This is a throwback to a post shared by BHPian ragtop in Jan, 2013: We began work on the car some-time in April-2012. We had decided to go through with a complete body-off, Engine-off restoration to do a really thorough job. Here are some pictures of the dismantling: We decided to start looking at some of the interior woodwork at this stage as well: As we dismantled body parts, we came across multiple locations where we saw traces of the original green paint.Although most of the woodwork was still original, areas around the door hinge mounts were quite worn. Had we chosen to remount the doors as is, it was clear that in a short time the door alignment would suffer. We decided to insert metal plates in the back of the B-pillar (where the door hangs) so the hinges would now screw through the wood into the metal plates. This provided the hinges with a much stronger mount and will prevent the doors from drooping over time. Unfortunately I cannot locate the images but will post them when I come across them. In order to meet our deadlines, we decided to begin work on multiple fronts. First off, we would start on the body and simultaneously work on the upholstery, woodwork, chrome fittings etc. For the body, we began with taking apart all the panels, removing the paint using paint removers and then sand blasting the surface to get the best results. Sand blasting ensured that we would end up with an even surface and would also save a lot of time. We decided to go with a home-grown sand blasting solution so ther first few panels were trial and error. It took a few days for us to figure out the pressure, sand consistency etc. Soon enough though it all came together. The aluminum, when exposed, was in surprisingly good nick and is probably what saved this car in Mumbai weather over the years. Very little “tin work” was required on the main body, however, the doors did require some work to align all the mouldings and sharpen all the edges. Sand blasting R&D: Paint removal using paint remover. During this process, we found traces of all the prior colours used on the car, black/cream, coffee/cream, dark green and the original green and cream. Paint removed (rear) and first round of sand blasting (front): Paint removal on the remainder of the body: Body after first round of sand blasting:We were now done with the easy past! The sand blasting uncovered all sorts of little gremlins that needed to be sorted out. The painstaiking work of cleaning up the lines and hand sanding the body to get the desired surface would now begin. This stage alone took a good few months more than planned to arrive at the desired result. The goal was to clean up the body as far as possible to minimize the use of Bondo (lambi) to mask the surface irrularities. During this process we also tried out some paint samples to see how the green would ultimately look. Some of the issues highlighted with 2 different green samples, both of which seemed reasonable close to the original shade we had found on the car. – I did not like either! The work to clean up the body lines took a lot longer than expected. Although there were no major issues, merely getting the alignment of all panels right took a lot of work. We had to remind ourselves that even 75+ years ago, this was a hand made body that was bound to have some inconsistencies that we would never be able to get perfect. Now obviously, I will never tell where those inconsistencies lie… While we have never used the spats on a regular basis, (felt they made the car look too heavy, especially with the black/cream combo) they have always been with us since the car was purchased. We now intend to incorporate the spats into the build. Fortunately, we also had the chrome embellishments that will ultimately be mounted on the spats. The design of the chrome embellishments also carries through to the interior of the car to ensure continuity of design. Once this was done, we had to take it up a notch to get all edges to look sharp and precise. Over the years, painting and repainting the car had taken its toll and edges and curves had worn down. We had to make wooden templates for each of the different edges and curves that were used while sanding to achieve a consistent finish. The process of identifying flawed areas begins: Continue reading BHPian ragtop’s thread for more insights and information.
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