May 21, 2025

Roseville Rod & Custom Finish the Body Work on the 2026 Giveaway ’40 Ford Coupe in Preparation for Paint

If you’ve been following along with the progress on the Goodguys 2026 Giveaway ’40 Ford coupe, you already know that we started with an extremely clean original car, and that there were very few surprises when the body was stripped down to bare metal. You also know that the metal masters at Roseville Rod & Custom have taken that fine ’40 body and made it even nicer with select adjustments, refinements, nips, and tucks to improve panel alignment and fit, particularly on the hood. With that surgery complete, it was time for the Roseville crew to take the next steps by completing bodywork and paint preparation on the coupe.

As noted in earlier installments, the Ford body came back from media blasting at American Stripping wearing a protective covering of electrostatically applied primer. This kept the metal protected while the various metal modifications and refinements were being made, with only limited areas being sanded back to bare metal where welding, grinding, or other metal work was required.

When the car was moved from fabrication to the Roseville body shop, this baked-on primer served as a solid foundation for the bodywork and paint prep that followed. Filler work was done on top of it, and initial coarse block sanding was done on this material, too. Then the body shop team could move on to conventional high-build primer for the rest of the block-sanding process.

Anyone who has ever block sanded a car to prep it for paint knows how long and arduous of a process it can be. We won’t dive into all the gory details here, but you can rest assured that the Roseville team made the necessary reps of guide coat, blocking, re-priming, and repeating as necessary to get this 85-year-old body razor straight. The bodywork process also magnified how sharp and precise all the body gaps were after so much attention was paid to them in the metal-working stage.

We should note that PPG is our paint and refinishing materials sponsor for this project, as it has been for many other Grand Prize Giveaway cars through the years. This included the high-build primer, sealer, base coat, clear coat, and other materials needed to refinish the body in fine form.

Once the block-sanding process was complete, the body was disassembled to prep for the application of surfacer and paint. The main body shell was mounted to a rotisserie so it could be easily rotated to access all areas, including the floor. The doors, fenders, hood, and trunk lid will all be painted off the car to ensure thorough coverage. And the color? You’ll see more of that next month. It’s a subtle hue that keeps with the sleeper, moonshine-runner character we’re aiming for with this cool coupe.

These pics offer a brief overview of the bodywork and block sanding process, a sneak peek of what the car will look like assembled, and a glimpse at the color to come. Roseville Rod & Custom is making great progress, and we’re looking forward to showing you more of the 2026 Giveaway ’40 Ford soon!