire bracket, some interior wood pieces, the wood floor boards and the door latches. Dick ordered a new radiator shell. It looks great but the fit is certainly less than expected. After a couple hours messing about with it, we think we can form or flex it enough to work and be entirely satisfactory. He has ordered an interior and top kit so we are waiting for that. Meanwhile, I expect the hood is next, then the fenders.
Break to work on the interior
With the interior mostly done; don't want to install the front seats or front floorboards yet, we
got back to assembling the body, well mostly Dick and Dan. I got time to work on my stuff for a
while. The first thing was probably get the manette tube installed so the steering column and
box could be firmly bolted down. Next was the back fenders. Getting everything aligned and the
welting in the right place was a bit fiddly, especially at the intersection of the body, fender
and splash apron but also at the back. You can see that in the photo. I did not notice until
now but the right photo is a little confusing. The right side of the photo is the fender and it
is so shiny that you are seeing a reflection of the body, apron and running board in it. Photos
below show fenders installed.
The running boards were next. Some months ago Dan stripped and painted then then glued the new
rubbers on. Dick purchased a shiny new metal trim kit and Dan installed it. There are four trim
pieces for each running board and they have to be cut to length then their corners mitered to fit.
When they started to install the boards, Dick didn't like the fit of the mitered corners. The
end pieces were just cut too short. the easy answer, of course, was to order another set. The
better answer was to have new end pieces made locally. The side pieces were long enough and have
a fairly complex profile but the ends are pretty simple. A couple of days later we had enough
stainless stock in the right profile to make new ends. Here is the first board installed. The
forward end piece is just laying there and the miters will tighten up when the fender is added.
It looks quite good now, I think. Just for fun, here are some pictures of Dan installing them.
Next big step was to fit and align the hood. Well, it didn't fit quite right initially. There
is a hinge rod that mounts to the gas tank at the back and the radiator shell at the front. It
seemed the front was too high relative to the back, making the bottom of the hood, when closed,
overlap the radiator shell at the bottom instead of falling into its proper slot. The answer was
to lower the radiator shell or raise the body. We took the easier of the two and removed mounting
spacers under the radiator. This did not help much. The next attempt was to lower the shell on the
radiator. This meant new or elongated holes at the 4 mounting points. That helped but the hood
still overlapped the shell when closed. The only thing left was to raise the body. The original
set of body spacers came with a few extras. As I recall, there are eight bolts on each side that
attach the body to the frame and they all are accessed from below, some from above also. We felt
we could leave the back 3 on each side since only the front needs to be lifted. With the other 10
out, Dick made a tool so we could lift the body with only one jack. We put an additional spacer
under the front 3 mount points and bolted it back down. This is how it looks now. We can't be
really certain until the front fenders are mounted and the hood can be properly clamped down. It
looks close in the photo and gets better if you pull it down hard like the clamps will.
One day while Dan was golfing again, Dick and I tackled the headlight switch which consumed most
of a morning. It mounts at the bottom end of the steering column and is operated by a lever at
the steering wheel, through the manette tube. The switch itself is enclosed within a two-part
steel canister. We had looked at it a couple of weeks ago and found a critical internal part
missing which Dick ordered at the time. That part was the connection between the lever at the
steering wheel and the actual electrical switch. The first hurdle was installing that connector.
It is backed by a spring that must be compressed by hand into the steering box while a rather
loose fitting clip is installed then carefully released without dropping the clip. This would have
been an easy job on the bench but not so much reaching down into the frame. Before that, we spent
a lot of time studying the system to be sure we got it installed in the correct orientation. The
connector can be installed 90 degrees out of phase which would cause the lever at the steering
wheel to be off the same. We think we found enough evidence to get it right. Connecting the full
electrical system will tell. Here it is, the silver canister at the end of the steering column.
We had a new choke rod as the original was not pretty anymore. Unfortunately, it was about an inch
and a half too long and stuck way out from under the dash. Dick cut it off and rethreaded the cut
end for the knob. The choke rod is the one with the spring, attached near the bottom of the up
draft carburetor. The other is the throttle rod. A bigger problem was to be the generator. Way back
during the test drive, Dick noticed a little chirp from the generator
which did not get resolved at the time. He removed it and found excessive end play on the order of
0.040 inch. We think this allows a loose fitted dust cover for the front bearing to chatter. He
spent a lot of time trying to grind the thickness of a heavy washer or spacer between the dust cover
and the retaining clip. With probably zero clearance but easy to turn, he reinstalled it. That will
require further study. Now for just a little more fun, here are some more photos of the guys working.
First is Dan appearing to be polishing something although I don't know what. Then Dick doing the
repairs on the generator and finally reinstalling it.
Next, Dan got the spare tire and tail light mounted. Oops, looks like he forgot the tag bracket
that goes on the stem before the light. I guess mounting the tail light will be easier the second
time around. Other that that, it must have been pretty uneventful.
Now is is another problem with that new radiator shell. It does not clear the hood shelf, a fitting that installs over the fender mount that the hood closes against. I order to determine exactly how to correct it, Dick decided it best to install the fender and shelf first. Most likely, some will have to be trimmed from the shell. We'll have more on this as it gets done but here they are mounting the first fender for measurements.
Interesting how each new feature added makes it look just a little more like a real car. Of course
now I am really missing that radiator shell. Then here they are installing the other front fender.
Looks like Dan is installing the bolts while Dick is trying to get the welting in place. This is
a trickier job than it looks, trust me. The other photo looks like Dick is just supervising while
Dan does all the work. But I cheated a bit and caught him probably retrieving something they need
to finish the job.
The real purpose for installing the fenders at this time was that radiator shell. So Dick now has
it marked where he wants to trim the bottom. The plan is to use a cutoff disk on the die grinder
while trying to keep it cool to protect the surrounding chrome with wet rags. We will see how
well it works.
So this is his fix to the poorly fitting radiator shell. The bottom edge of the shell had a bit
of a slant downward instead of flat like the original. This extension interfered with the hood
shelf top. Also, it hit where it extends downward around the front of the shelf. We found a stone
about the right diameter for one die grinder and a cutoff disk for another and careful use of
both managed to reshape the bottom edge for proper clearance. It turned out that he didn't even
need the wet rags by working slowly. I didn't get any photos of the process but here seems to be
the best I can get of the finished product. It fits nicely.
While I took a couple of days off, the guys got the bumpers installed plus a bunch of small stuff.
Dick ordered and received new hub caps and got them on. The dash panel, with the instrument light
still missing and the final tail light assembly. Yes, we still have a lot of litter around. Soon,
the car will be assembled and ready for another test drive. At that time we will surely get all
that junk off the car and the floor.