I've always thought the interior is the place where you can set your car apart. Early in the project planning, I wanted to do a dash that was different but still fit the cleaned-up resto theme of the car.
I had taken a couple of Ron Covell's metalworking classes, then bought most of the tools Ron recommended and had them set up in my basement. I thought I only needed an idea. I sorted through numerous sets of gauges I had collected until I settled on a set from a '47 Olds. I started playing with foam core patterns to see how different shapes and proportions would work. Once I got this worked out, I lopped off a 2-foot piece of 19-gauge high-silicon steel. High-silicon steel is the good stuff, I had been told. I stretched, shrunk, annealed, cut, welded, hammered, experimented, cussed, and I think succeeded after about six months.
OK, enough memories-back to the rebuild story. The body and frame were left together because the cowl fit the front clip perfectly and we did not want to change the relationship between the cowl and the frame. We sent the frame and sheetmetal to Blast-Tech in Denver to get it all cleaned up, and it was back after a couple of weeks and ready for me to cut out the floor and doorjambs.
The jambs were the original stamped sheetmetal from the coupe, which were inadequate for a roadster, and there were several shims between the floor and frame. I started by welding a bunch of 3/4-inch tubing at various angles from the cowl to the frame to maintain this critical relationship while I cut out the stuff that was to be redone. I wanted the doors to close like a Lexus and the cowl and steering wheel to feel as solid as a cinder block when it collides with a bare toe in a dark room.
The sort-of trusty old Top Loader was getting replaced by a six-speed with hopes to get my gas mileage into double digits. I got out my die grinder, a dozen 3M cutoff wheels, and my hefty Milwaukee Sawzall. At first, I was cutting carefully with the die grinder, trying to save whatever I could. As I got pieces of the floor out, I discovered that the body structure under the floor was badly rusted. The more I cut, the more it was apparent that there wasn't much to save, so I transitioned more and more from the relatively precise die grinder to the Ultimate Demolition Blade and the Sawzall. Before long, there was a pile of bent-up sheetmetal and a bushel of rust flakes that were stacked up around my feet.
The next day, I went out to Pinkee's early to strategize with Eric and Shawn about how to proceed. The clear priorities were to keep the doors closing right and reduce cowl shake. We decided Shawn would use 1/4-inch plate steel for the doorjambs. This would be boxed and welded to another 1/4-inch plate that was bolted directly to the frame. It wasn't long before Shawn had the doors closing with a quiet click. The engine, trans, and driveshaft were then installed so the floor could be built around them and welded in. Once done, it all bolted solidly to the frame with no shims.
With a set of rollers, the engine and trans installed, and the body assembled, the '36 was ready to go to Matt Halverson's at Nice Rides for paint. A month later, the bodywork was far enough along so the body could come off the frame. I hauled the rolling chassis back to Pinkee's, tore it apart, and had most of it powdercoated. It took a couple weeks to finish all the fluid lines and chassis assembly, and then I loaded up the rolling chassis for a ride back to Nice Rides to put on the shiny body.
Big Mike started fabricating the multi-layered aluminum interior panels. He also began forming the brass trim Jason Oakes had whittled out of brass stock to reproduce the design Jimmy Smith had drawn for the interior, which was eventually finished in green leather with some vintage fabric for an accent.
It was also time to work out the top. Getting a folding top to look right is challenging, so I was really sweating this step. Jimmy Smith had done some sketches to help us get on the right track. The sketches looked cool, but it was not even close the first time we put the top irons in place and upholstered it with masking tape. The big problem was that the stock oak bow at the back was too square and straight across the top.
I called Dan at Infinite Design, and he said, "You make the pattern and I will make the bow out of whatever kind of wood you want." So, I started with some plywood glued together and sawed out a pattern to the curve I thought was right. Then, I screwed it to the rear irons and strung masking tape over it. The plywood pattern was closer but would need a couple more tries to get it right. In the meantime, Big Mike made another stainless bow that would be a third bow that fit between the windshield and what was the original front bow. After a dozen tries over a period of a couple weeks, I thought we finally had the perfect line on the top. Dan took the plywood pattern and got started on the wooden parts. He used an exotic wood called "quarter sawn sapeli" that was from somewhere on the other side of the planet. While Dan was making the wooden bow for the back of the top, he also remade the header that attaches to the top of the windshield. He cut away the oak that would show inside the car and put on a piece of the sapeli, then he inlaid a 1/4-inch strip of stainless steel down the middle of the header. He also remade the cover for the Mighty Wipe motor out of sapeli. We finally had what we wanted after three attempts covering the top.
I never cared for the original bumpers, and I was thinking of '39 or '40 Ford bumpers, but my friend, Jeff Nichols, suggested using '41 Fords. In an effort to persuade me, he dug out a bunch of old Rod & Custom magazines and showed me how cool and traditional '41 bumpers were. His pitch made as much sense as anything else, so I picked up a set and test-fitted them. I thought there was about 2 inches too much crown in the bumpers as I studied the relationship between the body and the bumper, so I took them to Collins Plating and got the 2 inches removed. With that adjustment, I thought they were just right.
The taillight stems seemed long in their stock length with the bumper moved closer to the body, so we cut an inch out of them and they looked perfect.
My deadline for the rebuild was Goodguys' West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton, and we made it, thanks to everyone involved and especially those who spent the entire night before we left taking care of all the details at Pinkee's shop-even when I was ready to throw in the towel, as I was just too worn out to focus on the tasks at hand. They even seemed happy that I was willing to let them work on it throughout the night.
Jane and I are thrilled with the finished roadster. We've already enjoyed making more memories and are looking forward to many more.
Rod & Custom Feature CarRoyce & Jane GladerFort Collins, Colorado1936 Ford Roadster