Ford Model A Tudor Modern Twist on a Classic

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks great

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

The visor and drip rail install look awesome! Are you planning on driving it this summer?

I think this hobby is much more fun without plans or timelines haha. I just worry about the next few things to do and get stuck into the garage. I definitely feel this project has been much faster than my original timeline. 5 years originally and now a year and a half in you're right on that it may possibly be driving by the fall if I keep at it.

I've never been so invigorated to sand something! First bit of short strand filler going down over the welds for a smooth as silk finish...

[gigamanx]

Couple of product shout outs from a novice..

USC 24030 Short strand went on smooth and was easy to sand. Follow directions, easy to do and manipulate before it sets.

Eastwood PRE wax and grease remover seems to be able to spray on pretty much any surface and leave a nice super clean finish to stick things like primer, body fill, base, and clear to.

Eastwood self-etching weld thru primer. The only spray can I've found so far that doesn't completely gum up after one or two uses leaving the remainder of a $15 can useless. Tried SEM and 3M

[gigamanx]

Great at getting out in the garage every couple of days, not so great at updating the Internet haha. I get too into the project and forget to take photos.

This month finished filling the tack strip line at the back of the car so its flush. Welded most of the floor pans in permanently. Built access doors for the hand brake and gear shifter. Finalized placement of the front suspension and steering. Frame is now blown apart where I was able to weld the last items underneath.

Last, but not least, went through about 300 red metallic swatches to pick out three choices for a spray out.

Found some weld in 1/2x20 threaded inserts. They are great for speeding up attachment points for sheet metal like the screws needed to attach a cover plate to the gear shift and handbrake covers.





Degrease, wire wheel, rust disolver, paint.


Cleaning up and filling all the holes in the frame. 36 just on the drivers side. I was starting to wonder if there is any frame left!




Metallic shows in the sunlight, but in the shade a nice deep red.

[28TudorAZ]

Looks great.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Like the paint booth....I'm fixing to do something similar in mine...

Just a heads up on the paint booth. I had to take it all down. The plastic tubing was a bit flimsy so moving it around a little, the pieces were separating. Plastic sheeting went to crap soon after it was stood up. This past weekend I took the step of building 2x2 timber frames and using underlayment plywood. Should be nice and sturdy and made mounting the fans a whole lot easier. One last item since I'm using the garage for both fabrication and paint, the dust is crazy. I build a little box fan filter that just sits in the middle of the room and filters the air. I run that for 24 hours before spraying anything.

Getting set to paint my frame this month!

[mongocanfly]

I used cables strung front to back on my shop, and hung the plastic over it...I used quality heavy plastic..so far I've had no issues...sure wish I had a better setup though..

[gigamanx]

Getting down and dirty under the car now. Finished up a bunch of small things for the floor, laid down primer, and now getting sealant into all the grooves. About to tape things up and get ready to spray Eastwood chassis black underneath.

In other news, I finally bit the bullet and purchased my two gallons of base with a gallon of clear. The cost was double my highest estimate for what I thought auto paint would be holy cow! PPG Shop line coming in at just shy of $500 a gallon. I immediately went home and started over on building the paint booth. That's a lot of money to screw something up so I'm now even more cautious about my prep before laying any color down.

[burnin oil]

I know that feeling on paint. Mid 90s I painted a truck for under 200 bucks. Last one was Nasson single stage in a cheaper color and the materials were a grand including primer. That was 10 years ago.

[67C10Step]

Going to be a super nice ride when done. One that will make the discerning eye stop for a long look.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 67C10Step

Going to be a super nice ride when done. One that will make the discerning eye stop for a long look.

Thanks for the compliment! I'm optimistic it'll turn some heads when done.


Currently in the garage, fill sand fill sand repeat... Laid some Eastwood 2k chassis black on the rear end and the posies front springs.to test the new paint booth layout. On the booth, I build a doorway fan filter holder with four fans. Needed that many to get positive air pressure in a one car garage. There are two extraction fans but they are running on low speed to balance out the pressure. Works a charm as there have been very few dust bunnies and overspray moves quickly out of the way. Next up I'll be laying color down on the frame so that'll be a big test for my skills in filling, sanding, and prepping a flat surface for glossy goodness. If I can get the frame looking perfect, the body should go well too.

Still worried my 20gal air compressor is not going to handle a bigger job though :/

First of 3 or maybe it was 4 layers of filler. Had to learn some spreading techniques and sanding between 180 grit and final sanding at 320 grit. Comes out SUPER smooth.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking good! It's gonna be BAD @$$

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice work! Yeah, paint prices have really gotten up there!

[lunatic1968]

I was thinking maybe you can rent a larger compressor the day of paint, I wouldn't attempt it with all the cost of paint. Just an Idea. Its looking good.

[gigamanx]

My first test of the paint booth and I decided to jump in with both feet on color and clear. My paint guy said try a test panel first, but I was too excited to lay some color down.





