Projects The Tale of Two 49's

What are the odds of having 2 of the same year car, next to each other, getting the same treatment.

A little background on the cars. Unfortunately, unexperience got thier hands on these sleds, causing alot of, how can I say, 'grief' to the current owners. I have been so fortunate to help put them back together, and back in the light of the current owners dreams.

Thanks guys for the opportunity!

Where do I begin?!

Shoebox #1 - The first shoebox has been here a few weeks. When it arrived, it seemed to be a very solid car getting new roof rework, frenching and shaving.



As separating all the un-needed parts of the car to another location, we started to really take a look at the car, its condition, what's been done and figuring out where to start.

Our main task was to fix the roof line. There was a big bulge in the rear section of the roof above the rear window. The owner wanted this removed and properly shaped. We figured, this would be a great starting point. The roof showed alot of warpage from previous welding.

Before any work started, inspection of the car and its current state was in order. We noticed a few things like sagging and hard latching doors, bulging panels from warpage, floors that were 'not so' installed and a decklid that was welded in place. We started to take some measurements....Alot was now coming to light. The body was stressed in every direction; literaly. It seems that the car wasnt properly braced prior to its previous chop and other 'repairs'. We had to find a way to relieve the panels/doors so a decided to blow areas on the roof off.

We started by cutting out the decklid, then the A pillar (which sprung outward) and then the B pillar which sprung inward. We did not dare to cut the C-pillars with fear of the rear quarters popping off. Then the removal of the rear window and roof section. Some might say, why not brace before starting? We did not do this because there were too many issues with the roof to consider bracing. Bracing it would only leave the body contorted (sp?). Actually, after the cuts, it helped relax the body back to its stock form. It was amazing to say the least. Further measurment prooved this. This was good.

Now...Before we did anything further, some bracing was in order.



Before we started welding bracing we started verifying the body to be square on the frame. Immediately, we noticed that the doors were pooly aligned. (see picture below) The beltline on the door was off almost an inch to the beltline on the body. Now your first instinct would be sagging hinges. We thought of that; after a detailed inspection, it clearly showed that that hinges were not too bad, but there was an issue between the A and B pillars. Something was out of place. Here are some photos to show what we found and some explanation of the issues. This contributed to the poorly aligned body on the frame. These had to be addressed before any other work:





The floors that were installed, were not finished so we pulled them up to help figure out what was going on. Here is more of what we found; major inner and outer rocker missalignment to the body/frame mounts, poor installation of inner/outer rockers:









Now, keep in mind 'other' floors and new outer and inner rockers were "installed", including brand new floor bracing to the frame. All of these issues caused the doors to lean with the cowl leaning backwards to the trunk. Not a good thing.

More bracing was installed and the new inner and outer rockers installed were pulled, fixed and re-installed properly, checking to ensure proper door gaps and body shape.







Both sides had to be done. Something to keep in mind. When an aftermarket parts is made to replace the original, typically they are close to the correct size, and length. Cutting 1/2" to 3/4" chunks to 'make it fit' is a good indication that there is something wrong. Step back and find out what the problem is. Happiness will be the final result.

Now that the rockers and body mounts are in thier correct location, back to the roof. We added more bracing to the back half and cut more roof material out back to the factory steel.

Now that the rear was supported, we blew the C-pillar off and lowered it one more inch to see if we could get the forward roof rake tamed and looking better.

Another aspect that we do is flipping the rear window. This helps the rear of the car by lining up the trunk gap to the window frame nicely.

Here is the window in its "floating" stage checking the roof slope.





After approval of the look from the owner, we started to begin with the lower and upper filler panels. The one thing that I dont like is the rear window leaned in the "stock" location. It gives the car a 'skateboard' ramp look and the C pillar 'sail' panels (gap between rear window and rear quarter window) stretched too far. With this car, the owner wants roof crown definition back into it... so, moving it forward and slightly upward is the only answer. This sets the base of the crown and gives the trunk a little longer look, asthetically making the car look smoother, longer, and sleeker. The chop on this will be much like a 1949 - 51 Mercury.









Stay Tuned...more to come.

 

Saved!... but how come the lower b-pillar side of the door sticks out so much in the pics after bracing. Dont you want all that straight before you lock it in and start chopping? i have never done a chop before, just curious...

 

Shoebox #2 - Basically, on this car, it had some of the same problems, with the exception of the rockers and floors. This came in for a 're-chop' repair.

Without getting into further explanation, I think the pictures tell all -







































Stay Tuned, More to come!

