Not so much! I've got engine parts ordered for months now, that are delaying building the engine (can't get cam cores, Edelbrock not filling orders).Did a lot of welding to finish up the exhaust, and now working on 'sectioning' the rear bumper overrider, so the tailgate can open completely. Been busy building other guys cars, in the meantime!
My next step is building the engine. I order a cam and lifter in march, and just got them a couple weeks ago! Meanwhile, 455 block bored 0.030, new pistons, rings and bearings are here. Now waiting on the crank. Out being polished, or cut, whatever it needs. Once the engine is painted and installed, I can assemble the front sheet metal and continue. Meanwhile, building other guys' cars!
Since the Olds never made a wagon in 56, there were a lot of modifications to do to get things to work right. A small matter, was that the tailgate, when opened, would hit the license plate guard on the back bumper. I couldn't eliminate it, as the bumper was formed around it, so I had to "section" it to make it shorter. Not easy for an angled part. Not easy, as it had to be chrome plated afterwards, so the metalwork had to be pretty good. I cut and welded it, and had to add a 2 inch piece to the center of the guard, due to the angled top not reaching the widened bottom. I TIGed it together, but then had to use lead to finish off the welds, and fill the low areas. It's not quite perfect, as it's difficult to work with hot lead, but my plater will now copper plate it, and I can add more solder, without affecting my previous work, to perfect it.
I always heard to not use lead on a part that needs to be chrome plated but silver brazing instead, which is what I always used. Any input on this?
Forgot to update! Engine is assembled, painted, and installed. Now getting all the necessary things bolted to it, to get it running. Have to do surgery on the rad support, to fit the new chassis, inner wheel wells, too. But so far, so good. Since I got the car completely disassembled, I had to do a lot of trial and error, as well as soliciting advice on what parts go where (as well as a bunch of my 53 Lincoln's parts mixed up with it). Sheet metal, and also various brackets and pulleys from 2 different engines, maybe complete, maybe not! Finished up a 66 Skylark Kustom for a friend, as well as working on Tony Ray's 51 Ford (he has a build thread here, too)
Lots of non-traditional stuff going on to get the car reliable and running. Hope it doesn't "offend" anyone! Modified the front wheel wells, and radiator support to fit the different suspension, and be able to run a 4 core alum. radiator, to cool the big 455. Painted the front end inner sheet metal, but have to go over the undercoating. I bought a gallon of cheaper stuff, and it split and peeled on me. Upol Bedliner going on after I knock off the bad stuff. Semi-Frenched the headlights. Since I'm going for more of a "concept car" vibe, instead of Kustom, I wanted to keep the stock bezels, but the Kustom guy in me wanted to change them, too. So, I compromised. I cut off the outer part of the bezel, just using the inner, and extended the fender to meet the cut down bezel. Also been getting stuff back from the platers..front and rear bumper from Tri-City Plating, and pot metal and brackets, pulleys, from Super Chrome in NJ.
X2! So cool. And great compliment. But actually understandable why no one's done it before. Look at all that work... vision... commitment. It's gonna be sumpin'.
This thing is awesome in person! There is a lot more done but some idiot brought a shoebox to him and he been spending a lot of time on that..
As we all know, customer projects usually have priority over personal ones! Besides getting the engine just about ready to fire, I got the dash body worked painted, and buffed. Started assembling it (also made AC duct pods in the dash). Bought a new windshield at Carlisle, went to cut it, and broke it. Made a fan shroud, as the fan extended below the radiator by a couple inches. Hoping to start it soon, and find another windshield, maybe a good original one. The new ones are thinner!
New Year's progress report. Almost nothing new! Still searching for a good 'old' windshield, and finally got out all the bracket/pulley/fan/shroud issues figured out, so it's ready to fire the new engine. Haven't been loafing, though, I did get Tony Ray's 51 shoebox finished (for now), and running and driving. He'll be back in fall for paint. Also finished the bodywork on the rusty 57 Olds I've been patching up, got the Candy Apple red stripe painted, and then shot the back half in Caddy Diamond White pearl, with extra gold pearl mixed in. Then the Holidays, and a sinus infection halted all work in the shop! Hoping 2023 will work out better for building the Olds-Mad. I do have an upholstery guy lined up, and materials chosen, and bought.
Mid year progress report! Engine is running, and broken in, no issues! Brake system also up and running, should move on it's own now. The biggest problem I've had since, is the windshield. I bought a brand new one at Carlisle, from Auto City Glass. right before the next Carlisle event, the guys decided I should try to cut it, just in case it broke, I could buy another one! Lots of faith in me! Well, I did break it. It's the second brand new one I've tried to cut, and broke. With the old original windshields, I've got a much better track record, around 4 out of 5 not broken. So I've been searching for an original glass, and finally found one in a junkyard in Philly. Paid WAYYYY too much for it, and it has a star crack right in the driver's view. But, I brought it home. After trying all winter to buy bags of dry sand, to blast it, I finally just went to Tractor Supply and bought some Black Diamond. Since I'm blasting outside, it's hard to try and recycle it, so lots of wasted money. But it did the job! Did more little things, like building a coolant overflow tank, making new doors for the fresh air vents, as I removed the factory housings to put the break booster on the firewall. Lots of little stuff, but I foresee driving it by the end of the year! Next hurdle is to try and get the Nomad seat to work in the Olds body. The rear end kick up is around 4 inches higher in the Olds, so the seat has to fold down, but raise up 4 inches to match the cargo floor, and rear kick up. I'm guessing custom hinges are in the future! Oh, and I'm working with a bunch of rotten wood, and rusty metal, that call themselves "a seat".
Been a while, but I'm pretty slow! Did finish bodywork on a nice 55 Chevy, HOK Orion Silver and Candy Apply Red on the roof. As well as some other work, including helping put Kenny's 54 Plymouth on newly fabricated chassis with C4 Vette suspension. As for the Olds-Mad, serious surface rust inside the roof made me remove the roof support rails, (millions of spot welds!!!!!), repair the rot, sand, abrade, and acid scrub the rust, and put it all together again. I also stripped the interior sheet metal to bare, and epoxy and Zolatoned it. Next, I wan to try to fit up the glass in the quarters, but seems the curved glass gaskets are unavailable, for the time being. Guy who made them supposedly went out of business during CoVid. But I keep looking!
Still on it, still looking for a front windshield. Spent almost 3 weeks straightening and polishing the '98' side trim, and some of the Nomad side glass trim. When going to install the trim above the doors, they came up too short. SO luckily, I had a few extra pieces of Nomad trim, and I cut one up to extend the stainless rain gutter covers. Now I have to figure out how to do the roof rail seal, as they aren't being made any more, and I only have one! Also found rot under the factory lead seam, so off it went, and replaced with some steel.
The Jalopy Journal
