'49 Chevy Fastback Custom: Update #7

[Bass]

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting an update for those of you that have been following along on the '49 Chevy Fastback that I'm building.

If you haven't been following it, then here are links to all the previous threads in reverse order:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225392

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208995

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=202209

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184711

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179977

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168229

Since the last update I have been doing a lot of the mechanical side of the work that the car needed, so I'm not going to post pics of that. I am however going to post pics of the work I did to the rear of the car, which is almost finished now.

It took me quite a while to decide on a set of taillights to use on this car. There just weren't a whole lot of options for lights that wouldn't end up looking out of place. My initial thought was to use '54 Packard Clipper, and I even went so far as to buy Packard bezels. But after holding them up to the car and looking at them, I decided that they would be too large for this car. My next thought was '51 Frasier taillights like on Frank Livingston's fastback, and the Barris-built Dan Landon Coupe...but I couldn't find a pair, much less a good pair.

As luck would have it though, in the process of looking for the Frasier taillights, I stumbled across a decent pair of '51 Kaiser taillights on ebay, and decided they might look good on the car. Once I had them in hand, I knew that they were what I was looking for.

I figured I would just have to make a pair of housings for the taillights to sit in....which was going to take some time. But by another stroke of luck, I managed to find a fellow with a '51 Kaiser that was willing to cut of the rear portion off the quarter panels! What are the chances of that?!?

So here's what I had to start with....these and the lights themselves.



Getting them to fit the Fleetline now was going to be a pretty large task. I started wittling away the Kaiser quarter panel sections until I got them down to a point where it looked like they fit the Chevy, and tacked them on.



As you can see in the pic above, I had also started to fill the original Chevy bumper recess to work with the '56 Ford rear bumper.

I taped a piece of wire to the top of the quarter to see how the line was going to fall with the shape of the new lights...and I ended up moving the lights a couple more times until I got them to where they looked best.



Now that the Kaiser quarter section was tacked in the right spot, I had to fab a new piece that would take up the space between the stock Chevy quarter and the taillight.



Tacked in place...



The inside had to have a couple of relief cuts made to suck in close to the body.



Now I had to make another filler piece to go on the top/inside. This piece would have to have a compund curve, so I beat the shit out of a piece of 19 gauge until it fit pretty nicely. I don't have a planishing hammer or english wheel, so I used the hammers laying on the ground in the pic backed up with assorted hammer forms and dollies.



Tacked in place...



The pieces are overlapped during mock-up...then after everything is tacked to where it won't move, I cut around the pieces with a cut-off tool and remove the underlying pieces from the inside a little at a time...hammer welding as I go.

When it's finished, there are no overlapping or double panels. Everything is butt-welded in order to hammer and dolly it out as smooth as possible. Time consuming, but it works.

Weldin' it up...



Weld, hammer...weld, hammer..repeat...



The next pic is not for the faint of heart. This car had always had a fucked-up trunk gap, so I went ahead and fixed it on both sides of the trunk while I was doing the taillights. This took nearly as long as doing the taillights themselves.



After more welding, a lot of hammering, and some filing...Viola!



I think the taillights fit the rear of the car pretty well...









Before I could call it day however, I still had a few more things to attend to at the rear.

[Bass]

First off, I had to make a filler to go under the taillight housing, and connect it back to the body. Second, I had to form a new edge for the new bumper recess. Here's a shot of that:



It's the little details that count, right?

One of the other things I wasn't happy with was how the bumper now fit the body. See the big gap?



I decided to add to the bumper to close it up.



Here it is after dressing the weld and test fitting the bumper back on the car...much better, huh?



The Kaiser guard now needed a little work to get it to match as well. I trimmed some material off of the backside and added a filler piece to the middle so that it would match the curvature of the body.



So here's the finished product, with the exception of the missing bullet on the Kaiser guard, and the trimmed gravel shield.



I feel like it's a lot more cohesive now...everything works together and nothing seems out of place. The trunk fits a hell of a lot better now too!

