MTFCA Forum

Phase II of my coupe restoration is reassembling. Just installed the engine.

I would appreciate "do and don'ts" comments as it progresses!

Just for comparison when I restored my 24 Coupe I used saw horses and placed 2x4’s on them far enough over on each side and rolled the unbolted body out from under it. No hoist, cranes because I didn’t have any. It worked out pretty well.
Your Coupe project looks like it’s going well by the way. Looks like you’ve got the chassis reworked and the engine also so it should be pretty straight forward putting it together. I haven’t worked on a 26-27 T and I’ve read the gas tank can sometimes be an issue because of its location.
Keep up the good work and it will turn out really nice!

I’ve enjoyed watching the progress on this project. Glad to see it coming back together.

Good reminder John. It would be good idea to install the gas tank in the cowl before mounting the body on the chassis. While it can be done after the body has been mounted, the pedals and steering column make it a bear to install the tank after the body has been mounted onto the chassis. Jim Patrick.

I got the gas tank in.

So many of the pictures appear to show bare, blasted and unprimed steel...if not bare, certainly not finish painted...how come?

All sheet metal needs at least a good coat of primer, inside and out. It needs to cover every bit off the metal, so far as it is possible to do. Exposed steel will rust, especially if it has been sandblasted. Interior surfaces and structural parts of the lower body are especially prone to rust. Indoors or out, any exposed steel can and will rust.

You won’t regret putting that tank in now. Good job!

Scott and Pat are right about bare, blasted steel. Rust is very susceptible to moisture and is like a spreading disease. If you let it go, it will spread and even attack the painted areas. Hopefully, you have some left over maroon finish. To prevent overspray getting on the rest of the car, you can prime (red oxide primer is preferable) and paint (your left over maroon) the unseen areas using a good quality 2” to 2 1/2” brush. Concentrate on the panel joints where moisture can gather, especially at the bottom of the body and bottom of the doors. If you feather the primer and paint until the brush marks are gone it will look as good as sprayed on paint while providing the necessary protection Jim Patrick

The surfaces inside the body have been painted: I prime painted the surfaces, that will not be visible after the upholstery is installed, with a brush. This was done prior to taking the body to the professional painter. The surfaces that will be visible were painted by him.

I believe the reason you think the surfaces are not painted is the color of the primer. I added a small can of rusty metal Rust-Oleum to the gallon of gray Rust-Oleum primer because the blast cleaned surface looked identical to the gray primer. The result is the "pinkish" color which sort of looks like an unpainted surface, especially when there is marron over spray on it.

The only surfaces that did not get prime painted are: (1) The part that holds the dash (see pic with the gas tank). I had to remove the dash and take it back to the painter because of some paint defects. I forgot to paint it when I reinstalled the dash. (2) The upper parts of the inside of the doors because I could reach those areas with the brush.