Inspired by Ed Roth, Plowboy and Racerdad

Ok, it's been another hot one but overcast this time, so it's humid too!

I did get the 'bug' cut today, it was a lot more involved than I thought it would be. The section I ended up with was a bit heavier than I thought it would be too. I have removed the windshield and the dashcover and anything else I could take off/remove. It's now about what I thought it'd weigh.
I positioned it next to the Cutlass to start the comparisons between the two. Surprisingly, the windshield post angle is about the same! I have mapped out tomorrow's trim list and then things will get interesting! Yes, tomorrow I will post new pictures! I'm hoping to make some good progress. One of the things I hope to accomplish is the new structure installed inside the rocker-panels and the interface attaching them to the chassis. With that in place, I will brace the left side structure to 90 degrees at the hood-hinge mount. I'll then trim off all of the original Cutlass windshield post and any other excess sheetmetal that would interfer with the new 'bug' transplant being installed, (the engine/transmission will be removed during this process).

While I was planning the next stage of fitting new/used components to the Cutlass I came to the conclusion that I will have to construct the roof section at least structurally, to tie the major body sections together. I plan on reusing the inner structure from the Cutlass roof and maybe the skin too but only after some reshaping of the skin.

Something else I thought of, ... I will be using the rear window openings from the bug too! Yeah I know, that sounds really weird, but I think I can reshape them to look very much like 'Spoggie' drew in his rendering. We shall see ...
The back window for the roof will be from a '40 Ford truck cab. I will only use a fairly limited section but that's where it will come from.


That's all I know for now, see you tomorrow!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

On a super beetle if you want to keep the chassis still mobile, remove the 14 mm bolts(3 each side) that holds the strut to body, remove body, it will flop around like a fish out of water but then you take an angle iron attach it to each strut where you removed the front 14 mm bolt on each side, then attach another angle iron from the other 14 mm bolt holes to the front shifter hole. Do this on both sides, basicly building a triangle tripod. Now you can push the chassis wherever, whenever.

It's useful if you are planning on saving the chassis for something else but if you are not by all means torch away.

 

Hi Fuzzface, I just tempered my cuts with the knowledge that I didn't want a non-movable 'bug' sittin' here. I left enough structure to keep the front suspension happy and still got the section I needed to continue with the Cutlass build.

Thanks for the input anyway, cause you never know when that kind of thinking will come in handy!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Steelsmith!
I don't think I will be taking a Starliner to Bonneville; had a lot come up... Anyhow, will still be coming down south; and will need to arrange some time to stop by!

-I promise all of the intrigued readers of this thread that I will take pictures and upload them on your behalf.

So, get crankin'; I will be coming back through near the 15th to take some pics!

 

Hi Forrest! Sorry the starliner is not going to be ready for Bonneville. Some of those 'Old Car' projects take more time than anticipated!

About your pending visit, Thanks for the warning! Ha I'll be sure to be 'out of town' that day!!!!LOL

Naw, I'll be here ... I can hear the whip crackin' now, gotta get some stuff done! Ha

Today should be a productive day, I'm up and going and it's not 7:00AM yet! It will be another hot one, but I'm hopin' the clouds will be gone, that humidity sucks!

We'll talk later, gotta get to work!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I miss the pictures that go with the stories... can hardly wait to "SEE" what's going on. Very inspiring to someone like me with little skills in welding and imagination. Loving this thread!!!

 

Hi guys! Another day of fun and sun! ha

So, I have to say this day didn't come out with the results I'd planned on. We'll discuss just what did happen and the progress made. First thing I removed the engine/transmission from the chassis. Then I had to support the Lt door/body assembly with some bracing to have it stay @ 90 degrees at the hood hinge mounting-pad. This locator is what I'm basing the positioning of the sides on, so it needs to stay consistant.



After removing the front fenders I needed to start trimming off the excess metal in the windshield/dash/fresh-air intake area.




This is a view from the top of the fender, looking down on what's left of the windshield post. I'll keep a small section of the lower side for alignment purposes on the new post. As you can see there is also metal sticking out from the original fresh-air ducting. This too needs to be removed. When you are doing 'clean up' like this, you can always cut again, so don't get too carried away and remove too much. This is not a case of measure twice and cut once. It's more like 'remove the bare minimum', so you don't have to weld pieces back on! You want the completed project to look like there was a plan from the start, eventhough with something like this you really only have a destination, but no road-map on how to get there from here!




This picture is after some clean-up has been done. If I knew this was the final configuration for this piece it would be fairly easy to add the patches and have a nice clean looking result.
The way things are shaping up now, I won't be adding any patches just yet! Ha

Since this is my wifes computor and it's limited in the picture posting area, I'll post a few pics at a time I don't want to crash the only working computor I have!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

The donor for this project is a late '70's Super beetle.

