Register now to get rid of these ads!

Projects My 51 Shoebox build thread

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by Finnrodder, Jul 31, 2010.

  1. pie pie
    Joined: Jun 29, 2008
    Posts: 673

    pie pie
    Member
    from missouri

    Nice work! gotten many good ideas from this thread!
     
    Finnrodder and Hombre like this.
  2. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks!
    I am glad that its been useful thread for you. I havent touch this project for a long time, so its been on the background for while. Just dont have much time to mess with it at the moment. But if this corona crap goes completely out of hands and i have to spend time at home, i am sure how to use that time.
     
    EBW, pie pie, 40two and 1 other person like this.
  3. I'm glad to see this thread is still going, even if the car is on hold. You've made a bit more progress than me in the last year or two.

    We've been keeping pace with each other for what, 10 years now? :confused: Mine is sitting under a tarp surrounded by crap and dead motorcycles, and the stuff getting piled on top is getting deeper (I said I'd never do that). Once the world gets back to normal I'm selling off a car or two (and the dead motorcycles) so I can get my car finished. Can't even move in the garage right now.

    I'll finish mine if you finish yours :D
     
    brEad, Finnrodder and warhorseracing like this.
  4. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Hey Andrew!

    Good to hear from you, i was wondering whats going on with your build?
    Looks like almost same thing thats going on with mine.
    That finishing thing sounds like a good deal!

    Well, i guess motorcycles are a bit on my way too. I usually try to do so much by myself i can, but i think adjusting fuel injection of a touring Harley was just too big bite for me. So at yesterday i rode it to the shop that has better equipment than i do. They have a dynometer, so it should work like a clock when i got it back.
    And the other bike is literally on the way at the moment. I mounted my shovelheads frame on the panel rotation thing i made earlier, mocked up few parts on it and welded some tabs etc for exhaust and midcontrols. I also made a tail light from stainless marine suicide knob. Kind of nice sideproject, small, bright as hell and completely legal in here.
    Its mounted on the top of the '36 sparewheel cover style rear fender..
    Anyway, the frame is almost ready for the sandblasting operation and i should get it off soon from the panel buck. I have to figure out is there any shoebox parts that needs sandblasting, so i can get them done too. Well, this is not a car thing, but a little peek of the situation at this point.

    IMG_20200417_234159_5 (Custom).jpg
     
  5. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Got a few irons in the fire, huh? When do you sleep?
     
    Finnrodder likes this.
  6. I've got a '68 Triumph chopper that is a stalled project someone started in the early '70s and now you've got me thinking about making a rear fender and coming up with a cool tail light. That's the problem! I'm easily distracted :D

    I'm actually getting more interested in getting back on the shoebox. I've been off it for long enough that I'm getting nostalgic for that old feeling of self abuse, futility and defeat. :rolleyes:
     
    Finnrodder and brokedownbiker like this.
  7. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Yeah, i got couple irons in there:D
    I mess with my projects usually at weekends, so the lack of sleep will be going on then usually.

    Sorry about the distract:D
    That light wasnt a really pricey project, the suicide knob was something like 5 bucks and the led light was 25$, so no financial problems with that one. I bought that fender really long time ago from ebay.
    Its around 2mm thick(12 gauges?), i am still kicking myself why i didnt buy more of those. Yeah, i know fenders arent cool on hot rods, but those could have been.
    Not sure is this true, but i heard that there was somekind of copyright issue going on between two guys who were selling them and after that i havent seen them anymore in ebay. Its a kind stupid thing, if its true. A guy copies the form from the '36 Ford spare wheel cover and starts a copyright fight that someone has copyed his work. :rolleyes:
    I think i will be sucked in the shoebox build again, when i am sandblasting next time.
    I was eyeballing my maverick rear end and it sure needs some blasting. I guess i need to do some homework again, i cant remember was that rear end a bolt on thing or did the leaf spring mounts on rear end needed some modification. If they do, i think i'll have to modify them before the sandblasting operation.
     
