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Ford Model A Pickup Restoration September 2012

All parts that I've blasted in July have been galvanized.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

These parts are used later for the wooden bridge.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

Dependent to the pre-treatment you can easily determine the final look of the part, dull or shiny. The right hand side it is sandblasted and on the left I sanded it with fine sandpaper,

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

The housing of the two front lights are painted and sanded.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

Polishing and the case is ready.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

You maybe remember this photo from spring when I started to repair the cracks of my steering wheel with POR 15. After totally 10 steps all cracks and gaps are filled with POR 15. I have chosen this method because I wanted to keep the original look of the plastic steering wheel. The 'usual' method in this case would be: generous grinding around the cracks, rust protection, filling, sanding, and finally paint the steering wheel. But I don't want have paint on my wheel.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

After drying out, I want to set the steering wheel back to a brilliant condition. Therefore I must grind away all the edges and corners as well the excess POR 15 material. For this job I use my Dremel.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

After, the entire steering wheel is sanded with 800 grit sandpaper.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

Until now I have sanded everything dry.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

For a very smooth surface the wet sanding follows with up to 2500 grit paper. The surface is wet sanded enough that I can continue with buffing.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

As always when I'm buffing plastic I use a buffing wheel version with many threads. I get the best results with it because it is very soft and the surface is not heated up.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

After a first test on the left side you can see that it starts to shine. In the beginning I have used a little bit of liquid car wax, but you really don't need it. At the end for the high-gloss I just polished with the dry buffing wheel.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

After 4 - 5 rounds I have the shine I wanted and the cracks can be hardly seen.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

The steering wheel is finished and looks like new.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

The rims are ready but what's missing are the matching tires. I had good fortune to find four of these old original tires on a swap meeting. They are 70 years old for sure but with a little bit polishing I can drive them safely for another 20 years … just kidding :-))
Of course I'm not, but I'll use it as a spare tire. This tire is dated from February 1970 and has never run. It is 'Made in Switzerland' and this is the reason why it will get a place on my car. The tire does optically not yet fit to the rest of the car, so I have to clean it a little bit..

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

First I removed the dirt from past 42 years with water - looks pretty good.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

Unfortunately, the rubber surface does not look so nice after drying. I have to do a little bit more to get the black rubber back.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

I used a piece of cloth soaked with gasoline and rubbed the whole tire many times. After an hour of work, it looks as good as new.

Ford Model A Restoration September 2012

In the front row far left this is the spare tire, the other four are the tires that I bought new a few years ago and they will be used on the car.