I want to make less cuts, but you just can't. At least when i lead this car (no bondo on this one) it will make it all disappear. Thats the plan anyway.
I have been following your build from day one. The chop is coming together & looks very well done with perfect proportions. All the rear windows look perfect & not the odd portholes that some have. It will be great when it is finished.
Thanks for the "mild" support. Sometimes mild is the way to go on these cars. The rest will be wild though because all fenders will be welded onto the body.
Ok. Here she is. Chop is done with just one inner tab left on each side. Lots more to do to button this thing up but MAN that was a lot of work. Satisfied.
In between summer fun i have been putting on lots of little filler pieces. Now its time for the firewall. Wondering if its worth removing all of the round discs that were made WAY back and brazed on to fill holes. You can see alot more of them from the inside. I kinda like them because its kinda history work from back in the day. But i have more holes to fill with my own little discs if i go with it. I don't know.
Rolled a bead with the widest roller die i have on my bead roller with a little help. Help was a piece welding it together so it wouldnt spread open because it was a 16 gauge piece. Well, it just wasnt wide enough so i figured out that the beadroller itself was the perfect size to make the bead wider. Welded it and hammered it with a socket the right width. Worked really well. Patched up the firewall. Then i made a couple of cuts on the a pillars to get the roof/pillar seams to match up. Next i made the patch for the front left floor to match the other side. Piece by piece its working.
Reworked the lower front gaps on the doors and have the curve where i want it. All closed up on the ends and bottom. One side is an 1/8 long but i will wait until the running boards are here to finish that work. They will be welded and smoothed onto the car so it wont matter much to fix them right now. Pic isnt the best but all is flush and gapped right. And lead will make it perfect.
You know... i was just thinking about that. My progress is directly related to you guys! I wouldnt be nearly as far if it wasnt for this place. It drives me to the shop just to have something to show you guys. Crazy.
I like the proportions of your chop. I have been thinking three inches in the A-pillar, etc. But, your solution is pleasing to the eye without having a mail slot greenhouse. Your solution to several obvious hurdles will make this little coupe a very cool mild custom. Keep at it. The biggest hump is behind you.
Out with the old motor and... ugh, in with the old motor after it gets cleaned and painted. Not enough cash for a merc flatty or a chevy 348. But its time to get the chassis all cleaned up, wire wheeled and por 15 painted. Cleaned up good. Got some things taken off of it and just have a couple to go before wire wheeling. Steering box will go down to California (forgot the company name) to get rebuilt. Trans will get rebuilt here. And motor will get tripower and better smaller alternator with nicer brackets. Will keep the buick 6 blade fan on it. May get headers for it but not sure.
Gotta love elbow grease as the best cleaning solution ever. Judicious amounts do wonders. Too bad it's not available over the counter.
Wow that was a hell of a lot of wire wheel action!!!! Sucks. But i pressure washed and used purple power degreaser before and during to get everything squeaky clean. Its ready for metal prep and por 15. All i have to do is finish moving the passenger side motor mount over a little so i can use the whole biscuit instead of cutting it to fit the fuel pump. Figured that out with the engine mocked back in the frame. You can see the little drilled hole on the engine mount down and over by the weld. Thats where i will cut the mount and bend it to clear the washer, fill it in with a piece of steel and weld it back together. And then be able to use all of the mount. Not too bad. I already made the new hole on the frame. Will fill the old hole in and paint. I am keeping all of the old work done to this frame to drop it because after i cleaned it all up it doesnt look too bad. Cant take the history away Not gonna be a concourse car anyway right? LOL
I got some more time tonight and finished. The passenger side hole i dremeled and patched up. The drivers side i cut up a washer that i bought at coastal. It was the perfect size. Came from a lynch pin. Lucky. So all is welded up and ground smooth. The engine mount i cut and bent at a better angle to get the washer and nut on easy. All done. Now im going to see if i want to weld on some of the transmission mount and some of the brake and clutch assembly directly to the frame instead of bolting them on. May be better since its not coming back off ever.
Frame is looking great! I wouldn't weld those parts on. But then I never say never either..... If you have to remove any of them with the body on it could be problematic. Torchie
Thank you for taking the time to post the pictures of your progress. Hopefully this will inspire others to build a kustom.
Have you checked out (cutting up a 1938 plymouth... uncutting it and cutting it up again) thread? Its a good one!?
Excellent! A lot of nice work. Speaking of other threads, have you seen the "how much wire to wire your car", you got to be about a dozen spools of .030" in by now.
Just my old pics from the lincoln brake swap i did last year and front end rebuild. King pins and tie rod/ drag link ends. Had to marry the lincoln rear emergency brake rod with the 41 end to accept the 41 brake cable ball end. They are different. And the 41 brake cable tube to the lincoln tube mounting plate. All worked out good. Wanted those pics on this thread. I used copper brake lines then but will swap to steel this time around.
Your right. I thought about what i had to do to get the trans out when i swapped it for a manual. It would be super hard to get to the bolts. Not gonna be lazy. I will go to fastenal and get good bolts. Haha.
Just got a 39 trans from a member here. All rebuilt and alot of nos parts in it. Pic after work. Now i will paint the motor and trans to get it ready for the roller. Major step closer. And my steering box is going out for rebuild saturday. Should be back in a week. Great company in Oxnard Ca. called Express Parts Exchange. They do the best work on any old steering box. No problem sending it with the long steering shaft on it either.
Glad to hear things are progressing. It's always gratifying when the dreams become hands on. Thanks for the updates, hope to see more soon.
I really like the profile of your Merc. I can appreciate all the metal work you put into it, the time and patience need to pull this off . Makes me want to pull my 46 Merc. In the shop and follow suit. Thanks for letting me tag along. Frank
The steering box company in Oxnard Ca. that i sent it to called to say it can be finished early next week. Maybe even monday. The worm drive it needs is $100 plus what they get to rebuild it plus shipping back. Total to be around $500. I think its well worth it because they rebuild and test and actually guarantee it will be better than oem! Yup. They said it. Pics when it gets back.
Personally I would like to hear it run first and pull the pan and check the bearings first. The used one sounds like a pig in a polk to me. It's to hard to put it in then have to take it out and do it again for the same $$$$ I think a 261 Chevy or a 302 GMC would be a better choice both have real good torque. Old military Deuce and 1/2 had 302 in them.
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