1133 Chatmoss Dr., Va. Beach, Va. 23464; (757) 495-8229
Originally written: Circa 1995
Last update: June 11, 2009 - Reformatted page
When I left you the last time, I had finally gotten the wooden subframe on the chassis, finished painting the body panels and had fit them to the wood. I was still trying to decide how to attach the sheet metal to the wood. The Factory had used nails and as described in an earlier article it was a real chore trying to remove them. I finally decided to use stainless steel wood screws. I would have preferred #2 or #3, if there is such an animal. However, the fastener shop that I buy most of my hardware from said the smallest they had was #4s. So I purchased 2 boxes (200) #4 x 1/2" stainless steel flat head wood screws. To save time and wear and tear on the nerves, (to aid in the installation of these screws), I suggest having the following tools available:
- Two electric drills (cordless are fine). One drill should have a
1/16" drill bit chucked up to drill the pilot holes for the #4 wood screws.
The second drill should have a counter sink in it to make the counter sink
for the screw heads.
- A cordless screwdriver is a life saver when it comes to screwing in
the 150 or so screws.
- One of those flat blade sticks. I'm talking about those old fashioned, handy dandy non-electric, inventions you're supposed to use by rotating your hand but - most people hit with a hammer, you remember a srewdriver!
After removing the rear deck, I started thinking about how the Factory had assembled the car - the screws coming down from the top of rear fender arches (under the rear deck) and the nuts on the under side of the fenders. If a fender had to be replaced, the nuts would have to be removed from the screws. However, the build up of dirt and rust would not let the nut turn freely. Instead, the entire nut and screw would turn. To gain access to the heads of the screws the rear deck would have to be removed. There must be a better way! Then I remembered that Dale Barry (a pen pal in the L.A. area) said that Ron Naida (of Bonnets Up; Clinton, Md.) used T nuts. That made sense. The T nuts could be counter sunk in the fender arches and the screws inserted from the underside of the fender. Now the fenders could be removed at any time without removing the rear deck!
With 20-20 hind sight, I should have started with the cowl over the dash board. My dashboard was not on the car at the time I installed the cowl. I think if the dash had been attached, it would have made installing the cowl harder. To help seal the cowl to the wooden frame, I ran a bead of silicon calk along the top of the wooden frame. Then we (my father and I) carefully spread the bottom of the cowl and lowered onto the subframe. One side was fit over the wood that forms the front of the door frame. To work the other side onto the wood, we inserted a putty knife between the wood and the lip on the cowl and carefully worked (pulled ) the cowl to that side. Once on and aligned, a small block of wood can be placed on the outside of the sheet metal and on the inside of the wood tub and the metal can be pulled tight against the wood using a 6" C clamp.
Next the quarter panels should be installed. Before setting them in place, I applied a bead of silicon calk to the edges of the wood and went particularly heavy around the striker plate area. Using the clamps, the sheet metal was pulled towards the wood, and the screw pilot holes were drilled and counter sunk. (Note: If either of the quarter panels or the cowl has been replaced, they may not mate. If this is the case, a small patch will have to be fabricated and installed.).
The rear spears (the little metal pieces that cover the back of the rear fender arches) should now be installed.
Before installing the rear fenders, the piping or fender welting should be tacked into place. This piping goes along the bottom of the sill plate from the fire wall back to the fender arch. Then up and around the arch to the very back of the wood. However, getting it started from the firewall is a little tough. There is a triangular piece of metal that covers the area from the bottom of the door frame to the bottom of the sill plate and runs from the firewall backwards till the door frame touches the sill plate. To get the piping tacked in this area, either position your tacks in old holes in the metal or use a 1/16" drill and drill some clearance holes in the metal. Once past that triangular piece of metal, driving the tacks through the flange on the rubber piping and into the wood is easy. If you happen to have an air stapler, you can try using that instead of the tacks. I tried an inexpensive electric stapler and a hand stapler but with the epoxy on the wood, neither of them would drive the staples through the epoxy. (A friend of mine has an air stapler and it did drive the staples into the epoxy, however, I didn't try it on the piping, I used tacks.)
