RPU project:Nothin to Somethin PIC HEAVY!!!

Well this is the story of how I (with some help from a few folks) turned some junk in to something kinda cool.No,this story will not be some new and improved way to re-invent the wheel,just the story (with lots of pics) of how I turned a scabby old 28/29 roadster cowl into some thing useful.

Some of you may know I own a body shop,so I all ready have quite a bit of equipment,but with a few exceptions I have built this body with mostly hand tools,some sweat,and no blood(yet).

Heres a few pics of what I started with........

 

I guess first and fore most I must thank fellow HAMBer PRIMO for the cowl.He bought it some time ago from someone else on the HAMB.Some where along the line he and I did some trading and I ended up with it.I have had it for quite a while.I finnaly got motivated to do something with it a week or so ago.

I must also thank some one else on the HAMB for giving me the idea.There was a thread where a fellow (I cant rember who) was showing off with his new pull-max die and that sent my brain into high gear.

So I thought to my self.....Self......you have a buddy with a pull-max,I wonder what you can come up with.I talked it over with my buddy Ken,and he said to bring my metal over and we would run it.

 

I had my metal all laid out(some of it incorrectly),so when I got there,all he had to do was set the fence on the pull-max and let-er-rip.He ran two door blanks and two quarter/cab sides.

I used 20 gauge.I know lots of folks would have used 18 gauge(including Ken) but 20 was what I had in stock at the shop so thatch what I used.The up side to using 20 gauge is it is easy to work with.That comes in handy when you don't have a break or shear or any of that stuff.Also,I am trying to put as little money as possible into this body,so using what I had was the obvious choice.

Here is one of the quarter blanks I started with.

 

Now it was time to make this thing look like a cab side.I first measured how tall the belt line is on a stock sedan door,scribed my line where I wanted it,and broke it over a piece of 1x1 tube.I often use my square to set the depth on the bottom,and then clamp another piece of tube on top or a piece of wood.That's important,if you don't clamp something on top it will warp it up when you hit it with a hammer.Also try not to hit it to hard,or bent the meyal to much at once.If you do you will stretch the metal.I like to use A wide spoon to hammer with.

I gotta get to bed,but I will get into more of the "meat" tomorrow.

EVIL

 

Some scratch builts are impressive. Anxious to see what you come up with. Are you planning to replicate the original body style?

 

anxiously waiting !

 

ah ha. So this is what you are up to.

Pete

 

"Some scratch builts are impressive. Anxious to see what you come up with. Are you planning to replicate the original body style?"

It should be pretty close.I have changed some of the lengths,and since I didnt have any thing to go by other than pics from the HAMB,It will be as close as I could get.

"ah ha. So this is what you are up to.

Pete"

Yea,you caught me...haha.Thanks again for the measurements!


"anxiously waiting ! "

Here comes more!Thanks for the interest!

 

So where was I?.............Oh.Cab side.....lol.

After breaking the top edge,I needed to put the bead in the bottom edge.So I did some measuring,set up the trusty Pexto machine,and called over one of my body men over to run the crank.The Pexto is one handy tool.This project could not have been done without it as you will see later.

On a side note,I leave myself all kinds of notes on the panels I build so I dont lose track of where I am heading,so try not to laugh at me.

 

Very cool I love these builds. I have a 29 RPU cab in my basement if you need any measurements.
Mat

 

So with that bead rolled in the bottom,I needed to break the metal on the bottom line that the pexto left.I put a "T" dolly in the vise and went to town with a hammer.I left the camera on my tool box,and when my painter would walk by,she would snap a few pics.She got a kick out of watching this flat metal turn into something....lol

I'm in no way saying my metal work is perfect.As a matter of fact,I tried my best not to get to picky with "perfection".Just as long as it was good enough for me.I'm a paint and body guy by trade,so a little filler doesn't scare me a bit

 

Thanks so much!I might need you help in the future!