 

WOW, wow, WOW

 

This was corrected. Both doors have bad door hinges and pins, which will need to be replaced. Fitment was done prior to all bracing installed. I left some details out like this since I could go on and on and on. Good eye!

The upper A and B pillars on the doors were never corrected to the chop, they will be done following the roof skin installation.

 

More, more!!

 

Awesome work. It's always fun fixing other people's mistakes eh? At least the reward is that much greater in the end.

 

Looking great Norm!! I learn a little bit every time i see one of your posts...now to just put it to practice!

 

I'm the owner of shoebox # 2 . The original chop job was even worse than you can see in the pictures. Every aspect of it was wrong. I'm very lucky to have been contacted by Norm ,and for him to tackle redoing the chop on my car. I pretty much was on the verge of selling this car due to how unhappy I was with how the first chop turned out. I highly suggest ANYONE that needs work done on their old car get in touch with him.He is a good,honest guy who genuinely cares about what comes out of his shop and that the customer is pleased with the work completed.The pictures show the kind of talent he has. He will be completing a few more customizations/body/paint/interior on this car.

 

Shoebox #2 - Frenching of the Headlights

After the buckets were reversed, we started to setup the headlight rings for frenching!











Frenching of the Tailights:

 

Awesome work,lookin great!!!

 

The windshield area needed attention. The upper corners that are normally split was done terribly. There was almost a 1/2" dip in the roof, waiting for a spatula of bondo to fill it.

We cut it out and reshaped a new piece on the english wheel and installed it:

 

Damn! Great work

 

You are a true artist! I'm almost afraid to tear into my Shoebox after seeing all that. It's amazing the detective work that a grinder and some sandpaper can do. Thanks for saving 2 more beautiful Shoeboxes.

 

Impressive work !

 

Thanks. Since being out of work for almost a year, all that I have learned in this hobby, I have applied to what is now my provider.

I have made a promise to myself and those I have the priveledge to work with and for, to provide a service with the greatest of quality, lowest of possible prices and an experience to the owners that should feel good from beginning to end.

 

Wow, that is amazing. You sir are an artist!

 

Shoebox #2 will be getting a custom mercury style grill opening. So, off with the center bullet surround on the hood and hood latch brace!

 

Nice work keep on

/Stefan

 

That does it, I will learn to weld...........your work amazes me, yet when i watch through you're photos, it is basic mechanical aptitude in application, I am inspired, thanks.....

 

Very nice work, please keep the pics coming and give us all a little more inspiration. I know I learned a couple of tricks.

 

Beautiful work, you should be proud!

 

Wow Norm, didn't know you were out off work....for a year?....nice work on the Fords....

 

a lot of people have something to learn from you Norm with a statement like that!!! keep up the the great work!!

 

that's a BEAUTIFUL chop............

 

Nice work! everything looks good... only thing i personally do not like is upside down shoebox rear windows...i just prefer it right side up. I just think the c pillar looks funny when its upside down, because the window tapers smaller as it goes up from the factory, and every roof on a car tapers as it goes up. I just like when the space between the rear window and the drip rails stays even and not tapers out as it goes to the bottom...

alll that being said, opinions are like assholes and everybodys got one!!! so do whatcha like and build it for yourself

 

I think there were a few reasons that led me to have Norm flip the rear window. One part of it was to be different from the standard rear window positioning in most chopped shoebox's.The other was for a few visual aspects I noticed. The more you chop a shoebox and lay that rear window down the less of the C pillar you see. I do not like the look of where it looks like there's practically no C pillar when you look at the car from the back.Almost looks like it's all back window. The other aesthetic reason is the rear glass has that subtle taper to it that flows in a similar manner as the trunk lid below it. And it also makes the C pillars not looks so skinny from behind.I attached pics to better explain what I mean

 

great looking chop.....

 

ok I can see how some people would want a thicker C pillar. But wouldn't it make more sense to use a smaller window then, maybe like late 40s chevy window, that way u would would get a nice long wraparound c pillar if that is what some people are into.

btw im not knocking on anybody who does the upside down thing im just stating my opinion...Its good that everybodys different otherwise we would all be driving the same car and that would be rather boring

 

Oh it's all good. I know youre not knocking it.Just giving an opinion. I just put the pictures up to kinda illustrate the reasons I decided to flip my rear window. True, another window is always an option, I just didn't have one that jumped out at me so I'm guessing that's how I ended up using the stock window.