The crossmember that someone else put in my 1934 Chevy coupe frame isn't going to work out with my plans. Today I used a plasma cutter to remove the pieces in only 30 minutes without damaging the frame. It sure did the job quickly and with almost no effort. I'll install a different crossmember later.
I made wood pieces from a cardboard pattern and then clamped the wood to some 18 gauge sheet metal. I thought the metal would stretch a little but it wouldn't stay flat because the lines are not all straight. I used a bead roller to make the curved crease and then hammered the metal around the wood form. To make it the right shape I used a shrinker tool on the flange and that allowed the vertical surface to become flat again.
The rain stayed away this week enough to finish media blasting the inside of the passenger door and spray primer on the interior.
The exterior of both doors are sanded. The passenger door will need a 6" patch at the bottom. Too many pin holes.
The faded and thinning green paint with areas of primer showing through looks really cool. It's a shame that not enough of the original paint remains on the car to save the patina. I'll sand away the red oxide primer too. The metal seems very solid but there are several pin holes along the bottom of the panel.
The passenger door is also in good shape but there seems to be a bit more rust at the bottom interior. Media blasting went very quickly in some areas. Areas with more rust took a little longer. Plenty more to do before it's done.
The interior of these doors had wood as the supporting structure for anchoring the metals parts like window cranks, arm rests and door handles and latches. I removed all of that so the door could be media blasted.
This tool pinches sheet metal between 2 rolling dies and makes a groove or "bead" in the sheet metal. A bead adds stiffness to sheet metal. It can also bend sheet metal to create different shapes or make decorative designs. I bought extra dies to make it more versatile. After assembly, I had to test it out. I drew a curved line on 20 gauge sheet metal and then used the bead roller to make a bead along that same line.
The door interior got some primer today. Media blasting made a huge difference. I sprayed Rustoleum Rust Reformer on the door interior. It's supposed to treat microscopic rust and also acts as a primer. I'll seal the door interior with an epoxy primer like I used on the body interior.
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