1932 Ford Appreciation Build

Opening

The photos that follow is a sequence of how I built a 1932 Ford 3-Window Coup. This was an appreciation build for it's 90th anniversary and is/was sponsored by: Kim's Facebook group is: Kim's Kustom Garage and his YouTube channel is: Kim's Kustom Garage YouTube Channel

As of May 1, 2022 I've started the appreciation build. Time is running short for a June 15th deadline, but it shouldn't be too bad. The part count is low and I have a good idea of the color scheme and style of car that I want to build.

There are some techniques that I want to try that I have never done before. One of them is a three-tone body. I'm also going to try for one of those very glossy, shiny finish; we'll see. My plan is to have: Black Fenders, Metallic Blue sides and a Cream or off white roof. I'm also planning to use the custom wheels that were part of the AMT 1934 Ford Pickup Kit. I know there will be problems using them; however, I really like the wheels and I'm going to try making them work. Again...we'll see.

The box art is shown here as a place holder for where a picture of the finished model will be shown.

Please check back periodically for updates and checkout my YouTube Channel, and/or my Rumble Channel. Both channels have the same content, therefore, either one will work fine.

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Most of the parts have been removed from the spews have been cleaned. There wasn't much cleaning to do. The parts are very crisp and clean.

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While dry fitting the body parts I discovered the gap between the body and the running boards. I thought, oh no! Was I going to have to cut out the fender wells so that the body fits properly? I couldn't believe this was such a bad fit, so I did some research and found that this is how the body actually sets on the chassis. I'm so glad I don't have to do some major modifications.

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Another view of the dry fitted body parts.

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After watching a video by BG Model Workshop and the problems he was having with the trunk on his '32 and then a problem with the windshield, I took even more time dry fitting. The windshield on my Revell '32 will be Ok. there is a slightly larger gap on the right side then there is on the left, but that can easily be fixed.

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The small parts have been placed on some tape and getting ready for primer.

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Some small parts and some larger parts are on alligator clips ready for primer.

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I primed the body, fenders, hood shroud, etc. with white primer. It's the first time I've ever used white primer on white styrene - not fun! As usual, not that the primer is on I can see a few small areas that need a-bit of work, but nothing major.

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More small parts primed in white and gray.

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I'm going to attempt using the custom wheels that came with an AMT 1934 Ford Pickup and the tires that came with the '32 Ford 3-window. I really like these wheels but don't know if I can make it work? I ordered some wheels from eBay today, May 2, 2022 just in case.

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I'm getting the distributor ready to wire. I'm using an aluminum distributor from Detail Master #DM-3201. This is the black distributor kit; however, I want to use yellow wire. I'm using 30AWG (American Wire Gauge) wire-wrap wire. It's actually cheaper to buy it by the spool through an electronics supplier. The wire-wrap wire comes in: Red, Black, White, Blue, Yellow and Green. The boots are made with the insulation off of 22AWG for the distributor and 24AWG wire for the spark plugs.

If you're interested in this alternative, here is a link to Amazon, where it can be purchased: 30AWG Wire Wrap Wire

Clicking this link will show a picture of the wire spools: Photo of wire spools

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I'm planning to paint the coupe a tricolor with the fenders being Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black, the body being Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue and the roof being some shade of white or off white. Maybe cream or an off-white or even a very light grey.

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I've started painting the engine. I decided to use Testors Model Master Ford/GM Blue for the block and heads Testors Model Master Steel for the transmission. The oil filter is Tamiya X-6 Orange (I guess it's a Fram filter). Before painting many of these parts I stripped the chrome from the parts using Dettol Antiseptic Liquid.

Dettol is available on eBay at: Dettol Antiseptic Disinfectant Liquid 500ml Pack of 1

Using Dettol is none toxic and smells nice. It takes the chrome parts, depending on size, approximately 24-hours to have all the chrome stripped. I then use warm water and a toothbrush to clean the parts.

The transmission fluid Cover, Steering pump and alternator is painted with Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver, the starter is Testors Model Master Steel and the water pump (not on this picture is in Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum. I decided to do the carburetor in Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf.

