Projects Club Coupe+Business Coupe= 3 window :>)

Hello Joe,
I am up for the drive down to Diamond Head! I hope to have rung out all the demons and bugs by then. I will see what the Mrs. thinks as well as check out the schedules for any events along the way. SEPTEMBER?
regards,
George

 

George, here is a link http://www.cruisinthecoast.com/
Dates are October 7-14, 2012.

 

this car is awesome man, we need a couple of vids!

 

By Geo. you R king....................VERY INNOVATIVE, You made a "Zephur " outta' a dern Ferd !!!!!!! Thanks fer tha' post/ Vid-eee-oo .
Good job !

Dare to BE DIFFERENT +++

Smoked Up, in tha' GREAT SMOKEY MTS. of Tenn.

 

OK, will do. I am looking forward to being able to do a video of her running. I spent the weekend fighting a turn signal fuse that kept blowing. I finally found one of the contacts that is "crimped" to the end of the wire for the bulb contact was no longer on the end of the wire. It had broken off inside the bulb socket and was an unhappy bridge for a 12volt to ground short every time I turned the turn signal on. I am using 37 L.E.D ( light emitting diode) units instead of bulbs. They are white when the parking lamps are on and amber when the turn signals are on. It does require an added 6 ohm 50 watt resistor as a load. I mounted this to an small aluminum tag as it was a bit too heavy to just hang from the wiring harness. It took me a bit to make sure I got a picture with the amber bulb on! grin. I also turned the hazards on to get the last picture.
Very slow progress this weekend...but it was good to get a few things completed.
regards,
George

 

Finally got her off the jack stands and on all fours. The only external items left are to tighten up the front bumper after I check the air in the front tires and to add the windshield stainless and wiper arms. THEN HOPEFULLY MY NEW HOOD ORNAMENT AND HEMI BADGE.
Internally is the dash install, steering column ,windshield garnish and front seat. I am still worried about the brake pedal being a little soft and will go one more round this Saturday to see what I might improve?

The upholstery guy is scheduled for April 30th. If he is on time and nothing else happens to need rework, I will make it.

I hope you like the stance as it took an enormous effort to get the rear end down to a reasonable height for that simple 2 inch rake. The last pain I have that is covered in detail on another post is the yellow AGL Optima battery has a difficult time recharging> grrrrrr.

regards,
George

PS: sorry for the out of focus first picture. I will get a good one and re-post this weekend.

 

Turned out real nice,great color!

 

Wow, very nice!

 

Looks Great George!!

 

George, Sweet build. Just caught it today. Love the way you used A pillar reversed for B pillar. Love your paint too!

 

Most awesome George! I remember seeing it at Dutch's and thinking how cool it was. Now finished it is incredible.

Pat

 

Took the first drive around the block today.. with out much of any brakes? sigh.....looking good and will have to chase down the brake issue,

Going to the upholstery shop Wednesday. The sunshine was the wrong direction for the pics so I will have to do better. grin
regards,
George

 

That´s a remarkably well balanced design. So glad you kept the chrome, as I think without it, there was a danger it could have turned into a real blob.

 

Having been there at the inaugural drive around the block, I have to say how great this car looks sitting out on the driveway. The stance just nails it. If you don't realize what you are looking at, you might not appreciate all of the metal work and hours that have gone into George's build. I say well done, and I can't wait to see the new leather.

dave in denver

 

Excellent job on the car and the thread. You really punched all the right buttons regarding detail, proportion, stance, color, etc. Well done.

It will be interesting for you to hear all the reactions and comments from the "experts" that you will encounter when you take it out in public!

 

THANK YOU to Denver Dave, Pete and Nick for your on going support, help of many kinds and especially the encouragement.( not to mention the VOTE for an engine color change LAST YEAR.) LOL Brakes are good to go...just a loose fitting. Front end is aligned and lubed. Hood latch adjustment tonight, Dash install tomorrow night and off to the upholstery shop Wednesday. Added one more picture with an avatar change to match.

Now where am I gonna find a 34 3 window that isn't $20k and up? YIKES...sigh. The artwork/ print to build to ...was only 20 dollars. Going to have to be a long patient wait.
Regards,
George

 

I agree 100% the shiny stuff really brings it to life...the shot from the rear/drivers side is killer!!

 

Last night was the time to deliver the coupe to Ed Bain for adding the uphostery. It wasn't such an easy task...... The coupe had overheated the previous afternoon and I determined that not having a fuse in the fan circuit just might be the issue. well duh

While not normally a worrier and wanting to make real sure the fan was running for the 26 mile drive, I added a quick by pass pig tail to the accessory terminal on my ignitiontion switch and then topped off the radiator with water.

