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1953 Coupe Unusual and Inconsistent Details - Part 1

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:37 pm
by David Green
While working on preserving my 1953 “America” coupe (51015, Aug. 10, 1953), I’ve been keeping track of a few unusual and possibly inconsistent details between 1952, 1953 and 1954. Now that the project is done I thought I’d post them here in the hope they might be of help of others. I'm posting in 2 parts so I don't exceed the photo attachment limit. Apologies in advance for the long posts.
David

Door Light Switch Insulating Vinyl Strip
When I removed the doors I found a small rectangular piece of tan vinyl lying on the floor in the passenger hinge post cavity. When I rewired the door switch on the driver side I found its mate glued to the inside of the hinge post behind the switch. They might be Reutter’s solution for simple insulators to protect the switch/wires during installation or future failure.
Door Light Switch Vinyl Insulation Material copy.JPG
Door Switch Vinyl Insulation, Driver, Close copy.JPG
Hinge Post Cavity Undercoating
With the doors off, I found in the body cavity undercoating on the front closing and inner panels with body color overspray on the outer portions. The inner part of fresh air vent panel is undercoated but not near the vent openings or hinges. The original undercoating was not applied to an irregular semi-oval floor area around the drain hole, with both sides identical. Note in the photo the shape of my cardboard mask over the floor drain. I assume this allows water to drain and not get trapped on the rough undercoating surface. James Davies believes the cavity undercoating was for soundproofing and seam sealing along with some proper seam sealer.
Door, Pass Cavity Undercoating Prep - 1 copy.JPG
Door, Pass Cavity Undercoating with Pasha Red copy.JPG
Door, Pass Cavity, Upper copy.JPG
Door, Pass Cavity, Lower copy.JPG

Re: 1953 Coupe Unusual and Inconsistent Details - Part 1

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 2:26 pm
by James Davies
Cool David!

Yeah, the undercoat on the front closing panel was very likely for sound deadening. For the 356A they increased the number of ribs on that panel and also added a tar paper for the same purpose of reducing vibrational noise from the panel.

Few who restore pre-A cars get this sound deadening right. First, undercoat in this area when undercoating the bottom of the car, then paint the shell body color, including painting over the top of the undercoat in this area.

Re: 1953 Coupe Unusual and Inconsistent Details - Part 1

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 2:26 pm
by James Davies
I didn't know about the little bit of vinyl glued behind the top hinge post. Clever!