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The spark plug wires and boots have been glued to the distributor top plate of the Detail Master DM-3201 distributor kit.

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The next three photos are of the almost finished engine. The starter, the steering pump, the valve covers and the carburetor is glued in place.

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The fan belt and pulleys have been installed.

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The alternator and the oil filter are glued in place. As mentioned before, I did the oil filter in orange only to add some color to the engine. Since Fram Filters are orange, and I believe the current Fram filters have a black top where the filter wrench knurls are; however, I'm leaving this one totally orange. I need to find a decal from Fram to put on the filter. (It may surprise you, but I'm not a fan of Fram filters. I prefer Bosch with a backflow valve). But that's another story.

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The next three photos are of the body taped and ready for paint. I have never don't a two or three tone body before, so it will be interesting to see how the tape line looks when the tape is removed.

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The rear of the body. It's amazing what can be seen on photo's that can't easily be seen, even with magnification, but it looks like I might have some touch up to do on the lower left corner. The tape does not look quite right.

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The right side of the body.

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The bottom half of the body is sprayed with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. The white edges are that can be seen is light reflecting off the curvature of the body.

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The bottom half of the body is sprayed with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. The white edges are that can be seen is light reflecting off the curvature of the body.

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The inside of the finders is painted Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. The top of the fenders will be Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black and the running boards will be Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black.

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The exhaust pipes and mufflers are painted with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum.

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The frame is painted with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

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The hood edges received a 2nd coat of Tamiya X-13 Metallic blue.

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The body received a 2nd coat of Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue after the small run from the first coat was sanded smooth.

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The next two photos are the body after the tape has been removed. There was a small amount of bleeding under the tape, but nothing concerning.

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The other side of the body after the tape has been removed. There was a small amount of bleeding under the tape, but nothing concerning.

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The rear of the body after the tape has been removed.

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The fenders received a coat of Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. It looks fairly good on the photo; however, they will need a bit of wet sanding and a 2nd coat.

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I started installing the spark plug wires with boots.

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While the glue was drying on the spark plugs on one side of the engine I taped the blue portion of the body getting the roof and trunk ready for paint. I decided to paint the top of the body in gloss black.

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The other side of the body was also taped and ready for paint. Not shown is the hood. The edges were taped to cover the Metallic Blue trim so the top of the hood can be painted gloss black.

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Spark plug wiring is installed, but need to be adjusted.

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I did the floor pan in Tamiya X-19, Sky Grey. I'm still not sure what color the seat will be; however, I'm fairly sure the door panels, not shown, will be two tone with one of the colors being Tamiya X-13, Metallic Blue and not sure what the other color will be.

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The top half of the body as been sprayed with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. It's a first coat and still wet in this photo.

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The roof of the body after a first coat of Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. I can see some orange peel, but the paint is wet yet and it [is] only the first coat.

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Difficult to see; however, I did the wheel backs in Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

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The inner fender wells, the gas tank bottom, rear bumper supports, front dress panel and radiator shroud are painted with Tamiya X-1 Gloss black, first coat.

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The hood top is painted with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. This is a first coat and on the photo I can see some orange peel, but as before, the paint is still wet.

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The radiator and firewall have been painted with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

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Did you ever have one of those days? Today, Saturday, May 21, 2022, was one of those days. My head told me not to work in the shop today, but I did anyway. Everything I touched turned to do-do. The next three photos are proof.

What you're not going to see is that when I checked the gloss black paint on the body there was a small spot where a particle of dust must have settled. when I tried to remove it, I placed a large scratch on the roof. I tried to polish it out; however, all it did was dull the surface. I surrender. I have to repaint the gloss black. 😲 😢

I decided to install the exhaust pipes and mufflers. They went in quite well; however, there is a cross member that has the brake master cylinder mounted to it that is supposed to be installed where you can see the paint has been scrapped. I had it in and out at least three times trying to get it to properly sit on the cross member. Then the master cylinder fell off. So...it is setting off to the side off camera waiting for the glue to dry.

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I than decided to mount the disc brakes and rotors to the front and rear axle. They look Ok now, but what a hassle to get them straight!

