Back in Black! rpu build thread

Wow! looks great, I love this thread!

 

its those details that make the build, and this thread more and more amazing man...

 

What will you do when this marathon is over? I love this RPU.

 

this build rocks!!! i love the door handle latch

 

Guys,
thanks to you all, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your nice words. It helps prevent me from thinking I am a TOTAL freak from spending a day on kind of silly projects like this

Every once in a while it is nice to do a more "fun" project to break up the routine a little.

Haha Pete, you kill me! In all honesty, the door seals are only there to prevent the rear door edge from scratching the (at some point) paint on the rear quarter panel. But it does now seal up like a brand new Maytag

Good eye on the micro switches. They are meant to hook to an LED indicator light in the dash or something to tell you that they are not latched shut.

I am going to hook it to the cars under-body NEON kit that I am going to install

Actually I am going to take the micro switches off. No need for a silly LED for that

Paul, thanks man! I am going to do a bottom cushion for sure. I am debating about a back cushion. I like the way the seat back looks without a cushion, and they are pretty comfy without one for the minute that I sit in them.

But maybe when I am actually driving the car I will feel different.... At that point I won't complain to much though ha

Good question Brent! I tell myself that I can't wait to be done & driving it. But part of me thinks I will miss building it too. Kinda weird how we build "relationships" with our cars

 

On a small side note, I am trying to figure out what I want to finish the safety handles in. The door panels are all aluminum. I may just powder coat the handles black & call it good. I am open to opinions though


Here is an old pic with the interior panels in. You can see the hole in the door panel where these will go:

 

Nickel plate em!!!!!

 

wow beautiful truck

 

The detail is really giving this car 'depth', and highlights the great achievement that it is, your day of driving is coming soon, and these details will make the experience 'worth it', quality counts....

On a different tangent, your 'roof' and front windscreen...

I went back and re-read your posts, and I'm kinda curious to hear your thoughts on your roof, and seating position. I've alway's preffered screens to just 'lay back' a bit from standard, as it just emphisises the pursuit of 'speed', and bulky roof structures, whilst practical, detract from the 'look'.

Given the seating position which is on the floor, where does your 'melon' (head) land? am I being unrealistic suggesting to lean the screen back a little, and trimming the roof structure down to match?

Obviously unfair to gauge from a few photo's, what's your perspective?

Cheers, and again, want to compliment on your persistance, will be worth it at the end, banging through the gears down the highway, all in gloss black

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

everytime i check your posts i look for a big rusty hand print SOMEWHERE on that DAMN THING!! but to no avail....guess ill just have to keep looking. that thing is just perfect..Mr Drefus hows the roos treating ya???

 

Love this build, awesome fabrication skills to!

I was looking to use rivets on my Pick Up, still thinking about it.

 

What will the rest of your fasteners be? Brushed stainless? Chrome? Zinc plated? Will the seat cushions be anything special for color, or just black?

Personally, I like shiney handles. Chrome? Nickel plated? The handles are a nice detail and would be a nice contrasting part if they were shiney, in comparison to your door panels.

I vote for chrome. They're worthy!

 

dodgerodder, The only problem I see is; If you keep messin' around with all these absolutely great details, you well NEVER drive the thing!!!

Fantastic work, keep it up. It will absolutely be worth it in the end.

(When ever that is) Ha, Ha!!!

 

Thanks a ton Drewfus, I really appreciate that. I definitely agree with the angle of the post thing. It's another little thing that can make or break a car.

It's also amazing what a tiny change in that does to the look & attitude as well. I am definitely gonna play with the angle once the body is in epoxy primer. I want to wheel it outside to be able to get a good side view & try some different angles.

I don't want it crazy laid back on this, but a little angle does make it nice to me.

Thanks for the input, I do appreciate!

Oh man, it's getting harder to keep it clean! It is SO freaking hot & humid inside the shop now. This weekend it was 95 inside during the day, & miserable humid. I REALLY am anxious to get it in epoxy soon. If not I'll be having to do some patch panel on the body

Thanks btw!

thanks Chris! I enjoyed bucking the rivets. It was a rewarding project, and something a little different to break up the project a little.

Honestly not that tough to do either

Yeah Scott, I agree with you & Chad. It's amazing what a little chrome/nickle shine does to the overall look. They honestly couldn't be ridiculously expensive to do either, under $1000

The fasteners on the entire chassis & motor are polished stainless from totally stainless. They have the SS fasteners that are comparable to grade 8 hardware in strength. They really did end up looking pretty sharp honestly.

Seat cushion is somewhat in the air, til I make my final decision on paint. Probably black though

Believe me, I was just talking about this with my dad. I really am at the point that I am kinda over stressing over EVERY single detail & part that I make.

