Technical 26T Coupe Of My Youth Gets A Re-do! (build)

Nah I'm in eastern panhandle, Martinsburg, about 20 miles north of Winchester, Va. Powell is the name I remember since you said it. I have family in Luray but don't get down there much anymore. Is that family still in action? What a sight for a 17 year old kid back then!!

 

Killer story. Love it,thanks for posting.

 

Love the Capri.

 

Mr. Powell died about 5 or so years ago. His sons I think have all his stuff. His wife I think is still living

 

That was my brothers first car. Then My Sister's, Then Mine. Love to have it now!

 

The next big thing I wanted to change was the header panel. I din't like the way it was recessed in from the pillars plus it has about a 1/2 inch or so drop in the top that wanted to get rid due to the way I plan on doing the top. I didn't want that space in behind my visor as it would just end up being a water catch. I decided to go ahead and cut it out and I welded 1" sq. tubing and made a frame and covered it with sheet metal. Actually the piece in the photo is not the piece I ended up using. I didn't like the bends and went back and readjusted the break and made another one with sharper bends.

 

I would just for you Timmy!!!

 

Mr. Powell died about 5 or so years ago. His sons I think have all his stuff. His wife I think is still living[/QUOTE]
Do you know of another street rod family near Staunton, (Luray)Va. area? The mother had a '56 Chevy panel, the dad had a '40's Willys coupe & a Willys pick-up project. One son had a '41 Chevy 2dr sedan that I got some of his leftovers for my '41 coupe. His brother & I believe a sister had rod projects also. They lived in an old farm type house with a barn in back that had their rod shop in it on main street.[/QUOTE]

Here is one of the last photos I took of Richard.
As far as I know, with few exceptions, pretty much every car he ever owned is still in his surviving wife's possession.
Tim

 

Do you know of another street rod family near Staunton, (Luray)Va. area? The mother had a '56 Chevy panel, the dad had a '40's Willys coupe & a Willys pick-up project. One son had a '41 Chevy 2dr sedan that I got some of his leftovers for my '41 coupe. His brother & I believe a sister had rod projects also. They lived in an old farm type house with a barn in back that had their rod shop in it on main street.[/QUOTE]

Here is one of the last photos I took of Richard.
As far as I know, with few exceptions, pretty much every car he ever owned is still in his surviving wife's possession.
Tim[/QUOTE]

 

Thanks VA HAMB & 1low 52, good memories. I don't mean to hi-jack your post - another guy I remember was a rod builder, weld shop owner out of Front Royal, Va that had a '46 Chevy ramp truck he built. He always had cool stuff for sale @ the AACA flea market in Winchester, Va. I wish I could get back into building, rods again! I got into drag racing OT cars and.....

 

Cool for sure,I'll add a few notes later.

 

So I plan on replacing the top with a large piece of 1/2" plywood. That's the way it was when I got it. The only problem is the "drop" in the rear corners. I don't like it. It pulls the corners down too far and when I put the hidem welt on the sides it will look crooked and ugly. (I think) So I stared at it for about a week and decided to change it. Turned out to be a little bit a work but what the Hell.

 

So this is how I fixed it. I took some 1/8 x 1 flat and bent it over my kneed (about a million times) and welded it to the top edge of the car. Then ran a piece of masking tape around to get the flat edge and cut it off. Took me a while but I like the straight flat edge all the way across. It makes the top sit much nicer.

 

What a Fantastic story! A great read to start the day and there's still more to come. Don't berate your skills, you are doing a Great job. The best part is that you're taking your time and letting your eyes tell you what needs to be corrected (machinist skills). Can't wait to see this on the road, Carp.

 

As mentioned above, the A wishbones don't have a lot of caster built into them, so that might be why the originals were dropped so low at their back ends. Have you measured your caster with the new wishbones? Might be easier to fix (piecut) them now if they need some tweeking than once the car is completely done. Should be 5 to 7 degrees at ride height.

Also, I hear you about your love of those rear ladder bars, but you really don't owe them anything. They look really weak, and have horrible geometry. If you ever noticed a hard ride in the back half of this car, I bet it's because the ladders don't allow it to articulate. Some new bars that point inward to the center of the car will give a better ride, and some real clevises attaching them to the rear axle will ensure the things won't come unglued from the axle housing.

I really do like the project, and think if you made those steering box mounting blocks for sale you could have a good side hustle product.

 

I love your project !
Thank You for sharing with us all.

 

Thanks I appreciate the info. I may have to re think the whole rear set up. I knew it wasn't ideal but it's what I had.
I have given thought to the F1 box "hustle" idea for sure!
Any suggestions on how I accomplish better geometry? I didn't want the bars outside the body and the frame prevents me from bring them together in the center. I don't mind different bars. I'd like the car to be right. Even though I REALLY don't want to have to repaint.

 

I think you could probably leave you axle mount location the same and sneak them under your Z? Do a longer Pete and Jakes style ladder bar and attach them to that crossmember you added? That rear suspension isn’t going to compress very much in the real world so you don’t really need to have a ton of clearance above the ladder bar?

 

Like that more or less, drew it with a finger on my phone so excuse it not being exactly on point.

Got a side shot of the Z in your frame with the existing ladder bars on so we can kinda see what your working with from a clearance aspect?

 

Something akin to that?

 

Tim's got it.

 

Will do Thanks! I There's not much room at all. I'll see if I have a straight on photo. if not I'll snap one tonight. Can I use same bars or file 13 them?

 

I think your current ladder bars have lived a full life and should be put to pasture.

 

You can pretty much see what Im working with here.

 

I just like saying "coupe of my youth" out loud.

 

Check this thread out where the HAMBer's got me on the right track.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rear-suspension-ladder-bar-question.1083237/

 

So the next job was to re secure the rear panel. I had made this panel back in 2006 when I got the car back on the road and got rid of those Mustang tail lights. It was never really put in that great as I had to do all the work in my Dad's very tiny garage with a less than desirable welder. I also had some brazed pieces in the rear quarters that I wanted to cut out and replace so i took the trim rails loose and did that then put it all back together. NEXT? The deck lid!

 

I wish I had taken more photos of this. Back in 2006 when I redid some of the car the deck lid was one of those jobs. The deck lid was in bad shape so having absolutely no idea what I was doing I cut half of the lid off and rolled a piece of sheet metal and somehow got it back together. This time after I re secured the rear panel and made some fixes the deck lid did not want to fit anymore. So I had to cut down the right side of it and move that side in. Then.... The left side of the lid did not meet down nice with the rear panel so i had to cut almost all the way across and move that corner down and fill it back with a pie wedge piece. It really wasn't too bad when i was done. I had some oil canning but with a few youtube videos I was able to take a torch and heat, hammer and quench the lid back tight as a banjo top. I still can't believe I was able to pull that one off!

 

More Great work, you got this! Have you got your son helping?

 

No he is now in College. He is at the Apprentice School in Newport News. He is there right now as a Machinist and I sent him a print this morning because his instructor said that if he wanted he could make a part for the car for practice. I sent him a print for the column drop that I had 3d printed. It will be a challenge for him as a newbie but he seems to have my sense of machining so if he can't get it I will show him how when he comes in for Christmas next week. I would love to have a part he made on the car. The Generator bracket on this car, I made in the 11th grade in shop class in 1986.