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Finally, I thought I'd mount the wheels in the tires. The wheels were extremely tight, and the rubber was very stiff. My head told me to boil some water and place the tires in the hot water to soften them, but I didn't listen to myself and forced the wheels into the hard rubber tires. While forcing the last wheel back, in the last rear tire, I broke the inner wheel! I think I'll be able to fix it, but that will be on another day.

I SURRENDER!!! I called it quits for the day.

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After breaking the wheel back shown in the previous photo and unable to fix it in a way to keep the hub centered, and the fact that I marked up the chrome with a wooden dow attempting to mount them into the tires, (the marks are better seen in the Part 04 Video that you can watch by clicking here. I decided to use the wheels shown in this photo. I purchased these wheels on eBay awhile back, not for any reason then I kinda liked them and thought I might have a use for them on some future build. I had to make a minor modification to them by drilling the center hub of the wheel backs a bit larger to fit the '32 Ford axle, and I had to drill out the alignment holes on the wheel backs to allow the wheel fronts to align and fit properly. I have not mounted the wheels on the tires as of this post (May 24, 2022) because I painted the wheel backs Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and I'm waiting for that paint to dry.

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After my day of disaster, I had a good day today, Wednesday, May 26, 2022. I had bought these wheels from eBay for a future project. since I damaged the other set of wheels I decided to use these. Actually, I think they're going to look really good.

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The next two photos are test fitting the front and rear axle. Everything looks good so far.

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Test fitting the front and rear axle.

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I've had a bad time with the body. It's the first time I ever used masking to separate two colors. One of my YouTube subscribers gave me some very helpful tips about masking and painting. My thanks to that subscriber. One of the tips is to remove the tape as soon as possible. This photo shows that tip to be absolutely correct. The tape had been masking the metallic blue for about 2-weeks. When the tape was finally removed, it left a hazy coating on the metallic blue paint. I attempted to buff it off; however, I burned through to the primer in a few small area. Lesson learned.

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After respraying the gloss black I had major orange peeling. The worst is on the trunk. It's actually the worst I've ever experienced. Everything was the same...same paint, same airbrush, same air pressure, same spray booth, same airbrush to surface distance. The only variable I can determine is that the paint was not thin enough this time.

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The left side of the body also show orange peeling and tape residue. I had some bleed under the tape on this side; however, that is something easily fixed.

However, I'm not planning to fix anything. I plan on either giving the body a bath in the purple pond and starting over...or...I find that 91% Isopropyl Alcohol also strips the Tamiya Acrylic paints and then repainting.

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I did some detailing on one of the interior door panels. The other door panel had to be stripped and I'm waiting for the primer to dry on it. I used Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth on the arm rest and the pull handle strap. The window crank, door handle and pull handle mounts are painted in Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver. The window crank handle is Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.

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The bench seat was painted with Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. The paint in this photo is still a-bit wet.

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The steering linkage is painted with Tamiya X-10 Gun Metal.

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The steering column is painted in Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue to match the side panels of the body. The dash board (not shown here) is also done in X-13 Metallic Blue. The column levers are Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver and the lever handles are Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.

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The steering wheel has been detailed with a wooden look wheel, chrome spokes and a black horn button.

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Bottom view of the frame. The front and rear axle, the front and rear shocks, the stabilizer bars and the steering box were installed.

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Another view of the frame with the stabilizer bars installed.

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Rear view of the frame bottom showing the rear shocks.

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Front view of the frame bottom showing the front shocks.

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Bottom view of the chassis with the radius rods and steering linkage installed. This shot also shows the chrome front frame bar installed

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Another view of the bottom back of the chassis. This shot also shows the chrome frame rear bar installed.

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Another view of the radius rods, steering linkage, steering box, front shocks and front bar installed.

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This is a preview of the interior. It is not glued yet because the driver side door is not detailed as of this post.

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I started detailing the dash and gauge cluster. There isn't much detailing on the dash. The air vents were black washed and the glove compartment door handle is black. The background of the gauge cluster has the first coat of a red/brown wash applied. I'm not sure what to do with the gauges themselves. I don't want to leave them chrome.

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The frame/chassis is almost finished. The wire sticking up in the air will eventually connect to the coil.

