COE 1941 Ford COE build

Problem solved..

 

Interior of sleeper....

 

Congrats on the car show

 

At a local cruise night...

 

Hard to believe I can't find a reasonable place for front speakers.... so, what's a guy to do? take Barry's donor dash and make lower dash panels to cover up some of the modern wiring and a place for the aforementioned front speakers... You'll have to use your imagination for the filler panels and blue paint for now...

 

car show with a copy cat paint job....

 

I donated a dash? Have you considered mounting them in the overhead header panel above the windshield?
This is the header panel in my Model A, a 6x9 and a 5 inch.

 

Yeah, the dash (or what remained of it) was on the donor cowl..

I mocked up pretty much your setup with a 5 inch. Your's looks nicely integrated, mine looked pretty hideous...

 

The picture I posted above is looking straight up from the floor, the speakers face straight down from the overhead console. Maybe this is a better angle.

 

My first mock up was an overhead console.. I didn't like it, maybe I've been driving it so long with just the header panel there.... It felt "closed in"...

 

Be like me, can't hear worth snap, so no sound system required.

 

WHAT?!?!??? Oh, I got plenty of that going on too, the lowtalkers drive me crazy...

 

Check out 4:58....

 

Nice

 

Makes all that work worthwhile huh?

 

It's pretty cool driving such an attention *****...

Pretty happy with the new lower dash items I made from a junk dash... Not so happy about the modern speaker covers even though I painted them blue... May do something similar to the SS on the gauge cluster...

 

Whats on the agenda for the winter? Full running boards?

 

Not sure I'll get that energetic... I'd like to do the rear running boards with stock 1941 supports like I did the front ones. I've yet to find a pair of cast ones...

Biggest issue I need to address right now is the white upholstery.. It has developed yellow splotches. General consensus is that clear glue needed to be used, not green/yellow... The entire headliner and every panel with white is now splotchy.. It's pretty ugly. If indeed the glue is the root cause, it's a little surprising from a guy that was in the business for 35 years. He's a standup guy however and plans to make good. Obviously, neither he nor I are thrilled about remaking nearly every single panel in the truck and replacing the headliner. So he asked for a couple panels to test out dying them... They look really good but I certainly have concerns about the dye long term viability as well as the yellow coming back. The test panels have aged in several of our vehicles for 2 months now and still look good.

The headliner is another story.. I was never impressed by it. Sure it's a headliner. I expected more but we never discussed details like we did on the side panels which are phenomenal (less the yellowing). I'm thinking round 2 we can do better and I can put a couple bucks in his pocket for the re-design.

Other than that, I'm thinking small stuff for now... finish up the Coke Bottle, banjo steering wheel. Rear speakers that aren't ****py 40 year old Radio Shack models. Figure out a way to resolve the 80 MPH limitation.

Oh, and then there's the next project that might hamper further COE items... It involves these two vehicles.....

 

....I'll probably have to hide out here with this next build as I suspect it's not considered HAMB worthy...

 

3 years ago I redyed the interior panels (not the seats) on my Triumph Spitfire. I went from tan to black with Dupli-color vinyl and fabric coating and I love the way it looks and has lasted. No cracks, blistering, fading or peeling and being an open car, it sees lots of UV and temp/humidity changes (and some bird poop) in the shed.
I guess having a Corvette is OK as long as you hide it under the Dodge sheetmetal.

 

Got a little education in C5 doors today... I thought I might reskin the corvette doors with the 1959 Dodge door skins, but it seems the only steel in the C5 doors is the side impact bar with a plate on each end. 1 for the hinges and 1 for the latches... may need plan B...

 

The lunacy has begun....

 

cutting and fitting... I think I have the '59 body mostly where its going to sit... I'd like to begin attaching the '59 sheet metal to the c5 door structure but I'll probably wait until the Corvette comes back from the frame shop after Christmas. The same guys that painted Buford are straightening the C5 frame.

Next I need to get brave enough to work on the Coronet roof... Loose plan is to cut out the back window and remaining roof, tilt the triangle side windows in at the top to match the Corvette targa bar then find a donor back window and plug to fill the new hole. A local hot rod friend that's built lots of cars thinks I need to extend the new plug and roof back into the trunk section so it doesn't look like a "pimple". (his words ) I think several cardboard mockups will be needed to decide and then scouring the old iron junkyards which is ALWAYS FUN!

 

... I really like the 59 Coronet backgl***, but since the triangle side windows are going to lean in at the top, I can't use it. I'll need to find something narrower. I'd like something that also has those rounded areas on both sides... ideas??

Honestly, I'm a little timid about this roof hacking part. I have never done any kind of roof chop and I know enough that there can be good chops and very bad ones.

 

I've done some crazy things out in my hobby garage, but you're in way deeper than I've ever been. I set a 41 Stude President 4dr (made into a coupe) on a 74 Corvette ch***is, but didn't try to use any of the Corvette body or interior. Ultimately, I gave up on the project, because I didn't like the proportions of the shortened p***enger area and the "pimple" roofline.
As for your roofline, I would look at early Barracuda or 70s Buick Riviera for design cues. Your Corvette back gl*** may even be the way to go, although it will mess up your trunk some.

 

"Way deeper than you've ever been..." from the guy that started with a wood framed truck?

I like your thinking... I had not considered a fastback look but it could work... The biggest problem I have with the stock Vette rear hatch is that combined with the windshield, it would probably scream "I'M a C5 Corvette!!!"... Not sure how I might disguise that, but I'll think about it... Here's a very crude photochop...

 

The problem isn't the rear roof, it's the windshield. Find one that matches the Dodge body better.....then just "lay down" the rear roof/window as needed. It's never gonna look right with that huge Corvette windshield. IMO

 

While I agree completely on the goofy Corvette windshield, there are many reasons I'm leaving it. I was thinking about trying to disguise it a bit with some trim and a center bar along the lines of a Duval unit.

 

Drove it outside to get a stand back view... I think the dimensions after the rear gl*** reconfiguration will be fine.. I'll cut the rear gl*** and roof section out next and do some mocking up... I don't see a "pimple" at this point.... we'll see....