Projects Thompson Shoebox Ford Build

I was able to squeeze a few hours in yesterday and today on my build. I removed the hinges witch ate up my time yesterday and was a pain in the ass to say the least, but thanks to the HAMB, I made the air hammer tool and used that in conjunction with some pb blaster and I was able to get every screw out!

I spent time today removing more undercoat from the front of the rear fender wells.... FUN stuff, and I also started on the notch cover. I made the notch fit the existing fender wells by cutting out radiuses on the face and top.I left enough room to mount my tank on top of the cover. Im going to dress this panel up a little later instead of bead rolling it now. I also decided to make the inner panel behind the seat removable so I can service and access the rear bags without having to be under the car.The cover will be two pieces instead of the planned one piece with access panels.

I also included a shot of my garage/shop that my poor car only gets to sit in when I don't have another car I'm working on in there. Yes if your wondering my trash cans double as a work bench.HAHA

-Dane

 

Great build! I've never seen the taillight treatment. Great metal work too! I'll catch up to you soon. Ben in Vancouver. Thunderoad.

 

What has two thumbs, the day off, and was able to work on his own shit?!?!?!? THIS GUY!

So the picks I'm posting tonight look redundant and thats because it kinda is. I re made the step notch panel using the old one as a template. I broke this one in the rite spot so its all one piece. I need it to be one piece so I can use it to brace the package tray. Im also going to cut access panels on the interior side of the step notch cover behind the back seat for rear bag access.

I also made new side panels because the brake point did not match up properly on the old ones with the center panel brake. Its one step forward and two steps back but I saved my original template so it was much faster this time. I always tell everyone that it takes the same amount of time to weld a shitty piece in as it does a good one... so I cant be a hypocrite and weld something thats over a 1/4 off in my own ride now can I

My plan to weld the seam on the bottom is not going to work for me because of access now with the tank in place and all so I'm going to weld it all in and grind it down I guess... I also have to protect it now that its going to have to sit outside full time for a while.

What do you guys think I should do for a finish on the trunk:
1. Scuff and clear it so its raw looking steel.
2. Patina it a blackish color and clear that
3: Epoxy it for now and paint it to match the interior color dash and all later? Candy red color.

-Dane

 

Nice progress - The 'Box looks really slick !

 

Buddy Palumbo

Thanks man. Im trying to get her on the road this summer.... (fingers crossed)

-Dane

 

Very tidy work there.
Question thou. Ford glued there 1/4's to the floor which i think is a real ass dumb idea. What are you going to use to fasten the 1/4 to floor? I was thinking of making a drop down panel and tying it to the bottom of the 1/4 like most cars are built like a wheel well. It would tie the car together better as well.

 

Thanks Tedley.

I just made it fit nice so I could just weld the 1/4's to the new floor I built. A flange would have been slick but it would be a bitch getting the inside radius dead on in one shot. I ground a little off at a time and fit and refit till it was nice and snug.... Guess one could use that piece as a template and then flange it or make a new piece with the flange? Good idea man... I'm all tacked in now so.... maybe next time. HAHA.

Im also going to make panels that hide the corners and rears of the tail lights just to clean it up a bit more... Kinda like upholstery work only out of sheet metal.....

No suggestion on finish? Anyone?

 

You welded the floor to the outside skin? Gulp. Rethink that my friend. Your probably going to see that somewhere down the road and probably sooner than later. The side moldings won't cover that. I believe the floor is about 2 inches below the molding holes. You will see traces of the welds from vibration and body flex on the outside panel eventually.
I don't know what kind of gorilla snot ford used but i did stick pretty good. I think urethane would be a better option than welding
Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

I have not welded the outside panels to the quarts yet! I have the rest of the stuff tacked in as of rite now. Thanks for the heads up! Maybe I could just line them with a seam sealer then? Guess ill have to look into that. Gotta love the hamb.... You may have just saved my ass from future frustration.

-Dane

 

OH great it's not welded. Seam sealer will not cut it. You need a something like windshield urethane. I don't know if your car had the factory adhesive still in it but they also had a metal strip that sandwiched on top of it. This factory brainwave bugs the hell out of me. I have one side that is still factory glued but the other side is not. I'm thinking primerless windshield urethane right now but but maybe someone else has had success with something else.
I'm getting lazy these days but building a proper well would be the ticket.

Your doing a nice job there. keep it up

 

Sorry to Highjack this thread, but Tedley, Can you post pictures of where you are talking about. I want to check mine.. Its still stock ..

 

I was just looking at the gap betwen the floor and the quarter and wondering, "What the heck should I do with that?" I had planned on seamsealer, but I'll go with Urethane! Thanks for the heads up on that one Tedley! I've got about a 3/4" gap to fill! It was fun chipping all the old stuff out of there though...

 

Damn, man, that looks great! I guess what to do with it depends on your vision for it when it's done, because none of those is really compatible with the others. I'm going to go with bedliner on mine, but mine is gonna look pretty much stock since only the rearmost section has any rust damage, and it's not a show car.

With what Tedley is talking about, wouldn't panel adhesive work, or are we talking about filling a gap? Weld a flange on the bottom and then fasten it to the quarter with panel adhesive? Or even weld on some tabs (rather than a whole flange) and fasten with panel adhesive. You have access to the bottom of those outer panels when they're installed? You could use panel adhesive to attach the flange/tabs to both the floor and quarter when it's already in the car.

Or I may be talking out my ass. You decide!

 

Ya what a engineering feat that is. Like and after thought. I wouldn't go with panel adhesive. To rigid. If look at any car today say a roof panel, The roof x members are not glued solid with rigid panel adhesive. Reason? expantion and contraction variable. The glue they use is soft and will let the panel expand without distortion. Other wise you will see heaves in the panel. The only place you see rigid adhesive is on the edges. Urethan is hard but not rigid. Not saying it's the ticket thou.
I still like the well idea. You can stick a mickey in there.

typos yes but you get the idea

 

I know the factory stuff I dug out was kinda playable and was probably much more when the car was new. I don't know if panel glue flexes? I made the gaps tight so I don't really have to fill much just put them together. I think I'll go with the urethane and just try to keep it clean. It's never gonna see any weight and I do still have the structure underneath if need be. I'm gonna mess with patina today and see what happens. Of all days it rained a little on my car last night with all that stuff still bare. So I gotta do something today. I would like to show this car next year so that's why I'm going the extra mile.

Thanks guys for all the replays and thanks again tedly for saving my ass on not welding that! I'll post up some stuff tonight.

 

I patinated one of my screw up side panels today. I did like the look but i figure with all the stuff I have left to do on my car that I would be better off just throwing some paint over it for now to protect it and call it a day. I have to grind the welds down still and make some pieces to connect the flat sheet and the drive line tunnel, but all and all I think it turned out the way I wanted it to. Im stoked that I can move on to re hanging, rounding, and gaping the doors soon I hope. Gonna send my hinges out to be rebuilt this week and im dropping my doors off at the blaster tomorrow.

-Dane

 

Looks good all black.

 

Just got my hinges back in the mail today. I want to thank Chris at shoeboxford.com for a super quick turnaround and a nice job. I joked with him over the phone last week that my doors are at my local media blasting place down the street and my hinges, that I sent to Oklahoma, would be done and back before my doors were blasted.... well its no joke he beat the media blasting on my doors!! HAHA.

Thanks Chris!!

 

Damn that's fast!

 

I stent them last Tuesday and I got them back in exactly one week!!!

 

SCORE! I have read about people having trouble with the drivers side exhaust clearing the steering box... A friend of mine has a 68 camaro he just picked up and was showing it to the guys and pointing out all the bolt on shit he was going to change out. When he got the the exhaust manifolds and said he was trading them for headers I took a second look and thought they just might fit my car. I got these "boat anchors" for free and damn it if they don't fit perfect!! I have no idea what they came out of to begin with but they will do the trick for me and the price was rite. He also gave me a GM aluminum intake and some cheap valve covers.

I put the shoebox back in the garage and am going to start knocking more stuff out next week so I'm sure I can annoy some with my daily posts

 

That'd be great, if it wasn't for a chebby!

 

I know I know..... Chevy in ford...

Its gonna move down the road, parts are cheap, and its a good economical option.. Hell I don't even have money to finish my car at this point in time let alone spend big bucks on a motor I cant afford to fix.. HAHA

Flat head was my first choice but I think a flat head is better served in a car with out a hood so it can be admired, Its a shame to hide one under a hood IMO.

No one complains about a hemi in a ford coupe.... or do they?

 

Yeah, but it's a HEMI!

Put this one in your car and I won't say a word!

http://spokane.craigslist.org/pts/3614602078.html

 

If rob schneider's evil twin would give it to me for 7k off with free delivery... I would shoehorn that bitch in the box! Then I would spell the word hemi in cursive with molten rubber from my burning rear tires in the first open parking lot I came across.

 

Haha!

 

Haha!!

 

Duce bigalow, Hemi jigalow

 

HA !!... now enough joking, get back in the garage and get cracking on that build !!

 

Hung the doors the other day. The drives side is fucked... I have a line on another that I hope will ship out in the next week or so. The pass side is good and just needs to be gapped and have the round corner to finished up. I made the last piece to the new tunnel I put in today and cut access holes for the rear bags that I will make new covers for. I should be able to bang shit out the rest of the week on the box so I will keep working and posting....

-Dane