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Another view of the almost finished frame/chassis. The air cleaner is not installed but is ready to go.

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Bottom view of the frame/chassis. Everything is mounted and installed.

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The next three photos are of the body after the paint was stripped. I attempted to fix the major orange peel, and I was almost successful. Wet sanding with 3000 grit sandpaper and then polishing with Novus #2 and #3 scratch remover made most of the surface smooth and shiny; however, there were some areas that were still bad and the metallic blue would not polish out from the tape residue.

So...I gave the body a bath in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Within 15-minutes, all three layers of the Tamiya paint was stripped. I did a light brushing with a toothbrush and an acid brush, then washed the body with Dawn dish soap, rinsed it in clear water and it is now setting off to the side drying. I'll attempt painting again this week (week of May 30, 2022).

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The next two photos are of the body after the paint was stripped. I attempted to fix the major orange peel, and I was almost successful. Wet sanding with 3000 grit sandpaper and then polishing with Novus #2 and #3 scratch remover made most of the surface smooth and shiny; however, there were some areas that were still bad and the metallic blue would not polish out from the tape residue.

So...I gave the body a bath in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Within 15-minutes, all three layers of the Tamiya paint was stripped. I did a light brushing with a toothbrush and an acid brush, then washed the body with Dawn dish soap, rinsed it in clear water and it is now setting off to the side drying. I'll attempt painting again this week (week of May 30, 2022).

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The paint was stripped from the body. I attempted to fix the major orange peel, and I was almost successful. Wet sanding with 3000 grit sandpaper and then polishing with Novus #2 and #3 scratch remover made most of the surface smooth and shiny; however, there were some areas that were still bad and the metallic blue would not polish out from the tape residue.

So...I gave the body a bath in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Within 15-minutes, all three layers of the Tamiya paint was stripped. I did a light brushing with a toothbrush and an acid brush, then washed the body with Dawn dish soap, rinsed it in clear water and it is now setting off to the side drying. I'll attempt painting again this week (week of May 30, 2022).

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I put a coat of white primer on the stripped body and it did not go well. We'll see...

While the primer was drying, the fenders were mounted to the frame. This is a top view. Again...the stray wire sticking up in the air will be wired to the coil.

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Another view of the fenders mounted to the frame.

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I tested the tires and the way the car will sit and I'm happy with the way it sets and how the wheels are going to look.

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The interior tube is assembled. I have a-bit of clean up to take care of a few shiny spots on the seat back and the arm rests. I don't know where they came from? The dash is painted Metallic Blue to match the sides of the body.

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Another view of the interior tube. There is some more shiny spots on the seat that need to be cleaned up. It almost looks like glue; however, I wasn't anywhere near those spots with glue? The dash is painted Metallic Blue to match the sides of the body.

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I then test fitted the interior tube to the frame and fenders.

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Learning my lesson from the last painting disaster, I masked the area of the body that will be gloss black and sprayed the bottom half of the body with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. I then cleaned my airbrush and removed a load of wash from the washing machine. After those tasked I pulled off all the masking tape. The paint job is not perfect; however, this is a learning process for me.

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While the Metallic Blue was drying I glued the bumper supports on the car.

Several day later (Sunday, June 05, 2022) I dry fitted the interior to the body, the body to the chassis and then with the hood in place adjusted and glued the radiator in place. My plan is that while the gloss black on the top of the body is drying and with the radiator glued in place, I can get the radiator hoses installed and the ignition coil located and wired.

While I was gluing the radiator in place, two of the bumper mounts fell off, 😢 one in the front and one in the back. They didn't break, they simply fell off. I guess Gorilla Glue isn't strong enough? I'll put them back on later.

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Just another view of the radiator installed. The Metallic Blue strip on the hood does not line up with the body because the hood is not properly setting in place. It can also be seen that the right bumper mount has fallen off. I don't like the way the front bumper mounts mount to the cars frame. I might end up drilling some small holes and pinning them in place?

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I had another painting disaster on the body! I'm starting to think that I'm not supposed to use the color scheme that I selected. The rest of the car is 98% done, but the body!!!

