Rollin' Bones '32 Sedan - Update 9/5

[Fletch]

Yes, another Sedan. Earlier today when I was hanging out at the hospital I was browsing through the Street Rodder and Rod & Custom websites looking for future projects. When you're searching through several hundred feature cars you're bound to find several that make you go NOT a Chance, and others that you can't wait to get started on. The top will be coming down on a Revell '32 Sedan after I get home tonight and this is why.

The Rollin' Bones '32 Hi Boy Sedan:




Suppose to be 242 louvers on the roof alone




Nice little early hemi with 3 deuces mounted up top

Hosted on Fotki

The chop is 5 inches in the rear and 5.5 in the front to get that leaned forward go fast look.

I should have photos of the chop posted in the morning if not later tonight.

Peace

[Kit Karson]

You might want to check out the chopped '32 Sedan body I mastered for Norm at R & M Co, if you haven't already started cutting up the Revell body!?.

[Fletch]

Way to late my Friend, the Revell '32 Sedan didn't stand a chance when it came to Dave and the handy dandy Dremel tool.

The first cuts were made during a trip home yesterday afternoon. the rest of the chop was finished between 11pm last night and 12:30am this morning. The 5" chop in the rear and 5.5" in the front required the roof to be sliced in a couple of places to accommodate the the spread between the "A" & "C" pillars.
The chassis needed the frame horns removed on both ends, the front still needs the frame rails pinched to fit behind the radiator surround. The rear of the frame still needs some work as it needs a '28-'31 rear cross-member added then the frame rails straightened and extended to the rear of the body.




Hosted on Fotki

For the early hemi, I'm thinking the hemi from the Ala-Cart as it's about the right vintage. I need to order a few parts from RMoM and Modelhaus. The "fun" part of this build will be duplicating the 242 louvers on the roof and those on the hood (which I've yet to count). The tires and wheels shown are strictly for mock-up purposes, I'm hoping this build gets as close to the 1:1 as possible. Once the parts arrive we should be good to go getting this project under way.

[Kit Karson]

That's a FINE looking chop job, Brother!! Keep us posted on your progress!!!

[Fletch]

Thought I'd post an update before sending the body off to a bit of putty work. Also, give you a look at the chassis after the front crossmember was narrowed and the frame rails pinched to get them to hide behind the radiator surround.






The area marked in red still needs to be removed to allow the Model A rear crossmember to be added to the chassis. The QC rear end will be mounted ahead of the spring, the black line is the centerline of the rear axle.


Hosted on Fotki

There are a couple of areas on the chassis that need a filler piece added as the kit location for the steering box will not be used for the RB Sedan.

I don't know where we'd be if not for Revell's "Rat Rod" tires and wheels. The wheels are drying in the garage and the whitewall inserts have been painted as well.

[Kit Karson]

Awesome progress, Brother!! Rollin' Bones has built some really Kewl examples for us to work from and your build is going to be a true reflection of the real Hot Rod '32 Sedan!! Build on !!!

[84vanagon]

Love the work on the front end!

The lack of the frame horns and
spreader bar really clean it up!

Don.

[demonhunterfan]

Me likin this here Vicky too Dave ;D ;D ;D and I'm thinkin' them wheels & tires are a big reason why . Where dey from?
I really aint much of a mag-n-whites kinda guy, but them'uns work!

Later & God bless

[Fletch]

John, the 5 spokes and wide whites are from the Lil' Coffin. The chrome on them was so bad the only options were strip them and send them off to be rechromed or strip them and paint them Testors Metalizer Magnesium. So, I went with the metalizer. One of these days I need to find a rod to leave them on instead of using them for mock-ups.

[Fletch]

I read through the article on the Rollin' Bones Sedan, it noted that the roof had 243 louvers, followed by "If you don't believe me count them!" So, I counted them and guess what the article was wrong! There are only 213 louvers on the roof, 47 down the center, 43 in each of the middle rows, 40 in the outside rows and 27 on each side of the hood.

I figure the typo was due to someone using the 10 key pad on their keyboard and fat-fingered the 4 key instead of the 1 key. Not that 30 less louvers is going to make a great deal of difference.

One our members here and fellow SABA member Carnut suggested using the hood sides from the Revell '32 Roadster. We got to looking at them Sunday at the Mt Hood Mustang's Cruise, they are indeed a usable louver. There are 43 louvers on each hood side.

Hosted on Fotki

There are realistically 3 options to using these hood sides;

Option #1: Cut the louvers in strips from the hood sides and fit them to openings made in the roof.

Option #2: Cut the louver strips from the hood sides, sand then down until they become individual louvers. Draw a grid on the roof and apply them one at a time.

