I posted your comments over on the Photoshop thread and this is what the moose came up with. Getting closer.
Thanks guys! And thanks Peanut 1959! Got a quandary now. I was offered a pretty nice Safari shell, with ALL the trim and glass! It would save me a bit of work, though at this point we're pretty far along. Is it really saving me that much work?. I could use all the little detail parts, as well as all the good sheet metal, but I feel a bit guilty cutting it up just for the upper quarters and tailgate area. I'll have to see how the deal works out.
If you're going to leave the roof stock height, consider if it would be easier to hang the Olds quarters, front clip and dash onto the Safari shell... Either method leaves you welding the upper quarters/roof to the quarters or the quarters to the upper quarters/roof. Hanging the Olds sheet metal on the Safari, keeps the main structure of the body together and solidly aligned (roof and posts, glass, inner structure, tailgate jamb), leaving you installing/skinning one "minor" body panel at a time. It keeps you from having to reposition/weld in a roof ("major" body panel) and saves all that glass work.
I must say...some of you guys are absolutely fearless with the slicing and the dicing and and and...everything. The the version in Peanut's post #67 looks factory-built.
Well, I got the Safari. Wasn't quite as "clean" as described, but it DOES have all the trim I need, the interior moldings, back seat, and glass! Disassembling it now, hope that the metal behind the stainless is in good shape. Big "Thank You" to Vic Collins and his brother Ed, for digging this out and bringing it to the shop, and to Lou Callisibetta for letting go of this hard to find car!
Still working on it! Summer brings lots of heat and humidity, so the going is slow (Plus I like to go on vacation!!!!) The Safari parts car yielded much needed interior trim, glass, back seat, but the sheet metal is pretty much wasted. I may be able to use the tailgate jamb skins, possibly the inner structure, but nothing outside. Screwed up the front roof seam BIG time! so cutting it out and putting in a new strip of metal. I eliminated the downward curving section of the roof, so it should be easier to control the sheet metal while welding. I though I could just hammer and dolly it out, but got out of control. Also took a break to fix the mess of the front of the hood. My old mentor did a ton of brazing to fill in the hood ornament, and front emblem. Then the owner tried MIGing in small patches to fix the rot. I just cut it all out and started from scratch.
Beautiful work. I gotta ask, what the heck is the tow vehicle in the first photo? , I can't figure it out. HRP
Did you read the post? LOL "Another good friend, Dave Quail, helped me get the car back to my shop, with his 49 Cadillac Limo, mounted on a Ford F350 Chassis, running a Caddy engine!"
Just found this thread and love the concept! When I was in high school, a buddies folks had a 55 Nomad that we cruised regularly and I also worked on some as well as doing paint and body on a 57 Nomad for the same family. That and my love of Pontiacs years ago made me want a Safari even more. But, this will be better than either the Nomad or Safari and will sure make folks think.
Been a long time since I posted. I have been working on the car, in between other projects. 41 Willys, I did body and paint on, as well as fixing as many mechanical issues, as I could stand to (the owner tried to do it all himself!). Also working on collision repair on an old friend's custom 50 Chevy. Gearing up to get back on LesPoPo (waiting for the owner rebuilt chassis). Even with "lockdown" there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get it all done! First, how about a shot of the messy shop! And the distractions.
Now on to the build. I finished up the roof, except for some pinholes in the rear corners. Fabricated the area around the tail gate. Finished most of the window channel replacement.
Finished up the rust repair on the hood. My buddy with the chopped 54 Plymouth, Kenny, helped out by punching and belling the inner support of the hood. I also added some tubing for support, since I took off the 'hood bird' that had support rods bolted to it. May replace the square tubing with round sometime later.
Non-HAMB modifications! 76 Impala sub frame installed. I drive the wheels off my cars, so I want good steering and brakes. I also shrunk down the fresh air boxes on the firewall. Going with aftermarket AC on the passenger side, and hanging a booster/master on the passenger side.
Back to bodywork. Both quarters had the usual Olds rot up at the top of the wheel well inners. They had been patched once before. Cut them out and redid them. There was also collision damage on both sides. Drivers side I worked out. Pas. side I cut out and replaced, as it was so bad. Also welded up the gas filler door.
The PO used a 56 Chevy patch panel to fix the rust on the pass. side. He didn't car about the shape of the wheel well opening, as he was running bubble skirts. I picked up a set of new Foxcrafts at Carlisle, so I had to reshape the openings to fit the Olds skirts.
The extensive work on the quarters, plus rust on the inner wheel wells, made me cut out the interior panels. Now I could access the quarters for hammer and dolly work. Plus, the hardtop interior panels had different structure than a wagon's, so I took the opportunity to make my own, to match up with the Nomad's quarter windows. While I didn't need an access door for the quarter window any more, I figured I would for the side trim.
I was lucky that the PO had found a set of '98' tail lights, way back when. Since the Nomad was the top line trim package on the Chevy, I hoped to make my Olds a '98', as well. The tails are very different, so I got out the cut off tool and welder! Still looking for the '98' side trim, though! Originally I was going to just move the gas filler to the interior, but now I want to move it to behind the driver's tail light, so it isn't in the interior cabin. Gotta figure that one out! Caught up for now!
Man that looks great!I follow you on facebook as well.I actually messaged you a couple years ago about possibly chopping the top on my 51 shoebox coupe, but ran into some house issues that kinda killed that. years ago I bought that 54 merc off Mike and met you. Was actually hoping to see if I can maybe get some work done to you this fall. Not going with a chop,but need several other mods done instead.. Anyway the Olds looks great!
Alright, alright! I like the 98 trim better than the 88 trim on the photo-shopped versions. It really does flow better than the 88 trim. In fact........the version with the 98 chrome is very pleasing!
Yes, you came by and got the crossmember for your car. You are welcome to visit any time! Small jobs I can bring in pretty quickly. Big ones, a bit of a wait
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