Looks like I'm going to have to repaint some of the hidden areas of the firewall and the underside of the frame again. The lighting isn't too conducive to painting in my garage. Think I'm going to abandon the spray gun and resort to rattle cans. I also got the steering column and the column attachment brackets all primered and ready for paint. Hopefully, the new steering wheel will be shipped on Feb 5th as scheduled.
Today I dropped the gas tank out of the car and emptied the remaining gasoline into a pan to see how dirty it was. Last year I noticed quite a bit of rust in the fuel system. Clear bowls on the fuel filter on the tank and on the fuel pump make it possible to see any contaminants in the fuel. I was amazed when I dropped the tank and heard what sounded like gravel sloshing around inside! I poured the salvaged gas from the pan through some cheese cloth and into a bucket. Then I filtered it again as It was poured into a gas can. The residue left behind in the pan was disgusting!
Learning the history of a car can be fun. I posted last year how I had discovered a phone number written on the bottom of the radio and called the number to see if anyone there knew of the '41. The fella I talked to had owned the car in the late 80's and had bought it from a local dealer who specialized in classic cars. He had kept it for a couple years before selling it to the older gent that passed away in early 2010 and his heirs sold it to my friend Dennis. Welllll, today I uncovered a possible clue to previous ownership and a likely explanation for the great condition of the '41. Someone had covered the area behind the rear seat with a filler panel that was installed in the trunk. I don't know what this panel was originally made of but the replacement was made of a large piece of cardboard cut to fit and painted flat black. Since it was up in the back of the trunk, I hadn't bothered to do anything with it until today. I removed everything from the trunk to cut the fuel sender wire and allow access to the trunk floor so it can be cleaned and painted. While I was in the trunk, I figured I might as well remove that piece of cardboard so a different type of fill panel can be fabricated. Lo and behold, the other side of the panel was the remains of a lettered, corrugated container and affixed to it was a shipping label and Post Office date sticker. The shipper was: Al Knoch Interiors in El Paso, Tx and the package was sent to: AA Classics in Nixa, Mo. Al Knoch is still in business and looks to have moved to Houston - http://www.alknochinteriors.com/. AA Classics had a phone number show up in a google search but that number was no longer in service. I decided to do a little more digging so I called the Nixa Chamber of Commerce. Missy at the C of C didn't know of AA Classics but did admit to be a "car gal" and she had previously worked at the Auto Auction in Branson, Mo. She said Branson is only about a 1/2 hour drive from Nixa and that the Branson Auction is a huge one specializing in classic cars. She gave me the phone number for the Branson Auction and a referral to talk to "Jim" to find out if he knew of AA Classics in Nixa. Jim was out when I called but I left a number and hopefully, he'll return my call.
Now for some conjecturing on my part. The date on the label next to the shipping label was 10-05-88. I'm guessing AA Classics restored this car in 1988 and used a piece of a shipping box to make that trunk panel. They possibly sold the car thru an auction house, maybe down the road in Branson, and a buyer from Michigan (the dealer from Hudsonville) bought the car and transported it back to Michigan. That would be perfect timing for the guy who's phone number was on the radio to have purchased the car. And, since the car was obviously in Missouri, I'm betting it was from a southern state that didn't use salt on the roads in the winter. That would explain the pristine undercarriage of the car. If Jim calls, I'll see if I can confirm any of my ideas. Kinda fun to think it through.
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