Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

Wouldn’t just fish plating pieces you but welded together do the same thing?

 

Question:
Do the leaf springs need to be mounted perfectly parallel?
My frame is slightly more narrow where the front brackets mount, so it might be good to make an outrigger bracket to keep the spring mounts the same width front and back.
Mocked up rear axle and suspension today. Just a test fit. I’ll call Posies Monday to figure out the orientation of this shackle bracket. Not sure if I’m holding the driver or passenger side in the last pic. Not sure I’ll even need them.
1934 Chevy Master 5W coupe.

 

@Jay Altemus I measured my 33 and the front of the springs measure 38" outside to outside and the rear measures 44.5". So the answer to your question is they don't need to be parallel. Here's a pic that shows it the best I can.

 

What rear differential are you using TFOCH ?

 

GM 10 bolt out of a 94 Chevy S10 2WD.

 

Hey @TFoch, appreciate your knowledge and reference from your '33 that is guiding Jay's '34 Master build and other HAMBERS here as well!

 

The springs don't need to be parallel but I think the shackle bores do. Just a matter of aligning the perches.

 

I agree 100%. That was my plan.

 

A few diversions have slowed my progress. My youngest son is visiting this week, and I bought a used derelict English wheel that badly needed cleaning.
Finished cleaning up the English wheel tonight. It’s ready for service but I still need to find a way to move it around easily.
Before I set the body on the frame, I need to add some sort of structural bracing to the horizontal body panel right below the deck lid. It’s really floppy. So tonight I fabricated a simple hanger support for the deck lid so it stays in place without falling down through the hole.
Now I can see what shape to make the bracing for that lower panel.

 

Good save on the E wheel. Great work here!

 

Tonight was a flop. I’ll need to use thicker gauge steel next attempt. Either that or just fabricate the whole panel with new steel.
Made a brace with angle iron tonight. Too thick for the shrinker so I made relief cuts to shape it then tack welded to retain the curved shape. Alas, the brace piece isn’t stiff enough to hold the panel in the proper shape.

 

If you welded a piece of round stock along the edge or in the angle?

 

Current problem solved. I now have the deck lid properly aligned. Here’s a video I made explaining how I made a few simple alignment jigs. Now that I have it properly shaped, I’ll add some bracing to keep it that way.
VIDEO LINK

 

Jay- question for ya. I remember you blowing your car apart and it had the garnish molding. Did it all screw directly to wood? Or was it wood and metal ? Trying to figure out if there was holes in my doors and if they were tacked up

 

These are the pictures I can find quickly. I’ll look for more. The quarter window garnish looks like it was nailed to the wood. The inside windshield garnish was screwed down. The rear garnish was already removed and wood was gone IIRC.
Door garnish looks like nails as well.

 

That’ll work for me. All the wood has been replaced on mine, but you can see where the tack strip would be. May be easier to just screw it into small pieces of wood

 

I hope to put the body on the frame today. Only a test fit. First I’ll need to tack weld this rear body to frame support to the lower rear edge of the tail panel.
That piece used to be wood nailed in place. I hope it goes well.

 

Noticing that "switch" next to the passenger side quarter window... Was it used to turn on the center dome light? Never saw anything like it Jay! Neat!

 

Looking at those rear body to frame supports, what are the two holes on the outer edge used for - rear fender brackets? Also, did you happen to mount the rear leaf springs to your frame yet? It appears that you have, but not sure if this setup is still in "mock up" stage...

 

That’s exactly what it’s for. Your 31 would’ve had one as well.

 

BIG day for me. Body off the dolly and onto the frame today. Rear brackets are bolted to the frame. Rest of it is resting on the firewall. I won’t add the doors yet because that’d put a strain on the roof. Gotta get A and B pillars (front and rear door frames) installed to help support the body on the frame.
VIDEO LINK
ANOTHER VIDEO LINK

 

@Jay Altemus looking good!

 

I spent Labor Day morning at my friend’s shop. We cut and bent some new 18g steel. His 1934 Chevy 1.5 ton truck is in the background. The rusty piece on the table is the deck lid rain gutter for my 1934 coupe. Pieces on the table will be used to make a new one. We also made a piece for a new tail panel below the deck lid in case I need it. Still undecided about that.

 

Frame is still resting on jack stands. The rear suspension is merely slid under the frame. Nothing secured to the frame yet.
The body to frame brackets have 2 holes on the vertical plate and 2 more on a side horizontal plate. All 4 holes are used to secure the horizontal rear wood skeleton beam that runs from that bracket to the main floor beam. This pic shows the beam I’m referring to.

 

There are Fisher body manuals for the closed cars.

 

I’m lining up things. I have the rear of the body firmly mounted to the frame with brackets AND in the correct location. I used ratchet straps to pull the front section back so the door gaps are approximately correct. I used the original rocker panels to double check the distance at the bottom of the A and B pillars.
I need some advice here please. In what order would you do things regarding constructing a floor and door frames?
I’m trying to recreate the body rails that were originally wood using 1.5 x 3 steel tube. This wood piece I got with the purchase is for the passenger side of a 34 Standard. So it’s NOT correct for mine but it’s very similar to the rotten piece I took out of mine. The 90° iron bracket that was riveted to the firewall sits in the front slot.
The wood at the slot is 1.25” thick, so I duplicated that 1.25” at the front of both 61” beams. From what I understand, I’ll need to bolt those beams to the frame.
My near future plans are to fabricate front and rear door frames/pillars with steel tube so the body can have some rigidity. Nothing will be finalized until I hang the doors and confirm good fitment. I have the original brackets that connect the bottoms of the A and B pillars to the floor.

 

once you get the sills fabricated and bolted to the frame, I would get the doors fitted and swinging on the A pillar THEN fit the rear of the body to the doors. the gaps and bead alignments will tell you where to anchor the rear. of course tilting the cowl forward or back will change the angle of the body so having the A pillar only tacked in is important

 

I assume that you are referring to the “sill” as the bottom of the door frame. I’m new at this and sometimes I need to double check terminology.
Someone suggested that I frame the perimeter of the floor and run beams left to right across the frame instead of running the 61” beam directly ON TOP of the frame rail. That makes sense. Today I’ll try to temporarily brace the body so the door opening is correct at the bottom. That way I’ll have more confidence fabricating the A and B pillars.

 

"snoop74" I met you at the last Lonestar roundup and I have a 33-5 window and I have my window garnishs installed without wood. I know it would be a bit of a hike to come out to the College Station area, but you're welcome to come out and see how I did mine.

 

yes, by sill I mean the 61" beam you refer to. the sills would be the perimeter "frame" of the body. it would be best to have them made, braces connecting them and bolted solidly to the frame. welting can be added under them [evenly] after the all the fabrication and paint is done. this will give you a solid base to build the body on. starting at the front and leveling and fitting as you go back .
you are doing a great job so far