  8. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Allrite, i guess its finally time to post an update for this thread. I got the shovelhead frame job done and i also made a small upgrade for the panel rotation device i made earlier.
    It really needed a latch, so i made a springloaded one from scratch. It was easypeacy when the shoebox fenders were mounted on that thing, but it wasnt in balance with a Harley frame, so it keeped rotating by itself.
    Anyway, i did some sandblasting, blasted some bike parts, the Maverick rear end and the brake backing plates too. Those are at the powdercoater at the moment, not sure when i'll get them back. But we'll see...
    And some building job for the project. I remember that i said earlier that the passenger side door gap was a real mess and it sure was. Someone had tried to repair the gap by grinding the crap out of the B-pilar side door edge. It was grinded wavy and some grinds were so deep that the edge was gone. So, i spend few hrs of welding, filing, welding, sanding, filing etc with the door edge. It doesnt look like much in the pics, but if you look closely, you see the wavy crap on the edge. I was sure that it will overlap with the quarterpanel, but nope. It fits there, but the gap is too tight, like it was at the drivers side.
    So i have to do same thing as i did on the drivers side. At this point i have no plans for this weekend, so i guess this will be this weekends project.

    IMG_20200615_122312_2 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200611_203136_3 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200617_172352_8 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200618_161349_7 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200618_184454_8 (Custom).jpg
     
    Stogy, warhorseracing and brEad like this.
  9. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Allrite, the weekend gap-project is pretty much done. I guess it needs some finishing touch, but atleast there is a gap between door and quarterpanel now. I didnt take pics of the process, but it was a same job as it was on the drivers side. I cut the whole quarterpanel open near the door opening, then hammered the quarter panel's door lip towards the quarter panel and welded it when i was happy with the gap. That was the only way to do it. Like on drivers side, moving the door to front was out of question. It was a really annoying job, i am glad its out of the to do-list.

    IMG_20200621_161852_8 (Custom).jpg
     
    Stogy, brEad and warhorseracing like this.
  10. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You are going to have an amazing car when you're done Finn; your attention to detail is... wow!
     
    Finnrodder likes this.
  11. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks man!
    I think its more practical thing than detail thing with the decent gaps. That gap was something like 1mm (0.040) from the tightest spot, so that will damage the paintjob. Now they are around 5mm (0.20), that should be enought with the paintjob. Those gaps will shrink a bit when its painted.
    Next thing will be adjusting the hood and fenders. The fenders arent that bad, there's a decent gap between doors and fenders, but that damn hood will cause me a nervous breakdown. Well. i guess its time to do some homework how to do it.
     
    Stogy and warhorseracing like this.
  12. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm starting a 1950 Chevy Fleetline project soon, I'm disassembling the parts car now to get the stock chassis out from under it so I have quite a while before I get to the gaps, lol. My old Shoebox is rough enough that I'm not worried about them right now; if/when I get around to updating it I'll use some of your tricks to make it look good!
     
    Finnrodder likes this.
  13. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks, i guess that the way i did was the last choice how to do that. Usually messing with hinges will help, but not in this case. Here's a little tip when you disassembling the parts car:

    Buy a huge load of zip plastic bags and post it notes, then bag and tag everything that is worth to save.
    That may sound a bit OCD, but it makes things faster, saves time and money too when you are assembling everything together. I didnt use this method with this project, but that was because there wasnt much worth to save, specially with the frame bolts and nuts.
     
  14. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That is exactly what I'm doing! Actually I went around the car and tagged everything that I knew I wanted so when my buddy is over here helping, he will know what is a 'keeper' and what is not. But all hardware, even the rusty nasty stuff gets bagged and tagged so I have a reference on what goes where and how many are required (my Fleetline came to me disassembled and in many boxes). I want this project to be as simple as I can make it, and as clean and
    'right" as I can make it. It is my 'bucket list' car that I have wanted since I was a teen.
     
