Pulling back in and shutting down.as I said,car drives well.The point of this was if anything is really wrong I would like to know about it before I get the body back on.That is the "ignition switch" I am reaching for .
That test drive looked like fun,you have made a lot of progress with your build. I wish we have a weather like that too..
It was 83 today.It is supposed to get cold Friday,down in the low 40s.I reckon I should have the bottom of the body as finished as I can get it in a few days,then I will put the body back on and the real work can start---------I am having some second thoughts about the flip front end,Ill see--.
Kool, You and I must be distant relatives. I second those second thoughts, although I'm always open to something different. The Wizzard
U-235 I appreciate the different grille insert pictures.Thats a mighty fine looking SBC too.The caddy engine is waiting in the wings so to speak.It is a 79 and I am hoping to stumble on to an earlier one.If not it will go in the car sometime next year once I have driven the car enough to de bug it.Pist n broke I have done a couple of mockups and it is looking to me like it would be less work to set the car up so getting the front clip off was easy if major work(like installing a caddy engine) was needed.Making a flip nose is easy enough,making a flip nose that doesn't look the part--not so much.
No worries on Hi-Jack, Photos are good for us all. Keeps us looking at things from different directions. So if you guys haven't seen a front shot of my 51 here are a few of Her and her Sister. stinauge, I'm not totally against a Flip front end. Like most I just have My ideas of what's right or not for specific types of Cars. I have done several styles of tilts myself. I'm currently working on my 53 F-100 and it runs a forward opening Hood without the fenders following it. It will also have a solid Tauno cover that tilts up. Those things work for the style of Vehicle it is. I say do it your way, don't worry what others think. I've had others question things I've done and some quite Verbal, I just tell them they can change it after they buy it. To each there own. Keep up the good progress, I'm impressed with that. The Wizzard
I put the car up on jack stands today and ran it up to 3200 rpm in drive.To my utter amazement I don't seem to have any driveshaft vibration??? I reckon sometimes its better to be lucky than good!I am hoping to have the bottom of the car finished in the next couple of days so I can put the body back on.
Got the bottom of the body as done as it is going to get.Reckon I will start putting the body back on .
I started working on one of these UGLY front fenders today.I had to replace some of the reinforcing channel inside the fender.Ended up doing that by making short pieces and welding them in.ugly,but seems strong enough.My welder died in the middle of this and I had to braze the outer patch panel in enough to hold it for now.I know I can buy this part of the fender as a patch panel,I just wanted to try not to spend the money.Tomorrow I will try making the missing bottom piece of the fender using the remaining part for dimensions (thats why it is still there)and,if I can fix the welder,install it.
I will Road Zombi.How is your shoebox coming? Pist n broke I don't like that outer plate either, think I will remove it as soon as I can fix my welder.I think I can cut one that fits the hole more exactly so the surfaces match and weld it edge to edge. Do you think that might work better ?
stinage; We all do things on different levels based on skill, importance and what is on hand at the time. That's why there's a good market for Body Man in a Can. I personally would have cut the Bottom of the fender off totally and made a new lower section with One seam and no lap joint , that's just me. The Wizzard
Well,i do it by same way than Pist-N-Broke.I guess the lapwelds i do,are usually on the spots that factory has used them.
I made a couple of better thought out pieces and got one fender roughed in today.Didnt end up needing a lot of filler(not nearly as much as I thought) to level things out.I have some areas that are deeply pitted.I reckon I will sandblast those areas clean,POR them and then use a little filler to level them out.
A little trick I learned I'll share with ya. When wanting to Sand Blast an aria that has deep pits or is already Swiss Cheese, use a backer behind that spot. It can be just sheet metal but must be clamped pretty tight against the pitted spot. This acts as a support as well as a heat sink. It aids in not ending up with several larger holes instead of just many many pin holes. The Wizzard
Thank you! I use a piece of aluminum stock for a backer when welding small holes shut in sheet metal, But I would not have thought of that when spot blasting.
I think the way it really works is that if the Sand pellet cant get through the pin hole it just can't make it bigger. The Wizzard
I started on the other fender today.About 3 hours into it I realized I wasn't going to be able to fix this. Doesn't look too bad from here,problem is once the rust is cut out this is what you get. Fortunately? I had been given a pair of discarded fender bottoms by a local guy who is also building a shoebox.Turned out his was way better than what I had.Only needed two patches and most of the inner structure is sound.Problem was he had cut them off which led to some fitting problems,but I can work that out over the next few days.
I got the body down on blocks again today.I am done with the bottom and need only to finish up stripping and painting the firewall to put the body back on the frame.( THEN the fun begins-I hate bodywork)I am working alone,so I made a strange sort of gadget to allow me to raise and lower the body.It actually seems to work.
The Fire Wall should be a walk in the park after all you've already done. You should be Darn proud of where your at. The Wizzard
The Jalopy Journal
