Leading In 39 Zephyr Tail Lights Into Our 1938 Ford Custom 

This channel is better than bad chads channel

Brushing lead is a dying art. Glad to see that you have picked up the technique. The way that you molded in the Zephyr tail lights turned out very nice. Your ability and skill in metal work amazes me. You are blessed!

Reminds me of helping my Dad. We used a tin of powdered tinit and a prestolite torch which just uses acetylene. I wilded the torch and Dad handled the lead and the paddle. My Dad said a guy would need three hands if he was doing It by himself. I remember the lead came in a packaged like a Hershey bar used to be, a foil wrapper wrapped in a paper sleeve. Fond memories wrenching with my Dad!

Matt, You did a really excellent job on your lead work. I'm 76 years old and have done my share of leading over the years. You are correct in realizing that heat control is the key to successful lead work. I really like the Eastwood tinning butter. It is a lot better than using plumbing solder and " Ruby" tinning fluid as we did in the " old days." I do have one suggestion in that liberal use of the " tallow block" on your paddles helps a lot. However, it is very important to use a good solvent ( lacquer thinner or alcohol) to wash the area before filing. I also used a solution of baking soda and water to wash the area before filing just to neutralize the acid in the flux and prevent any later paint popping. Keep up the great work.

I think you did a real job making each side blend so nicely. Love the Zephyr tail lights , much more classy looking .

The spirit of Bill Hines is alive and well, it would seem. Love the old school approach to your customising, Matt.

Watching the amazing variety of work you tackle reminds me of the saying- which people always misinterpret: "Jack of all trades and master of none is better than the master of one."

Man there is just a fine line between just right and a glop of lead on the floor. Nice job. ✅

You are truly doing a wonderful job on this one. Thanks for letting us follow along. 😊❤😊

That is wicked. And a Carson top to come... wow.

Perfect chop 1:14

The Zephyr tail lights really make a subtle difference in the rear view of the Ford. Leading them in place was certainly the correct choice due to the location and the stresses that will be experienced back here. It is a real treat to watch someone doing real lead work. Leading has become a lost art over the years. Yes, it is apparent that you don't do this on a daily or weekly basis. But to have been able to study under Gene Winfield and Bill Hines is a gift from God. Those guys were the masters of their craft and made it look simple and easy - and in reality it is neither. Yes, I have done some lead work back in the day (1965 - 1970), and know that it is hard to convey just how difficult lead work really is. I almost always had at least one incident of having the work area fall off onto the floor on any job I did. I worked for an old-school master that insisted roof seams had to be leaded. Don't sell yourself short. You have the skill and knowledge to do this, but the only way to maintain proficiency is to do it on a routine basis. Just look at how much faster and easier it was to do the second tail light... Keep your hand in with this. Someone has to be able to pass on the skills to the next generation...

Excellent choice for tail lights and you too made it look easy enough. Even though it's not.

That’s a beautiful job, this is really looking good !

Good on you. 1960 all over again. Lead is the proper way. Even 70s cars had lead in them from the factory. You will never get enough lead to hurt you. The old boys did it all day every day. Like you said just use your resperator and be smart about it. You'll find better results even with that torch neutralizing that flame a little. Great work. Lovin this project.

Amazing! Those taillights really look better than new! In fact, you blew away the factory!

Very cool..love this car. You guys are living the dream most of us would kill for.

Enjoyed watching the leading process. I think you learned well from Gene and he would say “good job”.

You are definitely a professional at what you do I enjoy watching you work

Body work old skool. Bill Hines would be proud. 🔥

this car will be a head turner on the streets and a must see at the car shows..great job gang..

Looking good. Nice choice of lights. Old school, skills like leading take years to master the technique, but you did well.

The combination of the chopped windshield, the skirts, and the tail lights really set this car off! Some think the 38's are an ugly duckling, you are turning it in to a beautiful swan. Enjoying the videos.

Love the new tail lights, really smartens the rear end up, and well done on your lead work, not as easy as getting the old tin of plastic filler out but a much better job, and more in keeping with the age of the car, she'll be a great looking car when you've finished with it, love it 😍

Looks great MATT, never seen anyone actually doing it, you did s fine job with it!!

Absolutely amazing with those in it Matt.

