TRADITIONAL body mods for pre-55 KUSTOMS

I used a hack saw to do almost all of the cuts when I chopped the top of my '32 Ford pickup this summer. The hacksaw reaches everywhere except a small area in the back wall where I used a 3" cutoff wheel. I used a 32 tpi bi-metal hacksaw blade. Sure it gets your arm sore, but it makes nice straight cuts, and the cuts go all the way through door posts and windshield posts. I don't know, but I think it might actually be harder doing it all with power tools. I liked how the cuts came out so well chopping the roof that I used a hacksaw to chop the doors and to chop the windshield frame too. The only tricky part is keeping the blade perfectly straight as you start the cut and keeping it on the line, but with some care, you can cut exactly on the line. I used a sharp white pencil to lay out the lines using a 4-1/2" wide strip of mylar as a template to lay out the lines (I chopped it 4-1/2").

On a bigger car maybe a hacksaw is too tricky in a lot of areas, but you might like using a hacksaw on things like doors or windshield posts. With a good 32 tpi bi-metal blade, it cuts faster than you think.

Also, it seems like hack-sawed steel welds better than abrasive cut steel. Maybe it's because you don't get the abrasive contaminating the welds when you use a hack saw.

 

USE 49 PLYM BUMPERS BRIZ

 

Chad
I used chrome starter ****ons in the chrome on my 55 Chevy for door openers.

On the 50's customized 51 Merc my son and I bought there was a very small hole in the chrome right under the vent wing. You would have to push a small rod in the hole which would then push agains a starter ****on hidden UNDER the chrome. We never saw it until someone else noticed it.
Ol Blue

 

Hey, 'builder this link ain't too bad and you can read the text as well.

http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/harry_bradley_desig/harry_bradley_desig-2/

Some real old stuff...
http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/customcars_i_like/chevy_custom_cars/48_chevy_custom_cars/50s_build_46-49/50s_build_46-48/

This one ain't too shabby...

 

SWEEEET! thanks. i had not seen those yet. Rikster has a KILLER bunch of pics. i may never get to see them ALL.

 

That is Cats car. its actually for sale.

 

Some pics from the Barris Book discussed above:
36 for 3 window chop by Sam Barris

 

if i had to use a hack saw to chop a top i think i'd take up Oragomi.

 

Im taking pics of the shorter ones, some of these are 5-6 pages long.

Molding gravel guards:

 

Hood scoops:

 

rounding hood corners:

 

Ok, this is out of the era of this thread, but its still neat. here is some early work on the Aztek, you can see here it still looked like a 55 chevy. This is the first of around 7 pages on this car.

 

Scoops and Buick Side Trim:

 

so tell my brother that all the lead in his snoman has to go, oh and then try to explain to him what a computer is. we should have told him, he's doin it the old way. he keeps talkin to some old guy, Norm somebody, oh I remember now he's the guy that built the kookie T, and he told me about some old guy that built the hot rod lincoln and lives in spokane. I suggest, build a new one with all the new tech, and restore an old custom the old way.... you can do it. ancientiron. "pappa said son your gonna drive me to drinkin if you don't stop drivin that hot rod lincoln"