Trim

 Starting point.

Tried to straighten and hammer out the dents in the trim. Sanded down i three steps, first 240 grit paper then 1000 grit and last with 2400 grit paper.

 Finished of by Pollishing.

Still looks quite bad but at least its shiny!

 

More work on the back side of the sofa.

I made a tool to "counter sink" screw heads with. 

A 5mm hole is drilled in the sheet metal witch is same as the steering pin on the tool. Sheet metal is placed on the tool and the you hit the counter piece with a heavy hammer. 

The result is not perfect. The raised part is a bit shallow. I might do some more adjustments before final assembly.

Details on back side of sofa.

What is back and forward on this project is a bit difficult to define as the back of the car is the front side of the sofa... But any way the side that will be facing the wall at some point looked unfinished at the lower corners and open ended subframes.

Welded some plates to the "back" corners of the sofa. Not only will it look better when ready but it also strengthened the corners. 

Subframe ends where welded shut.

More grinding and welding will be needed before ready.

Mock up to get an idea of what it will finally look like.

Rear valance panel

Unsure of what the correct name for the part is but after some searching "rear valance panel" seems to be correct. On the donor car this part was removed as a hole. My guess is it was in a decent shape when the car came to the scrapyard and has therefore been thoroughly removed. 

Rear valance panel welded in place

Before

Decided to go for a easy design not trying to make a stock looking panel as it will probably be unnoticed by most on the ready product. The initial shape was created with a brake. The radius became to small so some adjustments where needed.

Determining the shape.

Radius adjustment tool kit = big hammer and 2 by 4! 

"Back" side of panel was painted before welding in place.

Welded in place.

To stiffen up the rear valance panel a strengthening piece was made with holes in it for decoration even if no one will ever see it.

Used a flare die for added character.

 

Welded in place.

Bumper mocked up to see what it will look like when ready.

More and hopefully final rust repairs.

There are a few weak and crusty spots that need attention. Some of these repairs where done already during the winter and some are made now. Didn't take pictures of all the patches.

Left quarter panel. 

There is also a patch on the inside.

Some patches here and there...

 

There is still some welding to be done that I will revert to in some coming post but I consider the actual rust repairs to be done now.

Corners redone!

When I made the frame for the backrest I messed up the corners! As I wanted to proceed with the build I decided to make a temporary solution.

Before!

 Now I finally got around to remake those corners. 

Still not pretty but better than the original version.

 

Finished of with some epoxy primer.

 

Status update / spinnoff project no 3.

The previous year has been slow on the couch project. One cause was motorizing the bead roller with the help of an ATV winch motor. As the project was extensive I decided to make an own blog for it. The bead roller motorization project is now ready and from the link below you can  see what modifications were made to the roller.

https://mybeadroller.blogspot.com/

 

Before:

After (Sorry about the messy picture):

Bead roller is operated by a foot switch and powered by 12Volt battery

So what about progress on the couch?

When the bead roller was ready I made panels to cover the back side of the sofa. 

The big piece I made alone which would not have been possible with the hand crank version, also I dare to claim result is better than anything similar made before the motorization.

Bead design for back side of backrest. Supposed to imitate the beads on the back side of the backrest of a 1965 Dart STW. 

First beads made! 

'

Mock up!

A new "sand plate" has been made with a brake but I got the radius too small so some adjustments will be needed before being able to weld in place! The piece is much simpler than the original car part but I hope it wont show to much on the ready product.