You have done more in less than two months than I have in the past year. Great work and I can't wait to see this one finished.
awesome, this looks like it will be a sweet ride. And I love how some people on here get so bent out of shape when someone wants to cut up a "rare" car like it is the last one on the face of the planet, I'm sure there is a perfectly restored one sitting in a museum or collection somewhere. This is a site for hot rods and customs folks, last time I checked niether a hot rod or custom is stock.
Progress Report #10 Building Rockers Re-designing and building the rockers is really time consuming, but very necessary if the door gaps are to be maintained and there is enough strength built in to fold the top, etc. Anyway, as the attached pics suggest, today, I am reconstructing the passenger side rocker as a 5" x 2" box section modeled after the originals. I used 14ga for these panels, and am working on the outer panel at present. My plan is to add the upper (2") section after the inner and outer sections are in place and then, finally, add the lower (2")section with weld nuts installed that will be used for joining the body to the body mounts on the frame. At that point the body should be strong enough to get rid of the interior bracing. First pics are of the inner rocker install (next to rear door post). Also, the rear door post casting has been modified to allow for the chanelling and a filler piece has been welded in to allow the inner rocker segment to be welded to the casting. The next pics are of fabbing up the outer rocker wall and clamping it in place. These walls are being installed in sections, mostly because it is very difficult to fit them as a single piece. These walls are nearly ready to be welded in...(I will probably do the driver side before welding them in....trying to be really careful to maintain door gaps as I go.) Long day in the shop today, but productive. I hope the pics and this description is not so detailed that it loses value to anyone following this project.
Progress Report #11 The rockers are finally rebuilt and a long, un-fun un-sexy job is over!! Sexy or not, this is an important part of any convert body and needs to be strong and accurate. Next step is to pull a floorpan out of a scrap body in my bonepile and fit it to the convert. It will be nice to work on something besides rocker boxes. Attached pics show the "before and after".
Awesome! I'm glad your trucking along with YOUR plan, it may be rare, but it'll still be rare after your done with it! even more so! keep up the progress, looking good.
The Pete Brock car of the 60's sported a Caddy engine. I'd sorta like to fit a Nailhead Buick or Chrysler Hemi up front...but we'll see. I've pretty much ruled out a flatty.
That's really cool. I am not a big fan of '41-48 Fords because they are a little oddly proportioned, it takes a metalsmith to make one look its best. You're doing it man! You picked a great inspiration and I'm looking forward to more updates. Keep it up!
Progress Report # 12 Floor Pan Recovery Mission Complete !! Long weekend, but a really nice floorpan has been taken from a '41 Merc 4-door donor car....pics tell the story. The pan was surgically removed from the body so that the body can still be used for another project or for giving up more of its sheet metal. It is in really good condition, rust wise. Next step is to clean the pan up a bit, mate it to the chassis and then add the convert body. This should be fun.
Man, That is one rock solid floor pan! I am going to need an update on this project as soon as possible. You've got the rusty ol' gears in my head a turnin'.
Progress Report # 13 Fitting the Replacement Floor Pan After sandblasting the upper surface of the new floor pan and lifting the body free, the pan was set on the chassis and then the body carefully lowered back into position over the new floor pan. For the record, the Merc sedan floor pan is a perfect fit on the Ford frame and should work well with the convert body. Many thanks to my bud, Butch, pictured in the Panama hat and red suspenders, for lending lots of expertise, and experienced hands, eyeballs, muscle. So now, excitement is mostly over and drudge work of adding rubber, pads, proper body mounts and brackets begins. Doors still fit! Next big step is to raise the rear fenders and fit the deck lid. (Deck lid will be sectioned about 6" at the bottom.)
Progress Report #14 Mocking Up Raised Rear Fender Well the body and replacement floor pan are now one single unit, (still needs lots of welding, filling in at quarters, etc), but no reason to delay the raising of the rear fenders. I am sneaking up to this by mocking up the new look with tie-tie wire holding the fender at the raised position. This is really pretty cool, and I do not want to mess up....only one chance to nail it....so I tied up the fender and will sleep on it for a day or two. Plus, I need to verify/fit the deck lid before final fitting of the rear of the rear fenders. Pics tell the story. (First couple of pics are with the fender in stock location.)
