Another fantastic job, you know your business for sure. I am another guy who does not drink, smoke or do drugs. Boring but I made it to 68 so far.
I make up for my somewhat clean living with general immaturity! Thanks for all the kind words, I much appreciate it. I see a slight resemblance in your avatar there TomT. I'll have some more pics up later this week as I progress on the interior stuff and some important details including setting the shell and fabbing a one piece hood to add to that bad boy look. Thanks to everybody who's posted!
I was wondering where Jerry found this one! It's amazing how much stuff gets p***ed around on this Forum and oddly enough, unlike many other projects that just end up setting in somebodys' garage forever, most of these end up on the street.
Well here we go. Last pics before we blow it apart for paint and body this week. Trust me, this thing looks way cooler in person than these pics show. The stance and proportion are spot on. I can't wait to get it squirted and out in the light to see the total effect. I'll be posting soon!
Don't you just love it when you get to this point! The car is blown apart for body finish and paint. It's just sitting on the ch***is waiting for enough guys to show up at the shop to set it on the body cart. I'm spending the holiday blocking it out and getting it in epoxy primer and polyester. We are now six weeks into this and I'm starting to back up on other work so I need to get my *** in gear. We dropped the hood at Homemadehardtop57 for proper ventilation, (louvers), on Monday. Hopefully I'll have it back in time to fit up before the body is painted but I can always tape off the finish. The car is being shot in Black Cherry Pearl with a dark Burgundy interior and an off white Hartz cloth top. Tjhe wheels will be Black Cherry with a black ch***is and suspension. A set of screw on "Moons" will complete the 1962 "date night" ride. Back to work with me!
Thanks guys! I'm working my *** off all weekend. As of now I'm about 4 hrs. away from epoxy primer. I just need to do a little more straightening on a few areas. I have the whole thing pretty much covered in poly but the thickest area is probably no more than 1/16". I've spent the last two days with a picking hammer and every dolly in the shop. Considering the body was really rough when we got it, not too bad. It's no Boydster but it ain't gonna make you seasick looking at it. I'm reworking my shop and I'll soon have some new tooling set up that will make my top and panel work much more accurate and faster. Right now I'm making everything on a bench and shot bag which works but is not very efficient. I'm stashing cash for a Hoosier wheel setup, which in my opinion is the best on the market along with fabricating a new 6' brake that will do exactly what I need for nice panelwork. I also need a good Tig which will make a huge difference in my shop work. Fortunately, I'm busy as hell, which helps to keep the cash flow good. Each of the roofs gets a little better, but to be honest, I've learned more about body fitup on this build than the last 10 years put together. This shell is dead on and should look really good in the sunlight, which is the real test of the metalwork.
VERY NICE.... I'm doing same sort of build, in planning stages now, and really like the top. SUBSCRIBED
Thanks, I've done at least 25 of these roofs now and the trick seems to be getting them to look like a real rag when they're covered. The lines of the top are critical. This one actually looks a lot better in person than it does in the pics. I'll post up pics as we go along here but the top will get 5/16" closed cell foam glued on then have a Hartz cloth cover s***ched with two seams front to rear centered over the aluminum seams and the proper cords and welts put in place to simulate the real rag. The trailing edge will have snaps installed along the sides and rear to lap over the body line by 1". This not only looks cool but makes it a very watertight seam between the roof and the body. A strip of white 1/2" x 1/2" urethane makes an airtight seal bettween the top of the gl*** and the roof. Before the headliner goes in I line the inside with 1/2" jute padding to kill any noise and make the top feel a little better. I have one coming up that will accept roll up windows on a '34 Chevy roadster. The trick on that one will be getting a good seal on the side door gl*** and still being able to open and close the doors with the windows up like a regullar hardtop. I weighed this top when I pulled it and it tips the scales a 5.25 lbs. as installed. The upholstery will add another 6 lbs. or so.
Time for a quick update.... The body was shot with epoxy after being straightened pretty nicely and then had Slick Sand sprayed, about four wet coats, and is now being blocked. I'm using my DuraBlocks but I wish I had some of those nifty keeno long blocks with the removable rods. Maybe I'll hit Eastwood tomorrow if I can get out of the shop and snag at least a 24" one to try it out. You can see how nice the trunk lid worked out with some concealed homemade hinges and a hidden latch mechanism. I was worried about the condition of the trunk lid but it straightened out nicely. I shortened it up 4 5/8" to allow for the through the deck fuel fill and have a more deuce look to the lid. as there was no understructure to speak of I just framed it with some 3/4" tubing to hold it stiff. In this shot you can see how nicely the '28 Chevy dash fit in the "A" and how the laidback windshield works. The shell is super stiff with the firewall fitted between the trunk and the p***enger compartment as is required in PA. I'm doing a late night blocking before the body gets lifted off for under work and finish color. I can't wait to get the Black Cherry Pearl on the shell and get it back on the ch***is.
For some reason I havn't been able to get my Photobucket to work. Fixed, so here's some shots of the hood Homemadehardtop punched for Henry.... Just need to fab an understructure and get it metalworked and primed.
Real nice! I like all the work you've done so far. Any pic's of the rear end set by chance, I would like to see what you did if possible. Thanks man! Look forward to seeing the car done. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
We're lifting the body off in the next day or two so I can shoot some decent detail and post them up. The rear is set up much like the Rolling Bones do theirs, except I used a pair of '46-'48 bones which are easier to aquire and a little stiffer than the '36 that are more commonly used. I didn't need the '36 spring hangers because we used some SoCal Model "A" spring mounts to retain the "A" spring and crossmember. There are a pair of top links fabbed of 7/8"x .156 DOM and some simple 3/8" bracketing. I've used this setup before and it is super easy to build and works well. Nothing origional, just variations on traditional stuff. One thing you may have noticed which sways from tradition is this is a four wheel disc brake car. Henry has some back problems and we put power brakes and some serious stopping power on all four corners so he could throw out the anchor without putting both feet on the hooks. The mild cam in the 283 will give plenty of vacuum to work the booster well.
While I've been working on the Henry I managed to do this ch***is and screw together a little 254 incher for Bailey. Were going to start putting his '36 coupe together soon and I'll start a build thread then. It's actually an 8BA in AB trim. The rework made it just look better and go into the '36 nicer. This ch***is is completly done and has a nicely rebuilt '39 top loader along with the banjo and a set of new 3.54 to get it down the road in style.
I'm looking for some serious progress over the Holidays from you! I'm doing the same on my '29. At the moment I have the Henry Sport coupe, Baileys '36, Kesses' '34, Fryguys Buick comming in and Chris's '30 pickup in the works along with the seemingly forever project, Sarahs California bug, along with a bunch of smaller stuff and my '29. I only have room at the moment for a 1 man shop. I'd love to hire a body man but I just don't have the room and fear a quality problem like so many other shops experience when they grow, including the big guys. So far all my clients have been patient which I appreciate more than they could imagine. Hopefully I'll be able to move into a bigger building soon but I'll probably just hire a general helper and add some time saving equiptment. When I started this buisness full time, after a part time affair for the last 30 years or so, I was worried I might not have enough work to keep food on the table, a year later I'm still eating and though I'm not rich, I sure as hell have the best job in the world and it just keeps getting better. I'd love to make Austin this year!!!!!
The Henry is squirted and being ***embled. My camera makes the pics look very purple, in fact the car is a deep, deep, maroon with a light flake and a pretty nice dose of pearl in there. No Ridler winner, just a good street driver. The paint hasn't been rubbed yet so it will show a nicer finish when it gets the wheel. Not bad as is thought. A far cry from the body parts on a skid we started on the first week of October.
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