Absolutely Brilliant mate . Not a line or curve thats not working for me, I,m excited to see it in the flesh,maybe at this years Beat up?Johnny
I was looking at that front bumper and the overhead shot screams to me a perfect opportunity for a man with your skills to create something that hugs that front profile closely. A smaller blade style bumper that matches the contour. I know you didn't ask but... nice work still.
If ya need a little inspiration for color I think this might work. it’s a ‘36 by the way. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I like the maroon... even customised a Franklin Mint Darrin to get a feel for my ideas. Even matched the colour pretty good spraying red and brown enamel over each other for the parade boot. But I think I’ll go Havana Beige.... the original colour.
I would also go with the brighter colour. Its more elegant and makes the car look bigger and even more impressive. Sent from my Moto G (5S) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What color interior will you install with the Havana Beige (which will be sooooo classy)? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
4 pm knockoff..... had the other side welded in by 4.57pm. Saturday morning should be fun. One more sleep.
Been tweaking the hood gaps and bolt fastening points on the centre spine and made a couple of rubber stops to hold the hood sides in the up position. Lots of adjustments to go but it’s kind of academic until I get the other guard completed and hanging on the car as it’s tending to pull the radiator cowl with the weight of only one guard. But I’m confident that everything will fall into place.
I’d made one inner door so it was easy to flip it all over and mark out the opposite. Spot welding them together. Inner band is stainless which will get polished.
Amazing build- mad skills. Subscribed. My FJ was Frankston cream with bantry green/floral green elascofab. Maybe a lil' too '50's. These are cool- spectrum greens. Also, the dash upper/ door caps were rendered in metallichrome deep cool green ( a muted hue- plenty of greying in the green). This, of course, relates only to the use of the excellent Havana beige.
What a beautiful concept for a Packard. It's enjoyable watching your vision come together. I've always loved 30s Packard styling and you're customization is improving on it.
CadMad, I really appreciate your eye/skills in watching your build come together- thank you for sharing this thread! A buddy's friend is working on a '37 120 convertible, and is having horrible time trying to weld the body panels- even at low settings, he blowing through the metal almost immediately. I don't know what welder he's using, but any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
Gday Mate, without seeing the welder or knowing his prior welding experience it is difficult to give advise. I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s second nature , however sometimes I get the occasional blow thru. The most crucial thing is being able to see the weld close up . I buy cheap 2x reading glasses. Really makes a difference. Make sure he is using argon gas and .6 wire. The gasless wire is no good for these kind of repairs. Also technique is important I carefully align all panels and overlap the new piece and clamp in place and then carefully cut a 1mm gap using the thin discs and tack initially every 2 inches as I go. Keeping a 1mm gap. I use a offcut of metal to put in the gap as a lever to make sure the two pieces are perfectly aligned prior to tacking. This is the most crucial element. Misaligned panels cause lots of future drama. I only do the smallest dot of weld but with full penetration .Gradually halving the distance between dots moving around the panel so it doesn’t distort , cooling with a wet rag as I go, till there is only a half inch space right along the panel . With this done there should be minimal panel distortion. If there is , I gently tap the panel into alignment then I do a run of 4 or 5 dots in a row with full penetration. Cool it off go to the other side of panel and do the same. I use a 40 grit flapper disk to gently take off the top of the weld, cooling as I go . Then ever so carefully take the rest down with an 80 grit. Grinding carefully is paramount. I grind one way and then come in from the opposite direction. I barely touch the sheet metal, just the weld. Here is a 53 Eldo parade boot I repaired this week. It had a log fall on it back in the 60s and then was left in the weather for years. It was a mess. The edge was very thin and rusted between the overlap and drilling out the spotwelds left it too compromised to reuse.
I had already made up a rough prototype pantograph hinge mech which worked perfectly first go. So it was easy to remake both sides in Stainless which will polish up nicely so today I assembled one side up. I pregreased the 16mm shafts which fit perfectly in electrical conduit which will be the bearing surface. Pushed them in with the hydraulic press and tig’d the pins to the L brackets . Nice smooth operation with no hint of play. But regardless the locks either end are the locator so even if it was sloppy it wouldn’t matter. This hinge is ingenious..... wish I’d thought of it.
Another day , another little bit done. This time dash into door top transition and the fold down for the dip. Bit by bit .... that’s how you do it.
Saturday morning fun . Alignment of inner skin window gap with outer skin prior to spot welding the outer skin to the door frame. Getting ever so close but want everything to be right prior.
absolutely wonderful build , I'm in awe ,is that a Studebaker tub in the back ground , did you make it from a sedan or is it original
The Jalopy Journal