This is how wet it looks after the clear had dried. I'm guessing the final step of a buff and wax will turn out awesome. Love how glossy it turned out using DCU2021 clear.


Lesson learned:
Booth cleared easily with 4 box fans on the intake doorway and 2 exit fans. I opted to add the Spectrum disposable cup kit from Harbor Freight the night before and that is an amazing buy for $20. I was able to mix and store my color and clear in cups before spraying and once I started laying down color I didn't have to stop to mix things later.

The 17 or so step process for prepping a panel worked out amazing. I'll detail it another time but basically filler, sand with 180, filler, icing and putty to fix any holes, 180 sanding... two coats of Eastwood primer. wet sand with 320. I couldn't be happier with how smooth the surface was after paint and clear. No scratches or marks showing -- so much so I'm not entirely sure I need high build primer on the body when I do that section. Seemed wet sanding the primer took out every concerning mark.

My pressure gauge and final water filter adds about 8" to the bottom of the gun. I think maybe 16-18" of length total cup+gun+air gauge+water filter. When painting under the frame this was a huge PITA to try and angle the gun and not hit the floor

Spray gets on EVERYTHING! I had my phone sitting on a surface near the intake fans and still got clear coat on it somehow ugh!

[mongocanfly]

i have a swivel between my gun and the filters...i had the same issues when i painted my C30..couldnt get under the rockers

[burnin oil]

When I painted my 72 in single stage I ran a regulator and filter at the compressor and nothing at the gun. Worked flawless. I bought the do dads for the gun but couldn't find them at paint. Only issue was painting at an upward angle. I learned to paint with the canister below the gun and the new HVLP was gravity feed. I had issues with paint leaking out of the canister. The purple harbor freight gun was flawless otherwise. I needed one touch up on a fender. Not a bad job at all for a truck shot in etching primer only and no buildup. Going strong for over 5 years now.

[Dieselwrencher]

It looks really nice. I'm glad to hear the booth worked well. I'm going to have to look into the disposable cup kit. Definitely looks better for tipping the gun and avoiding spills and definitely easier clean up.

[gigamanx]

Gotta keep the fans up to date! Sanded down the clear coat until I was cutting through color. I then did a tack coat and a full coat of color again before two coats of clear. The big change was the 60 gallon compressor I'm now using. I also opted to get closer and lay down a thicker coat of clear than I originally had done. Worked out so nice I decided not to even try color sand and buff.

Paint right out of the garage booth like a mirror!


Have to admit every bolt I'm putting back on the frame is a triumph. What a good feeling to see some things complete.



Now that I have a paint quality I'm happy with, onto the body with the 20 step process :/

[gigamanx]

Body prep process:

1. After sand-blasting a rub down with 180 grit
2. Prep-all to clean the surface with a cloth
3. Layer of epoxy primer
4. After it drys, cut with "grey" scotch brite
5. Fiberglass reinforced filler on welded repair areas, seams, or areas where moisture might bleed through from pinholes in the surface.
6. Cut down with 40 grit to smooth the surface
7. Optional, layer of epoxy primer where bare metal might be showing again after the 40 grit treatment.
8. Fill the entire panel with Evercoat rage ultra.
9. Spray guide coat and sand down high spots until you hit metal with 180 grit. Don't worry about low spots
10. Fill low spots with Evercoat
11. Spray guide coat and sand. It should now be pretty darn close to the shape you want will no high or low spots. If you still have some rinse and repeat step 8-11.
12. Use icing putty or a small amount of filler where any pin holes or spots were missed
13. Guide coat and sand with 180 grit
14. Optional spray high fill primer like featherfill G2
15. sand down a little more with 320 grit.
16. Two good coats of epoxy primer over the surface. This should give you a close to even looking color across the surface. One dry you can also wet the surface a little to give some gloss with prep-all and look for any final areas that were missed.
17. wet sand 320 grit
18. prep-all and clean up.


You're ready for paint!!

[Driver_WT]

Amazing work on your Model A. I almost picked up a Model A project two years ago, but it just looked like too much work.

[mongocanfly]

Man gig....that frame is superb..!!

[Dieselwrencher]

That sure looks amazing! I tripped onto a honey hole a few weeks ago and the man has 7 model a coupe bodies. I'm hoping I can get him to sell 1 of them.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That sure looks amazing! I tripped onto a honey hole a few weeks ago and the man has 7 model a coupe bodies. I'm hoping I can get him to sell 1 of them.

They're a lot of fun but I'd say even fewer options for bolt on stuff you can buy like we do with the trucks. Part of that I think is how bad some of the original design is in the model A and there is no way we want to go back to that design. Frame built of wood, floor made of wood, solid axles. Something as simple as adding shocks the front springs becomes a fabrication ordeal.

[gigamanx]

Appreciate all the compliments!!