Gimpy, while that method works, I think you missed that it was tempered glass. Even blasting will not cut it, it will shatter! You'd have to take the temper out of it with heat treating, then cut, and re-temper it.
my former car, 54 Chev sedan delivery, chopped 6", Buick Grand Nat'l V6 turbo drivetrain, 59 Plymouth taillights
Got a few things done today. Took the day off from work, worked out in the shop and went and did a side job for some folding money. I did manage to get the delivery body raised off the franken-frame. I know it looks weird, but this is just to get the body up above the franken-frame frame rails, as mentioned before, someone before me had "tried" to channel the body over the frame. The pic above shows the shortened 9" rear end someone put under the delivery. It's just a shell of a rear end. No ring/pinion, etc. in it. It works fine for moving the car around, which I can do by myself since I am working alone. I should have taken some pictures of the gap on the rear door before I cut the body loose from franken-frame, but the rear door would not nearly come close to closing. At least now its almost normal. Here is a pic of what is left of the original floorboard just tacked back in to try to get the proper width started. Baby steps...
That was a nice looking ride.....sorry to hear she burned down! I think I read somewhere that it did....?
Another method for odd curved rear windows on a chopped car is to find a windshield with the correct curvature then cut it down,
I think I am going in a different direction with the rear window. I want to entertain the idea of going back with the full sized window, (thanks for the suggestion PNB) but I sure hate to spend the money right now on the rear glass just for the sake of getting the size of the window and/or opening. That money could be better spent elsewhere at the moment. I know I will eventually have to buy the glass, but I am a longgggggggg way from needing to order it. What I really need is a template of the rear door window. Cardboard, poster board, anything would do really. Even just the measurement top to bottom of the glass or the opening would be a huge help! If anyone out there would be willing to hook me up with a template of the rear glass, or the stock opening, I would be more than happy to compensate for the mailing cost and the trouble. Thanks everyone, for the input on the window situation.
Not sure what I am doing wrong here...I posted a similar vehicle seeking a value and don't get near the responses. If you missed it, I am considering this vehicle...what do you guys think?! This is the worst side...and it has a title.
Looks like a cool ol' truck to me! What year is it? Does it run? Is it pretty much complete mechanically? What are your plans for it? Looks like it has a split door in the rear? Thanks for posting the pics Dave!
Dan Landon's Chevy had a heavily massaged top. In addition to being de-crowned, the windshield was extended rearward into the top. Perhaps you could use the front part of the 4dor roof to similar advantage.
To salvage this Body and if RMONTY and I are on the same page a little windshield adjustment may be necessary. I'm thinking the first thing to get done is Salvage the Body, then attack all the Foopaws. A little homework would have gone a long ways for the P.O. The Wizzard
It is a 51 Chevy...put in barn in '84 so thats the last year it ran...yes, split door in the rear...does that add to its value? I haven't made up my mind if I am buying it...but it seems to rare/special to pass up.
PatinaDave; What your dealing with is a Panel Truck not a Sedan Delivery. All Panel trucks have split or Dual back doors and are built on a Truck platform. They are not Rare at all. They were the commercial work horse of the times. A Sedan Delivery is built on a Passenger Car platform and all of them had a single back door. Far less of them built. The Wizzard
My $.02: 1- I would first get the body mounted to the '52 frame, measure many times and places, square it up, brace it, make sure it is stable. Make sure all doors fit and open and close decently. 2- Plan on using the '52 windshield frame, maybe the cowl and firewall too. Your pics of the delivery windshield frame suggest it's kinda cobbled, I doubt you'll get glass to fit it. 3- I've attached some pics of a system I've used numerous times to support a top skin while mocking up/cutting/stretching/ tacking when doing a chop. A few simple screw jacks mounted atop a pile of milk crates/ planks/ whatever allows you to support the top skin and adjust the curvature till it looks right. The car pictured is a '49 Ford coupe that I chopped a couple years back, the rear half of the top skin is from a '50 four door donor. I this approach would help you get your delivery top back into shape. Good luck.
Not sure what your thread title was. That could have a lot to do with it. This thread includes "chopped sedan delivery" in the title, and then he goes right on to say he's saving it. Two plusses in my book.
yes, fire in engine compartment. not too bad, but enough to total it. blessing in disguise. it gave me enough money to buy my real true love, a 40 ford sedan. the delivery has been rebuilt, I hear its somewhere in northern Iowa
Well done for having the guts and imagination to save this. Looking forward to seeing how it all pans out for you.
Not a lot of progress over the weekend. Had birthdays to contend with, a house full of people Saturday evening, good times! Took a drive down the road a couple of times yesterday just seeing how the '52 drives. The front brakes didn't seem to be working at all. I pulled the driver's side apart, and found just what I expected. The wheel cylinder was all gummed up with gunk. Cleaned it out and got rebuild kits for both sides. Honed the cylinder out and everything seems to be slippy-slidey inside the wheel cylinder now. While I had it apart I decided to just clean everything up, and put a rattle can paint job on the drum, backing plate, etc. to stop further rusting. Once I had everything apart, I checked the kingpins and as was expected, they need to be rebuilt, at least on the drivers side. I expect the same on the right side as well. I have everything apart and ready to drive the kingpin out. I soaked it overnight in PB Blaster and will get out there this evening and see if I can get the old pin driven out of there. I took a half hearted attempt at it last night, but was too tired to swing a hammer too much. I was thinking maybe try the air hammer on it after it soaked overnight. Thought about heating it as well but I just hate to use heat unless absolutely necessary. Any helpful suggestions on making this as easy as possible?
