Trunk area - stripping

Spent two or three days stripping the rear section.  Turns out there really is nothing either original or properly aligned.  The lower horizontal cross section is banged up and missing large sections.  I guess the good news is that I can work from scratch, the bad news is I haven't got a clue how to start...  It'll have to start with the outside of the cross section so that the spare wheel cover will fit properly again, then the inside box section.  Then work from there - sounds simple, ehh?

 

 

 Came across something nice on EBay as well:

 

Prep work

Stripping the rear of upholstery, panels, and woodwork (warned you this blog could be boring and tedious...).
The misalignment on the spare wheel cover is due to a dent lower left section of the body work.  No surprise, as this is a brazed on piece of junk.

Left rear door, part 3

Turns out that with a few hours of very careful hammering, I was able to shrink the weld and get a reasonably well line-out door.  Part of the trick was to remove all the excess weld on the inside of the panel.  See below

The average deviation is less than 1 mm, and when I get a better flat panel hammer I'll continue to remove some of the bumps.  But bottom line: it's going in the right direction without a new repair piece :-)
So what is the next project area?  The basic plan is to refabricate the rear-most box area, it is completely rotten and in addition, it covers the lower rear outside panel (the part with the dents).  To knock the dents out, you need to cut out the box section completely.  Luckily I have Mrs Erlands' restoration log, which covers the exact same procedure. The trunk:

A few repair pieces and a severely dented rear section.

You're not supposed to have external lighting here.  But the section looks much easier to attack now that all the junk and cardboard panels are gone.

Left rear corner.

And from below.

Oops, spare wheel cover doesn't quite line up.  Fitting the top section of the trunk lid shows it is most likely the spare wheel cover that's out of line, since the top part fits properly.  I'll need to spend some time measuring to confirm this.

 

 

 

Left rear door

I guess it should have been expected, but I didn't manage to weld the skin back together without it buckling more than I consider acceptable.  Two options: try to hammer it out, at the risk that I don't do it well enough and cause more stretching than shrinking; or to cut the repair piece (which is in far worse shape than the original part of the skin) and some of the original out and make my own.  The second option is the better one...

Left rear door

Seemed as if I only needed to replace the lower 10 cm of the inner frame, as a new section of skin had already been welded in.  And for a change, it looked quite well done.  Not.  The smallest application of heat caused buckling with a bump up to half a cm.  I tried Jeroen's newly taught skills on it, but in the end I cut through the old weld because there wasn't enough room for any of my anvils on the sides, pulled the two pieces together, and have started tacking them together.  Almost two mm's were cut out - probably way too much for my new shrinking skills to handle.

Most of the clamps already removed.  NB door is upside down :-)

(relatively) flat.  Believe me.

First steps

Plan: Body work, front to back.  Missing metal to be replaced, as close to original as I can get it.  Sounds simple, ehh?

This is the leading edge of the body, i.e. the drivers left foot.  The rot is extensive because it's covered by the wing and the running board. 
As I'm writing this some months after the work has been done: 'Work in progress':

The body is similar all around.

The left rear wing was almost completely detached from the car - three layers have rusted away: wing flange, outside body, and inner wheel well.  This will be an interesting part to fix...

The left front door isn't too nice either.  The frame has had a new part brazed onto it, meaning rot has simply continued on the skin.  Bottom line: lowest 5/10 cm of both skin and frame must be and have been replaced.

 

And the rebuilt door has been fitted.  Progress so far: both front wings, bonnet, radiator cowling, left inner and outer doorsill, both left doors.  All parts are basically ready for final sanding before a layer of primer can be sprayed on.

By the way, the door hinges are really really really tough to remove. 

Purpose

So why this blog?  Mostly because I hope it'll be an easy way of keeping some sort of restoration log, even though I've been at it for 5 months already.  And not in the least, because I hope to get in touch with as many other Humber owners as possible. 

So, pictures, and many of them:




She's home - and I'm not...

Did you know the Super Snipe is by far the smallest of the three Humbers I now have?  Not compared to the FIAT 500 however!

Most of the upholstery is salvageable, except for the headlining and the front carpets.

 

Don't let looks deceive you - this car has been 'museum prepared'.  In other words, made to look relatively nice through the use of loads of filler and paint.  The lowest 10 cm of the body have very extensive rust damage.

Aalholm Auction

7 July 2012: Email from a fellow Humber addict: "Hi Flip, Check this out.  It's only the second 1939 Humber Super Snipe I have ever come across....  If it was in England, it would certainly be joining my collection".  In other words: grab it while you can!

Between 7/7 and 12/8: many a night spent wide awake.  The 1939 Humber Super Snipe is the perfect car to join my collection: the early version of the 4086cc side-valve engine that runs through the war until 1953, on the short wheel base, cross braced, chassis of the 1938 Snipe.  In saloon form.  There are also sports saloons, which are just ever so slightly less beautiful. The only left hand drive, and one of only two known surviving 'early 1939' saloons (I'll post details about the differences later, I'm sure).  This is an opportunity so rare, the thought of someone else running off with it leaves me with a stomach ache...

14 August 2012: At the RM Auction in Aalholm, Denmark, a 1939 Humber Super Snipe is auctioned.  A sorry wreck, the state she's in brings tears to my eyes, but a must have :-).  Against several other bidders, in between million kroner Ferrari's, Bugatti's and a Maybach Zeppelin, and at slightly less than all the money I decided I was willing to spend, I hear "All said, all done, sold!  To Lord Humber!".

Aalholm auction: 1939 Humber Super Snipe, and great weather as well!