rebuilding a homebuilt sedan

since my thread of some some of my work had such a warm response, i figured i would start posting some current build threads of cars in the shop. this guy wanted a RR but the more i did he realized he wanted a hot rod. just with some modern touched like air ride.

so the customer was telling me about this car they had bought, and it was hard to understand what he was talking about until it showed up at the shop. it was a model a cowl and the rest was home built. the people who built it are from the lexington ky area and go by the rats nest rods, or something like that. so watch out if you deal with them

this car was a basket case, body and frame!!!!! frame had cold welds, even missed some of the seams completely. frame was about 2 inches off the ground at ride height, the front suspension was horrible, no adjustment in the bones.... the list goes on and on, but thats enough of that.

so i am building a new chassis, re doing all the suspension, a real ford body. pretty much starting over from scratch to make this safe to be driven. here are some before pics and some of progress as of now

before

 

nice work ...jones rnc

 

Build looks amazing! I like how you do things, build safety into it as you go but still keep it looking vintage. You guys do some excellent work, if I ever make it down that way I would love to stop by and see your shop. The car looks great so far, can't wait to see the finished product!!

 

I like the way you build stuff. The previous work shows some good examples of what not to do, but to see it come out of a 'commercial' shop is a real shame. Keep it up and keep showing us your work. Thanks for sharing.

 

build pics are always fun to look at. thanks for posting.What steering box is that?

 

Love the build pics. Like the way the front spring is mounted under the bones. Never seen that done like that before.

 

your tack welds are better than their finish welds.....


that skeers me. Kentucky, you say.....

 

wep, the steering box is a reversed corvair box

worked on the steering on this one for most of the day, took the steering box apart. lengthened the the out put shaft. then added a splined section. made a pitman arm, and cut down a new speedway column. going to get all the links done tomorrow and see how it works,

doing the machine work to the out put shaft





pitman arm in the making









column drop mount tab

 

Looks like that thing started off as one heck of a cluster. Your work is on point though, making us younger guys look!

 

here are some more pics of working on the dash, and more on the steering

 

Looks real good...

 

Very nice work Mike,Top of the line just like the chassis you guys build, by the way the dragster is coming right along, stop out if you get out this way before the snow flies Tim Jones

 

Fabulous work..........thanks for the inspiration!

 

Thanks guys!

Tim you need to do a build thread of your digger so I can see how its coming along. Your going to have it doneto before christmas ? Sounds like you have been flying along on it

 

Yeah I need to get that thread started, had to slow down on it hit the dreaded lack of funds road block, plus I bought the fighting Irish 72 satelite funny car, thats what happens when your my age and live alone with 3 dogs , nobody to tell you NO!!

 

very cool, i will have to swing by next time i am out that way

 

Are you going to put a support bearing (connected to the tubular structure under the cowl) for the extended steering shaft?

 

yea there will be a support bearing, i dont have a pic of it, but i already bent and tacked up another tube similar to the one for the steering box itself, that will hold the bearing as close to the body as possible

 

Very nice

 

got some more work done on the steering. pretty much got it all buttoned up for the most part. made new column mounts, bored a brass bushing, and cut a groove in the bushing for a snap ring to hold it in place. so nothing to spectacular.

support bushing bracket


in place


one of the steering shaft mounts



replaced the connecting rod with another bracket for the front column mount


will take some better pics tomorrow of the whole set up. forgot to so it today

 

worked on the floor skeleton a little today.









and took a few more pics of the steering parts under the dash area

 

Great fab work, looks great. Thats going to be a cool ride.

 

Very nice!

 

thanks a lot guys

 

Very nice chop on the car! How much did you take out? 6"?