Thanks stimpy, Don't look at the whole car and the work that needs to be done. Being in denial and only looking at one project at a time kept me going,,,so far. I've tried to tackle what I thought were the worst projects first, didn't always get that right but, I'm getting there, one project at a time. Always happy to hear that my efforts to post are heping someone else, even if it's only in some small way. Also happy to get any suggestions too!
thanks for the advice there as I can be the killer of my own work , atleast I will have the help of my freind who closed his bodyshop and now likes to do this stuff on the side . ( I actually think he wants my car )
John have a question to ask , what did you use for a filler for the roll pan , did you make it out of a part of another car , buy one for somethign else or roll it yourself ??? as after lookig at it I kind of like that rear end as my bumper is heavily pitted and they will not rechrome it and I do not feel like spending $$$ to find one .
My Fleetline was hit almost dead center. Not enough to bend the frame but, it bent the rear bumper and the pan between the the bumper and body badly. Also dented the rear panel below the trunk lid and the trunk lid. I have seen a few of these cars with a rolled pan and thought it looked good when done "right". I soon discovered that if I was going to put a rolled pan on, I would have to remove the rear cross member. I crawled under a few cars at shows to see what they had done. Found crossmembers made from square tubing and welded in. I didn't like that. After some thought I figured out all I had to do was to move the crossmember forward. I used two of the original frame holes from the crossmember and drilled two new ones. and still kept the stock fuel tank. The roll pan is made from a Blazer tailgate. It had similar curves both up and down and side to side. I think I had to make the pan in 5 pieces to get the complicated curves on the ends of the pan to match the quarters (fenders). I also cut about 5 pieces of half moon shaped pieces of metal to weld in behind the pan to stiffen it up. So far I like how it turned out and have gotten a few compliments on how good it looks. I hope it will look good painted! I'm not sorry I did it this way....so far lol
I finally finished the the hood and primed that and the two fenders. Still have to prime the bottom of the hood and the roof. I'm not sure what to do with the grille. It's dented too. My only thoughts were to either replace it or fix the dents and paint it. Someone dented the dashboard too so, that's next on the list for body work. Decided the best thing to do for gauges is just to break down and spend the money for aftermarket. I think the easiest way is to get an electronic programable speedometer and matching gauges.
thanks John , I shouldn't have a problem with the cross member as the rear half of the frame is getting a redo , I am putting in a true unequal 4 link and wide tires so I can adjust the crossmember after its welded in , as for the pan , simple enough and I have a place near by that sells the skins new cheap , I have some extra front quarter pieces I could possibly dice and weld together to make the corners . My wife walked by when I had the pictures of your car open and she said that looked lots better than the bumper .the bumper looked like it was a forgotten item and slapped on . hopefully the RAt in pa is wrong and winter ends early .
Nice work, My Dad has a 50 fleetline as well. I welded all the patch panels in it for him... pretty much the same ones you did. I'll be watching this one.
I'm still working on this project. Haven't been so good with taking pictures. but, here are a few. It finally warmed up enough so I could prime some of my body work. Bought some gauges and figured out a way to cram them all in the original opening in the dash. The gauge pod isn't done yet, more pictures coming.
Cool build man! What's with all the ND fleetlines? The title of mine was from north Dakota as well, and whats up with the dirt, i see in your earlier post how you pulled pounds of dirt out of it....i swear i pulled piles of it out of places it shouldn't be, like the headliner and packed up behind the dash! I swear the car is 50lbs lighter after cleaning it out of the frame. Your body work looks awesome! Want to take a warm vacation to chicago and hang out it my garage to slang bondo and sand? Its a balmy 19 today. For real, good work. I know how it feels, sometimes i feel like im doing all this work but it still looks like a rusty pos....every time im ready to start on the filler, i find something that needs fixing to keep it safe and drive able. Subscribed Keep pushing on!
