1940 Ford Fenders.....continued.

Nearly finished one of the fenders
                                  - a couple rounds of primer and blocking and it'll be good as..... well, good.

On to the other side!

1940 Ford Metalwork

The left fender that came with the project was pretty rough -with someone having welded several patches in with thick, heavy welds and other damage in many areas. We brought in another fender, which I though HAD to be better, so I sent it straight to the sand blaster...

Once the metal was bare, I was shocked to see that this one was actually worse than the first fender!

Metal rod, sometimes used to shape and strengthen a fenders edge, was welded in haphazardly, not even close to the edges in some spots.

 As well, splits, tears and holes that were poorly welded were now evident as well.

 

Here's the same area on both fenders:

 

 ......which would YOU choose?

I chose the original (black) one, due largely to the better edge, no rod and fewer tears....

However, there were still a lot of issues to address:

I used this dolly to help shape the edge where the previous repairs had been made - 

Using the slapping file, I then evened out several larger areas - 

The metal file takes off weld faily quickly and allows you to see the highs and lows too.

Here's an example of a low area that can be worked out with the hammer, 

then the pick so that little to no filler will be required - 

 Working out one of the patches -

 

The top-side must have been caved in, then bat back out with a sledge hammer!

After a lot of hammer, pick and dolly work and filing. After a once-over with the DA and it'll be ready for primer.

I haven't posted for a while because the 1940 Ford and 1971 Datsun are both in the primer and sanding stage and there's little to show. I did, however, do some metal work that may be of interest, so I thought I'd post that up!

..and the sanding....

Don't forget to check out my website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !

Just had the spoked 32 Ford wheels sandblasted. They'll be powder coated a creme color.

With the major metalwork done on the 240Z body, I spent some time on the engine rebuild:



A good friend and fellow car crafter gave me this Kleen-Flo parts cleaner. Although he had finished with it, it still had a lot of use left in it. It also smells BAD, so he brought it over for me to use!

The short block was in great shape, so I left it as is. The cylinder walls were perfect, with no carbon ridge and very little buildup on the cylinders. I cleaned what was there and went ahead with the new gasket rebuild:

As the engine has sat for nearly 15 years, a squirt of WD40 into each cylinder will ensure we don't get a dry start. I had previously rotated the engine to ensure nothing was stuck.

On the top end, I tested the valve seals earlier by squirting  gas into the intakes with closed valves. Not a bit of it leaked  after weeks of sitting on the bench!

The valve relief pockets, valve bottoms and the mating surface were all cleaned and prepped for re-assembly:

After using scrapers and wire brushes on any head surface, I've learned it's a good practice to go over it with a hard block and 180G then 220Grit papers - in a cross-hatch pattern. This shows up any imperfections and gives a clean - and flat - surface to ensure a good seal.

A good cleaning with compressed air ensures there's  nothing left to contaminate the engine.

Just before installing the head gasket, I apply a sealant to any join areas, just to ensure a leak-free build. Nothing worse that a pesky leak on a freshly rebuild - and detailed - engine!

With the head carefully lowered onto the block, the hex-headed head bolts ( that's a mouthful) were coated with anti-seize, then hand threaded to start them. Finally, they were torqued in three stages: 25, 35 and 47 foot pounds, starting from the center two and working outwards and alternating sides until all were torqued. Once I have them all torqued, I like to leave them for a while before re-checking them once prior to buttoning up the valve cover.

Getting closer!!

With spring finally springing, I was easily distracted and decided to get my summer cruisers out of their cold storage and into our attached garage so they'd be ready to go whenever the mood strikes!

This is were all that work pays off -  next year I hope to be able to put the 240Z into my fun-car rotation!