1930 DeSoto

[Cvans 1,009]

   I'm finding that recreating the flared lip at the edge of the fender is a real pain in the hind end. It was done with Bondo before the accident and who ever did it was a master at their trade which I am not. I need to come up with some kind of jig or mold to form it with. This is turning into the hardest part of the project and when figured out probably wont be bad. 

Any ideas?

Edited April 23, 2020 by Cvans

[Pullstart 62,838]

Sandpaper wrapped around a dowel or other similar shape?

[ebinmaine 67,435]

That's where you're different sizes and shapes of cheese grater files come in handy.

You put the Bondo on and let it sit until it's kind of gummy. Do some shaving.

Never done it. Watched it. But never tried it.

If you have any woodworking tools or skills you can make a block the shape of what you need and use that with your sandpaper.

[Cvans 1,009]

The cheese graters work good and I have a couple. The problem is getting a uniform curve to match the fender. I traced a line to follow with a compass and looks good until I start trying to follow it by hand. Wish I could just use a router with a guide. Going to have to come up with some kind of guide to use either when laying down the bondo or when removing it. Taking the fender off today and see what I can come up with. Thankfully these fenders are extremely easy to remove.  

 

 

[Cvans 1,009]

Spent the last couple of days thinking and working in the garden.  Finally came up with an idea for forming the lip on the fender. I had some old self adhesive foam insulation for installing the topper on a pickup. It's 1/4" x 1 1/2" wide so it was split to half that. The outline of the lip was traced onto the fender with a sharpie marker. The foam was installed along the outside of the traced line. Then the Bondo was applied. There was some concern about the Bondo sticking to the foam but that turned out to not be a big problem. What actually caused the most grief was the way the foam stuck to the finished part of the fender. The stuff stuck to the fender like a leech to flesh. Anyway it's done and it is going to be usable. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,435]

well done

[Pullstart 62,838]

Oh...THAT lip!  Good job!

[Stormin 9,981]

Lovely job.

 

Now can you pop over and repair the damaged rear wheel arch on my Land Rover Discovery?

[Cvans 1,009]

1 minute ago, Stormin said:

Now can you pop over and repair the damaged rear wheel arch on my Land Rover Discovery?

Probably cheaper to have someone local do it. Jolly old England might be an interesting place to visit though. 

[Cvans 1,009]

Today the last part came for the differential. Spent this afternoon and evening putting it back together. Thankfully all the parts were correct and went together well. I had forgotten how much fun it is getting the spider gears in. Those conical thrust washers were kind of a pain. Hopefully by tomorrow evening it will be back on it's wheels again. Be nice to back it out of the shop so the fender can be finished.

[Cvans 1,009]

Tomorrow the plan is to have the car drive out of the shop. Have the front seat belts installed, driveshaft back in and the differential filled with oil. Since getting the car it has seemed to run rich. Like the float was high but the carb looked new. While under the car I decided to take a look at the electric fuel pump and was surprised at what I found. It's a 6 Volt pump designed to put out 5 to 8 psi. The problem is it's wired to 12 volts and I'm sure putting out enough pressure to override the needle and seat. Today a 12 volt Holley pump was installed putting out 2 to 4 psi. Pretty sure this will help with the rich problems.  With the car out of the shop I will be able to prime and paint the fender. 

My wife is not a car person but I asked that she help me bleed the brakes. Now that she has spent some time in it she is getting excited about riding around in it. Things are looking up. 

[Razorback 1,035]

Looking forward to the next report!

[Stormin 9,981]

Are seat belts compulsory  in a car that age in the US? It wouldn't have them when new would it?

[ebinmaine 67,435]

4 hours ago, Cvans said:

Things are looking up

From Johnny Cash...

Honey, take me for a spin...

 

Niiiice

[953 nut 55,194]

5 hours ago, Stormin said:

Are seat belts compulsory  in a car that age in the US? It wouldn't have them when new would it?

Not required equipment, but a smart idea. If you are foolish enough to do so you don't have to have seat belts on vintage vehicles manufactured in the US prior to 1962 in many states.

[Cvans 1,009]

Well last night after posting this I had one of those dreaded (I forgot something) moments. Now I have to remove the drive shaft again and because of the E brake on the output shaft of the tranny it's a bugger.  The output and input shafts on the trans. and diff. need cotter pins installed in the castle nuts. DANG DANG DANG!!!!!! 

[Stormin 9,981]

I've said more than DANG on finding a small part, that should be elsewhere lying on the bench when tidying up.

[ebinmaine 67,435]

Many moons ago I had a boss that was into weekend racing in several different modes.

Circle. Straight. Big. Small. Mud. Tar. Whatever.

They put together a particularly ambitious Ford 302. Started it. Heard something funny. Shut it down.

1/4" nut laying on top of one of the pistons.

 

 

At least what you did, didn't cause any damage... No worries.

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by ebinmaine

[Cvans 1,009]

13 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

14" nut laying on top of one of the pistons.

I'm hoping that was a 1/4" nut not 14 inches. WOW! 

[ebinmaine 67,435]

4 minutes ago, Cvans said:

I'm hoping that was a 1/4" nut not 14 inches. WOW! 

Corrected. Nice catch. Thank you.

[Tractorhead 9,064]

2 hours ago, Cvans said:

Well last night after posting this I had one of those dreaded (I forgot something) moments. Now I have to remove the drive shaft again and because of the E brake on the output shaft of the tranny it's a bugger.  The output and input shafts on the trans. and diff. need cotter pins installed in the castle nuts. DANG DANG DANG!!!!!! 

 

Better a „dang moment“ before the first testride, than a fixup after it.👍

 

Not to annoy you, it’s just for training purposes... 😂

[953 nut 55,194]

6 hours ago, Cvans said:

hoping that was a 1/4" nut not 14 inches. WOW!

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to  BIG BLOCK!        

[Cvans 1,009]

Today I ran out of steam. Quit early. Did get everything corrected and reassembled. Filled the transmission and changed the oil in the engine.Got the seat back in and the carpet. Used 30 wt. non-detergent with some MMO added. Don't want to get too carried away as it looks like it's been running the Non-detergent stuff. I'll probably pull the pan one of these days and look things over. Going to order a 12 to 6 volt step down so the heater can be hooked up along with the gas gauge. Tomorrow while it's up in the air all the fitting will get grease then it's time to lower it and see if it will go down the road. Will have to stick to the back roads as the only lights on the back are signals and 4 way flasher. By this I mean dirt roads like the had in the 30's

[Ed Kennell 38,146]

[953 nut 55,194]

10 hours ago, Cvans said:

Will have to stick to the back roads as the only lights on the back are signals and 4 way flasher.

slightly        When I was restoring my 1947 Dodge a few decades ago I decided to drive it to a local car show a few miles from the house. Bare body shell in primer, no windows, no fenders, no interior but it had a license tag hanging on some wire.!  I was sitting in a milk crate and the only lights were the tail/brake lights. Second intersection I came to there was a County Sheriff's car coming the other way. I stooped, used my hand signal for a right turn and proceeded on down the road expecting to be pulled over. Looked in the rear view and saw nothing! I guess he just didn't want to wright that many tickets. The show was great and had an uneventful drive back home.