It's funny, Once I finish whatever my current fab project is, bolt it on, & move on to the next one, I no longer notice the part that I just finished before it. Kinda like the thrill is gone.

I feel like I am playing "Deal or No Deal". I have been saying "NO DEAL HOWIE!!!!"

I am ready to say DEAL!

I like the look of nickel! Different enough from chrome, kinda hard to explain. I wonder if chrome shops do just nickel?? Probably, since it's part of the normal steps in chrome plating

Thanks man! It's funny when I look back @ some of the older pictures. I forget how much there was to do to get it even to this point!




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Yes, chrome shops can do nickel. "Triple chroming" = copper base, followed by nickel, then the outer chrome. Any shop that does triple chroming does nickel. They just stop after the nickel phase.

I love nickel, has that mellow yellowish glow, as opposed to the hard shine of chrome. But nickel corrodes/tarnishes when exposed to the elements.

 

Thanks for the info, that is a great help. I was wondering about the tarnish thing. Is it one one those things that keeping it clean, & an occasional polish will keep up with?

 

Yep, you can polish it back to new, but the nickel coating is relatively soft and will eventually wear away. But if you plan on storing the vehicle out of the elements and in a relatively dry environment, it should be fine for a long long time.

 

beautiful build man, unreal! not sure if you posted this, but what size wheels and tires are they?

 

Very helpful info, thanks again. I agree, if if was cared for & stored indoors it would probably last a long time

Thank you! The rears are 16X4.5 on 7.50-16 Firestone. The fronts are
16X4 on 450/475-16 Firestone.

I am hoping that the front tires handle OK, I have heard that many of the 450/475-16's bounce like basketballs going down the road






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Thank you! The rears are 16X4.5 on 7.50-16 Firestone. The fronts are
16X4 on 450/475-16 Firestone.

I am hoping that the front tires handle OK, I have heard that many of the 450/475-16's bounce like basketballs going down the road






.[/QUOTE]

ok great! what brand wheels did you go with? I like how theyre solid and flow around the hubcaps.

 

Outstanding work, awesome build.

 

ok great! what brand wheels did you go with? I like how theyre solid and flow around the hubcaps.[/QUOTE]

The rims are 40'ish ford originals. Still pretty easy to find, I think they do look better than most repops

Thank you man, I appreciate




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Could've done what I did and just slam it together and drive the snot out of it and then sell it to BCR Mike for him to finish... hahaha...!

Keep up the good work Dan because it's of your own hands and it's beautiful!

 

Thanks a ton man, I really appreciate! Especially since we are "Olds buddies"

If your roadster was slammed together, you need to do that more often! It's a great car



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Well, I am now to the point that I could work on what Drewfus was talking about last week. I wanted to finalize the angles of the windshield & top fitment. I agree 100% that small differences make a huge change in the look of the car.

I didn't take pictures of every step, but I basically started by putting the windshield back on, & adjusted the angle of the posts til I got it where I like it. I settled on a spot that definitely was more laid back than all the earlier mock up pictures.

If I angled it too far, it just didn't look right to me, especially since the car will have a top.

Here's what I ended up with:







I like it pretty well there. The top kit is a Kwik-Top. I had to do some changes to the kit, because I hated the way the side window opening looked. It angled down a lot from the windshield back, which I hated.

It does this mainly so it can fold up. I don't care if mine folds though, I would rather have the shape right. I prefer that the side opening above the door runs parallel to the door top, so this works for me.



I also helped my dad a little in getting his 27' body into paint. We sprayed it over the Father's Day weekend, & I think he did a great job. He used SEM hot rod black, and the sheen of it really looks great to me! Here's a few pictures after it was sprayed & we bolted a few things on a few days later:





Of course, we started giving each other sh*t over whose car would be faster. His has a nicely built stroker small block ford, so it should scoot!

Since it was Father's Day, I let him push his body IN FRONT of mine, since it be the only time his car will be AHEAD of mine. I figured I would let him enjoy that one-time occasion:


Thanks a ton for looking!
Dan





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that '27 is sexy!!!

 

"Since it was Father's Day, I let him push his body IN FRONT of mine, since it be the only time his car will be AHEAD of mine. I figured I would let him enjoy that one-time occasion:"

Oh Dan - your brutal!! I'd be watching for nails in my tires if I said that one to my Pops.

Just the same .... great job so far.

Paco

 

Thanks man, I really like the way it came out!

Haha Paul, BELIEVE me he was giving me the same thing back-he started it

I sense a little grudge race coming up soon. That will be a good practice run so that I can get ready for Wingnutz' next car




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Good stuff! Who's roadster is by the door? It looks interesting too...

 

Not to get de-railed, but your dad's T is one of my favorite hot rods.
I hope my truck turns out as nice as your guys stuff.

A little grudge racing never hurts in the family by the way