1934 Dodge Full Body Off Restoration by Ian_Greenlaw

4 minute(s) of a 362 minute read

Hey Ron,

On close examination there did seem to be some sort of repair, very well repaired that even the body guy had to look twice to see it, on the chassis. So we figured that must have been it. All good though as the panel on a quick refit came within the right gaps we'd hoped for.

3-12-2015

Hi Dave,

One thing I was able to do when I first bought the car was remove the body from the chassis. This was probably the only thing that had never been touched on the car. The Dodge has two lengths of wood running under the body from the rear door to just under the metal toe board. someone on ebay was selling new ones at one point. I had to have mine remade as they were falling apart. Width wise, opening the front door, they went from the other side of the wood floor panels to just under where the sill cover would go. In addition to this, rather than rubber they used a tough fabric compounded pads on every bolt hole along the chassis. The body with those lengths of timber then sat and bolted through these pads. I'll post some photos of when I removed the body and you'll see the pads as I left them on the chassis to take a photo. Again a lot of these were a little worse for wear so when I replaced them I used rubber pads that was made from the same martial that is used in gyms on the floor under the weight lifters floors. The stuff when the weight lifters slam their weights on the floor, this stuff was sitting on the floor to protect it and the weights. These we approx the right size and could be cut easliy with a hacksaw.

Ian

5-28-2015

Ok, so the chassis back at the workshop and the panels back on the car and the gap on each side is even now. That's a relief !

Finally able to get the whole car and chassis back home again and next I'm off to see the painter. This guy paints a lot of Cobras and many old cars have passed through his spray booth. In fact "Oldcar" who posts here regularly, Bernie, had had a few cars painted by him. I called in to see Dave and he's one of those guys you like instantly. After discussing the colours and bringing his paint samples home we decided on Black guards, Maroon Body and a Packard Ivory swage line, as many Australian 34's had swage lines painted rather than pinstripes ( at least that's what I've been able to find out ).

Dave painted up the side of a dishwasher for me to take the colours home. Only issue I have is it changes colour in the spray booth, to inside his shop to outside in the sunlight. He said he would also paint under the body and inside all the panels which would also protect the insides from stone chips.

While also doing this I received a package back for the trumpet horns that I was getting Chrome Painted as plating would have been too difficult. I got them back and was not happy with the finish, so I sent them off again to be redone.

The rims for the car also needed rounding and rerolling so they are also at the shop.

Cheers

Ian