Hi to all. For those who missed my intro post,my name is Justin frrom NC and I just purchased a very rough 1950 Styleline 4 door. Well I guess to some "rough" is different but here is what Im working with. It needs full floor pans, lower front fenders, both rockers, both rear quarters and one front, tailpan, and inner trunk. I know a lot of guys will say get a better car but that is not an option for me. Being 21 has its down sides . I personally have restored 3 cars and am working on my 4th. I am almost ASE certified (I know... ask someone else!) and am learning sheetmetal welding right now. Or maybe I should say learning how to do it better . Im not afraid to go do a frame off on the car but the prices on some of these panels are crazy! I have a little metalworking under my belt but is it possible to make your own panels of should I look for a wrecked donor? (If you have one in my area feel free to chime in!) My plan for the car is this: Camaro front suspension and rear end, airbags, chopped top with maybe a 2 door conversion (I hear a chopped 4 door is impossible?), and satin black paint. Drivetrain will be a sbc and a 700r4. Im just open for input. I know some guys dont like the 2 door conversion and I kinda like the 4 door look but again Ive heard you cant chop the top without stretching the roof to get the rear door window to line up. Not something I want to do... Thanks for any ideas and if anyone is in the Waxhaw NC area that could show me the ropes Id be thankful! This is a whole different ballgame than the 70"s cars Im used to working on! Justin
You can make your own panels out of 18 or 20g cold rolled sheet, it's just a matter of what your time's worth to you - I've been playing with this a lot lately as I teach myself to hammer weld and have been amazed how good the results can be with a little work. You're a young dude who seems to have more time than money, so go for it. The best part about metal work is that you can always fix it and that car's old enough to have nice, thick metal to work with. The other thing is, since you're going for a driver and it's a 4door and not gonna be worth a LOT no matter how nice it is, you can use a little bondo - like less than 1/8 of an inch. Just get the metal as straight as you possibly can, beforehand. Do you have a hammer and dolly? The techniques you'll use on this car for best results are a little different than a late-model, but the good news is that the thick metal is more forgiving...
Thanks for the reply. I do have a few hammers and dollys. How are you forming the metal? Sandbag or are you shaping it on the car or another way? The part Im most interested in is the tailpan. At 270 bucks thats what I paid for the stinkin car! I just dont want the car to look like dog poo or like I made the panel myself. Also I'm considering replacing the floors with sheetmetal but I am worried about mounting the seats on the original hump and about the toeboard placement. Further more, Im not even sure where to buy 18 guage metal in that large of a sheet?!?! (20 is too thin IMO) As I am learning, mechanics take knowledge, bodywork takes skill! Justin
I used to be in the '20g is too thin' camp until I saw Ron Covell use it on a curved piece, his reasoning was that a curved piece of 20g is as strong as a straight piece of 18g, but a lot easier to form. You can form the metal however you want, dudes on here are forever using old O/A tanks and so forth to do the forming. You may need to buy a shrinker to pull the edges in right or whatever, I'm certainly in the category of 'beginner' on this stuff as well, so do a search and read some threads. People do amazing things on here everyday...
Well I called around and there are about 15 sheet metal shops in town! Who knew? And and luck whould have it a 52 2 door just went for sale . Why does this always happen!?!? Its a basket case but has a ***le and a few goodies to boot. What do you guys think? Make 2 into 1 or 2 into 2 ? V8 mounts and has panels cut out for patch work to be done. Otherwise unmodified. Ill have to go see the car in person to know its true shape. Pics defienatly can lie. If only I was rich... Justin
If you know a shop that has a sheet metal brake, you can make most of the stuff with the combo of that + your hammers & dollys. If your car has the typical rot behind the stainless stone guard at the lower front of the rear fender bulge (not sure if this was as big an issue on 4-doors as the 2-door versions), you'll be miles ahead if you just buy the piece. The rest you can make. Search for "hammerform" here on the HAMB and at metalshapers.org to give you some ideas. Do all the rot repair before you get into the top chop. That's a huge undertaking, and doing so prior to fixing the flimsy rusty stuff would be like bulding a house first, then laying the foundation later. Welcome to the HAMB!
Hey, Welcome ta the HAMB......... As suggested, check out the metalshapers.org site, best free metalshaping education in the free world! Low buck patch panels can be had from other vehicles with like and kind shapes, always think outside of the box. The good/bad thing about being low on dough is it teaches ya ta think for yourself. Anyone can buy patch panels and weld them in, it's the experance you're after now that will serve ya well in the years to come. S****ey Devils C.C.
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