I've seen people build worse. I've been told to give up on things I've drug home. Don't give up. Tack in some bracing once your sure the body is square. Keep posting pics. Keep asking questions. Indiana cars take a whooping. Best of luck. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
go for it! It could be worse, you could be starting with a shitty 4 door with hardly any floor ,a Swiss cheese chassis and a pair of Tudor doors like I will with this gem someday! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The floors shouldn't be that bad as you can find or make patch panels. On the ledge under the window I think I'd hunt down a donor that had that section in good shape and maybe not much else going for it. Somewhere within decent driving distance there is a stripped hulk with the pieces that would make a car out of that one.
Ha! Koolkemp I was about to say at least it doesn't have too many doors! I built a plywood hammerform for the window ledge, and my first attempt came out ok but I have an idea or two that I will try to make them a little smoother on my next attempt (sorry no pics yet). The drivers side front quarter had at least a half a gallon of filler smeared pretty much throughout the whole panel covering up a brazed on patch at the lower corner. I started making a patch panel but had to fly down to Georgia on business so that will have to hold till I get back. That front qtr is pretty beat on so I'm going to try to straighten it but will probably be in the market for a replacement at some point. I picked up a HF english wheel last week and have been playing with it some. Would you guys recommend a bead roller? I need to see what else they can do besides the obvious...rolling beads
The HF bead roller is pretty chintzy, but if you beef it up so it doesn't flex it's fine for the home garage guy like me. I used one to make my floors, had new dies made to replicate the originals. Join the shoebox group and ask questions. Lots of us have been down this road. There's also a ton of build threads here that will keep you entertained for a few days... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/post-shoebox-build-threads-here.908390/
My '51 is rough. Not as rough as yours, but rough. The greatest pleasure Ive had working on it so far was repairing a dime size hole on top of the fender, right behind the headlight bezel. Not a big repair, but complicated, in the fact that I had to cut out the rust, cut a patch, shape it to match the compound curve, weld it in and fill it. Now that its under layers of high build primer, no one will ever know what I did but me. But thats OK with me. My skills improve every time I touch my welder. And if not for this 63 year old car, I wouldnt have met several great people and honed skills that I never knew I had. Now, on to peaking my hood.
Someone say hood peak? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/demystifying-the-ol-hood-peak.798412/
Did someone say beadrolling? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-homemade-beadroller-dies-for-51-shoebox.566973/
Finn I just want your rotisserie! Great build thread by the way Big A great link, it'll get a lot of use here.
Back in town and back to work. Close but no seegar on the 'window sill' but it could be worse.... I need to get into the shop at work and grab a section of I beam or channel to make a break. The inner rockers have me a little puzzled as to how they fit with the outer. My guess is the long flange on top and pointed away from the center of the car. I have ems panels and the inner rocker isn't the same shape as factory ....
I'm in the same boat as you...the way I see it, everybody tells me just cut it up and scrap it, but I figure I will try my hand at making panels to fix it and if I find I can't I sell it off as a parts car. I'm out nothing but time and welding wire/cut off wheels. Either I will learn a lot about metal shaping or I will learn that I'm not as good as I thought I was. Good luck with it! -LUKEY-
A shitty 4 door can look pretty cool with a little work too!!!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Have it blasted, then you can see what you have. Sounds like you have good skills---if rebuilding is your bag, then carry on. It's been done on the HAMB many times in threads I've read. Good luck.
Yes they do, other than obvious differences 4 door is the same dimensions and roofline as a 2 door sedan.
Ef bomb, just looking at what you posted on post#71, Man that looks good! great job, just one area at a time and you will have it back together.
EMS panels are great... except for their inner rockers. I ended up making my own. Your first attempts at window sill patches look pretty darn good.
Thanks Big A and 46international! Yeah I haven't figured the inner rockers out yet, I guess I'll just put them in the best way I can see. I also have a question on the front floor supports, they are marked right and left but if I put the left on the drivers side it is way off the door support. It's like they are labeled backward. Oh well I'll just put them on so they look right...
I modified my floor supports quite a bit to make them work. Pretty much everything requires some sort of modification. Based on Finnrodder's build I made 1-piece inner rockers that run the whole length of the cabin and they worked well.
I'm going to do the same, I didn't initially order the inner rockers because they looked simple to make but when I tore into the car there wasn't enough left of the factory ones to even see what they should look like so I went ahead and got them. I'm going to try ti find time to build a break at work today so that should fab substantially easier.
I cut off the inner rocker and copied that POS rocker profile to the new inner rocker.It looked this: If you have a 1-2" wide piece of inner rocker left,you can use that profile for copying the profile.I made new inner rocker for the drivers side rear by using this "small sample method".Those are pretty easy to fab,so i suggest that you replace them all. The inners i left alone,there was some pinholes on them and i had to patch them afterwards when the floors were done.Well,there wont be any surpises when everything is new...
Thanks for the pics Finn! Actually the back 16" of the drivers side is good enough to get a profile but not good enough to save. I built a 4'-6" sheet break out of scrap steel at work today so I'll get that thing tuned in and see what I can make. I wheeled out a patch panel for the quarter between the door and wheel well, it turned out pretty good. I need to dig out my digital camera, it takes better pics than my phone...
Alright! You asked, you got solid, respectful advice and you're going for it anyway! Lookin' good. If you haven't bought a bead roller yet I would reference some of the earlier advice you were given. You will basically be fabricating a bead roller ON TOP OF the H. F. one. The dies it comes with are alright though. Looks like you will be covered with your brake you made and wood forms/hammer/dolly. I think bead rollers are fun but kind of overrated. Anyway, keep up the good work.
So here is the problem I'm having with the front floor supports. The rocker panels are in location, level with the frame both ways, and the door fits pretty well. If the floor support is bolted in at both mounting points it pulls down considerably (even with the steel square washer and rubber pad on the outboard frame connection) and throws it way off level with where the floor should be and opens up the gap at the connection to the door support. I guess I'm just going to cut and weld till it works. This kind of thing that jams me up on projects...
Saw your question on my build thread. I don't think I have any pics of mine, but I basically had similar problems to what you're running into and I did what you're doing... cut and modify until they work.
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