Wow awesome progress Russ ! I bet you are very happy with the decision to use the stock frame ...good choice and it looks great
Wow! Even in this rough version its pretty evident this will be a fine looking car. Looking forward to the finished product. Subscribed.
Reading the text in this thread and looking at the old photos of Pete Brocks Ford custom - on which this car is inspired - will tell you what the plan is for those. Great work so far... I look at every new proress photo. This one will be so nice. I have wondered for long why nobody was doing one based on Pete's convertible... now there is. Pete's Ford was so nice.
Raising Fat Fenders...... !!!! This is not easy because the rear fender mounting is a ever-changing angle and as the fender goes up, nothing fits. I have developed a whole new appreciation for the skill the guys use to chop a car and maintain a graceful loft line with the top, rear window, sail panel, etc. My guess is that this may be why it is such a rare undertaking. Also, many thanks to RICKSTER (and others) for your kind words and comments about the project. I also welcome critical comments and constructive criticism. I am definately building this to satisfy ME, but sometimes other eyeballs and opinions can help avoid creating a monster, making dumb decisions, etc........... Attached is a file photo of a raised fat fender....I think it may have been the Brock car. I'd like to see more views of the Brock car, if anyone has them to post. The second picture is of a '40 Merc that my son and I chopped, channelled, sectioned a while back, but lost our nerve when it came to raising the rear fenders. We sold the car and it is a finished beauty down in Slidell, Louisiana these days.
Progress Report #15 (Adding Front Clip, Raising Rear Fender) My buds are all eager (as I also am) to see the old girl with its front feet covered, so I pulled the front clip out of storage and set it in place. What a difference!! And, I came up with an Oldsmobile grille that will be installed in place of the '42 grille....pics show the grille. And, I could not delay cutting for the fender raising any longer and jumped in....it went pretty well, but the toughest part of the job (and still remaining to be solved) is to fit the rear of the fender, rubber channel for deck lid, rear tool storage panel together as a working unit. There are numerous layers of sheet metal that make fitting these parts back together difficult. Also, the rear of the fender needs to be re-contoured to follow the deck lid line. Challenging. Stay tuned for more progress reporting on fitting the rear of the raised fenders.
Wow, I was just thinking about your project yesterday, wondering about your progress. Man, it's looking good!
Progress report #16 The left rear fender is raised 4", roughed in and fitted to the tail pan and deck lid. This required that the rear portion of the fender and fender mounting be completely rebuilt. I got my first taste of using my bud's English Wheel to form some of the filler metal. Fun. After all that, I brought the top bows out of storage and worked on them for a couple of days. They are pretty well frozen and pulling bolts, drilling/retapping broken bolts made this a major deal. But the top bows are now installed, waiting to be chopped. If anyone has chopped a 41-48 Ford convert, I'd appreciate hearing about the job. And, I got a healthy start on cutting and raising the pax side fender today. I was able to use the English Wheel again to roll out another filler panel and tacked it into place.
The reason I asked because I was not sure how the line of the trunk would flow with the fenders. I'm still learning and training my eye. Now Russ has provided the answer. Going to be a sweet custom. Thanks for all the updates.
Progress Report # 17 ( Fat removed from front fender) Today, I clipped 3 1/2" from the lower rear portion of the rt front fender and then added back the factory Ford rolled bottom edge. This process eliminated a bunch of extra tin that was bugging me. Now it is gone. Pics tell the story.
Progress Report #18 (First Portrait, mock-up stage) Well guys, I have the hood cut and ready to be rejoined, added a front bumper, so we took it out into the daylight for a couple of pics. Hood still needs to be rejoined, hinges installed and adjusted....but the overall look is pretty much complete. I have decided to delay the chop until I can locate quarter windows in order to ensure the chop will not interfear with window operation. Comments are most welcome.
The Jalopy Journal
