Hot Rods Just Another 5-Window Build Thread

...’was wondering where you were. Get ‘er done!!

 

Took care if the grands today so there was limited time on the project. But, I did have time to get some things done. The front tires now have dynabeads installed, the toe in has been set, all the front cotter pins are installed, I've measured out how much the floorpan needs to be trimmed out for the park brake handle before the park brake is set. It's a busy weekend coming up family wise but I will carve out some time to keep moving forward ....

 

So, is this what a "green" hotrod garage looks like?!?!

Lol! Had to make room in the garage to place problem items for hurricane Florence ....

 

Got to work on the project a bit after some honey-dos - nothing really picture worthy but I am hoping to roll it outside for some pics next week.

Set up the park brake, getting all the cotter pins in, and I am working on the mechanical oil pressure gauge line. It's really buried between the firewall and the engine. I am looking for ways to make it easy to get to and disconnect though ....

I am having problems with the one driver side rear radius rod tie rod end where it connects to the frame. Worst case, I will have to replace it - let's see what happens .....

 

Have not posted the in a bit but I have been making progress. I have installed dynabeads and their soecial valves in all 4 tires but the fronts were not sealing well after pipping the bead to put the dynabeads in. Put bear sealer in the one and it's now ok but the other is losing about a pound of air a day. I will be resealing it.

My 35 Buick gauges have a mechanical water temp and oil pressure gauges. The 364 Nailhead has the fitting location on the rear bellhousing behind the passenger head. No very convenient to get to if need be. I experimented with various pipe thread hardware and came up with this ...

This first pic is from the engine side and believe it or not, I can get to it fairly easy. The pipe fitting will be replace with brass. Here's a pic from the back side ...

The 45 degree bend makes the fitting "sit up" to get a wrench on it. As for the temp unit, yoy have the long sensor that sticks in. Unfortunately, I was just about touching the block with it once fully inserted and that would not give me a true reading. so, after searching the bins of my local hw store I found a fitting I could modify to work. The end was conical in shape, more for a pressure fit and the hole in this area was too small for the sensor to go through. I drilled it out and also trimmed the outer top portion a bit tight get the sensor in deeper. Here's what you can see ...

I will get a pic of the stock fitting and my modified version for next time ....

I got the driver side rear radius rod straightened out - just needed a little more "help". I could not get the cotter pin hole to line up and I had partially rounded the castle nut. I cleaned up the nut and used a 6-pointed socket vs a multipoint. That got 'er done ....
I also measured for a driveshaft and that should be done before Carlisle. The stick body I have had the stick on pinstriping all over it. Part of it had been removed but the majority of it remained. I picked up one of these rubber wheels but man, I just do not have the patience or coykd I get it at the right speed all the time, almost making things worse. So, I thought about the commercials for magic eraser. Using just Windex it worked somewhat. Maybe goof off would work better but I didn't have any. So then I tried a dobie pad and Windex - that worked pretty well. Once I get some goof off I will try it. Goof off is that stuff you put in to remove glue residue from bumper stickers and windshields. I will keep you posted ....

I have that last tire to use bead sealer on and I will then roll it outside for some pics and a good blow off .....

 

Could you use a 45 degree street elbow instead of the nipple and elbow?

If it's 1/8 NPT, the Eaton Weatherhead part number is 3350X2.. Local parts store could look it up.

 

Ahhhh - you think I could find one of these when I was looking for one! Nay, nay! Lol!

 

McMaster Carr. I order lots of brass fittings from them that I can't find locally. Usually not a minimum or of it is it's small. For me no more than 2 day delivery. Just Google them, their sites easy to migrate.

 

Thanks, Gary .....

 

So - all the runs to shows are over, I have finished gathering and loading parts for Fall Carlisle, and Hershey, finished cleaning up my truck from going to both and I finally have the time to get back on my project. I love going to shows, and Carlisle and Hershey were great, but it's time I get back to finishing this project so I can plan some long distance runs with it next year.

First thing was to push the chassis outside and blow it off for some pics ...
This first one shows the caps I am running - I like 'em - good thing as a
I had few, if any, other choices ...

Also got the driveshaft in just before Carlisle ....

And a few more pics ....




I also rolled the body dolly out to clear off the shelf underneath the body. I need to then lift the body with two pieces of 2x4 to get it up high enough to roller/brush on the under body coating. I like the little hot dog rollers, using a brush only when needed in corners, etc. I hope to start on that tomorrow after sorting through what was under the body dolly .... happy to be back working on it ....

 

Looking good!

 

Thank you!

 

Was wondering when you’d check in. Chassis looks good!

 

Thank you - it's time to finish this project!

 

Got a good coat of under body sealer on today. Was a bit difficult doing it on my back but my neighbor help me lift the body off the body dolly a bit more for easier access.

