Auto collision repair in the 1940s

[AmateisGal]

An excellent place to ask your questions would be the Antique Automobile Club of America forums

http://forums.aaca.org/

Lots of extremely knowledgeable and helpful guys. Suggest you post your questions to the General Discussion or Technical pages.

Awesome! Thank you. And the car my character will be restoring is a 1932 Chevy Confederate Roadster (I think).

 

[scotrace]

Old issues of MOTOR Magazine are also good original source material.

 

[AmateisGal]

Old issues of MOTOR Magazine are also good original source material.

Thanks, Scot. Will check those, too.

 

[fashion frank]

I have a '42 Ford, and it had a couple repairs that had been done with lead loading - I had an old guy teach me how to do it, because my car is constantly immersed in water, and the modern plastic 'bondo' type fillers actually absorb moisture and can cause problems.
You need oak paddles to work the lead into shape, they can be made easily by any competent handyman, and a 'moleskin' for wiping the tinning, they are harder to come by, but I used an old leather glove (rough side out) soaked in Russian Tallow.

Wow that thing is awesome I love it !!

In responce to the question you might also try the Model A Club of America's website and or leave them any questions you might have, I have as I own a Model A and they are great when it comes to any questions you might have .
Also the Model A Restorers Club as well. www.mafca.com

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[AmateisGal]

Wow that thing is awesome I love it !!

In responce to the question you might also try the Model A Club of America's website and or leave them any questions you might have, I have as I own a Model A and they are great when it comes to any questions you might have .
Also the Model A Restorers Club as well. www.mafca.com

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

Thanks!

 

[fashion frank]

Thanks!

Not a problem ,any time and I'm glad to see that you were not offended by my comments in the "70's tacky" Thread.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[Stanley Doble]

32 Chev roadster would be one of the cars with wood frame composite body. In 1946 it would be a 14 year old used car, more or less what a 1990s car would be today.

There were young guys restoring old cars at the time. In California they would be building hot rods out of whatever they could find, but almost always Ford roadsters. In other parts of the country especially the east, there were a few eccentrics restoring the classics of the twenties and thirties but usually more expensive, and rarer than a Chev.

I can see a guy fixing up an old Chev if he liked the car, though it would be an unusual choice. Cost, and the un-availability of new cars and late model used cars motivated this sort of thing.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Typical scenario. Older working guy, gets the chance to buy a new car and replace the 32 Chev roadster he nursed thru the war. Or perchance the car develops a rod knock which Chevs were prone to do. The old car not worth fixing, or offered a laughable sum as a trade in, it sits in his driveway unused.

Neighbor teenager likes the car and buys it for $10 saved out of his paper route and lawn mowing money. Tears the engine down in dad's garage and rebuilds it. Buys a set of recap tires, has the car painted red and has the coolest car in high school (other than teachers, there are 4 guys who own their own cars). Our hero, a couple of guys with prewar jalopies, and the rich guy's son who got a new Studebaker coupe for his birthday.

Something like that?

PS an alternative to rebuilding the car at home would be to buy a rebuilt engine from Sears. They were in the catalog back then.

 

[Mr Slug]

Wow that thing is awesome I love it !!

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

Thank you Frank.

It does actually share some common parts with the Modal A - spring shackle bushes.

Regards, Mark.

 

[fashion frank]

Thank you Frank.

It does actually share some common parts with the Modal A - spring shackle bushes.

Regards, Mark.

Boy I thought I get a lot of looks with my car I can just imagine what it must be like tooling around in that thing !
Where does the licence plate go on the back?

All the Best, Fashion Frank