Now it was time to install the rear fenders. Most of the holes in the fender arches were plugged when the wood was reworked and the original fenders already had holes drilled for the bolts. (Before trying to fit any of the metal parts that have been painted, you should run a drill bit through the holes to open them up to the correct size.) My dad and I lifted one of the rear fenders up onto the fender arch and adjusted its position - the rear should be even with the end of the spears on the arch, and the cut out on the inside front edge goes over the chassis mounting block. We used a center punch to mark where the screw hole should be drilled and drilled the hole. A screw was inserted from the top of the fender arch downward, and a fender washer and nut were screwed on to hold the fender in place. Then working outward from this "center" point (one screw hole at a time on each side of the center) the remaining holes were drilled. After drilling each hole, a screw, fender washer and nut were installed and tightened. This would ensure that the fender kept its position. Once all the holes were drilled, the center bolt was removed and using a 3/4" wood bit, the hole was counter sunk for the T nut. The bolt and fender washer was inserted from the bottom of the fender and the T nut was screwed in until it touched the wood. The T nut was set by placing a socket (the same diameter as the T nut) with a 6" extension on the T nut and hitting the extension with a hammer. Turning the screws over was repeated for all the other screws on the fender. Then the entire process was repeated for the other fender.
The rear deck should be fitted next. If the rear bumper brackets have been installed, the deck can be carefully slid in between them and the wood crossmember between the fender arches. (If not simply set the rear deck into place.) Be sure that the lower lip on the rear deck goes under the wooden crossmember. Working from the bottom of the deck, carefully push it up to get the top (front) lip over the other crossmember at the top of the fender arches. You may have to slide a putty knife under the lip to help pry it over this upper crossmember. At this point it is important to notice the gap between the quarter panel and spears and the rear deck. They should be just about touching. Also notice where the old holes are in these three metal parts and measure the width between the widest two. There is a cap strip that will cover the seam and the nail and screws. (Note: The normal width of this cap strip is 3/4". If the cap strip will not completely cover the nails or screws, EPC INT. INC, 11304 Taffrail Court, Reston, Va. 22091 has both 3/4" and 5/6" strips. You could try using the slightly wider (5/6") strips. Or, now comes the really hard solution! Remove the rear deck, take the rear stringer from across the top of the fender arches, the crosswise stringers that make the spare tire frame, and at least the rear crosswise stringer from the trunk area and cut between a 1/16" and 1/8" from each side. Then try to press the two sides of the car together enough to get all of the stringers reattached.) Once it is in place, it can be nailed or screwed into place.
Installing the aluminum cap strips to cover the seam between the rear deck and the rear side spears comes next. I mentioned in an earlier article that I had seen a car with this cap strip polished. This makes more sense to me. Originally, wood screws were counter sunk into the strip and covered with putt and the strip got painted when the car was painted. However, the putty is forever cracking and popping off of the wood screws. I personally feel that leaving the cap strip unpainted and holding it in place with oval head wood screws actually accents the rear deck.
Start installing the cap strips by laying it at the front edge of the rear deck and slowly work it down to the rear. This is important since it is not truly a straight line and will have to be bent towards the center of the car. It should cover both the outside edge of the rear deck, the inside edge of the rear quarter panel and spears and the heads of all the nails or screws that were used to hold them in place. As you work down the rear deck you will have to push the cap strips slightly towards the center of the car. What should you do when you get down to the end of the fenders? On my car the cap strips were bent underneath the car. To do this, get a small block of wood, lay it on the aluminium strips and hit the wood with a hammer. You will be able to carefully bend the cap strips. Once bent, you may have to cut off any excess. You can also drill another hole and screw the cap strip to the under side of some of the wood or not. So far, I haven't screwed mine in. (It seems to me that I have seen some cars were the cap strips weren't bent around the end of the rear deck. They were bent down and cut off.)
It was finally time to mount the front fenders. Be sure you have your gasket between the valance and the fender ready. For this gasket I used some 1/8" rubber strips about 1" wide. A friend of mine is using naugahide and I've been told some people even use tar paper. Regardless of the material, lay the strip on the valance and mark and cut each screw hole. I used an awl to punch through the rubber and a "leather" punch - one of the inexpensive ones, like a pair of pliers with a wheel of about 6 different size punches on its jaws - to punch the hole. Insert a screw through each punched hole and into the valance to hold the gasket in place while marking the next hole. This is repeated until all the holes have been punched. I strongly suggest gluing the gasket to the valance with some contact cement. I didn't and the gasket keep slipping off and trying to align the gasket with the hole in the fender and valance was a royal pain in the as#$""! (I did try using Scotch tape, and Elmers glue but to no avail.) Once you are ready I suggest you get 2 helpers. One for each end of the fender, and you to supervise. Carefully lower the fender in place. Now insert a couple of screws through a couple of the holes and screw some nuts on finger tight. This will hold the fender in place. If you have installed the "C" brace that supports the front fender to the front suspension, cover it with some rags to keep from scratching the bottom of the fender.