Lead not easy but last for ever ! Well done

Tail lights look amazing , your doing Bill proud

Zephyr lights look great! Nice job. This project gets more interesting each video.

Two little lights have made a huge difference, added a bit of class to the old girl 👍👊

Hines, Winfield, Barris, the masters names are already fading from current memory . And Gene Winfield is still with us. Thanks to you Matt , and a couple others , the art and the hobby may survive. Thanks for the informative vid. Love the car. Great project! 👊😎👍

love how its turning out

Very interesting.

LOVE the tail lights. Hey brother, you gotcha yourself a true lead sled!!! KOOL!

hi I haven't seen leading for a while, still have my tools and the 40/60 lead filler

Hey Matt, the Zephyr tail lights look GREAT! Even without the ideal tools, you pulled it off. Nice!

reminds me watching the body shop guys working there magic on the trucks we made. great job

Nice job Matt looks good 😎

Good thing winter is almost over so you can start enjoying it on the road.

Very Very Kool. I can remember when plastic filler first came out and my dad would not use it at first for while. Thanks

Great video!!!! Looks awesome!!!

Thank you Matt for sharing this information with me ! I really enjoy watching and learning !

Nice job, some real old fashioned panel work there, haven’t seen that since the 50s. They look great.

The lights look great and really show your talent.

As you are talking I am looking at the trunk deck and thinking, " that handle and license plate bracket have to go."

Yes, sir what little bit of soldering that I have done on any sheet metal I have had the same aggravation. I like yourself found that a soldering setup like the old plumbers would use to solder pipes (way back in the old days) works the best. I have an acetylene torch setup that my dad had acquired for such repairs around the house and it really works good for soldering. Going back on sixty years when I was going to junior high school, we had industrial arts classes (drafting, printing, woodworking, and metal shop) In metal shop we used the soldering irons that you heated up in the furnace (they are actually called solder sticks) to solder sheet metal pieces together, and it is indeed a tricky wheel. Your comment about the old masters in soldering is spot on. When I was younger, I took a course in welding and got pretty good at oxyacetylene welding, and it was like falling off a log once I got practiced at it. I like your procedure of fitting up those taillight assemblies and of course the question is on those fenders would be are they from the same years of Ford (is there a difference from one year fender to another) or is one fender a reproduction that is incorrect. No matter you seem to have the problem in hand. As usual this project is one to follow. Looking forward to the next installment.🥸👍

Great job on the taillights and old school method of round bar filling and leading. Looking forward to the next video on the '38 !

Looks dialed. Definitely I agree with your choice of zephyr lights…

such cool car and project, can't wait until painted!

The tail lights turned out very nice Matt!

I sort of like the lights with just the rod and filled as they 'stood out' a bit and were very prominent, but with the lead and rough sanded the look very 'swoopy' and I am sure the people in the day would have wanted that. I am glad you have the vision and can see how you want it, because I would have stopped before the lead. Great job.

Way better,glad you fixed it up.

Fantastic! Never seen leading done before. Had it explained, but you really filled some gaps in my understanding as well as the fenders! Thanks!

Lead work is a true art. I realize you are not a virtuoso, but I've watched masters work years ago, and you have all the basics. You're keeping a dying art alive, fine job! Most admirable is you're a humble man. I'm reminded of a old friends saying, "It's not that I'm so good, it's that the others are so bad, they make me look good!" That applied to dear friend who was a old school glass man. The last one I knew who could cut curved windshields for chopped tops, and perfect every time.

The best video shot yet easy to follow along other than your tools easily could be done at home . The car is stunning as it becomes its own version

A buddy of mine who had a body shop started body work in the late 40's. Filler at that time was lead. He built a lot of custom cars (he kept most of them) and one time I asked him why he didn't use lead. He said that he had a lot of experience with lead and if he never had to use lead again it would still be too soon. His comment was that plastic filler was the best thing that ever happened.

This type of process is very interesting... the result seems excellent to me!👍👍👍

Iron trap garage I have learned lot watching This channel

Matt, it would have been interesting to see the level laser used on it. Great video, Sir.

Looking better & better !! I have to confess - I didn't particularly like '38 styling, but y'all are quickly changing my mind.