Checked camera. Found some pics I hadn't uploaded yet. First pic, Decided to trace wires for gauges. Not as bad as it looks. Second pic- Not that good but, it's a pic of my electric wiper motor installed. I will have two speed wipers with intermittent wipers now, no more vacuum wipers! The last pic shows some of the work on the dash. The large hole on the left is for headlamp switch from a S-10. Welded the most of the holes shut including the old vertical style radio.
at least you have a garage I am waiting inline to borrow my buddies 2 car to start on mine , my 1 car is way to small and the car is just shy of hitting the tool box . atleast mine is out of the semi trailer in in a storage unit at ground level.
been here before rewired a O/T car from EFi v-6 to carbed v-8 and the owner wanted to use the factory harness and dash , and the people who took the V-6 just cut what wires and connectors they needed out , took me 60 hours to straighten that mess out .
The area where my Fleetline came from the soil is like clay and, when it dries out it is turns into a fine power. Plus it's always windy there. There's not a lot of tarred roads either. Some of the secondary roads are just two ruts through the open prairie. What is crazy to me is that they drive semi tractor trailers on the dirt roads. What cloud of dust they kick up at 50 mph!...or more.
Just making sure my gauge cluster still fits. There is also pic showing how I mounted the fuse box from the 88 donor truck. As can be seen, there was a lot of bodywork work to do on the dash too.
As you can see, I got the dash primed finally. Changed temp gauge sending unit to match my new gauges. Tried fitting the in dash A/C- heater from the donor pickup, close but can't do it. I have what I think maybe a NOS Vintage Air under dash A/C unit but, the blower seems small. I hooked it to a battery, doesn't seem to be a lot of air flow. Started looking for another unit.
Still working on my Fleetline. Been working on things that don't show so much. Traced and marked the wires for my gauges and lights. Pulled the fuel tank back out and, put in the new sending unit for the fuel gauge. Made a can to hold fuel (baffle) for the fuel pump...hope it works. This is dumb but, I drilled all new lug bolt holes to fit my vintage American Racing wheels. Smeared seam sealer on some of my welds that will be exposed to the weather. Cleaned up the trunk floor and patched all the unneeded holes, including the spare tire well. Run a battery cable to the trunk....etc. Still looking for a under dash A/C. Found one that will work. A friend ordered one from Speedway for his 55 Chevy truck. He brought it over for a trial fit. It fit well but, $360 just for that. I'm going to shop around, don't really need it yet.
Just a couple of pictures of noticeable changes. One is with the wheels I'm thinking of using. the other is the finished trunk floor before final cleaning and paint.
Been waiting for the rain to stop so I can do a little sand blasting outside. It's been raining for 4-5 days. Last I heard about 6" so far. Did get the trunk floor primed and painted. Started working on the grille. Decided to paint it because of the dented chrome. Thought the turn signals stuck out too far so I cut as much as I dared of the back of them. Not a big change but, I think it they look a little better. Also removed the brackets that hold the vertical chrome pieces under the turn signals...more rust to repair under the brackets.
John, your car is really coming along well. I had my seats done and am working on wiring and putting the front end back on. Power steering and brake lines installed.
Looks like your getting a lot done too. I don't have seats yet, your seats look great. So does your engine. My engine is staying a stock TBI. Got the frame and suspension painted yesterday. Now to put that all back together. Going to a car show and swap meet today, hope I can find something I need. I keep changing my mind about the color. Still have to clean up or sand blast and, prime some more parts. I know pictures make the build more interesting so, I'll have to get some posted. Good luck with your build keep me posted. I'm always interested in other Fleetlines.... and maybe I'll learn something too. One thing that bothers me is the sound of a stock 350 tbi. I need to find a good sounding exhaust system.
Nice build!! You wouldn't happen to have an extra front passenger door garnish molding that you would sell? PM @ km1722@yahoo.com Thanks
You're right, those turn signals look much better. keep up the good work and keep them pics a comin'!
Some recent progress. If that's what you want to call it. I pulled the engine and trans to finish the cowl and paint the suspension. Some of that is reassembled know. Pressure washed the engine yesterday. Going to reinstall the engine and trans today.
Not much to take pictures of lately. I got the engine and trans back in and running. Started the long boring process block sanding and repriming. Decided to "temporarily" paint the whole car satin black. I may change my mind again before the actual painting. So, when the painting and reassembly starts I'll be posting more pictures then.
Latest progress. Most of the painting is done in the first picture. The next three show the wiring for my gauges and the installed gauge panel.
The Jalopy Journal
