Your metal working abilities are awesome. With that DIY attitude you are going to save a ton of money and end up with something to really be proud of. Great build...Keep it up!!
Very nice work! I am really looking forward to seeing the fadeaways get done...this is gonna be a nice kustom !
Nice to see you are keeping me on my toes, but I am one step ahead this time. Due to the alterations to the door bottoms for the fadeaways, the original door skin will become an inner skin when the new panel is welded on. If you look at the second door picture there are three slots cut, these will drain the rain water from the door into the fadeaway and out the bottom. When I post the fadeaway work it will be much clearer. Cheers Tony.
Quality work Tony.Some great ideas for home made tools. Those fadeaways are going to look the bollocks!
Very nice and interesting... Will be like the Jimmy Summers fender extension ad coming alive. Looking forward to updates on this project...
I did fade away fenders on my 48 Fleetline. After finished I didn't like that when you open the doors all the way you have this big bulky end of the door sticking out asking to bump into things. Just my 2 cents on what I did. Your car is coming out awesome.So when ya going to CHOP the top?
Once again thanks for the encouraging comments. Mark you have seen a lot of this before, almost up to date now ,got some new stuff soon. Kool Kemp, not a bad '47 you have yourself, been following your build up a while now. Rikster, when you put that picture up thought it was my car. HaHa. Interesting not seen it before, have done mine the same way with the doors extended to bottom of the sills. LowLid, your right about the width of the doors, I have to roll mine out the garage just to open the doors, but hey nobody ever said looking good was practical.
Great workmanship and proves you don't need all the latest gadgets to do top class body work, and no cheating in sight (unlike your cricket team!)
Wow, cool stuff ! Glad to see theres someone else who doesnt have a problem smoothing out a Poncho ...
Tony it looks way cool mate. I see martin with your new door skins and they looked excellent. cheers vin
Never really seen much information on the construction of fadeaways. Read about the Jimmy Summers preformed panels and that Barris in the day used stock Caddy and Buick pieces, but nothing of any detail to start from scratch. Initial thoughts was to construct a skeleton from 1/4 rod and skin this in sheet. Which although this would of worked, I was afraid with my basic forming and welding skills it could of ended up looking like a patchwork quilt. Next idea was to build wooden formers on the side of the car, which I would then transport to a metal shop for skinning. Soon changed my mind, not a straight line anywhere and realizing a left and right of each section would be needed. Again would of worked, but a lot of graft for a one off as the bucks would be redundant after use. After a lot of head scratching, plan three was the one I went with. The idea was to use the front section cut from the original fender extension, make up end pieces using my favorite the hammer form and then create the new panel using these fixed points as the buck. A friend of mine Martin who knows his stuff when it comes to metal, volunteered to roll and fettle the panels after transporting the doors to his workshop. This all came together well, thanks Mart. Anyway I'll let the pictures do the talking, part two coming soon. First job was to trim about 8inches off the original fender extension and refix this to the door. I then run a straight edge from front to rear fender to find the position of the new door bottom, after that it was a case of messing around with tape, wooden patterns and battens until everything looked right and pleasing to the eye. Then I was ready to make the hammer forms for the end pieces and plug weld them in position on both sides. The piece of fender extension kept on the door needed a shaped piece welded on the bottom to bring it in line with the new door depth. When rehanging the door it soon became apparent we had a problem, the door was now binding on the fender, some quick surgery with the tin snips soon sorted it, but tidying it up took a little longer.
Heres the new panels rolled, cut to size and ready to be tacked on. Said in a sentence like that doesn't seem like a lot of work, but believe me a lot hours and fettling went into those panels. Soon tacked them on and things began to take shape. Drainage holes in the doors was taken care of and I cut a couple of holes in the rear quarters to allow for access after the small panel was welded on. In this area at the lower part of the fender a little panel work was needed to remove the indent that lines up with the sill line. After that it was lots of carefull grinding and welding to avoid any distortion and this is the finished result. Fadeaways all done now, I'm very pleased with how they have turned out, lot of work and one of those modifications that will probably get over looked by someone not familiar with the model, but I suppose thats a bit of a compliment of sorts. I'm in the process of putting the number plate behind glass in the boot lid after that I think I'll have a go at the mechanicals just for a change. Enjoy the pictures I've got more if you want to see them.(only joking)
Very nice work indeed!!! I just got my 47 Olds fastback out of its 25 year storage and am starting that project this week.This post is perfect timing and very inspirational.Thanks and keep posting pictures.
Man, did that change the look. Now you need to reshape the roof ines so they flow as well as the fadeaway, you really got something going on there. I like it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=657672&highlight=buick+chop Here you go, a chopped fastback how to.
I have given the chopping question some thought and I feel the G.M. fastbacks don't really need it, I think they got the proportions near perfect from the factory. If you compare it to the rule of one third glass to two thirds body it is about right. When I was planning the fadeaways, I decided to extend the door to the bottom of the sill to visually increase the body line to make the glass area look smaller, it's differcult to judge at the moment with the suspension sitting so high. But I must admit I haven't 100% convinced myself yet.
Get it to the height that you want before you cut for sure. It will look awesome either way....but I like it without the chop. Great metal fabrication!!!
I really like your idea for the Pontiac. Maybe this will help a little regarding the body line. Added the wheels for a little bling.
WOW!! outstanding custom work. Ill give my two cents on my vision for it.. A dark shiny finish, tear drop skirts, slight nose-high stance, Bias ply WWW, Some sort of pre-54 sombrero hub cap, and no chop. I cant wait to see where you take this.. keep it up man
Hi mate, very inspirational buddy, job well done, about the chop is up to you mate but i know how people say "do it do it".. but i'm happy with my 49 sedanette as it is. keep up the good work i'll stay tuned. cheers Darren
Looking good Woodlouse, greetings from out west. I've got a piece of railway track for use as an anvil too. There's something I just like about it. How do the hinges on the doors work? It looks to me like they'll foul at the top when you try to open teh doors. P
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