The car is still scheduled to be at the GNRS in Pomona next weekend, and I'm going to be finishing a few more things before it leaves. In fact, I am working on the grille floater bar right now.

So again, thanks for looking...and I'll see some of you in Pomona...I've gotta get back to work!

-Brian

[cracker head]

looks good, buddy. who is that funny looking fellow wearing the overalls in the reflection of the rear bumper picture?

[57JoeFoMoPar]

One of my favorite builds on the HAMB thus far. Outstanding work

[Drewfus]

Awesome as always, tail lights And body mods are top class, and enhance the slick styling......but I gotta ask......the kaisier gaurd.....without wanting to sound negative...I tend to think from the photo's its a bit visually 'overpowering'.....kinda like a big nose on a beautiful lady....is it just me?

Cheers,

Drewfus

[FONZI]

Can't wait to see it! I have been blown away be every step of this build. That is going to be one of the nicest Chevies ever built! It IS the little things. Keep up the good work.

PS-
Are you hosting any shop tours? I am gonna be in Austin the weekend of Feb. 8th. I'd love to see that car in person!


FONZI

[Terry]

Very Very nice! You've added a very nice line to the flow of the fender. Good job!

[Bass]

Originally Posted by Drewfus

the kaisier gaurd.....without wanting to sound negative...I tend to think from the photo's its a bit visually 'overpowering'.....kinda like a big nose on a beautiful lady.

Drewfus, I don't mind constructive criticism. The guard does look a little funny in these pictures without both bullets. I think that's most of what your seeing, because it doesn't look too bulky in person.

The car doesn't absolutley need the Kaiser guard, but I like it, and I think it works pretty good with everything else.

[Dat Dirty Rat]

Nice,,,nice looking @ss you have there & i thought i would never ever say that to another dude!
Serious tho, You never 'cease' to amaze me holmes....I like this idea much much better than the Fraiser one at first...I cant believe how you made them work and the overall look with the guard is just perfection!!!
Nice job and only hope Evel has this in a upcoming MFS dvd!!

[Drewfus]

Originally Posted by Bass

The guard does look a little funny in these pictures without both bullets. I think that's most of what your seeing, because it doesn't look too bulky in person.

The car doesn't absolutley need the Kaiser guard, but I like it, and I think it works pretty good with everything else.

All is cool, I normally love the elegant detail these gaurds normally offer, and again, I'm sure it's just the photo, as your proportions/vision is normally 'spot on', so will wait till a overall shot at G.L. is availible.

Cheers again,

Drewfus

[67Imp.Wagon]

I like how you made the bumper fit the body instead of the body fitting the bumper.So much simpler and looks so much better that way.

[Eddiesixem]

nice work indeed...always looking forward to the updates on this car....are the new filler panels for the tail lights just lap welded to the existing metal of the car?or was that just during the mock-up stage?

[Bass]

Overlapped during mock-up...then after everything is tacked to where it won't move, I cut around the pieces with a cut-off tool and remove the underlying pieces from the inside a little at a time...hammer welding as I go.

When it's finished, there are no overlapping or double panels. Everything is butt-welded in order to hammer and dolly it out as smooth as possible. Time consuming, but it works.

Glad you asked....I forgot to point that out.

[Retroline]

Going well with the progress, I was looking at the bumper guard and then saw what Drewfus mentioned. I was picturing split bumpers with the Kaiser bumper bridge but I guess you end up with a big void that needs attention. The whole car flows without interuption which is what I like about it even though I wasn't sure about a chop at first. The bumper bullets work as they taper like the body.
Thumbs up!

[Nailhead]

Damn man ! I always look forward to see build pics of this car. Your fab skills are outstanding. I am honestly very jealous ! Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see this one done.

Todd

[50Fraud]

You are a brave man! Amazing work, as always.

[kustombuilder]

NIIIICE!!! i take it the car will be rollin in bare metal to the GNRS??

[Jimmy B]

Amazing work.

[celibaterifle]

Fantastic work as usual, Mr Bass.

This is one of my favorite models among the Chevs and you are making it look even better.

[JohnJoyo]

Looks great man....beautiful