PetesJunk and FatCoop were their normal humorous selves and were the chase car to follow me and keep an eye on things. Before we got started, Pete decided the radiator cap might be a little shallow and not be sealing because the overflow was spitting a bit. The resolution was to add a 1/4 inch rubber disk to insure there was a seal. YEP perfect.

Off we go...stopped to get gas as the tank had only a little to start her up and do a test drive. While filling up, a fellow came over and asked me if I new there was a leak and pointed out water running from underneath the car. Oh yeah, thanks buddy. I just filled it up and probably just a little too much.

Got on the highway and ran it up to about 65mph keeping up with traffic but not really knowing as the dash still isnt in. A couple of miles down the road and Pete calls me and tells me to pull over. There is a lot of water coming out the left side of the car. We can't figure it out and decide to add water from Nicks on board back up gallon to help limp home. I hustle down to the bottom of the exit ramp and cautiously run two red lights in an effort to get it back to the house ASAP. Once there, straight on the lift and up she goes while spitting hot water out underneath. I look at the guys and tell them that I hope to heck it's a freeze plug and not a head gasket.
I have never been so happy in my life as to see that the left rear freeze plug had been pushed out. We decided to split up...I would drain the block via the pet cock and remove the starter to gain access while Pete and Nick ran to get a 1 and 5/8ths replacement freeze plug.

By the time they returned, I had the prep work done. Drained. Starter removed. Old freeze plug removed .....just came right out . I then used a small wire wheel on a dremel and cleaned the previous rtv off. Nice shining metal , clean and dry. The old plug was a 1/8 inch thick disk with some contour to it. Not a cup. The bottom of the freeze plug hole in the block has a machined radius and not a straight shot through or a 90 degree step. The guys had picked up two plugs. 1. a rubber expandable and 2. a Dorman cup type that was a little tall for the hole depth. We decided to use the Dorman and I picked out a socket with as close to the inside diameter of the plug as I could get to.(in order to drive it home). Pete ran a bead of RTV and I used a long extention to enable the effort to "get er done". This was all of a 30 second process. We dropped her back down and refilled the radiator using the saved coolant. Someone needs to remind me to buy a big water can with the pour spout. We deliberately left the rubber spacer out of the cap and decided we had really screwed up. LOL. NO leaks, no overheating...hear we go again. 26 miles down the highway, no issues and the coupe is now safely inside Ed's shop for it's new suit of clothes. All in all, this was actually a fun night of excitement and as Dan Shady of Huntsville, Al. oftens says in times like this. " Don't you just love old cars?"
I problably have a few more gremlins to sort out before she becomes reliable. I appreciate the process and above all the friendship in our passion of building cars.

 

George, You have done a great job on the car, looks great, sits right and has everything you could want in it. Can't wait to see it finished. I really like what you have done.

 

The car is looking absolutely beautiful George, well done!

 

Hood ornament/ badge update: Larry Braun has finished the wax carving for the lost wax casting at www.artcastings.com . The parts have had spru's and gates added before being coated in ceramic slurry multiple times in order to build it up for strength. See if you can pick out the 46/48 combo ornament under the slurry in 3 pics below. The spiral wire is for strength during the pour. The last pic is the badge before ceramic coating and stainless steel casting. Please take a little time to see the process at Art Castings. I think you will find it both interesting as well as just plain fun!

regards,
George

 

Got the dash installed over the weekend and have a couple of issues. Neither the fuel gauge nor the temp gauge work. The electronic oil pressure guage as well as the "Volt" gauge work perfectly. The fuel sending unit and gage are a matched set. That takes care of calibration but not a totally dead unit. Any Ideas?

 

George, Ed's last name is spelled Banes...he does some good work...he does all of my cars, my '55 Caddy being the last complete one he's done for me...and of course, doing the driver's seat and carpet in the '60 Pontiac wagon we just sold...I wouldn't take a car anywhere else. Ed's not like most upholsterers...he'll give it to you straight.

Guess I'll have to take a drive over to Ed's to check out a, gasp, Ford...!!! Nice job on it BTW, I can appreciate all the work...see you at the Sonic this summer...???

In case you haven't seen my interior, you can chek out my complete 5 1/2 year build here:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329070&highlight=the+best+55+caddy+build

R-

 

Nice work George! Perseverance.

Sorry I missed you Sunday.

 

Beautiful car and excellent workmanship! The roof line kinda makes it look like Dodge but with a better looking front end.

 

George, your a maniac! awesome details, incredible build.

 

I know where...........

The car looks great George, there have been many attempts at doing what you did but yours looks factory.

Donny

 

sneak peak at the interior.... worried about getting the carpet and seat belts to match the leather.

 

gray carpet and belts would go nicely

 

i think your right! smile
I am going to ask if its too late too change/