Back in the eighties, the change the laws in Sweden so you could build your own car from scratch. So 1988 i registered my own home-built car, it was a Model A type roadster copy. The only old parts where the hood and radiator. Fiberglass body home built frame and a lot of Volvo parts. Drove it 50 000 Miles over the years. But it ended up in storage, and i drove my 42 Coupe and later on my 33 Roadster instead. Since day one i wanted to have a Model A Tudor, but could not find a Tudor body back then. Five years ago i woke up up and saw an ad on the Webb, far up in the north of Sweden. So i bought, fortunately the seller had a to deliver another car close to where a live. So i did not have to go far to pick it up. Time flies so in July this year i was ready with my Wife's 1956 VW Convertible, so it was time for the body swap. Here is my home-built car. And here it ended up for some years. This is what i picked up 2005. Removed the Roadster body and sold it quickly. My sons helped my lift on the body on my chassis. We had to cut of a bit to clear my kick-up. Then it spent five year's in storage. Took some time to fix this one but that's for another Forum. Finally it was time for the body swap, and we rolled it out of storage. Then the work begun, had to strengthening the rear part of the body since i have a four inch kick-up in the rear. I have come i bit longer today, and will try to do a quick fast forward over the next days if it's OK?
When i had the car i the garage, i positioned the body so that the hood fitted to the radiator and the Tudor body. And made my first two body mounts, since i have a 50x100x3 mm square profile home built frame with a fiberglass body fitted. The original body mounts did not fit, o i made my own. Then i had to strengthening the rear, with some 20x40mm tubes. Fitted my 10.50x31 x 15 rear tires and they hit the original fender well and i could not use the Tudor rear fender mounts, so i cut them out before i strengthened the rear (mistake). The tire will grind against the original rear fender mounts. So i used my Roadster fenders instead. Since paper is cheaper than steel i made my paper patterns. Transfered to to my 1mm sheet on steel. I wanted a soft radius on my fender well, so i made this tool. Bent a nice radius. Used my Eastwood shrinker to get a radius the fit the fender. After some fiddling i was quite close. Fitted it the the body , and made a new paper pattern, for the inner part. Welded it into the body. Then i found out i had an brainfart, I had not thought to make enough space between the tire and the fender well. So i had to add another inch. I added a 1/4 inch rod in the bottom, so i would be able to lift of the body later. Then it was time to replace the rear missing bottom parts of the body
Now it was time to repace som rust. Marked 150mm from the bottom, so i should know where to place the new part. Took a peice of cardboard, scribed the radius from the rusted part, with the back-end of a screwdriver. Bent a 90 degree peice in the bottom. Used my cheap China bead roller to make a bead in the bottom Tried on the body. Had to do some minor rust repair on the inside. Then i welded it in place. A small start.
Very practical, your use of a Vise-Grip and shapes of steel. Also your wise use of sons is noted: I have 6, but only 4 are of the Hot Rod genre...one daughter is also into it. Your VW interest is shared, I worked on them professionally from 1956. My '66 113 sedan is still here... Your wife's convertible is beautiful...
With the rear part ready, i looked at the front lower corner. Marked where to cut and where it should sit. Had to cut out a bit more than i was thinking, as usual. Saved the paper this time, and marked the steel directly. Since this part was straight, i made it myself in the bead roller, and since i am an old fart i need LIGHT Bended the bottom in my homemade angle iron "bender", and checked against the original part. Cleaned and primed the inner parts. Fitted the panel on the inside of the body, so i could scribe a line where to cut. And welded it into place, guess i need a small amount of mud. Since the right door is the worst one, I went over to the left side. Remove the bad.
Had problems with "X" pictures, so i had to make two posts. Made a new panel drilled holes in the bottom for spot welds (the same on other-side). Made this a piece higher so i could do some hammer and dolly work. Then it was the rear part, you know the drill now. Done! Left front door, had to be fixed also. Bad spot welds my welder did not have a good day, so I had to give it some love. Made a pattern in plywood before i cut out the bottom. So i could check the shape of the door. Some hammer and dolly work and it looks OK. Will show the right door in next post.