  15. Tony Ray
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 1,111

    Tony Ray
    Member

    Glad your getting back on the Shoebox! Im still slowly getting parts for mine, but soon will be ready to jump on it..and speaking of distractions, I got one or two of them as well..this one been sitting for a few years while I've been playing with the coupe,, but Im putting it back on the road in the next few weeks..
    11046958_10153157941093829_6272080287708856697_n.jpg
     
    bobss396 and Finnrodder like this.
  16. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thats cool looking shovelhead you got there!
    I've been gathering parts for the next shovelhead update for yrs and i guess its time to put those pieces in use. Sometimes distractions are cool and its good to do something different now and then, just to keep up the motivation.
    Anyway, i did an another side project, a small repair for my friends shovelhead swing arm frame. Never seen anything like that, when my buddy pulled the chain together, the rear section of the frame near the swingarm cast piece flexed. There wasnt any visible cracks on the cast piece, that made it strange. My buddy bought a replacement cast piece and i replaced the crappy one and problem solved.
    And i've done something for the shoebox too. I got the hood fitted, it sure took some time to figure out what the problem was. I think i take it off dozen times. I removed the rear brace and banged it with wood blocks and mallet, put it on, took it off, beat the crap out of the brace again and repeat it several times. And i had to add some washers under the hood hinges too. I dont have the cowl to hood rubber yet, so i cant say its perfectly there, but its really close of it. Next step will be messing with the fenders. I guess i've said this before, but the fenders are from '50 and fender mounting holes doesnt match at all with the inner fender mounting holes. Someone said that stick with the year that you have with the parts and that is so true. So, i guess i know how to spend next week...
    And i got parts back from the powdercoater, maybe this was the last batch?

    IMG_20200625_220745_8 (Custom).jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2020
    40two and bobss396 like this.
  17. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Allrite, its getting there. I got the hood to cowl seal and it came pretty fast, only 6 days from US to europe by USPS. No corona delays in this case. Ofcourse i dont have the hood bumpers, that mounts on the fenders. I ordered them too, hopefully they come fast too.
    The hood gaps are pretty much there, but those rubber parts will tell what kind of adjusting it needs.
    I struggled a lot with the rear hood corners, they were high and it took some time to figure out how deal with them. I dont know what kind of voodoo magic they have done at the factory to deal with this problem, but i added a stack of washers under the hinge's front bolt. That made the hinge raise from the front and lowered the corner.
    I think it will work backwards too, if you have to raise the hood corner, add washers under the hinges rear bolt.
    I did some test triggering for the hood latch and it failed every second time. I think at this point is good to get rid off that piece of crap and figure out a different style latch for the hood.

    IMG_20200708_220512_4 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200708_220351_1 (Custom).jpg
     
  18. Looks like your hood fits way better than mine does. Looking good.

    I saw this in the citric acid thread...

    I've got a bunch. The price is right if you want to cover the shipping.
     
    Finnrodder and warhorseracing like this.
  19. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,006

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Damn Antti, I let this great thread slip through my fingers. But I’m caught up. You and Andy @aw1950 are the champion long haul builders, the dogged determination is a pleasure to watch. Nice work!
     
    Stogy and Finnrodder like this.
  20. Haha, Antti, you're a couple of weeks away from your 10 year anniversary of starting this build thread! Andy @aw1950 will hit his in October and I don't get to mine until Sept 2021 (but I'd actually started before I started the thread). Dogged determination or just too dumb to quit? :D
     
    Stogy, brEad, Finnrodder and 2 others like this.
  21. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks Andrew, i'll send a pm for you

    So the time flies, guys. Yes, i know this build could have been a lot faster. When i started this, i know that there was a lot to do ahead. If i knew that it takes this long, would i still have started it?
    Yes i would, its been a long and bumpy road, but i have learned a lot when building it. Developing your skills and gaining few more is something you cant buy anywhere. And ofcourse Hamb has been a great source for parts and know how, this build could have been a real pain in the ass without this site.
    I guess some people think its pointless to spend over 10 yrs with same project. Maybe so,but i think
    i am something between stubborn sob or too dumb to quit. Just cant help it:D
     
    Stogy, BrerHair, Peanut 1959 and 3 others like this.
  22. :D well said, Antti,
    it took me nearly 11 years to rebuild my car, also with lots of 2 steps forward and 5 steps back, and a lot of trial-and-error, and at least burning some money in making mistakes.
    but this ole Poncho is now a huge piece of my life, and i won't miss just one minute of it. keep on, it's cool to watch you work. Your shoebox will come out fantastic, you're on the right track! Cheers, mate!
     
