i got a load done on this today, so i thought id start a thread showing you guys what i'm up to. i will cover what i did today, then i will backdate a little to show what i've done so far and what parts are going on it. as i said,i had a really good one today. marked out, cut, hacked a load more wood out of the pillars, aligned, and partially welded the roof up. i took 5-1/2" out of it, i dont really think it looks that much! theres just the perfect amout of space left inside, about 2.5" above my head to the roof bar with the seat height mocked up.(its channeled 4", but more about that in a moment) i decided to seperate the screen surround and A-pillars from the rest of the roof to do it, it made it easier to allign on my own, plus the top corners needed a little work anyway and it made that easier to do. you aso have to narrow the top bar a little to get the pillars straight, and again it made this easier to do. ive got all 6 pillars rewelded apart from the areas that will need piecuts, and ive also got the side of the rear window done, so its mostly just the rear corners that need a few piecuts and pulling into line. pics- Cheers DEZ
previous to that, id spent a day doing the subf-loor and channelling. the old sub-floor had been cut out to channel it, along with the steel floors that had been welded in at some point in its past. the body was VERY wobbly, it only had sheetmetal tabs holding it at the A-pillars and on the rear 1/4s, so a little push would make it wobble side to side a couple of inches!! firstly i pulled the doors up into the correct position with clamps, then tack welded them shut to aid allignment. i then added thinwall 1" box section crossmembers at the A, B, and C pillar channels that usually have the wood in them, and now the body is totally solid. its amazing how little metal was needed to stiffen it up. it did take me a good few hours to get the body square and level before i welded them in though!! i have given it a little more channel as well, i got it with a 3" channel started, but i have decided to go 4".i will be adding more tubes into the floor at a later date, i want to get the new trans in and the rear kickup done first though as i want them to be a nice tidy tight fit. the rearmost brace is spaced up to account for the bigger chassis Z i will be doing, its currently Z-ed 6", but i'm going up to 13". the body is now solid enough for it to be lifted off for me to trim away the old bits of floor and subframe, and do a few bits of rust repair to the lower extremities. Cheers DEZ
Very cool! Makes me want to chop the hell outta something. Please tell me you're leaving the valve covers yellow.
its not even having that motor this kinda covers part of what i was going to say about the build of the car. so far, all the parts except motor and trans are '60 or earlier. '59 ford rear axle, 4" dropped A front, posies spring, flattened anglia rear X-member on the front, blackwall X-plys on gloss back reverse rimmed smooth steels (Which i made myself), dash is '60 body '28, visor 30-31, etc. the motor is a cammed 455 olds from the early 70s with an offy tunnel ram backed by a th400, and even though it has massive power (450ish hp), it just looks too new for the rest of the build. so its going in favour of something mid 60s or earlier that 'looks right'. although all the parts on this car are of a certain age, i wouldnt say its put together exaclty how they did it back in the day, this is going to be very low, with the axle out on its own in front of the grille. it wont be built to any particular style, itll kinda be a mish mash fo 50s and 60s touches- but hopefully a cool mish-mash Cheers DEZ
I dig the chop, it's gonna be LOW huh! that steering wheel is on the wrong side Keep us posted, I'd like to see pictures of the floor as your putting it in!
but whats the point in making a lhd car when i live in a rhd country........?! theres seems to be some idea in the uk that lhd rods are 'cooler'. i dont see it myself, ive had 5 lhds and 7 rhds over the last 5 years, and i get on with lhd just fine, but if im building this car from nothing, why the hell should i build it lhd? it seems totally stupid to me......you dont see all the guys in the US buiding rhds do you?
good point, but why not staying with English car with a rover V8..... Leave muscle car, rod and US car left hand drive..... Your Sedan look cool but for me having it RHD loose the spirit.... Just my point of view.
so using your point of view, it shouldnt be built rhd cos its an american car? what about all the ones that came out of various ford factories all over the world, including england, in a rhd format? say i was using one of those as a basis for a project, shoud i convert it to lhd first before i hotrod it? oh, and itll be having plenty of english parts in it, but not a rover- i took one out at the start of the build.....
so, ford may have made a mistake making them rhd, chevy didn't with the camaro or corvette. If I was buying an jag, tvr or aston martin in US I would like to have it rhd. Anyway, keep on posting as except for the rhd/lhd case this is a pretty good start....... So, what will be the engine???
im only trying to wind you up engine is a matter of great debate at the minute. but, it may end up as a very oddball britsh v8. 4.5l daimler hemi.
i suppose i'd best drag this back up with a bit of an update. after quite a while with very little progress, apart form buying a few more parts i needed,i went out and spent £120 on steel- enough to make an entire new chassis, steel out the body, make the floor frame, and made the floors. so since then ive been cracking on welding in steel box section in place of all the old wood, and have also designed and started to make my new chassis. im making a new chassis as i want a bigger kickup at the rear and a step at the front, so its easier to just start from scratch with a couple of lengths of 2x4. pics of body with steel- first chassis rail under construction. 4" front step with 5" to 3" taper, rear 13" with 4" to 3" kick. i will post more pics once both chassis rails are up and together.
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