At this point I had a problem! The front fit on the valance nicely but the rear of the fender did not slide under the sill plate and line up with the rear fender. Instead it stuck out about 4" from the car! Helllppppp!. I got my dad to come over and take a look (and bring his grinder). After pondering the problem for a while, we decided that the cut in the fender to clear the firewall wasn't doing its job! It appeared that we had to cut the notch about 1/8" further forward, 1/16" deeper. We removed the fender, made the cut and reinstalled the fender. This time it fit! I was thinking of using the T nuts for the 3 or 4 screws the factory installed through the lower door frame. I though that the odds of trying to drill a hole up from the bottom of the sill plate and ending up in the center of the door frame were against me. So I scrapped that idea. Instead I used #10 x 1" hex head wood screws that have a shoulder or washer on them. We'll see if I have a problem with them.
The nose is simple to install but can be a real pain. Trying to get the screws through all that metal. I used some 3/16" hex head bolts since you can't get a screwdriver into most of them.
Finally, the hood can be mounted. Install the rear hinge support on the firewall. Then I stood the hood on end (rear of the hood to the ground) and slid on the hinge. Get a couple of people to help you lift the hood and set it in place. Once the hinge is inserted into the rear support, the front support can be inserted and bolted to the nose.
The doors were the last part I installed. I was still working under the dash and climbing in and out of the car and I didn't want to have to worry about messing up the doors. I started by installing the hinges to the door. I used one 2 1/2 inch #8 flat head machine screw on each of the hinges. This screw went all the way through the wood. The idea here was that it would take all of the load. This way I wouldn't have to worry about the wood screws stripping and the doors getting ripped off the car. Next I closed the hinges and set the door in place to check the fit. When the top front of the door had the best fit, I marked the upper hinge where it cleared the metal. Then the door could be opened, and the hinge realigned and a pilot hole drilled. I used one 2" #8 flat head machine screw per hinge here also. The bottom hinge can be set the same way. If the front of the door scrapes the sheet metal on the front hinge post, the door must be moved out. The only way to do this is drill another hole. The door can be moved rearwards by making shims (I used gasket paper) and placing them between the wooden pillar and the hinge.
It is finally looking like a car!
I didn't want to install the floor boards as I was still working under the dash and it was nice to be able to sit on the floor and work in the car. However, when I installed the sill plate leather upholstery, I had to install the floor boards. To pull the upholstery tight it is nailed to the floor boards. Instead of using nails I used an pneumatic stapler and 1/2" staples.
I want to be able to get the floor boards out without having to undo all the staples then having to restaple all of them again. One change I think I'll make in the future is to take a 1" strip of wood and screw it to the outboard edge of the floor boards and staple the upholstery to it. To remove the floor board, simply remove the few screws holding the strip to the floor boards.
To cover the leather sill plate, the sheet metal and the wood interface on the lower door frame, the factory installs an aluminium strip. This strip is mounted with the round end forward to the door hinges and the flat end at the door dove tail and held in place with "Escusion pins" (tacks). As you can probably tell by now I hate nails. I decided to install the cap strip using #4 pan head sheet metal screws. This way I can take the aluminum strips of easily in the future if need be.
In closing here are some unrelated tips and things I'm trying on my car:
To help keep some of the metal from rusting, I ran several beads of silicon calk:
- across the horizontal chassis stringer at the firewall.
- across the top of the valances (front inner fender panels) to seal between them and the firewall.
Let me pass along another helpful hint. A friend showed me how to take care of the paint that collects in the rim of the can. When you first open a can of paint, punch 4 holes (1 every 90 degrees) with a straight blade screwdriver in the lower channel of the rim. This way the paint can drain back into the can. And when the lid is placed back on the can, it seals these slits.
Enjoy your Morgan
John
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