When I first started looking for something quite narrow at the windshield, this was the best candidate I could come up with that would supply a stock windshield glass (or very slightly modified one if needed). I didn't want to use a donor that had expensive replacement glass. The glass also needed to be readily available. The bug fit that bill to a 'T'.



This is the section that I needed. It was initially a bit bigger, this is after some trimming to see how it fit the Cutlass.



This is what's left of the 'bug'. As you can see, I managed to leave intact the complete suspension, not so easy on a Super-Beetle!

After trimming a little and checking the fit, and repeating that several times! I'm begining to notice that I'm not getting the results that I wanted. The Super-Beetle windshield that looked like it was going to be the answer to my needs, ... isn't.
Here's what I discovered after repeated trimmings. That really minor difference in angle of the windshield post from the bug to the Cutlass has caused me to tilt the bug windshield back at the top. As I do that, the lower 'bell' of the windshield sticks up more than I want it to. So I slide the windshield down to accomodate and find, I just can't compensate enough in both areas. So, I'm thinking 'what if', I have the outer edges of the windshield ground down about an inch at the bottom tapering to nothing at the upper corner. Problem there is, the bottom edge of the windshield would no longer have the right angle, posts to match the 'modified' windshield would have to be straight up and down, those on the Cutlass lean inboard toward the top.
After debating this for a while, I've decided to go with my own windshield opening, made from bug parts. I'll have to settle for a Lexan windshield, until I can afford a real glass one to be made. It's not the end of the world and Now I can make sure I get the shape I really need. The 'draft' or depth of the windshield's crown at the bottom of the glass needs to be fairly minimal. The bug had the right draft at the top of the glass but the bottom was just too much.



This is a view of what I was seeing, upper and lower contours of a Super-Beetle windshield.

Now that I knew what I was looking for, I set a contour gauge to match the center section of the upper windshield profile.



I then took the gauge over to the bug, to check the back glass opening.



It's quite a bit narrower, only 34" wide, but the profile's right or close enough that I can modify it to suit my needs.

That's what I'm working on tomorrow. A new custom windshield opening for the Cutlass!
Is it what I wanted? No, but you can't win them all, and I am not inclined to do an exhaustive search of the local junkyards looking for a needle in a haystack. I think that as small as the windshield will end up being and it's shallow draft will keep this from being terribly expensive to have made up in glass.
I'll consider it to be a part of the 'cost of doing business' ... I'm not a fan of Lexan windshields, but for short term I can live with it.

That's all I have for now. I'll try to have some progress pictures of the windshield opening and roof structure tomorrow.

Later,
Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Continued to make progress today, de-skinned the original Cutlass roof to get at the inner structure. I was very careful in removing the skin. It is my intention to reuse it as the new skin, just reshaped a bit. I think there is enough material there to bend over both sides of the new roof's shape and if I'm really careful/lucky I may have enough material to use for the 'brakes' in the back of the roof too. That's asking alot out of one old roof skin! The skin itself is in pretty good shape for just hangin' around outside the shop for several years. Only one hand-sized dent from a large branch falling on it.

With the roof skin removed, I then cut up the inner structure for reuse. It's too bad I didn't try to save the windshield posts and the posts behind the door glass, but as I mentioned before when I bought the Cutlass, I only intended to use the running gear. Now it looks like I will either use modified bug parts or make new posts from scratch. Probably end up making new, it'll be easier. Making new posts will require me to make some speciality dies for my Metlmaster (American version of a Pullmax). That will take me some time/slow the progress, but the end result will be much better.

The third piece of the roof is the back window section. The donor is a roof section I saved from another 'project'. The roof is from a '40 Ford truck cab that was rolled/slid upside-down against gravel/pavement. Not pretty and not too straight either! Ha I think I can straighted the part of the panel I need, faster than I can fabricate a new panel, so I'll be reusing that too.

No pictures today, wasn't much to see, just a lot of grunt work ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Another hot one ...

Since the only known locations that I have are at the back of the cockpit, I decided to start the roof there and build up to the windshield opening.



This is my donor roof, it's from a '40 Ford that had been rolled and beaten back out with a ball-peen hammer! It's pretty rough.



This is the good side!



This is the bad side lots of damage here!



The section I need is still going to be a bit rough, but I can straighten the damaged panel faster than I can make a new one. This is my section laid out using masking tape to pick up my lines. I then used a framing square and my 'eyeball' to complete the lines to cut to. As always, it will be cut a bit long.



