Here I just finished chopping the top 2”. It came out looking great. I used lead on the pillars and several other spots on car where I felt plastic fillers were not suitable. I still prefer lead in many areas. I guess it’s a throwback from my old Auto Body days. When I went to my local paint supply store and asked for lead, the young fellow behind the counter looked at me kind of bewildered and asked me “What’s that?”. After explaining what it was for the owner of the store, an old timer like me came out and introduced himself. He was curious as to who still used lead and what I was building. He special ordered it for me. 

For the whole month of December I have been massaging the body. After major shimming to fit doors which still needed gaps filled I straightened and blocked the doors. I found some spots on the body to be very tender and wound up patching a lot of rust and thin spots that had been ill repaired or covered up by the “Restorer” I purchased the car from. I’d rather have gotten the car in “unrepaired” condition. I hate re-doing someone else’s botched up work. It’s hard to spot it all until you start blocking and run into filler 1/2” thick or go through the metal. The only way to fix it is to grind it all out and straighten it or patch it. So many times an extra hour spent the first time can save a quart of Bondo.

The door handles have been removed and electric door locks, and power windows are to be installed. Door Lock Solenoid kit was purchased from Watson’s Street Works. It was the only one I found potent and compact enough to open those stock door latches. I’m retaining the inside door handles. The doors will have a remote opener. Power windows kit is from Southern Rods and Parts. The chopped door glass and frame problem is another thing I’ll cover later.

I love the lines of a ‘36. The rear body on this was a mess, but I managed to get it back into shape. Lead was used around the rear bumper mounts and tail pan due to stress and crush resistance when bumper is mounted. I had to cut out and repair and reinforce the inner body bracing for the spare tire mount as the bottom was all rusted away. That was a project in itself. I haven’t decided whether to remove the rumble seat lid handle or not. That will require swapping the latch placement in the lid with the striker on the drip rail. I’ll deal with that later.