There is a shop here that cuts and installs glass but they tell you up front that they are not responsible for cracks or breakage. A pal of mine had them cut the glass for his '55 Chevy,they broke 4 windshields before finally getting one right.. I am firmly convinced with the combined talents of the Strange Days crew you guys can tackle the task at hand and pull it of looking like old pros. HRP
Actually the headliner was done by my buddy Howie. (he's the one I talked out of retirement) He was just gonna come down and give us pointers, but once he came down he got caught up in the fun and did the whole thing himself. I can't thank him enough... It's beautiful!
We got the last of the interior trim in today. The rear windows are about a mile long and the trim we altered in both height and width to make a reasonable fit. We did some bending and "creative" alterations and finally got it there. Its a friggin lot of glass. We also got the steering wheel mounted. Its nice to know that you can take an old, dried out, cracked wheel and make it look new. ( just like in 53 , if that can be considered new.) Most folks would use a custom aftermarket wheel, but I just love that big 'ol thing . Plus it has a 50th Ford anniversary horn button that's just the cats ass! Its amazing how big these old wheels were. Next we're on to the front windshield, and the exhaust. I'll prolly take the car to a muffler shop for that as the one thing we don't have at Strange Days is a lift. We are too old to lay on our backs to try to do this . On another note its become pretty obvious to us now that "help isn't coming". We're on our own for that windshield.
Coming along very nice! By the looks of you guy's workmanship the windshield will get done fine. ps; quit putting tools on the seat!!
At Salina a couple of years ago there was a discussion with a guy that owned a 58 chevy wagon and someone else about chopping windshields. One of them said there was a shop that used a laser to cut his. The other said he broke 4 before he got it right. I never have looked into this but surely someone knows who this is.
This is an amazing build. The attention to detail is incredible. You have actually given me the confidence in trying to attempt doing my own work instead of paying someone else, and may not be happy with it. I do have a question for you. In an earlier post by HRP he mentioned using the arm rests from Dennis Carpenter. Did you use these and did the holes line up? Thanks for this build thread.
HRP never gives bad advice. We did use those armrests. The arm rests were pretty easy to upholster. The screws were a bit short to reach the original mounting holes in the door steel. Longer screws solved that problem. We used the front screw hole. The back one missed by about a half inch. We just drilled a new hole there.
Just followed all your post, brought back a lot of memories of some the same problems I went through but your looking good now.
Thanks for the info. What you stated about HRP is so true. I have read a lot of threads and his added tech info is spot on and very helpful.
here is one of a bunch of vid's . Get some practice windshields and have at it. http://search.aol.com/aol/video?q=h...FA358609E6711AC4C0B3FA&v_t=client97_searchbox
Not yet, we did not work today as Chuck was tied up with one of his rental properties. he said he got the windshield gasket in and I found a good video from the Powerblock Truck Tech show on cutting a curved glass windshield. We may be doing this yet. Chuck thinks we may only have to cut about an inch off to make it fit. https://www.powernationtv.com/episode/TT2016-20/project-basket-case-custom-cut-glass-final-assembly
Really nice looking car. But the 289 and floor shift auto is a disappointment. Sent from my SM-T805Y using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The 289 and the auto tranny don't disappoint us. I want to cruise, not spend my time dinkin' with standard gears. We wanted a reliable engine, not some 80 horsepower flathead boat anchor wallet drain. On the other hand, the shifter we're not big on either. We are gonna see if we warm up to it. If not we'll switch it out for something more subtle
The guy seems to be very vocal in several threads and making snide remarks but he hasn't taken the time to show any of his work! HRP
I don't mind Danny, Everyone has a different idea of what looks right and works well. I catch a lot of heat for not liking flatties. I LOVE the way they look, but they are fraught with problems of leaking, overheating and cracked blocks. The 289/302 is a reliable, relatively high horsepower small engine. I'll take it over a flattie any day. Auto vs standard is just a matter of personal choice. If I was easily offended I'd have never survived on the HAMB !!! Remember my Ford 144 six cylinder threads? Now those were ugly! Remember this thread? I still laugh reading it! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/hot-rodding-the-144-ford-6.145129/ Well, the 144 Ford six speedster is my next build
The cutting video is interesting, Good luck! ps; a non console mustang auto shifter would look good! http://www.usedtoronto.com/classifi...ougar-Auto-Floor-Shifter-Non-Console_28101087
This particular one is cruise-a-matic ( 65 ,66 ) , note dot in center. The newer ones ( 67 and up ) are select shift, L - S - D . Console shifters are different.
I know it's early Sunday afternoon but by the time you read this it will hopefully been a productive day with cutting the windshield. HRP
Well, we're getting close. I located a new windshield in Spokane (about 200 miles from here) for a great price...... 180 bucks. Steve and I are gonna go get it this week. The chopping is up to us, so to that end we took the old cracked sideglass that I saved, and began to practice cutting laminated glass. We watched all the videos, and felt pretty intimidated, but we've been down the road of inexperienced lotsa times before! Here's the process. mark the cuts, cut from both sides and pry the glass till the line fractures. Then heat the area till you can open up the crack just enough to get a razor blade through to cut the clear elastic center That's it. Kinda nerve wracking, but not that difficult. We finish ground the edge with a rol-lock to smooth everything out. We did quite a few cuts until we were comfortable with the process... Bring on that windshield! We're ready!
When I was in retail part of my business was a Art & Frame shop,and I cut literately thousands of pieces of glass during those 40 odd years,rarely did I cut laminate and it was always nerve racking because of the huge sizes I had to work with. Fortunately I never tried to cut curved glass. I will tell you a story about a friend and his chopped top VW ~ after you successfully cut your windshield. HRP
It's been a strange week. Steve and I took off for Spokane to pick up the windshield on Tuesday. We got about 50 miles out of town and ran into a helluva snowstorm. Turned around and came home. On Thursday we headed out again and did make the full 200 miles. Pulled into the glass warehouse and started to load the glass. I don't know why, but it just looked wrong to me. I asked for a tape measure and checked it out. Too tall, and too narrow. We spent a long time looking through their books, and realized that the glass they had was for a panel truck, not a panel wagon. They didn't have the correct glass, so we drove home empty handed. If you've never visited a glass warehouse, It is quite an operation. The folks were amazingly helpful and co-operative. I cant say enough nice about the crew over there. Since we don't have glass this week, we got all the fluids and decided to start the wagon. I've owned this wagon for 15 years and it has never run in all that time. I bought the engine used with no guarantee what so ever. A total crapshoot. We put marvel mystery oil in each cylinder and cranked her up...... ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!... Lotsa smoke because of the Marvel oil, but the sucker ran nicely! We are Stoked! Dana took a video on his cell phone and will try to post it here soon. This week I'll take the wagon in for an exhaust system, and then all that is really left will be the front glass and a lot of detailing.
I'm sure the trip was dissappointing. Would it be wrong to suggest that you find some old windshields to practice on before the real thing? Old glass guys talk about temperature and other things that suggest that expierience is a large part of success. I have confidence in you guys based upon what I have watched you do. I've just listened to a lot of conversations about this subject with not that much success.
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