This is the panel that fits from side to side, just behind the doors and is where the back window section will locate.

For now I have chosen to make the transition from back window panel to side panel at this location on each side. That will allow about half of the transition to be formed on each of the two panels, back and side.

All of this is still somewhat speculative, until I find out what really works.

More pic's to come ...
Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

After cutting out the new section here's what I got:



It's not much to look at, but at least it's a panel to begin to work with. The inner structure is still attached and needs to be taken off.



By the time I'm done cutting structure off, the panel is pretty flimsy.



The end product!



That's a panel to be proud of! ha

Last but not least, an edge view of the new panel.



For those of you who are bitchin about their body havin' a few waves in it, they are all usable, but sometimes it's not the smartest/most economical thing to use some rough old piece of junk ...

More pic's to come!
Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

These are the last group of photos for today. In it you will see the new rear window panel tacked in place on that cross panel that joins the body from side to side.



The discoloration is just that, the panel while not straight by any means, is much straighter than it was when first cut out of the roof. It took about an hour of hammer and dolly work followed by about 2 hours with a shrinking disc and bulls-eye pick, (without an actual pick). Mine's an old one with interchangeable ends I use one that is like an undersized hammerface.



Not too sure about the choice/location for the seam. Only time will tell as I put together additional pieces.



The window opening from the truck was supposed to be totally flat, (stock). The back panel for the cutlass has some curvature to it so I made some relief cuts to allow the frame to bend a bit.



Looking down from above you see a lot of clutter but you can also see that there is quite a bit of 'lean' the the rear window panel. I think it's about 67 1/2 degrees, if I remember correctly.

The top edge of the panel still has to be trimmed to have a flat/horizontal line.

That's about it, not much to show for two days of work. I'm hoping to continue the roof structure and eventually end up at the windshield opening. By that time I will have figured out exactly how I want to build the new windshield posts, I hope!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

That looks great. I hope you don´t end up painting yourself into a corner with the windsceen though. I love these updates, seeing this thing come together.

 

James D, I ain't scared! ha If one plan doesn't work, there's always 'plan B'!

Today, I'll be doing some background work. Not sure if there will be pictures or not. I have some repositioning to do, some bracing to install, if it looks like anything I'll keep you posted.

If you are worried about the windshield opening torpedoing this project, don't be. There's always more than one answer to a project like this. I just have to find the best answer to meet all of the requirements of this particular build.
Earlier I thought the Super-beetle was it, but upon seeing one up close I had my doubts. (It's still valuable information, just not relevant to this build). I wasn't all that surprised or dissapointed to figure out that it wouldn't work for this application. Like I said 'win some/loose some', it's part of the price you pay.

Talk at you later ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Today I cut material for the new inner structure in the rocker panels. It would have been nice to be using nice new shiney material, which this was about 5 years ago! To make this useable again I had to sandblast it. It was way hot to be doing that! Ha
The new structure will be fabricated from a 1-1/2" sq tb and a second piece of 1-1/2"x3" rec tb. I'd have used .125" wall on both pieces if I had it, but I didn't so the 1-1/2" sq tb is 3/16".
I need to do some shearing in my iron-worker for mounting pads. However I need to reassemble the foot-actuated trigger/pedal to make it go again. That will probably take more time that I'd like, but still needs to be finished. With the amount of shearing to be done having the iron-worker functional will save me a bunch of time.

No pictures today, but if things go well tomorrow I should have twin rocker structures built! I found that my braced door position was adequate for a totally stationary chassis. Mine was still sitting on all four tires so wasn't as stationary as I needed it to be. I'm going to have to lift it up on stands and level everything out to really be where I need to be.

Now you know the plan for the weekend. Lift and level the chassis, build and attach new rocker structures on both sides, place the door assemblies with rockers removed on the new rocker structures and position the mounted assemblies with hood hinge mounts square with the world. All bracing will have to be on the outside of the car, because I need to have access to the cockpit from the inside. It will actually be handy to not have the firewall/windshield section, since I will be working from the back of the roof forward to the firewall. How much of this will get done this weekend remains to be seen, stay tuned for pictures when I get there from here!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Check out the crazy sedan in Joe's garage, parked next to his T coupe.

 

Pretty hard to see from here, could you move the camera around back a bit more?! If you can do that, have him roll it outside of the garage for a few more shots!

Yes I do like the Crucifier. It has it's very own stance/presence and is a 'one of a kind' design.
Mine is a much more mundane design in comparison ...

I was/am going for more of a streetable car, with it's own look. I guess we'll have to 'wait and see' if it has that kind of 'stage presence'.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

How'd you come out on the roof Dan? Any more progress on the windshield design?

