Been looking for a project and wanted to build a sedan but wasnt sure what untill i found this 37 Ford on CL. It was about 45 min away so off to see it. Im no expert but I thought it looked good. It was chopped 3" body was very solid, has M II front suspension, 9" and all new floor sheet metal to be installed. 7k later its mine. So I been working on the chassis and I had noticed that some of the chop was messed up, like the back window was chopped in 2 diferent places side to side. So we gotta fix that. And the doors didnt line up right, gonna suicide them anyway so no problem. Oh and the drip rails are gone so we gotta fix that too. But we need to get all the bondo off of her and see what were working with, so My buddy thats going to do some of the fixing has a spot opening in his shop so off to the blaster the body goes so we can see whats under her dress. AND heres the rest of the story!
I was going to say at least they fully welded it!!...but then i saw the spot welds...Unfortunately this is what so many chopped cars look like under all the gallons of mud...Sucks but fixable...
Ya need a licence to carry a gun and drive a car,aint it a shame ya don't need one to use a mig,tmo anyway !
They have magnets that can tell you how thick paint (along with whatever else is between) is on sheet metal.. Bring one with you whenever you're about to make a deal on a car.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727825 Welcome brother bad chop! Mines not so bad now but holy crap the hours I've put into fixing her so far are crazy! Near had to get a dump truck just to get rid of the bondo.
I won't tell you I paid almost 25k for mine but thank god they are rare as rocking horse crap here so I still may not go broke yet.
I kinda knew what I was in for but I needed to own her. Next time ..... I will leave the need to own at home and carry a magnet.
Look forward to the save, glad you found a doner body. There was a '36 3Window build/save here years ago that was a lot worse to start with, and turned into one of the nicest finished cars. Bob
Yeah thats bad but I got to agree with 37 Kid, that 3 window a few years ago WAS worst. Always sucks to find crap work under bondo, your not the first one to feel the pain. Look at it this way, you have the opportunity to save her from an ugly previous life.
That donor body looks pretty good. Not sure if I would use it. Find a donor roof instead, Id skin a car for the roof and lay it on top your car, trim the crap out and place a new sheetmetal center. hope that makes sense.
Edsel ,putting on a new roof skin would be ok if that was all the car needed...but that car needs waaaay more than that!!!
Holy shit balls, what's the welding on the chassis like?? If it was done by the same guy I'd say you're in for more. Scotty