Is nt that the truth about metal to paint! The granish molding are a bitch too...I know! Car looks so bitchin bro, nice work, love the switches in the useless ashtray....wish I would if thought of that!
Love this car. so clean. very nice on the eyes, no lines that look out of place which happens on a lot of customs. keep it up!
Love this car. so clean. very nice on the eyes, no lines that look out of place which happens on a lot of customs. keep it up!
That little arm with the cotter pin is keyed to slide into the latch, so when the solenoid is hit it turns the latch from the keyhole like the old key cylinder did, it just mounts in from the inside so it's kinda hard to tell when installed.
Thanks! BTW, I love your car. By far one of the best chops ever. Sincerely. Taking the time to quarter your roof makes it so distinct! Do you have any pics of when you did your garnish mouldings? Curious how you did them. I would have never thought it, but those where one of the most challenging things I've ever done.
Damn man, Than you, that means alot coming from someone building such an amazing car that will def be one of the most awesome kustoms built in our time! The quartered roof is how my buddy likes to chop them and it work well with the look I wanted, I dont have any clear shots of the garnish moldings (im surprised) but they were not as hard as yours were Im sure. We pretty much cut the front door moldings just like the doors were cut and added sections to them. Rear quarters got cut above the lower curve which stayed the same and we added a section to top like the window frame of body. The rear was not to bad because the lower and upper curve of the window stayed the same so we took a section out of the middle, it made them a little pointy in the raidious but you cant tell when there installed. The Front went straight down. They were still a bitch by the time there all finished tho..I can only imagine the thinking n cursin that took place doing those moldings with the chop and leaned B pillars! Hats off to ya brotha!! Great idea for trunk latch too btw
WOW!! You killed it! Amazing chop, A pillars looks sick and those tailights! DAMN!! Cant wait to see it painted, Great work man. Buzz Bomb
So the last update with pics was a little deceptive. It seems like everything on this car has been done twice. When we originally did the tailights, they looked out of proportion to the car, being that it was a subtle chop, they looked really low and stubby. Although they where the same height as Moonglow, but that car was chopped alot more, plus the bumper on that car was lowered like 3 inches which gives it the appearance of height in the rear. Anyhow, After I finished the right side, I was pretty devastated that it looked like shit. Roger was on tour, so without telling him I cut out the left side and changed it. It was kind of funny when he surprisingly stopped by the shop ( I wasn't expecting for another week) and caught me cutting his car apart even more. In the primer pic I posted, that was a rough first prime on the drivers quarter, the passenger side hadn't been changed since round 1. I ended up raising the taillights 7/8ths and extending them 5/8ths. Also moved the rear bumper down 3/4s and moved it back an inch. So here is the right quarter getting caught up to the left one. When we did the frenched antennas, that was lined up for the stock roof, with the chop the rear window was moved forward quite a bit, The catwalk panel and decklid arched, plus with the quarters being raised from the stock dropping slope, the antennas needed cut out and relocated. Heres where they are now. One night I was on the phone with eric, and was telling him how I thought something was wrong with the drivers side quarter, like it had a flat spot or something. I was right. There was like a 3/16th flat spot above the wheel well, so I bent a long piece of sheet metal and with a shrinker/ stretcher made a profile gauge for the tops of the quarters, and fabbed the passenger side to the right profile, but I had to cut back into the driver side and fix it. Also both sides needed some shrink spots right behind the wheel wells to take some crown out of the panels to keep the sides semi slab sided for the new height and length of the quarters. You can see the shrink spots on the driver's side in the above photos. I made top. side, and rear profile templates out of sheet metal, and now everything matches. I tried to go above and beyond the typical 53-54 chop, but these quarters are one of a kind and I didn't want any waves or any bullshit with them, they have to be perfect. I also wanted to sharpen the top peak just a tiny bit, so they were more in line with the fender creases, and the hood. Here's where shit goes away from what the original plan was. I am really bummed on this. Turns out I've got 4 months I need to spend with the Dept. of Corrections. I was planning on doing all the body and paint myself. It was kind of a deal I had worked out with Roger. I mean how often does the opportunity come up to build a semi high profile car where the owner will give you some room for interpretation on thier ideas, Plus after working for other shops for 7 to 8 years and getting no credit for your work, and then struggling for 3 years (I'm talking sometimes making 700 dollars in 2 months) trying to be self employed, getting to go full bore and show what you can really do, in a style you love, on a car that will hopefully get some recognition. I spent many sleepless nights thinking of 1959 and 60, and what could be done paint wise that nobody has done in awhile. Well I have run out of time. Going over a car like this takes alot of time, I mean every square inch has been gone over several times. Since the clock ran out, I will not be able to paint it, re assemble it, or even be there in person for it's debut at a show with some of my heroes in attendance. Maybe I'm being whiny, but fuck man, those have been my sole hopes and dreams for over a decade, and I've made a lot of sacrifices chasing a fools dream. To me there is a big differance between doing some work on a car, and doing the whole thing. Pretty much all hope is gone, and after my term with DOC I'm thinking of persuing another career. It's my fault, and I have to take my lumps, but honestly, it's pretty devastating. On the upside, Alex Gambino has been nice enough to step in and is gonna come out here and paint it. He's gonna kill it, and I'm stoked for that. I'm bummed I won't even be around to help. Here is the color Roger and I came up with. It's the shade at the end of the panel. HOK Fine Orian silver as a base, with the candy mixed pretty light, with Blue murano pearl mixed into the first 2 coats of candy, then just straight candy until the desired shade, on this panel 3 more coats. Alex is gonna be able to pull of some fades which is beyond my capabilities, so all in all it is good for Roger and the car, it is just a little bittersweet. Looks like my time to be a complete combo guy will have to be on one of my own cars sometime in the future. Fuck, it was so close...
Mike, the work you have done to Roger's car is astounding in both scale and beauty. You're a ruler, and this car is absolute proof of your creativity and craft. Chin up butter-nuts! You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, and every one of us who has been there to see this car being built is so fucking proud of you man!
man, i know it doesnt mean much comming from a faceless dude like me over the internet, but i still think you won. this car is outstanding and you have rasied the bar. i hear you on wanting to do the whole thing, but shit, you killed it on what you have done, and the cars gonna be outstanding regardless, and we will know how much you put into it.
Bum deal on your 4 month stint. Are we going to see updates through the paint, or is she out of your hands? I may go through withdrawals.