Jeff

 

Do to circumstances beyond my control, I have not made much progress on the Cutlass for a couple of weeks. However yesterday and today have seen the new rocker inner structure installed onto the chassis. They are bolt-on units and the original rockers will plug weld onto/wrap around these new members. Making the new rocker structures bolt-on to the chassis takes a lot of extra time, but I wanted to be able to remove the body from the chassis. I will get some pictures tomorrow of not only the new structures, but I am hoping to have at least one of the rocker/A-pillar's installed onto the structure.

With both of the rocker/A-pillar's (hopefully friday) assembled to the new structures, I'll start at the back of the cockpit and set the width/mount the curving backpanel that joins one rear door-jamb to the other. Having that panel mounted on the door-openings will give me a stable place to start the roof structure from.

On review I think the current truck rear window is too wide and needs to be cut down substantially. I may even start with an entirely new backpanel, using just a few pieces of the one I have now. That's kind of the approach I will be using for the new windshield opening too. It will be fabricated from a few pieces of the donor's windshield openings and be a completely new shape.

I may not post pictures until the weekend, kind of depends on how much progress the pictures actually show.

Sure don't want to bore you guys with dull pictures ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Your not going to bore us with anything. We love everything about this thred!!

I think the progress on this build is moving along very well. I have a few friends that have been working on there cars for over 20 years and are not 1/4 as far along as your build is!

I knew a guy that worked on his Plymouth coupe for over 35 years and died befour he ever finished it.

 

Hi Guys! Got a few pic's to share.

This first one is of the new rockerpanel inner structure's. They are bolt-on assemblies, to enable the body to be removed from the chassis.



The door opening with door removed and braces installed positioned on the new support structure.



Now with both pieces in place on the chassis! Woo-hoo!



My temporary help 'Buster'! He's trading fabrication help for metal shaping lessons. Good deal for both of us!



Kind of a weird top view showing the relation/position of the inner structure to the remaining rocker skin.



This is disc 1, I have two more ... next post in a few minutes!

Dan Stevens
dba, steelsmith

 

OK! More of the door openings and how to brace them so you don't loose your dimensions, (door will still fit once you get done).



Buster holding the braced opening onto the newly bolted-on rocker inner structure.



Now a fresh look with the fender in place.



Here's a front view with the door opening and fender together. The single 1/2"x1/2" sq tb brace will be removed after the rear of both door openings are permanently located/braced for the new backpanel to be shaped. This is after the rocker structures and door openings are welded together.



This kind of gives you a look at how both openings look together without any doors in place.



One more disc to go! Next post in a few minutes!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

With the new inner structures in place and the door openings positioned this is the view from the back.



Now we just need some new rocker skins made up! Here's Buster braking the first skin.



This is me wheel-rolling the skin to form the 12" radius it needs. This is done with a pneumatic rubber tire and the matching lower wheel in one of those cheap-o HF english wheels. As you can see by the burned paint I have modified mine to suit my needs. (As the project continues to progress I will try to remember to mention the modifications I have made).
Wheel-rolling is not English Wheel work. English Wheel work is compound forming of the sheetmetal.
Wheel-rolling is just rolling the sheet or curving the sheet in a flat plane of reference. The rocker panel is still supposed to remain flat along it's length. If there was added depth the the rocker panel along the length too that would be compound forming, understand?

Wheel-rolling is a first step in metal shaping. It looks easy, until you try it and end up with ridges in your panel from the edges of the lower wheel! Those ridges are a real bitch to remove once they are in there so go slow and observe what's going on.

The left side rocker panel skin had to be completely replaced due to rust. That is why we made a new skin. I ended up secting on a 3" piece to the 48" panel we made using some of the original panel we cut off. The back half of the skin wasn't too bad, rust-wise the front half I could stick my fingers through!

I'll continue to work on these panels and get them welded onto the new tube structures this weekend if I have time. If that actually happens, Monday should see the twin door openings bolted to the chassis, cross braced at the back of the doors and the backpanel installed! Well, at least the top piece of it anyway. The rest of the back panel has to be scratch built, from flatsheet. The two corners will be the biggest challenge since they are mostly reverse curves! Trick stuff those!

