Report from the shop: 31 on 32, chop and guages

Well, it's that time:



With the body braced, and the visor is welded to the body, the the surgeon is ready:





Sorry for the fuzzy pix, I think the photographer was a little excited!

What do they say? Anyone can restore a car, but it takes a real man to cut one up ??

73 year old vintage tin being butchered here...



Top is loose. She has lost her virginity !



The mandatory "lifting-off-the-top-for-the-first-time-picture". coupeHead came over and helped out. Thanks Keith !



Roadster?



Top is back on, loose but, hey, that looks cool! Four inches gone for ever



While I hade the top of, I buzzed the visor in areas that was hard to get to before.



I worried mostly about getting the door opening to line up, then I just pie cut the post.

I decided to keep the vertical trim piece on the roof, after all, it's a hot rod, not some smooth street rod.
I had the same issue orcas tow had: The C-pillar tend to get sucked in. Later, with some violence, I brought it out as much as I dared without stressing the rest of the roof.



I just tacked the doors, and hung them on the car to make sure the hinge distances were correct. With the four inch hair cut, the distance between the hinges are just about even, looks great.



All buttoned up...Extra thanks to marshall for teaching me some hammer welding techniques. Using two cocktail napkins in a bar he showed me how (and the reason for) hammer welding. A skim coat of filler should do it here...



Windshield frame butchered and test installed.



I just repositioned the stud, and moved the Windshield bracket on the frame lower.




With the chopped garnish moulding in place, it hides the weld on the post.




Gauges:

Trying to avoid the "normal" Stewart Warner repop gauges, I spent a lot of time looking at dash boards. This is the donor cluster, from a 1950 DeSoto. The gauges are sort of art deco and contains everything you need.

The bad news: They mount from behind



Of course they are not any standard size, so I had to choose the closest hole saw, and then grind and file the hole up to desired size. Puh !



But I think it paid off. I was worried that the speedo would be too big, but I think it looks good. I welded studs to the back of the dash, obviously.



Oil and temp are of course mechanical, so they should hook up OK.
Also, turns out that Autometer is using the same resistance as DeSoto on the fuel gauge, so I can get an after market sending unit that will work perfect with this gauge.



Now I am struggling with were to put the light and ignition switch. I kinda like to keep the dash clean, but it's also the cockpit in the hot rod, right?



Anyway, I have to think about the switches for a while...



Next: Weed burners for the nailhead...back to the shop!

 

Rolf, nice pictures and GREAT job!!!!!!!!........OLDBEET

 

Chop looks good, I really like the dash and old steering wheel.Thanks for posting the photos

 

Lookin great Rolf, I keep looking forward to your updates!

 

Super nice work -- as usual Great proportions on that chop. After a weekend at the in-laws I'm ready to get back out into the shop. Thanks for the inspiration

 

Rolf, Everything looks great! The gauges look right at home, but that speedo only goes to 100mph. Hope that nailhead don't break that needle off! Keith

 

Slow down brodda your makin me look old & slow, shees how long did all that take like an hour & a half, you make it look as routine as an oil change.
How did you address the taper of the posts @ the 1/4 windows, pics?
I like youe wheels, are they going to be chromed, probably hard to balance, Looks great man!

 

Nice job. Like the dash and steering wheel too.
Mart.

 

The chop looks great,,,,and the dash is perfect,,,,the gauges are big enough to see,,, HRP

 

Outstanding post!! I hope this is Tech bound!!

 

Good Shots, Great Post!

 

Nice chop, looks very nice.
Looks like you thought it out and prepared well.
I see lots of braces inside the cab and surely that helps.

Far as the switches go, think about having the ignition switch on the left side like a lot of the 50's era Fords did.
It's not hard to get used to and one part I like about it is, it's out of reach of the passenger and it's easily accesible from the outside (ok two things....)
You can operate the throttle rod while firing the engine.

You want to be really careful with firing the car when standing outside - neutral switches aren't as dependable as we think they are. (One of our HAMBrs had an accident with his car when he reached inside to fire it while standing outside.)

The pic below covers two things -
The ignition switch (Ford pickup circa 77-78 or so) mounted in the dash.
I highly recommend putting it in the dash because if it's hung low on a panel access is too easy for the thieves and their hot wires.
The only disadvantage I've found with it on the dash is you can't have a ring of keys hanging with the ignition key cuz it'll wear and scratch the dash.
A single key on a small single ring works fine.