 

So with that done,I needed to break the front and rear edges.I had to cut a relief where I had a body line.Again,I clamped 1x1 to the top and bottom and went to hammering.When I was done,I welded the edges.Here's some pics.

After that I had something that was starting to look like a cab side,just flatter....haha.

 

I needed to put some arch in this piece,so I got out my shrinker and stretcher.I don't know much about the science of metal work,so I just go at stuff head on and try not to mess it up.So I just messed with it till it looked pretty good.

 

So with 2 cab sides finished(I didn't figure you guys wanted to see all that stuff 2 times) my body man Dru(and fellow HAMBer) talked me into starting on the cowl.I didn't really want to,but I guess I needed to.

I started on the "cowl quarters" or what ever they are called.I asked Dru about the best way to go about it.He gave me some great ideas that I had never thought about.He said get the part off and hammer it flat to get a pattern.......what a great idea.Also....he told me to take a grinder and make small cuts where the panel had a break to use as a reference.Another great idea!So that's what I did.

 

After I cut out the blank and got it tuned in to where I wanted it,I took it over to my sheet of metal and traced it out so the next side would go easier.I did some measuring and set my lines so I could run it through the trust old pexto.I used the "tipping" die,and with Dru's help.....turned it into something that was close.I then used this extra cool dolly Dru had hidden in his tool box to get the bend past 90 degrees.

 

So after running these parts through the pexto and hammering and dolling the cowl quarters,they needed to be hit with the shrinker and stretcher to get the curve to match the gas tank and the cowl post.It took quite a while to get this right,but I think it turned out just fine.I didnt take many pics of the shrinking but its all ways about the same process.I still need to run a step down on the cowl quarters to match the originals,but Im waiting on a set of dies for the bead roller.Also I made some patches for the bottom of the cowl post and installed them.I changed them up from the factory just a tad,I think they look better.I didnt get any pics of that either.

 

i'll be watching this pretty close, i got a buddy that just acquired a cowl and is wanting to build an RPU...... so im taking notes lol

looks good so far

 

Ill try and post a few more tomorrow.Good night to all and to all a good night.

EVIL

 

I have subscribed. Looking forward to see this one develop.

 

Thanks for lookin.I hope someone else may be able to use some of this info.
EVIL

 

With the cowl under control,I thought I would build a frame for the cab sides with the 1x1 tube I had bought.I dont have a tubing bender,but my trust body man Dru had yet another good idea.He brought in a stump he had bought for metal working with a "bowl" ground into it.I just laid the 1x1 across the stump and hit it with a hammer until I got the propper bow in it.My batteries went dead in the camera about the same time,so I dont have many pics of this process.

The last pic shows the 1x1 furtherest away bent to my liking and the near piece with a ways to go.

 

After building the cab side inner frame work,I went to work on the rear of the cab.I laid all my beads out and were I wanted to break the panel.As usual I marked it out wrong the first time.

I got a little ahead of my self as you will see and it caused quite a bit more work,but in the end we got it squared away.I took the metal back up to my pal Ken and he loaded the bead die in his pull max and we went to work.I didnt get many pics of this cause it was a three man job,and there were exactly three of us.

The pull max put quite a bit of warp in the metal,but after breaking the edges and hammering on it a bit,it worked out fine.

 

I too am on the edge of my chair with this one.
FANTASTIC!!

 

damn man that is looking good ! way to go

 

Dammmmmm buddy that looks really dammm kool

 

wow! Love to see this kind of fabrication - sometimes jumping in with both feet is the best way!

Steve

 

Nice build up with the details and pic's. I'm watching this one.

Earl

 

Thanks guys!I was wondering if anyone cared....lol.Ill post more on my lunch break.

 

Very interesting thread...great job! I just finished making some inner door panel bottoms, for my '29 roadster, using pretty much the same tools you have. I think they will work OK...gonna keep watching this ...good luck