I'll keep you posted as the project continues.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I don't have pictures from todays efforts, but should have some tomorrow. We have continued to make progress, the rocker panel came out OK, after a little rework. Buster is finding that it's much tougher to fix mistakes than it is to make them. Just a word of caution; when wheel-rolling a panel such as a rocker skin, light pressure and watch your alignment as you roll your panel through the wheels. The edges of the wheels will make some really hard to remove marks in the panel if you aren't wary of them.
I did get one door-threshold plug welded to the new inner structure. (That would be the right side). The left side needed an entirely new rocker skin as well as a complete section of about a foot long. I'd cut that section out long ago and it had since disappeared! We about have those pieces made and just need to do a bit of sandblasting before plug welding the left threshold to it's corresponding new inner structure.

With both door thresholds welded and bolted in place we'll mockup the backpanel and an additional horizontal panel for reference/stability, that will locate the second protruding bodyline down from the top of the doors.
At that point, I will probably form some foam panels to mimick the shape of the entire backpanel, including the reverse curves for both corners. That will be worth seeing some pictures of!

You should see some of that tomorrow!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Looks like you're gettin' it on. Keep us posted.

 

Got stuck, ran out of sand for sandblasting! So, no pictures tonight tomorrow should be better ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Sorry Guys, 'nother delay! I've been busy sandblasting for the last couple of days, I've gone through 400#'s of sand so far! Still have lots to do, I think it will take about 1000#'s to get the entire car blasted!
The delay came in the form of a burnt up motor for the household swamp-cooler. We're in the mid 90's today with 103 predicted for tomorrow! No way I want my wife to have to deal with that without a working cooler!

If Moma's not happy, ain't Nobody gonna be happy!

So that was my priority for this afternoon. I sacrificed the motor out of the cooler in the shop to replace the one in the house. I have another motor that needs some new wiring and then it will work for out in the shop, it's a single speed so will just work on high, suits me fine ...!

Anyway, I have several pieces of the roof structure blasted as well as both door openings. The backpanel (top piece only) is also blasted. One door is disassembled (thanks Buster!) and should be ready to blast tomorrow. Still have the 2nd door to take apart. While I'm in blast mode, I'd like to do all of the parts I'll reuse, just so I don't have to get all gritty some other day.

I still have inner structure to take out of the hood and deck lid before they are ready for blasting. The narrowed 'turtledeck' assembly could probably be blasted without too much of an issue ...

Lots left to do, never seem to make as much progress as I'd like, but it is continuing to get done!

I'm going to get you some more pictures, promise! I'm just not sure when ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Where does the time go?!

Since I last posted, I've continued to sandblast parts & pieces. I've gone through a total of 1100#'s of sand, so far. Remember that this car has significant surface rust on both sides of the panels, that's alot of surface area.

Before we get to that, I'll regroup and show you the new rockerpanel for the driver's side. The original was rusted out, I could stick my fingers through the holes.

Here's the replacement panel.



I needed a 51" panel and the width of a sheet of 18ga is only 48". So rather than cut into the fresh sheet for the entire 51" piece I elected to weld on a section of the original rockerpanel that wasn't rusted out.



After adding the additional length to our new panel it needed a bit more shape. This is Buster using an air planishing hammer for the first time.



It almost looks like he knows what he's doing!

More pictures to come!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I missed some picture taking opportunities over the last couple of weeks, but nothing earth shattering. Mainly sandblasting progress pictures and mounting the door thresholds to the new fabricated innerstructures. Those details I'm sure you will see as footnotes to these current pictures that show progress in the metalshaping department.



This first picture is showing what I used to establish the lower/2nd bodyline around the backpanel. It's a piece of 1/4" MDF. I did have to add twin side extensions to achieve the total length needed. As the pictures show, I also used 3/16" cr/rs as a 'landing point' to establish the bodyline itself.



These forms I shaped according to the adjoining panels and just kept repeating them. My initial plan was to place the forms every two inches. By the time I was done bending this many I thought I could get away with half that number and still have enough points of contact to do what I needed.



The wire forms allow me to check out the basic shape required to make this panel.



Looking at the forms from different angles will sometimes reveal possible problems in the design. I didn't find anything glaringly wrong, so we're off to the races!



The next step is taking/creating a pattern off of these coordinates gained from the placement of the wire forms.

More pic's to come!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I'll briefly share some information about taking a pattern from a wire form like we have here. What I am using is called a 'Flexible Shape Pattern'.
No, I didn't create this concept but I have found it to be invaluable for taking patterns. It uses multiple layers of different kinds of adhesive tape. The first layer is established using lo-tack painter's tape. The 2nd and 3rd layers are built up with fiber-glass reinforced strapping tape.
For a detailed discussion of these patterns and how they are made please go to Metalmeet.com or Allmetalshaping.com.

I'll just show you the results.



My camera's disc fooled me and there was only two pictures recoverable concerning the wire form and pattern making process.



Hopefully there's more pictures on the last two disc's ..

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith