Excellent....excellent! Can you let us know how you are going about the whole Gapping Procedure, as I believe I may need to refer to this thread alot in the future. Cheers
the decklid never fit perfect from the get go it was nice but not as nice as i would have liked. and totally remaking the truck made the bad areas stand out even more.i dont know what happened to this car over the years ut it was a bear to line up any panel . im going around the edge with an 1/8 inch body shim adding or taking away where it is needed until i get an 1/8 inch tight gap all the way around. and yes rusty im excited how things are turning out !!!
Ive checked this thread like 50 times and no post. So, that said, kickass job! Nice flow and great metalwork.
Flop, First off, thanks for all the pics. You are archived on my HD and plastered on the garage walls now I've got a good question for you. What did you do "special" to get the cat walk, and the newly sectioned trunk to flow along the same arc? I'm going to redo my rear window on my c-dan, probably moving the bottom of the window forward a few. And, I've got a spair trunk lid, so you've inspired me to hack one up! It seems to me the new angle of the trunk wouldn't match the catwalk unless I do the trunk first. Just thinking ahead. Thanks Thom
i think the specail part involved my buddys fat ass sitting on itto get it down. im not quite sure though haha. just took a bunch of eye balling really jst making sure everything flowed into each other. im lucky i guess i didnt have any reference what to go off of as in how much to take out so the 1 3/4 was a good guess. i think if you are gonna extend the cat walk its gonna be on the same angle as before just longer? right? unless your gonna do something real crazy!! if your extension is going an inch or 2 forward it has to match the old cat walk or it will look like ass so i think if you match the trunk up to the original you will be fine . just my .02
Okay, I've been up all night (at work) and I'm about to go to bed, so help me out wilya? What part is referred to as a 'cat walk' and why? Thanks
i believe he is refering to the area between the top of the decklid to where the trim would go infront of the rear window that 6 inch patch of metal.. i dont know you will have to ask him about the cat walk term maybe a cat was walkin on his once or sumthin haha
LOL get to bed will ya! I've summized that the catwalk is the narrow strip between the trunk and the back window. 9referencing a bunch of older posts here) Flop, sound's good. Mine is only about 1" wide, so after extending it a few more, I could reshape it a bit (on purpose or by accident) to match up with the new angle of the trunk. we shall see how it goes when I get there.
Okay, metal between trunk and back window = 'Cat Walk' and now I know, the rest of the story. Thanks.
Last night I moved all the crap I had piled up on the roof to take a better look at that catwalk area. Does everyone elses look as bad as mine, or do I see more work for myself You can kinda see how the trunk line doesn't match the catwalk. Or, maybe thats how you got lucky Flop, sectioning the trunk brings it in line.
mine was the same way hence the sectioning .. my decklid came out almost flat from the "catwalk" none of these cars had that tight of tolerances from the factory is my guess . but maybe cause your catwalk is smaller it makes it more pronounced
nice to see the young ones keepin the tradition going.did a few tops myself back in the day,nice work,makes me want to do it again.
and you thought i was done with the trunk pictures!!! HA well this is for bash n weld heres how i got the gaps tighter and uniform around the deck lid the right bottom is already done my camera batteries died so you only get to see how i did the left side the corners were pretty far off so i had to do sumthin about it not gonna leave the big uneven gap all around i welded 1/8 inch body shims to the lip where the trunk was gonna sit then made a cut and pulled down a lil thats a lot better makes things look a hell of a lot better pics arnt doin it justice i still have to finish up the left corner
i have to do that same thing on my shoebox hood,,,,,,,,,when you put in a 50 merc shell, it creates a gap similar to that,,good idea with the shims...
fnished the decklid for good tonight besides the inner bracing .. gotta wait to find another decklid for its inner structure heres the shim made a perfect gap the whole way accross how much i had to add to get the gap right cut out and moved to the right spot
never pie cut your trunk despite what people say about the flow or your cars big bulging ass !!!! finallly fits right! but i guess it all payed off in the end
flop, unlike your handle, you are a true inspiration to all of us . You have done a remarkable job....all thumbs up from the great white north.
flop that thing has awesome lines. it has got to be my favorite '50 pontiac ever!!! can't wait to see it finished ....
thanks everyone.. more pics to come ,,, back onto the chop tonight after what i thought was gonna be a 2 week job on the trunk boy was i wrong . thanks once again for the feedback
That's amazing how much better it looks. I have to believe that all the panels involved fit better now too.
I don't really like alot of chopped coupes but your poncho looks awesome. Your metal working skills are something to be proud of. Keep us posted.
Man, I read all these posts and see so much cool stuff on here but I rarely post on these threads. (waste bandwidth and all that... not that I really understand all that) But I gotta say, this is one bad ass ride. Your work is awesome. Like many people have said, it inspires me. But at the same time it is very discouraging. I would LOVE to do work like that, but doubt that I can. I think if i had your skills I'd be chopping everything I could get my hands on! Anyway, thanks for the post. I know it was a lot of work to stop and take pics while you were in the middle of working. I appreciate it. Please HURRY and keep working on it, can't wait to see more! (and if you are bored after this one, find a '48 chevy to chop... would love to try mine but would like to see you do it first! lol!)