The hard part was the body rail access holes. I tried a few things but the best just turned out to be spraying Rustoleum rusty metal primer left and right into each hole and let drip out what may. I will do it a second time before the second and final coat underneath.

The hot dog roller worked so-so in my opinion - a good 2" brush would have taken longer but less messy I think .....

 

What wheels and caps are you running? Looks great

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Thanks, Eric - they are mid 30s Plymouth artillery wheels, 4.5" bolt pattern, 16"x4" in front, 16x4.5" in back.

The caps are Chevy ralley caps I believe and the artillery wheels have tongs like the Ford wide fives and the works for these caps. For the Plymouth wheels, you need to pull the tongs in a bit to accommodate the ralley caps. Replacement tongs are available from most old Ford parts suppliers ....

 

you are on the right track - looking forward to see it on the road

 

Thanks and you and me both want it on the road!

 

Thanks for the reply on the wheels. I have a set of those from a 36 Dodge. I may have to clean them up and have an extra set for my coupe

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Got a second coat on the underside of the body and began geting all my ducks in a row for the body to be put on the frame (aka, garage cleanup - lol!). Btw, the stuff I used on the underside is by KBS. Feels thin but covers well by brush or roller. Being a thinner product, doing it from underneath like I did was not ideal.

I have a few holes to drill into the floorboards I made and then use an oil-based caulk by Loctite to seal the seams and such in various spots underneath

 

Did you get the back of your head all black spots like Rocky did when doing his?

 

Haha! No, being bald I always wear a hat. I had my painters mask on, goggles, gloves, long sleeve shirt, and you know where I got the most on me? In my ears!!! Lol!

 

Got all my holes drilled, floorpans are bolted in securely, top side seams are filled in. Just need to do the underside seam sealing.

I had been contemplating putting in some plywood to flatten out the trunk floor. The floor rolls away from you and it's tough to reach items just behind the seat area for me. But, after weighing the options and how I would do it, I think I will just insulate the trunk floor, throw some carpet down on top and call it done. If I change my mind I can always do that at a later date ....

 

Been busy multitasking lately so there was no time to post updates until now ....
Here are a couple lousy pics of the underside after applying the undercoat and sealing all of the seams and such ....


From this point I moved to the inside of the body and continued working on the battery mount. I had made one up but I then thought I had a better idea - using a longer base for it to cover things and spread the liad. That would unfortunately cover the rear-most body bolt access and the drain hole (from when it was a rumbleseat) on the driver side. The body bolt access I need and after thinking about it, I decided to use that drain hole for my gas tank vent. But while deciding what to do I installed some floor insulation ...

The gas tank I am using is a 16-gallon Vintique unit and it has a nice vent pipe build in at the inlet. But, depending on the gas station and if your car is level or not, you may overflow out that pipe. So I came up with a plan to have a loop in the trunk to hopefully stop any possible overflows ....

I will connect this overflow tube underneath the car and the loop should help in reducing any overflow out the vent tube.

My idea for a longer battery base/hold-down was then abandoned (after slicing andv
dicing up a new base ...) and I went with the original design ...



I needed to put the battery towards the back of the car for easy access. The stock 32 5-window seat back does not allow access to the trunk area of the car. It would be impossible for a shorty like me to reach a battery directly behind the seat. I used an old belt to keep the lid on, and some heavy rt angle iron from the hardware store to keep it in place. I also put a screw towards the end of each "foot" to hold it down in the front ....

So, everything on the underside and within the body is as ready as it's going to be for this Sunday's body install ....

Now it's time to clean up the garage to actually have room for it to happen! Lol!

 

Looking good!

 

Thank you! I appreciate your support .....

 

Got the garage all cleaned up - or at least for me anyway ......


I have smaller tires on the back for the body install (no, I don't have my bigs and littles mixed up - lol!) so as not to lift the body over the taller tires ....

Can't wait for Sunday to see how she looks ....

 

The body is on! On an absolutely gorgeous day the body was placed on the frame with no issues ....
We thought we could do it all in the garage but the day was so nice we rolled the frame out and dropped the body on while sitting on the exterior pad ....




We set most of the body bolts and then I stepped back to get a first real look at the car. You know, I really like the two tone body, unchopped - it's different in an old time stock way, like early hot rods looked. Don't get me wrong - I like em chopped, channeled, sectioned but there is something about the look of a stock body made into a hot rod. So, to complete the look since I only imagined what it would look like before, I put the caps on ...


To me, just enough chrome - I am totally stoked on how it looks. Better than I ever imagined it would ....
Just for grins, I took some interior shots ...


First order of business now is getting all the body bolts in, bring in the battery wires through the floor, set the vent tube breather hose - all of the underneath stuff ....
Do I have to sleep any the next three weeks? Doing 24/7 for three weeks I might just have her done!! Lol!

 

Really like the look it has as is, too. Looks “right”.