Kev,

This is a great example of things going from bad to good. Father Packard couldn't be prouder of the work (& $$$$) you put into restoring your '54.

Great job!

I've been following your post and it seems to be coming up short with answers. You mentioned two issues, sagging doors and missing roof bows. If that is the scope of you wood problems, you may be able to solve them without drawings.

I've included 2 images. One is for my suggested fix for the doors and the other is for your bows. If you have problems figuring out my sketches PM me your phone number and I'll try to help.

On the doors, you are going to attach a piece of sheet metal to the straight side of the door and another one to the bottom with large wood screws. Then raise the sagging door a little bit more just past the point where it is "un-sagged". Then weld the two pieces of sheet metal together. I would also try to strengthen the other joint with "L" brackets and or by gluing in wood "V" shaped blocks.

On the bows you'll need the help from someone who has a '37 and have them provide you with some measurements.. Looking at the "Bows" diagram, you will need the distances at points A & B at the various points where bows belong in relation from the front of the opening. The average of these two should give you the amount of rise your bows should have when it has the soft top is installed. Therefore, you will want to have a rise that is between 1/4" and 3/8" less to allow for the padding. You will want the curvature of the roof to slope very slightly from the center in both direction (front to back and from right to left. I'm guessing that there is very little rise and is over emphasis in my drawing You should be able to use your existing bow to determine the width and height that your new bows should be. You will want to use a clear straight grain piece of ash (not oak!). These will be glued (I suggest using Titebond III) in using 1/4" spline that goes into the wood at the side of the wood on the body. A slot is cut into the bow to allow it to be slipped into place.

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Rrhorton I'm guessing that the reason Ozstatman gets the photo to display the opposite direction than you do is because he lives on the other side of the world.

To add to Ozstatman's post, you left out and a few $$$. After all, anything can be restored given enough of them $$$$$$$$$$$$s.

I don't recall seeing any information that points to either a new timing chain or the chain being inspected during the rebuild process. Looking through all of the posts it would seem it might be best to start off with some solid, reliable facts in order to diagnose the issue.

I think if all is well with the chain and timing and you put #1 piston at the top, the following should occur:

1) The rotor should point at the distributor post for either cylinder 1 or 8 (If the rotor points to number 1 cylinder, then both valves should be closed otherwise).

2) The timing marks should be close to aligning with each other within 6-8 degrees

If the above doesn't happen then the problem could lie with the timing chain or an issue with the distributor being out of sync with possibly a broken tooth or shaft. Since it is easier to pull the distributor and check I'd look at it first. Next would be to check the timing chain.

On the matter of the compression readings being at zero, I would examine the gauge and the rubber on the gauge and even try a different gauge. When performing a compression in addition to what has been mentioned above (open throttle and providing readings for all cylinders) I would perform the test with both dry & wet cylinders (wet = squirting a small amount of oil into each cylinder and re-running compression check)

Thanks for the additional photos and information.

TCP Global has great prices on their paint. If you walk though their warehouse you'll quickly discover that they off load their house brand from PPG drums into gallon cans. While they cannot tell you the house paint is PPG it is quite obvious that it is PPG.

I used their paint on my 901 and paid about 2/3's of what it would have otherwise cost.

If the AC rubber is hard, why not use some PC-7 to repair the area where the screw holes are broken. The drill new hole somewhere else where it is not broken. install and use a stretchy PVC tape or thin foam weather stripping for sealing?

I hunted for a set like those on EBay and couldn't find any. So I was getting ready to make a pair out of mild steel, but decided to research the matter some more. I came across another approach for mounting the stone guard (see attached photos) om another car.

I made these out of brass flat bar (1/8" x 1"). The bolt hole for the radiator bracket is slotted to allow for pulling the stone guard tightly against the radiator shell. The straps were bent inward slightly to accommodate the difference in width between the guard and the radiator. After everything was correctly fitted they were sent out for plating.

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I would like to see photos of areas where there is a change in direction e.g. the point of the arrow on the hood for example. Measurements as to the distance from the a rise in the belt would be nice too,

Does your car still have the original interior?