Note as well the auxiliary gauge panel on bottom left.
It's hung on a 1" square tubing cross brace.
This could also be used for the ignition switch if preferred.
Incidentally, new switches and lock plungers are still available for these switches.
The switch is a late enough model that it uses the double sided key.

You can't see it in the pic, but the aux panel is hung far enough back that toggle switches are installed in the longer than required horizontal part that runs from crossbrace toward the back.
The toggles hang down and are easy to reach.
Such a panel would help you keep your dash clean.

 

Below is a pic showing the initial layout of an underdash panel I made.
It's cut out of an electrical 'pass-through' box that's used to bring cables through a cement wall.
They're about 2' long when uncut and as you can tell I've made quite a few panels with it.
It's 3/16" thick and the ones I've dealt with will finish up nice. Buffed or brushed.
The one shown is powdered, but paint & primer works fine.

The panel shown laid out is as mentioned for under a dash, but to make the deeper panel you go back approx to the two small holes just above the panel so you'll have the longer horizontal run for mounting.

Not shown in the pic is a cast in rib on the inside that makes for a good locating device when the panel is hung from the 1" square tubing crossbar.
As long as the aux panel is in my 32, it doesn't vibrate.
Make the horizontal run long enough to clear the mounting surface - dash or square tubing - so your toggle switches will fit.
(Make a point to buy DC rated toggle switches - AC rated toggles don't last long in a DC environment. That's because a DC arc is harder to break than an AC arc.)

Another nice part with using these aluminum boxes for dash panels is you can make very long ones.
I made one that took four 2 1/8" gauges, a big pushbutton for the winch as well as ten switches, eight pilot lights and nine panel fuses for a 4 x 4 I had.

 

excellent work Rolf and an inspiring post. Good tech-tips there C9!

 

I put my ignition and head light switches on a stainless steel tab below the dash and hard over on the left. I wish I had also put my high beam and turn indicator lights down there as well. During construction I could fire the motor and drive around with the dash out.

 

Rolf! Kick Ass. I remember you couldn't decide if you were going to chop or not. Glad you did, it looks cool. How much did you cut out. Looks like 4", sorry If I missed it if you told us already. The gauges really look great. Are they 6 volt? Were you able to check them to see if they worked? Details like that make the difference.

H.A.S.B.C. thanks ya for the update

 

Excellent post! You handled things in much the same manner as I have done. Lots of great info a detailed shots. Plus, your work doesnt look like a backyard hack job.

As for the switches,my boss like to mount them vertically under the left side of dash. small keyring,pull down for lights. That is fine but I looked thru my little pages and saw the majority of vintage cars had that stuff on the dash. So, I mounted mine on the dash to the left of the column.

 

Great post Rolf! Your coupe is looking great, by the looks of things you should be driving this spring? Rick

 

Rolf, your posts are always high standard. Thanks! I am already looking forward to the next update of your project.

Ha det så bra!

 

This site is full of talented people.

 

Looks good Rolf. Did you firer up your torch?

 

beautifull.

nice work, nice car, nice gauges and very nice work.

did I say nice work?

Paul

 

great work, nice car, i love those axel rollers im gonna make some of those. cory

 

thanks for the good quality pics, great post. Awesome gauges!

 

Tudor: Yes, I believe they are 12 Volt. I will double check. If not, the only gauge to worry about would be the fuel gauge, and a small resistor would take care of that. As far as working condition, I have a friend that can help me make them perfect.

superbell: I sure hope so ! I can't wait cruise main street with this one, or race some cocky farm boy on Paradise Road !!

marshall: Nay, I used the wirefeed. At least I listen to you...halfway. ...it will be fine, trust me...

 

Looking great my friend. Keep it up and we'll all be driving new coupes to the Ford Picnic this year......dug

 

Sweet !!!! Nice work !!!

 

I think you might just have yerself a hawtrod there son. looks good my friend. Good all around in my book. Now if we can just convince Keith to cut up some virgin tin. Are you nrxt Mr. Coupehead?

 

Dale my black coupe ain't gettin cut! I have another that will though. It probably won't be next but I'll cut it eventually.

 

I'm just joshin ya Keith. Looks like you guys had a fun time. I wish I could have joined in the fun . I was at 6o's style's place all weekend working on CGKidd's 18 Dodge rpu