I masked the Metallic Blue to paint the Gloss Black top of the body. This time the Black came out fine; however, I don't understand the massive amount of seepage on the Metallic Blue. The tape was firmly pressed in place with no wrinkles. I used the same Tamiya masking tape as before. My airbrush pressure was 15psi. The Tamiya paint was thinned with Tamiya thinner using a 50:50 ratio. I really don't get it? I understand bleed along the edge between the Gloss Black and Metallic Blue. That can be easily repaired and touched-up. But now what to do?

So...

Do I lightly sand to Metallic Blue and spray the Metallic Blue with low pressure and the smallest needle without taping the Gloss Black?
Do I attempt to hand brush the Metallic Blue?
Do I mask the Gloss Black and respray the Metallic Blue? I really don't want to do this.
Do I give the body another 91% IPA bath, and start over for the third time?

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Wednesday, June 08, 2022. I was able to repair the painting disaster I had on the '32 Ford body yesterday (June 07, 2022). Alleluia!!! The next three photos show the results. There is a very small amount of touch-up to do along the paint line; however, that's nothing.

The way I fixed it was by accident. I started by thinking I would try brushing on a coat of Metallic Blue. I wet a 5mm wide broad brush with Tamiya Acrylic thinner and removed enough from the brush so that it was just damp. I than dipped the brush in the Metallic Blue and did a test pass on a spot near the bottom of the body where there was a large amount of black. When I moved the brush, the black paint lifted off. I continued wetting the brush with thinner and adding a bit of Metallic Blue and brushed over the rest of the black seepage. There was some black being blended in with the Metallic Blue and some of the Metallic Blue was coming off down to the primer. I removed the worse of the black seepage using this method. I then wet sanded the Metallic Blue sides with 3,000 grit sandpaper.

After wet sanding, I washed the body and thoroughly dried it. I then masked off all of the Gloss Black with Tamiya masking tape. After I was absolutely sure the tape was pressed firmly against the body I airbrushed two light coats of the Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. After cleaning my Airbrush and doing a-bit of work on the chassis, I removed the tape and wa-la...

This is the result!

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There is a minor amount of touch-up to do at the paint line.

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Repaired paint disaster.

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The upper and lower radiator hoses have been installed. I did not use the hoses that came with the kit. I went through all the wire I have in my shop and could not find a wire gauge that had the right outside diameter. I then went to my box of scrap wire and found a length of what we in the electrical field call spaghetti. spaghetti is flexible tubing used to slide over bare wire to become the insulation for that wire. The outside diameter was perfect. The spaghetti green, so I used Tamiya Rubber Black and painted it. I then placed a piece of solid bus wire into the tubbing to make it more rigid, formed it to the correct length and bends and glued it in place. I still have a-bit of clean up to do at the hose joints as of these photos.

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The upper and lower radiator hoses have been installed. I did not use the hoses that came with the kit. I went through all the wire I have in my shop and could not find a wire gauge that had the right outside diameter. I then went to my box of scrap wire and found a length of what we in the electrical field call spaghetti. spaghetti is flexible tubing used to slide over bare wire to become the insulation for that wire. The outside diameter was perfect. The spaghetti green, so I used Tamiya Rubber Black and painted it. I then placed a piece of solid bus wire into the tubbing to make it more rigid, formed it to the correct length and bends and glued it in place. I still have a-bit of clean up to do at the hose joints as of these photos.

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The rear window (no picture), the windshield frame and the windshield was installed. I was wondering why there was no rear view mirror shown on the instruction sheet? However, I found one on the chrome tree. I installed the rear-view mirror as you might be able to see in this picture.

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I tried to get a shot of the rear-view mirror and the white ceiling; however, the lighting is horrible and the white looks dirty. It's really not. Also, on this photo it can be seen that I mounted the inside wheel backs in the back fender opening. The next day I had to remove them. The instruction sheet showed them installed for both versions of the build, with and without fenders. Well...they only need to be installed for the without fenders version.

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The radiator cap was installed.

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The next two photos are of the interior installed. As before, the lighting is horrible.

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The interior is installed. I'm not sure why the windshield looks so distorted; it's really not.