Tail lights look cool and love the direction. Now you need to french in the license plate in the trunk lid. Cheers

Great vehicle 😀

Love the lights. Always more to a job like this, but worth it I think. Definitely keep the car long term. It would be a great 3 season daily drive. I would keep the original color

My dad used to do that leading and fileing to our Volkwagons. You brought back memories from the seventies to me thanks.

The car is going to turn out awesome.great work

I think you did a great job with the tail lights. A kindig handle would look cool on the trunk 👍

the tailight work really looks great and fits the era . I did a lot of lead work in my career with a major electric utiliy co. all of our high voltage cable was encased in lead . all splicing was done with ladles and a propane torch. the easiest way to do lead work was to tin the object first lead to lead or metal using a tinting compound called sperm (comes in a white block)

Hi Guys, Standards had only 1 taillight! Therefore, I think that you have two different fenders. The first thing I did after buying my '34 in 1958 was change the stock stalk taillights to '39s as was common on hotrods at that time. Unfortunately, they are not very visable at night even after painting the inside of the bucket silver and installing Ron Francis bright bulbs. I had considered changing to Zypher lights but settled for Southern Rods LED lens conversion for safety sake. I've driven my '34 to almost every Street Rod Nats with a lot of late night driving. Love your channel! Best regards to you folks & Pete T. lights on ml

Thanx Matt, The trunk handle had to go, now the license plate ..... I can't wait

You did a good job leading. I did some as a kid, but did more brazing and filling with a brazing torch lolol also used plumbers lead which was real less back in the early 60’s? All good.

Slick Willie.....Lookin' good!

Full Custom coming soon! Great job keeping the lead on the panel, always a struggle to modulate the heat, great video!

Looks awesome, a lot of work but you're one of the best.

When i got my body degree from Middle Bucks Tech School, they taught us leading. Which even in the late 70's/early 80's, was already considered a lost art. The only thing i saw you do different from what we did, was we had a beeswax pan to keep our wooden paddle waxed. Not an easy thing to do & you did Quite well. Ty for taking us along

Looking better all the time! Todays lead is mostly tin, so it’s a lot runnier than what I learned with and the older guys used. You surprised me when you said the torch was to much, that’s all we used back in the day. Looking forward to seeing the shave!😁✊

I appreciate hearing the shop sounds without music

Tail lights look great

Dude!!! Great video!!! That is on my bucket list!!! In auto body work!!! Thanks I need to get on that!!! Auto pop deck lid!!? Next you'll have it shooting flames!!! Lol!!!✌️

nice work Matt. best not be timid with metal... remember, the artist is his own worst critic. looks great.

I’m sure Mr. Winfield wood say he taught U how to do that and be proud of the job U did. Enjoyed watching U , from an old tymer n Ga., the state not the country. Hey have a great day

Your OCD serves you well Matt. Well done.

Damn that's cool

Excellent work Matt

It’s officially a lead sled now 👍

Love the tail lights Matt great job installing them

Great work! Keep on going, it's going to be a classic hotrod when painted and done.😊

Looks perfect!!!

Looking Good 👍

What's the opposite of "frenching"? 😁 A very distinctive custom touch and nicely done. They look great, Matt.

Use a simple pull cable like a choke cable for the trunk latch. Maybe a set of 37 Desoto ripple bumpers to finish it off.

Wow, a metalwork transformation. It definitely beats bonds filler. Great job!

Love how this is coming along! Love traditional early customs ! Great job matt

man! i really like where this car is going. love that you leaded the lights (was wondering if you had any lessons from gw- of course you did) and love the mild customs of the early 50s. well done, matt.

The tail lights look great !!!!!!!

It’s awesome that you can do all of these things in house. Thanks for sharing.

You needed a cigar and bunch of stuff in your shirt pocket like Bill. Looks good. I like the Zephyr tail lights. Car is coming along. The paint looks like a candy jaw breaker.

GOOD JOB MATT

Leading is definitely a dying art but I think if you can do it then it is way better than bondo for shaping where you end up with thick layers of lead. Bondo will crack and shrink if it is put on excessively thick. It looks really good and it is probably better to take some time to do exactly what you want because if you don't do it as you really want you will regret it later.

Great Job on doing this the Old School way ~ you can see how a guy like Sam Barris only lasted at the top of the Custom World after only 15 years, crafting the amazing Customs he did this way every day before he burned out. Tedious Lost Art process

Very cool. I like the style you are heading to. 👍