And The Journey Begins

[SRT392]

yes sir that is exactly what i was looking for....  thanks a bunch, now i can finish the bracket repair and install. this should insure i have the correct spacing for the latch and deck lid catch..   thanks again..

[SRT392]

So, waiting for some supplies  (paint) from Eastwood and the wing is finished so back on the Cuda.  Before an After shots of the rear window channel..  everything was good except parts of the channel  where junk accumulated and stayed wet so surgery was is in order...sectioning new metal in where necessary...

[SRT392]

And here is the passenger side after surgery.

[SRT392]

The drivers quarter pnl went on for the last time and is all spot welded in place.  then off the frame jig and onto the rotisserie and on to the little repairs, priming and initial body work.   

[SRT392]

oops,  sorry for some reason it attached them 90 degrees off and i can't change it...

[Cuda416]

Holy cow, did you ever put the wing pics anywhere? Is there a forum somewhere that shows of people building stearman bipes?  I'd LOVE to see that.

By the way, great job on the Cuda sheet metal!

[SRT392]

Cuda 416,   try the "Stearman Restorers"  page.   lots of what it going on...  i will be doing an upper wing this winter and will pass on some pics for those interested in what's inside one...   Cuda progressing and hope to be in paint sometime this winter...

[SRT392]

so everything on the quarter panls is completely spot welded in and i put up the new rear valance and filled and re-drilled the mounting holes. everything lines up just fine now...

[SRT392]

here's something i  found today in the rear fender (wheel house) well.  the dipping removed everything but the Youngstown foundry stamp 

[SRT392]

so a  lot of time spent but not a lot of visual progress.  Taught myself how to lead the seams. in a previous life someone took out most of the lead from the seams so i re leaded them to just below the surface and then used Icing to final level.  the drivers side i had to clean all the lead out first to put in the new quarter pnl so putting the lead back took some time to learn.. also have the drivers door almost brought back from the dead and will post a few pics later this week..

[SRT392]

working on the seams and while waiting for icing and primer to set i was working on saving the drivers door.. hard to see in the photo but it was close to needing a skin or another door. At least there was no rust and it actually fit the car real good so just save it.. it had a long gouge down the complete length and prior body folks used a slide hammer so a bunch of holes.  I made some fixtures for my pull riveter to flatten out the holes then welded them up and ground them off. pulled the depressions out and pulled the gouge. then leveled it and iced it to rebuild the lower line.

[Dakota]

Really nice work.   I've been able to figure out most of the stuff that goes with restoring a car, but body work like what you're doing is something that completely escapes me. 

[SRT392]

Thanks Dakota...  no difference between you and a professional except a few tricks and they can do it a whole lot faster. A pro shop would have knocked out the door in 1 or 2 days but it took me 12 days. The leading took me a week to figure out before trying it out on the cuda...

[SRT392]

and also finished the deck lid up.  it had some rust issues to deal with but that was solved with some metal and the welder and it was under arched by 1/16th. so a tweak and some icing for leveling and we have a good fit.

[Alexcuda]

Sorry what are you referring to when you say icing?