A little progress around the passengers side door jamb. Got the door jamb roughed in. Trying to sneak up on the length of the piece that I am splicing back in, to get the gap looking good all the way around the door. I am going to have to fill in some areas of the old door jamb, and on the door, that are different around the beltline. Shouldn't be too big of a deal. For the moment though, I just want to get the gap right, and then I will fill in those areas to make it smooth looking. Once I get the outside "skin" looking like I want it, I can go inside and tie the door post inner structure in at the top, and at the bottom to make everything solid. Then I will start welding the outside sheet metal together.
No, I still have a lot of fitting to get done. It just means it's coming together. I will get it dialed in. The jamb has been on and off a lot of times, trim a little, fit it up and then remark and trim a little more. Gotta be mindful of almost 4 feet of door jamb. There are several points of contact area. Trim a little, refit, nice and slow...
Went to Lead ain't Dead this weekend. It was great seeing a few guys I know, Merv aka @hillbillyrabbit and @drdave, Jeff Myers, and his crew. It sure lit a fire for my motivation. Got a good look at some really nice custom touches and will be balls to the wall getting more progress on the car. Thanks to the people in Dewey Ok for being so hospitable. I'll be back next year for sure!
Sure was good to see ya! Super excited to get to see the truck in person next time. Weld and grind, weld and grind...you got a deadline to make.
Yep, good meeting you. I’m glad you spoke up and introduced yourself. And, I agree about the hospitality in Dewey. There is a reason folks travel from all over the country to hang out in a small town in Oklahoma.
It was great meeting you too, Jeff. I have always admired your car. Already looking forward to next year. And looking forward to participating and not just spectating!
It was a beautiful afternoon in North Texas in the Republic of RMONTY, so I decided that I needed to turn the car around and pull it into the shop forward so I can get busy on the drives side door jamb. I will have a lot more room with the car turned around. I took it off the plywood boxes and rolled it out in the driveway to do a bit of cleaning. Will do more this weekend. I need to power wash the nasty ass floor! Having never attempted anything of this scale before, I learned ALOT!! on the passenger side, and will probably revisit the passenger side if what I learned helps me on the drivers side like I think it will. I didn't weld everything in solid for that very reason. As soon as I get the jambs and door fitment like I want them, I will start cutting and welding the roof together. There is plenty of metal under the Sedan Delivery roof left from the 4 door roof the way I cut it apart to be able to make a nice seam. The open windshield area will make it easy to get in there with a hammer and dolly to do a nice job on metal finishing. Had to take a couple of shots of it out in the driveway. It's a long way from being done, but I have made some good progress I think!
Not bad, you had a couple of things that made you take a break from the project, so you're doing great!
Gee now that you are this far along maybe you could consider sectioning it like this pickup from here:https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sectioned-1950-chevy-pu-build.1153661/page-5
Sure buddy, come on down and let's get to cutting! We could even go visit @noah and get some pointers from him! He is just a short drive from where I am, depending on what part of Dallas he is in. I have been watching his build. That is a BAD ASS truck for sure! Maybe I should toss the front clip on the Sedan Delivery this weekend and send a picture over to The Moose and have him cut a few inches out of the center and see what it looks like!
Just a couple of pictures for comparison. Granted these arent the same bodies as the first has about a 1.75" chop, and the chopped body gives a different perspective, but I sure do like the long doors on this car. The proportions just look better to my eye, the distance from the back of the door to the fender bulge, etc
I'm really liking the door size on this. Can we assume that you'll be grafting in the rounded top/back corner on this door?
Yes, I haven't started fitting the door jamb on the drivers side yet. That's the reason for turning the car around in the shop, so I have plenty of room to work.
Cut in flush and butt weld. I'm going to attempt to TIG it but my TIG skills arent the best. My plan is to use some pieces of the old 4 door roof, cut them apart, brush up on my TIG skills and then go to the car once I get my welding dialed in like I want.
I haven't oxy/acetalyne torch welded in a long time, but at one time I was good at that. I watched Gene Winfield work on a Merc they were chopping at the Autorama in Dallas a few years ago and I really like his "hammer welding" techniques.
This is always a good plan if you don't weld on a daily base. I will remind you as I do others, Clean clean clean metal! And both sides. Myself when doing Tig on Tin I seldom use Tig specific weld rods. I like .030 right off the spool. It just tends to do a good job for me and I have plenty of it. Tig rod in a cardboard Box on a shelf tends to draw moisture out in a Garage and then you have trouble.
Wow !!!! That’s all I got.... truly incredible from you saying over n over “ never done a project this big” “ I don’t have the skills” this that and the other. And the 3, 4, 5 I dunno 8 rust boxes you bought and somehow skillfully sliced and diced into a rig that’s gonna be bad ass when done, plus ya still have that chopped monstrosity sitting and waiting to get fixed !!! Hats off to you good sir, this thread has been a great read from back to front and front to back .
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