Been years since I've done a Chevy king pin set. Is it the one with soft plugs on top and bottom of Spindle? I also seem to remember a snap ring somewhere. Of course the Pinch bolt has to go. A solid block under the lower A frame and a couple smacks it should move without heat. Using heat often turns a king pin into a Rivet. You don't want that. The Wizzard
Yeah there is a snap ring in the top and bottom, much like a U-joint type clip. Those are out. The pinch bolt is out as well. The bushings are supposed to be "floating" so it may just need to soak a bit more. I noticed a bunch of runny-rust looking gunk from letting it sit overnight. Will try the air hammer once I finish up with work this afternoon. Will block the lower A arm up as well. I hadn't even considered that the movement of the A arm could absorb the blow from the BFH but that is a very good point. Thanks PNB for that tip.
I have a piece of 14" steel I Beam I use as a block. That way all the hammer shock goes where you want it. Wood is ok if that's all you have.
Had some success in removing the kingpin and bushings on the driver's side. Had to put some heat to it just like I thought I would, but it wasn't too excessive. Will tackle the other side another evening. Got parts on order so it may be a few days. I figured I might as well get that done since the slop in the spindle was bad....the bushing on top was worn pretty bad. It was also seized in the hole. It took a lot of hammering to get it broke loose. Basically I had to partially collapse it in the hole before I could get it out. The one on the bottom came right out with a few whacks. Reading a sticky over on another forum sure helped me understand the "floating" concept of the bushing. Will need to make sure the bushing slides through the bore in the spindle with just light finger pressure. The bushings apparently are not pressed in.
That is a great approach it looks like. I like the idea of being able to support the roof with the jacks and the wood. I might incorporate some of this strategy when the time comes! I appreciate the input halfdozen...
Got some work in last night. Kingpin set came in. Got the drivers side done. I had to hone out the spindle so that the new bushings would slip through the bore with slight finger pressure. I used one shim to get it under .006 play. I then went on to reassembling the brakes. Wheel cylinder got honed out, and reassembled, and while in the process of getting all that done, I removed the flexible brake line to clean it up. I used a piece of MIG wire to run through it, and I am glad I did. I could barely get any air pressure from the compressor through it before I pulled the wire through it. I put several kinks in the length of MIG wire, and pulled it back and forth through the hose many times, twisting and turning it as I pulled it back and forth. Seemed to have knocked a bunch of crud out of it. Sprayed some brake parts cleaner through it, then did the air test again and seemed to have a full stream of air. Now here is the interesting part....when I disconnected the hard line from the flexible line, I found what appears to be a sheetrock nail that was clipped off, and slipped into the hard line. When I first started diagnosing the brakes, I told a friend that it felt like there was no fluid being pumped into the front wheel cylinders when I hit the pedal. The pedal would slightly compress and then feel like it was hitting a mechanical stop or something....once I found the nail, it made perfect sense! Hydraulic lock! Why someone would put that nail in there is beyond me. The head of the nail was even "cupped" where it had been tightened against the male end of the flare on the inside of the flexible line where the flare seals. I wonder if someone had something against one of the PO's and this was some sort of sabotage? If these old cars could only talk! Overall I am happy with the way the kingpin went in. I test fit everything several times, made sure grease was flowing good through and around the new bushings, packed the thrust bearing really good, etc. I did a quick clean up on the drum, backing plate, etc. and some rattle-can action on some of the parts just 'cause.. I hate putting dirty, rusty, cruddy parts back on after making repairs. OCD thing probably. I have the wheel bearing soaking in some cleaner because they had what looked like dried molasses on them. Probably old baked on wheel grease. There was a noticeable lack of any grease in the hub, on the bearings etc. I will repack the bearings this evening and go about bleeding the brakes and see how they work.
Wow, that's the first I've heard of something actually put in a Line to stop fluid. Usually they just crimp the steel line. Good you found that one. Just for chuckles I might remove the line on other side just to take a look. If only one side is blocked off you would have had a hard pull to the working side. Hard pedal and no pull might mean both sides blocked off. Like you say, if only they could talk. The Wizzard
Hi RMONTY. We can most certainly help you with the rear glass . We do have a vendor that makes laminated rear windows for your cool ride. As a different alternative that was mentioned previously, take a windshield with the same curve and cut the back glass out of the new windshield. We had a customer that is creating a very nice 1957 Ford T-bird station wagon. Yep a wagon. Very nice build. Anyway they did not have a back glass for their build. They used 2 different hatches to make their own rear hatch. No glass available. We cut them a new rear window for their build using a NOS windshield that had the needed curve. They now have a rear glass for their ride! Pics attached. You can look at our Face book page and see that we do many chop top car glass cuts and installs .
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