That´s a real beauty. Shoeboxes really suffer from and overly deep body IMHO, and it´s even more pronounced when dechromed and chopped. Yours is perfect.
Report #9 Fully roughed in.....7 concentrated days ! ! This shoebox is now fully closed in and waiting for the long process of finishing and reassembling. Some rustout in the tail and rear quarters need help and the rockers need to be replaced. We used about 40 man-hours to blow the beast apart before surgery and about 110 man hours to cut, fit, tack it to its new form. Lots of work but plenty of satisfaction. My humble advice to anyone contemplating this: 1. Ensure there are tools, shop facilities adequate to the job 2. Make sure the talent and commitment to get the job done exists 3. Carve out enough time to do it right 4. Take your time.....enjoy the transformation 5. Choose a good, solid car to start the project
Thanks for the kind words....but we are concentrating on one process at a time!! Getting the beast back together again and completing the sectioning will keep us out of trouble for a while.
i thought i had read this thread but Russ mentioned it, and i MIGHT have seen part of it, but not all... great job, Russ, and a lot of inspiration!
Well, here it is springtime in Yuma, and I am homesick for Moontana and anxious to get back to the sectioned shoebox job. I must admit that my project car steered like a big truck with flat tires and after examining all the reported options, I have mostly decided to install a '70 Nova rear steer, power steering clip. (Fell into one in Phoenix and will bring it home with me.) And, I have a bud in Great Falls that built a beautiful '51 Vicky that he sectioned and installed a Camaro clip....so with his help, that is on my plate when I get back home. Closing up all the welds, finishing the metalwork, adding another dash panel, tilt steering and lowered seating plus installing the Nova power steering clip should keep me out of the bars this summer. Stay tuned. Russ V. (Gearhead friends call me General Junk )
As fast as you work you'll have to find something else to keep you out of the bars this summer, cuz you'll be driving it before the snow melts! Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
Shoebox Section Project Report #10 Well here I am back in Montana and ready to finish the sectioning welding, repair rust-out and install rocker panels, install a '54 Ford dash with a lowered seat, install the '70 Nova power steering clip and tilt steering column, and re-assemble the beast. And, somewhere along the line, I need to get some paint on it. Lots to do...but I am eager to get started on this latest "bucket list". Attached pics show some of the patching I am currently doing and the driver's inner rocker panel repair and outer rocker install. (I just ordered an aftermarket inner panel for the pax side....$49 from EMS...).
I would love to have a 50 someday! A sectioned and chopped one would be awesome. I am watching your progress...
Montana Shoebox Section Project Progress Report #11 The driver inner rocker panel is repaired, outer rocker install complete, and now the task of filling in rusted out sections of the lower body, as well as tearing into the passenger inner and outer rocker panels is upon us. I was able to enlist my #2 son to do some DA sanding, so the car will be naked as a newborn baby soon. Pictures help tell the story. I really like the new body lines but now need to lower the old gal and get it into paint to present the full impression.
Shoebox Section Report #11 Spent the weekend patching and pulling the passenger rocker panel and inner rocker. Not fun, glamorous jobs...but fitted in very well with the Memorial Day weekend... Things slow down when you are an "army of one"...
Shoebox Section Report #12 Not much drama to report, just plugging along at installing the rockers and patching rustout in the lower body. This phase of the project is mostly complete. I did experiment with hammer forming a replacement trunk floor piece which came out pretty well and is now part of the car. Pics tell the story. (last pic is a floor pan patch in work just inboard of the passenger rocker panel and current "naked body")
REPORT #13 (Nova Clip Installed) Some of you have followed the installation of a '70 Nova front suspension clip into our shoebox...listed as 'Nova Clip' in the forums...the job was not that bad, once I made up my mind that it could be done. I also bought an S-10 clip (that is now extra)...but decided to stay with the Nova. Anyway, this report picks up where the Nova Clip Thread ends.....I have the clip firmly tacked into place, SBC back into the car, and in a day or so will take the beast to an alignment shop to verify wheelbase, caster, camber, or any other details that might cause later problems. The engine sits a bit higher in the chassis and a bit forward over the original location in the Nova clip, so I had to relieve the tranny tunnel a bit, fab up new front motor mounts, and cut a relief for distributer install in the firewall. Also, I (temporarily) cut out the driver-side firewall body braces and a hunk of floorboard for steering column design and installation. The steering column is from a GM pickup and is being disassembled for shortening....I plan to install a '54 Ford dash, so don't know the exact length of the column until I get the dash into position. So anyway, I have been busy.....pics tell the story.
REPORT #14 (Steering Column install) I took a plain 70's GM pickup steering wheel and column from the local junk yard and shortened it to 25 inches (from about 40+ inches) and then after placing a low-sitting seat in the car determined the approximate angle from which to fab up support struts to hang the column on. Disassembly of the GM column, shortening the jacket, shaft, drilling a hole for a through-bolt at the rag joint takes time, but was pretty easy. Pics show me making "car noises" at the end of the day. I especially like the sound of open lakes pipes!! Next step is to add the front sheet metal and doors to the car and then trailer it to an alignment shop to verify all the critical angles.
Hey Russ, it's been a while since we talked. Nice work! You've been a lot busier than I have! I need to get my ass back out in the garage...
FIRST CAR SHOW.... The car is on the trailer, ready to go to the alignment shop to verify angles, etc...and,since it was already loaded,we got the bright idea to swing by and display it at a local car show this weekend. Lots of positive comments. Pics tell the story.
REPORT # 15 (Final Welding on Nova clip) Seems tough to back up, but I brought the car back into the shop and pulled the engine and sheet metal to complete the permanent welding for the Nova clip that we installed earlier in the summer. The Nova clip had been seriously tacked into position and then taken to an alignment shop to verify installation accuracy. We passed. So back to the shop for final welding. Pics tell the story of final patterns for frame doublers and welding. Next phase is to fill in access holes in the floor over the frame and complete welding/finishing on the firewall. Also, forward body mounts need to be reinstalled.
The Jalopy Journal
