I like that you've thought it through, that it needs a LOT of metal work anyway - so might as well use this car for the major surgery and spare the 41 for now. Best of luck with you plans - keep us all posted!
Russ, thanks for the whole story........it's easy for all of us to sit here and tell someone what they should do with their car...and ya I do it too.
Awesome, from the sound of it you may have saved it from sitting around in some field somewhere and eventually being hauled to the crusher. I look forward to seeing some build pics.
Russ just takes the ol' and makes it look fast!! I know... It's like "Shake'n Bake"... an I helped. I think that to finish this as a ROD and put it ERA color, a.k.a. WWII green with a few Army stars would be off the "cool" charts. Mark V aka "Spudly"
Not his first rodeo indeed. With his nowledge of automotive art, together we channeled 3 shoebox fords. One a woody which was chopped, decked, eehhh you name it. He's just a shy ol' rodder. His Son, Mark V
yep. I have to agree.. Just because a car isn't customized yet doesn't mean it's not special for other reasons..
On the other hand, it will still be a rare '42 after the work is done.. It will just look a little different
This weekend, my son and a friend helped blow off all the sheet metal from the beast for a closer look at the condition of the floors and rockers, etc. The body is actually sitting on the frame in 2 pieces...rotted in half. Floors, rockers, base of cowl and quarters are wasted. The doors came off pretty easy, are rotted at the bottoms. Rear tail pan is totally rotted out. Just about what I thought, and, perfect for deep surgery...(channel/section/fenders raised)....it will make a great custom if I can muster the grit and skill to pull it off. Anxious to get it to the sand blast pad to clean it up and see what is left after the blasting. Comments, suggestions, constructive criticism is always welcome. If anyone is familiar with the channelling/fender raising process, I'd like to hear about it. Pics tell the current story.
Is that the same Pete Brock that designed the beautiful Shelby Cobra Daytona coupes and set up the BRE-Datsun Trans-Am team?
Yup, that's him. He is living in Seattle area after a great career in sports car building/racing and photography. And, I was able to pull the windshield glass, trim, and dash assembly from the car. Waiting for dry weather to get to the sandblast pad.
Update #1 I have toyed with mounting the body over an S-10 chassis...mostly to provide a proven undercarriage with minimum work so that I can start the chop/channel/section surgery. But, because the body is in pieces, I felt that sticking with the fat Ford frame is a better way to go. And, the Ford frame is familiar, has nice lines, provides me lots of reasons to "remember when" as I work on the chassis and body mounting....Even though there will be more work involved with using the fat Ford frame, mounting the body will be easier. I have all the convertible mounting and bracing brackets that would have to be altered with an S-10 frame. So, I pulled a '47 Ford frame out of my bonepile, dusted it off a bit with the sand, and then went out and found a Mustang II front end and 8" Ford rear end with springs. After sandblasting, the MII was disassembled and then cut to fit the fat Ford. Spring eyes were flipped and the springs were shortened 5". Today, I fabbed up spring mounts and layed the frame right-side up....getting ready for the body!!
Right on! Modern stuff, but well hidden anyway. Best part is your using adapted OEM rather than just ordering the kit... Oh yes....I`m gonna watch this buildup for sure! Looks great Russ.
Great project. I have always loved the fantastic proportions and lines on Pete Brock's 1946 Ford Convertible. And early custom with all the right touches. Looking forward to see the progress on your 42.
I like the direction you are heading. Awesome build. I never feel bad about cutting up something that was rusting away...you are breathing new life into something that way dying a natural death. It is when you have a pristine classic that the nerves start wane.
This is a perfect thread. Not to derail, but now you know what I face with the 59 Simca I have. Rare car, but where are you going to find the glass. Top is bent and the floors are rusted out. I'm going to give the Restorer's their chance, but they will all whine about how rough it is. Then I'll hear about how far it is to haul it etc. So, I'll probably get disgusted and wish I hadn't saved it. It's your car, and it looks like you are off to a great start on your dream car. Great build. We need more old, well done Kustoms.
I don't think this is safe. Granted I'm no engineer, but from all I've ever heard, you CAN NOT weld springs and expect them to last. It removes the temper from the welded area, and they will not have "springyness" in that area. They will now have "bend and crackyness". On the overall car, I applaud you using this convert for your project. A perfect candidate. And I like the design of the original, except for the rear fenders. I think they should be an inch or two lower. Your's will look great with the '42 grille.
Oh my...I didn't notice that weld! When you said "shortened" I automaticly figured you went to a proper spring shop and had them rerolled. Thats not a good thing to be welding...and even worse you shortened the anchored end which means if it breaks the rear axle moves and causes the car to steer itself. Maybe just enough to put you in a spin or the ditch! Alchemy is right. That needs a rethink...but its an easy fix. Still like the job your doing though.
Welding Automotive Springs Several points to make, and then back to the project: 1. I agree, do not do this if you have not been taught how to do it....my brother-in-law has been a super welder for 25 years and has welded over the road truck springs, tractor springs, car springs. We use Bohler UTP-62 high carbon steel rod which has a tensile strength of 88,500 - 113,100 lbs and is specifically designed for high carbon content welding. I think the rod costs about $75 a pound.... 2. This is a no big deal deal, because I can always change out the springs, once I get the chassis filled in and body mounted. At this point, I am looking at spring reflex in order to design rear shackles that will swing properly. 3. Thanks for the words of advice and caution!! I appreciate all comments.
The weld, as shown, still has an issue even if it was welded with the proper filler rod and given the proper post-weld heat treatment. The weld shouldn't have any sort of notching in it, which would create a stress riser and lead to failure. If you're just using it for mock-up and don't plan on driving on it, that's fine, but you should get a new main leaf made if once you get the suspension figured out. New leaves are cheap and easy enough to have made that it'd be foolish to run that spring.
Update #2 Today, we lifted the cowl section free from the gennie chassis....came off pretty easy. The sheet metal is terrible, convertible-only castings that give the base of the cowl section strength to support doors, etc. are in good shape. Now off to the sandblast pad. Also, I added a couple of pics cutting out the OEM Mustang II crossmember from its framework. This is not a difficult job, but it is complicated by the presence of double and triple layers of 12 and 14 ga sheet metal formed and welded together to comprise a strong, lightweight unit. Makes cutting with a torch or plasma cutter a bit messy......If anyone does this, just take lots of time and ease into the final cuts. I welded a couple of 1" angle iron braces across the OEM spring towers to ensure the I was able to fit the xmember into the fat Ford without fear of changing any OEM dimensions. I spread the OEM lower control arm struts 1"...(wanted to go wider, but decided this was enough.)...and fabricated brackets after assembling the front end. I used 1/2" all-thread rod to compress the springs. Worked pretty well. I used 3/4" as a guide to set the anti-dive angle of the upper control arm mounts. Spring relief pockets were cut as necessary and then filled in with 3/16" plate. Pics tell the story. (Final pic is the cowl support castings)
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