Well I'm still pulling my hair out trying to finish all the body/subframe fab work on the sedan. As you might have seen from earlier posts, I got the two front doors totally reframed, and the new bear claws installed. So now I'm working my way towards the back. When I welded up the new subframe months ago and stripped the doors to the bare skins, I noticed something weird with the rear doors. It was then one of those "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it" kind of things, and now I've come to it. The rear doors are all original, no patches, no rust, no alterations. But for some reason, the rear door skins measure different from one side to the other, and they are making it a nightmare to line up the rear doors with the now square body and square front doors. To make a long story short, one door is 1/2" shorter from front-to-back then the other, and the hammered over factory front edge on the rear doors are hammered over differently, and slightly crooked on each rear door. It makes the door gap 1/2" off between the front and rear doors. The only way I can make it right is to rebuild the pillar/door jam between the front and rear doors on each side to make it an inch wider, and then redo the front edge of each rear door to make it straight and give an even gap between the front and rear door on each side. I removed the sheetmetal pillar from between the front & rear doors, and basically made a completely new pillar from 1/8" steel. I had to heat and hammer the beltline of the body in this new piece, and make it match the doors shape so the it all looks right. To make this long story shorter, I got one side done completely tonight, and started on the second side. Though it ****ed to have to do it, the advantage is that it gave me a totally smooth door jamb, so it looks real clean. And now I have a wider door pillar between the front & rear doors so that I can make a straight door gap between them. The original door jamb gave a 1" wide strip for the front & rear doors to rest on. The new pillar I made gives them 2", so I have plenty to work with now. Heres a few pics that show what the hell I'm babbling about, the first pic shows the part that I had to remake Once I finish the otherside I can frame up the rear doors to match the front doors, and maybe get this thing done before I'm 98
Hey hudson that website isn't in english Thanks man, I appreciate Heres my poor mans way to hammer the beltline into the piece of 1/8" steel. I found a piece of pipe with the right radius, and welded up a little buck to heat/hammer/bend it up on. I just heated it up to form a "c", and then clamped a piece of angle to it to bend the piece to fit. Heres a few pics that might help if you have some similar stupid project like this you need to do The torch is your best friend
ha ha, i didn't even know it was a website....I was just trying to say that your car is bad ***...I love 4 door rods, always wanted to build one myself.
Are my eyes deciving me or is the body welded directly to the frame, no body mounts W/bushings? maybe i'm just a Kustoms guy whos never bulit a rod....
Yeah but I HAD to go there just to see what website was there hehe. Thanks for the kind words. If I could caution you about the fordors and all the freaking wood and nails you'll have to replace with steel I'll gladly do it Its taking me way longer to replace the rotten wood subframe than to build the complete painted rolling ch***is. Have I mentioned that I hate wood.................
Your eyes are kind of tricking you...... the framework that you see is actually just the bodies subframe that I had to fab up to replace the original rotten wood subframe. The fordors bodies are completely wood reinforced, and rotten wood at that. This subframe bolts to the frame itself. Which is getting very lonely waiting for the body to join it. This subframe build has been a never-ending saga................
Top notch. I always look forward to seeing your progress. I love all model A's. Now I even love the fordors thanks to you. Woody
those old cars were largely hand made and differences are inevitable. did you see the episode of Overhaulin when they built the model A?? it was a 2 door sedan that somebody cut the roof off of. it turned out that the one door was about an inch longer than the other FROM THE FACTORY! Foose, being the perfectionist that he is, cut and lengthened the one door (p***enger side i think) and moved the door post back an equal amount. i prolly would have done that or shortened the other door cause that would have bugged the **** out of me too. point is. these cars were not made to the exacting standards that cars today are. too bad cars today don't have the style that the old cars had though. BTW the car looks real cool man. i love the new front door framing. vey slick.
i just took an even closer look at ALL the pics. i just gotta say that your doing a super nice job on the car. top notch indeed. now if you'll excuse me i need to run to the ER, think i'm having and an asthma attack. no joke.
Thanks for the nice words kustombuilder, but more importantly, are you ok from your asthma attack?? I sure hope all is ok. Asthma ****s. I had it when I was little and lived in the valley in california. The smog killed me. Moved out of cali, no more asthma. I don't miss it. I hope you're alright dude
Well I got the second side built and done tonight. I took a few pics of it off the car next to the stock one to show the difference. The new ones work out real well, and will make lining up the door gaps alot easier. They also look so much cleaner, without all the holes and cutouts the stock one had in them. All I have to do tomorrow is weld the second pillar to the car and thats that. Heres a few pics
Your car and your work are very impressive. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I really enjoy looking at build pictures. Keep us posted on your project looks like it is going to be great. Good luck.
Thanks Keith, I apprecaite! I must have a million freaking pictures of the build. Its the first time I've actually taken pics of each stage of a build. I just need to save and back-up the pics in case my computer dies
well, i went to the ER and found out the reason i was having trouble breathing was because i have a sinus infection, Broncitus AND Pneumonia. how the hell did that happen?? it's been hell. i need to cough to clear out my system but when i do cough it makes my head hurt so bad i think it's gonna explode. they gave me 4 different prescriptions (thank God for health insurance) and told me to stay home for the next 3 days. so far today i've hackedup a couple pretty substantial pieces of lung. YUK! i've just been taking my doses of the Codeine laced cough syrup they gave me and trying to stay unconcious as much as possible. anyway. thanks for the concern but it looks like i'll live. i tried to get my mommy to come over and take care of me (and maybe clean up my house a little ) but she was busy . it's seems my dad, one of my brothers and ****o are all sick too.
Excellant work and creativity! If you want, stop over and I'll let you weld up holes and cracks in mine. I've only been at it for a couple of weeks now.........
Man Kustom that ****s! I have been sick the past two weeks though not nearly as bad as you. I've been coughing up **** for two weeks now, nasty. I hope the Codeine helps you sleep through this bs til its over. Til then take care of yourself. Would it help if I sent over Carmen Electra in a mini-nurse uniform?
Thanks AHotRod. Your car is looking great! I've been following your progress. I am gonna have to make a little road trip up your way soon though, you're not that far away. I know what you mean about the "couple of weeks" thing, it took me two weeks to frame up my front doors and build the new pillars. At this rate I'll drive this by 2050......... I'd rather build a frame any day instead of welding sheetmetal. Its definitely not my favorite thing, just a necessary evil, evil being the key word
Very cool DR. Your updates always have little ideas and stuff that a guy can file away for future use. kustombuilder. I feel for you! Hope you get cleared up soon. Pneumonia was about the WORST thing I ever went thru. I wouldn't wish it on an Ebay scammer! Well....maybe.
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