    Stogy likes this.
  23. I feel the same with mine Antti ,I have done so much to mine I could not stand someone else having the pleasure of driving it . Showing it as their own . I wonder how many on the HAMB have 10 year or older projects !!
     
  24. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    Thanks Carsten!

    Thanks Andy. Yeah, i guess we are in the same stubborn sobs car building club :D

    You shall not mix Chevy parts in Fords...So, here we go again :D
    Everyone knows that shoebox hood latches really sucks, a lot of damaged hoods and roofs because of those damn latches. I talked about this with a friend of mine, he said that have ever heard that '70-80's Chevy's had hood blown open?
    Well, nope. I decided to try that one. He gave me a '80's Chevrolet Caprice hood latch and latch bracket as a freebie. Thanks Janne!
    So i started to mate the GM latch to the shoebox latch panel. Cut off the OEM latch piece, welded a piece of sheetmetal on that spot and slotted it for the new latch. I also made a reinforcement/ bracket mounting piece, that i welded under the latch panel.

    IMG_20200711_163253_9 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200711_163305_6 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200714_174921_8 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200714_214250_0 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200725_213942_3 (Custom).jpg
     
    Tony Ray, warhorseracing and brEad like this.
  25. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    I had a crappy Caprice hood, the plan was to cut off the catch part and use that, but it didnt work like i planned. There's a pic of that catch in previous post. There's step on that part and i needed a straight one.
    So, my bro has a '95 Chevy van, that he's been tinkering. His van hood was dented and he decided to replace it. Fixing that would been a time wasting, specially when he had a better hood in his stash. Van's hood looked like a lot better candidate than Caprices was, so i bought the hood from my bro around 20 bucks and cut the catch piece off. I had to shorten it and slightly modify it to make it fit to the shoebox hood. Sides of the shoebox hood front brace are canted. The bottom part of the Van's hood spring is also a canted, so i used that one too. So the hood spring is pretty much straight now with that donor piece.
    I tried what hood spring could work better and the winner in this case is van's hood spring. Its pretty much same lenght as the OEM hood spring, and it has enought force to pop the hood open, when pulling the cable. In this case pulling the tig welding rod, that i used as a temporary hood opening wire.
    Benefits of this mod is that you can adjust the hood sideways too from the front of the hood, makes easier to get the hood gaps even from the front.
    I guess it still needs a little tinkering and adjusting, but it works fine. Just to make it safier, i think i'll get a safety latch too.

    IMG_20200722_190706_6 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200724_193115_4 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200725_213906_9 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200725_213752_3 (Custom).jpg
     
  26. Finnrodder
    Joined: Oct 18, 2009
    Posts: 2,970

    Finnrodder
    Member
    from Finland

    I did some eyeballing of the latch panel and i figured out that it needs a slight modification.
    It is designed to work with the original upper grille parts and i think its fine with them.
    But Merc surrounds are a different story. The corners of the panel front lips are too much out and they could push the Merc surround forward. So easiest way to do this is just cut off the extras of the lip, but i didnt want to lose the stiffness of that panel. So i sliced them from the corners toward center and narrowed the lips a bit.
    My plan is to keep this latch panel as a bolt on piece, i think it will make front end sheetmetal aligning easier in the future. So next step will be fabricating a connecting panel, that i am going to weld on the Merc surround.
    Its a kind of interesting project, i havent never done this before. I have figured out what to to cut and what to weld from the surround, but if anyone has hints for the job, i am listening.

    IMG_20200728_215148_9 (Custom).jpg IMG_20200729_230901_4 (Custom).jpg
     
    Tony Ray, Peanut 1959, Big A and 2 others like this.
  27. THEKID49
    Joined: Apr 24, 2005
    Posts: 583

    THEKID49
    Member

    I haven’t checked in for a long time. It’s really looking good! I like the panels you made for the Lincoln buttons. Keep it up


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
  28. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    The hood catch is an interesting solution - I like it ! The car's coming along nicely .
     
  29. Tony Ray
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 1,111

    Tony Ray
    Member

    How did you make out with this? I’m putting a merc surround in mine as well.



    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
  30. Hi Antti, just wondering how are you doing? Are you still busy on the shoebox?
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.