by mrstumpyHO » Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:17 am
Very interesting project! The first race car I crawled into was a '39 Ford coupe! The fenders were cut back a lot more and the running boards were gone. It was a lot less rusty, but had dents pounded out so many times that the lower body looked like a bag of walnuts! I was 17 years old then and the coupe was quite a bit older, and pretty tired.
The "salt for rust" trick is neat too! In the old days of AMT "Trophy Series" styrene kits, we did brush painting and used fine sugar for rust, sprinkling it on the wet paint. After thoroughly dried we put thin "rust" color over it to seal it on. We sanded off all the chrome trim, door handles, tail lights, and other such "bolt on" parts and used a heated straight pin to make trim clip holes and door handle holes for Stock Cars because there were no drills small enough to make the right size holes then.
By the way, those "ribs" along the upper body you drilled through ARE the chrome strips that are supposed to be gone. They are the same on the '39 "Deluxe" and the '40 "Standard" and "Deluxe" coupes and sedans. Of course, only an old "car guy" like me who "misspent" too many years scrounging through junk yards, racing Stock Cars, and then building street rods will notice those details. too many skinned knuckles to forget! :D
Stumpy in Ahia :character-oldtimer: