This has been an amazing and inspiring account. It gives me hope that maybe I can fix the rust on my 52 which is just as bad for rust as your 51. So far mine is just sheet metal and screws to keep my feet from hitting the ground when I drive it.
You know a lot of modern floor pans "epoxy" in. Sure seems a lot easier on the back than welding on your hands and knees for days on end.
These are gonna be pedal pads. I decided to use the original brake pedal (high-lited below) So, it starts with removing the original pedal assembly. You see, the original set had a push rod pushing towards the front of the car. However, with the big block and the addition of the brake booster there's no room. So I gotta make the pedal push towards the back of the car. The master cylinder and brake booster will be accessible through a panel on the rear floor board. The pedal. Here I've lopped off the tab. Now I've reattached it to the bottom of the pedal. And fabbed up a pushrod and some linkage Next I fabbed up a bracket for the master/booster. And hooked up the linkage. Got the pedal pads in... Pulled all the old lines and fittings out. The new master has 4 ports so each wheel cylinder is getting it's own brake line. I'm just holding onto this junk for basic bend guides. Time to get reacquainted with my Ol' Pals.
For all money, upon looking at your first photos I thought this one was too full of tin worm to save, but talent and perseverance pays. My hat is off to you, sir! Congrats on how it is turning out.
Good job on bringing her back to life. Looks like she caught hell in the salty Florida atmosphere. That's gonna be a fun ride!!!
NICE !!! i had a 51 two door too... back in the day when it was just an old eighteen year old car. was perfectly straight and solid. found it in Memphis tn and drove the crap out of it till I blew the motor and my dad sold it (in the Los Angeles area) for $25 while I was on a 1971 west pac cruise in the navy. I should've kept it.
Great work! I particularly like the way you went about the fuel tank repair.Dont see many folks doing that anymore.
WOW, nice save - 1 hell of a job. How long did it take to do work shown in all those 1st post photos? Got to love Florida salt that rusts the top of a gas tank but not the bottom. Sweet job, congrads...
I have a 51 that looks just like yours and just about in the same shape. Looks like its coming together.
You're a madman. Great save, and looks killer floatin' down the road. Looking forward to seeing how you finish it out. Like others have said whoever did the chop had a good eye.
As I started to drive this around a little bit I started hearing a knock. It got noisier as I put the miles on it. I dropped the pan to take a look and totally lucked out. Had a dent in the oil pan that was getting dinged. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rainy day so I started cleaning this grill up. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ So onto some miserable work. Always there to lend a hand…. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ As long as all this junk is getting wired up might as well make it look purty. Made some new gaskets… Cleaned up nice! Took her out for some fresh air… __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Very Well Done, You Did All That In A Make Shift Car Port Garage. I Am Going To Go Into My 4 Car Garage And SULK. You Should Be Proud. Larry
Great job on your 51, but I have built hot rods for a long time and aluminum lines are taboo as brake lines I posted a question asking about other HAMB builders their views on the lines check out their comments on "aluminum brake lines"
Wow, you've done wonders on that car. I'm a big 51 Merc fan having bought one when I was 16 in 1963 and owned it for 32 years. I ran a 350 R in it for a number of years and the gent who bought it from me has a 455 Olds in it now. Once you get it sorted out I think you will like the way it gets down the road.
I used this stuff, It' s $13 on amazon. I'll keep Ya posted as to how well it holds up. In the past I have used "red anodizing spray paint" It works well but fades with time, I'm hoping this does better. Heres the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005257R0O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00
I redid my Tbird lights at the same time and still have half a can so it goes a long way. Before: During: (Yeah, I sanded them) After: (these pics couldn't have been any worse. The "before" was with low light and the sun setting, the "after" was first thing in the morning and the sun blasting, the final product looks much better than the pics detail.)
The Jalopy Journal