Option #3: Use the hood side as a master for an RTV Silicone mold, casting the number of louvers needed. Then, Draw a grid on the roof then apply each louver individually. (kinda sounds like Option #2 but with resin pieces instead of plastic)

There is a total of 267 louvers needed for the build. Which equates to a total of about 7 hood sides. Option #1 seems like the most logical and realistic way to go about this task. No matter which option is chosen it will be a fair amount of tedious work.

SABA is doing a week long demo at one of the local county fairs next month, so the Rollin' Bones Sedan may slow down until then, but rest assured that it will have 267 louvers when completed.

[Fletch]

It's nice and quite in the house this early morning so I managed to get a bit done on the RB Sedan. The last of the chassis modifications are complete with the installation of the '29-'31 rear cross member.

The final cut lines were marked out with the red Sharpie (note to self buy a new Red Sharpie). The cut line marked here lines up with the edges of the pads for the airbags on the inside of the chassis. The center line of the rear axle is the determining factor where the leading edge of the cross member will sit in the frame.






Once the cuts were made and squared up the cross member sides were cut down so only the top web remained on each side, this was then sat into the '32 frame. Both sides of the cross member were capped with .010X.250 Evergreen Strip and a strip of .020 Evergreen 3/8" wide was laid across the frame rails behind the rear cross member.



Hosted on Fotki

The plan calls for scratch building the rear transverse spring. I'm hoping to get the jig set-up for that later today and get the spring hung and get ready to set the ride height.

The front axle will require some work as well seeing how the RB Sedan uses a dropped I-beam axle and the Revell Sedan comes with a tube dropped axle, which will need to be replaced. The general idea is to use the dropped axle from a Revell '29-'31 Ford kit. That axle has pose able steering and a set of spring that are WAY to tall for this installation. With that in mind the springs from the '32 Sedan will get removed from the tube axle and get installed in the I-beam axle from a '29 or '31 kit.

Once that is accomplished the ride height can be set on all 4 corners and we can sling some paint.

[demonhunterfan]

It's nice and quite in the house this early morning...

Whoa Dave! Teri aint still sleepin' is she?

Yer framework lookin' mighty fine. Can't wait to see your scratched up traverse spring.

Later and God bless

[Fletch]

This was yesterday's update that I couldn't get posted over here as Pro-Boards was being extremely uncooperative.

Got some work done on adding the louvers to the roof of the Sedan this evening in between chatting with Fair-goers. Actual, assembly time for the center row of 47 louvers about an hour, with explanations of what I was doing, a little over 2 hours.



Hosted on Fotki

The plan at this stage is to allow the roof and putty to cure until Sunday. Then add the 2 center rows of 43 louvers each, then let it sit until the 30th when SABA does an all day build/demo at the Oregon State Fair.

[Fletch]

This is the update from the 23rd copied directly over from Traditional Rod and Kustom. One of the members there had ask a couple of questions based on the previous update.

Aug 23, 2009 13:43:35 GMT -8 @roddratt said:

Would the hood out of the Revell '37 sedan (orange colored one) with the louvers be able to be modified (hack up big time) to make a '32 hood?

I don't know if you could get away with using the '37 hood. I would think the difference in the size (height and width) of the louvers would be enough to keep you from using one. But, it might be worth a try. The work on the hood required making cuts for the long row on each side just as described below for the roof and drilling and trimming for the short rows. The hood was a bit easier, but more time consuming then the rows of louvers on the roof.

Here's the hood after today's work session at the County Fair.

Aug 23, 2009 13:43:35 GMT -8 @roddratt said:

Dave, how are you making the cuts in the roof?

My first thought was to be a smart alec and say, "Carefully", and let it go at that.

Anyway, after the first or center row was in place it's a matter of guesstimating the spacing of the other rows based on the photo of the roof. Then just laying out where you want the remaining rows, marking the center line or in the case of this I marked where I wanted the outside edge of the louvers to line up. I drew around the strip of louvers to serve as a guide where to cut as each strip tends to be a bit different in width.

Then it's a simple matter of chucking up the P/E Circular Saw Blade in the battery powered Dremel. Cutting inside the lines drawn for the strip, scribing the top and bottom of the piece being removed. Then using a scalpel (Xacto kinfe) and files widening the slot so the strips tightly fit. Glue them in place and reinforce them with Evergreen strip (.010 X .250).



www.voyagermodel.com/products.asp?producttype=tool&page=1

Voyager's website was down for a while but is back up, you can also find them from a couple of other online vendors.

Here is today's progress on the roof:

Hosted on Fotki

The filler that is between the louvers has been removed, so all 133 louvers at this point are clean. I plan to sand them out about mid week allowing glue/putty sufficient time to cure. The remaining 80 louvers will be added next Sunday when we do our one day demo/build at the Oregon State Fair.

[demonhunterfan]

Lookin' good so far Dave. I almost got me one of those cordless Dremels the other day, but I had yellowjackets to kill
I can't imagine cutting them louvres out with just a razor saw & 'scalpel' ;D ;D ;D Good one!

Later & God bless