The 52 so far....Pics, Pics and more Pics.

Good work!!! I cant belive how much rust you have but then i realize i live in the rust belt of the USA Cleveland OH haha and i feel your pain. Great work and keep it up i cant wait to see the finished product.

 

Great work dude!!! fun thread!!!

ian

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and it helps with the inspiration.

raunchero13, killer car man. I really dig what you've done with it.

 

It's been good for the last couple of nights, cut and tidied up the right side plate between the wheel tub and the long angle steel and then duplicated it over the other side, so now I should be able to get to work behind the wheel tubs.











Been thinking about getting rid of the gas filler tube on the side and having one come up from the floor of the trunk and out the back tailpan, that way I'll be able to lay the floor a bit tidier and it'll look better, wadiya think?

 

sterring wheel is on the wrong side bro!!

 

Yup, that's the way we is over here.

 

Hi i really like your pictures looks like you' ll have a great car for you and your kids. I am getting ready to replace my floor on my car and i have lots of other problems. Keep up the good work. Rick. quote I WENT DOWN TO THE CROSS ROADS TRIED TO CATCH A RIDE.

 

I was going to put in the outer trunk floor, then realised I have to repair the quarter panels first so I can weld the floor to it and as you may remember a while ago I made up some quarter arches, but wasn't too happy with the outcome, so this time I'm having another go at it.

Old photo of the arches


Old made up quarter arches. I didn't much like them then and I still don't


Mocked up a new shape. The wheel opening needs to be a little bigger.


Happy this time with the overall look, so I made up a hammerform template.


It's only taped in place at the moment and needs to come forward slightly, but I'm alot happier with this look.

 

Bash, I'm totally exhausted...!!! Watching this thread (and you and your boys work on it) is like watching paint dry...if I had to go thru that much rust repair on my Caddy, it'd been hauled to the crusher many weeks ago. You've done an amazing job on that car...congrats...!!!

Unlike your project, my Caddy hit the streets in July, exactly 3 years after I brot it home...it's now stripped to bare metal and I'm doing some body mods to it, and redoing the rear bumper...here's a pic of the skirt I've built...it's only 70 inches long...the area in front of the skirt I had to replace...the car took a door/pillar hit sometime in its life and the "bodymen" back then simply drilled holes, pulled it out (sorta) and, in your words "poo'ed" it up...it was over 1/2 an inch thick.

Hopefully, the body work will be finished this winter (yes, it's snowing in Denver right now), so that gives me four months to get it into primer...

Keep up the good work...and keep updating this thread...

R-

 

Thanks Stude, love that skirt on your car and especially the fact that it was hand made. You should make them as a bolt on item and sell them.

 

Working on the 52 has slowed alot since it's summer now and there's lots more time to spend with family, but I was able to get some time out in the shed with great intentions of gettin some serious work done on it.

I opened up the garage, looked at the trunk area and I had a recollection of raunchero13's boot area and thought..................**** IT!!

I've decided to seriously notch the frame at some point in the future and if I do the hard yards now, it'll be alot easier when I do. I'll just make something similar to a Gambino Kit outa 5mm steel.


Now when I stood back and saw this, it was my "Oh ****, what have I done" moment


Quick question to those who have successfully done this already.......how much space should I have between the floor and driveshaft after I replace the tunnel?

 

Got the wheel tubs done thanks to raunchero13's build tech and before they go in, I have to put on the new quarter panel so I can then attach the tubs to it.

New tubs/wells.


Had to put a slight roll in the panel to fit the body line, so I used a very rare technique only known to a secret sect of monks who practice an extremely rare and unique art of metallurgy..............
The English Foot on the English Pipe method


Panels with a roll in them


Found more rust to fix before the new quarter panel goes in.



More to come later...............

 

Can of worms man,good work so far!

 

holy ****in mess!!
keep at it man the fun stuff will come eventually.

 

Worms might be underestimating it Rob.

Flop, in all honesty, about 95% of the time i'm as happy as a pig in **** when i'm cuttin and welding on the car, but it will be cool to cruise in it!!

 

lets see some updates!

 

Sorry guys, I've been renovating my house for the last few months and I promised the missus that I wouldn't touch the car until the house is finished.....dammit. Still another few weeks to go before the house will be finished, so I'll be ready for a whole heap of cuttin and welding by then.

I did manage to score a complete 71 jag from hadbeer ( HAMB member) and I should be able to use the front and back end from it to drop the Chev down and make it handle well.

Heading to the Hawkes Bay swap meet this Sunday and hopefully meet a coupla legends - Pete Chapouris and Billy F Gibbons, should be good.

 

Bash, where in H/Bay do ya live? I'm in Taradale, about 8 minutes from the Meeanee Speedway, I'll be there on Sunday for sure. Look for a fat old bald ****** wearing a Mavericks T shirt, it'll be me. Marty.

 

Marty, I'm in Hastings and I'll be the one standing in line when it opens at 9am with a 52 glove box lid in my hand. I've been a ZZ fan since I was knee hi to a gr***hopper and hope to get Billys' scribble on it.

 

Great work!

 

Awesome bro!! The wheel wells look great!! I can't wait to see it finished!! Im glad i was able to motivate you!!

Ian

 

Dude, great lines and stance, it's easy to get motivated. Cheers

 

Any recent photo's or progress updates??

 

Had to put a slight roll in the panel to fit the body line, so I used a very rare technique only known to a secret sect of monks who practice an extremely rare and unique art of metallurgy..............
The English Foot on the English Pipe method


English foot and english pipe method? I love it!
Nice work.

 

chevute......ummm, yeah well....aaaah, no. Still keeping my promise and finishing all the little details on the house, it seems the details take longer than the bulk of the work - same as the work on the car.

The good news (for me) is that the end is definately in sight and I will be back on the car within 3 weeks for sure.


frankenstein1948.....yeah I was just being a smart ***. More to come soon!!

 

That about sums it up right there

Great job, It's nice to see pics with the boys wearing safty gl***es and
ear plugs, Teach 'em right Teach 'em young.

Jeff

 

awesome ! and you gotta love the english foot .

 

Update!! Yay!

The house was finished ages ago, but I found a new hobby that took up all my time - Distillation! Yeehaa.

So now i'm back on the car, time to dive in...

Cut out the nasty bit, as usual




Made up the lower column and welded in...just like a bought one.


Not sure what to do next, it's like i'm starting all over again and it feels great.

 

You're doing a great job of that but I'm sure there must have been better candidates available. Credit to you for persisting and saving another old car.

Pete

 

What a challenge!! Not very often I see rust like this on line.After seeing this my Fleetline is mint!! Great work and don`t give up on it.It will be something to be proud of when it is done.I seen some ideas I can use.thanks