Well they all have to start somewhere and some time right? OK. I have always admired Sams build style and his taste in cars...I always dreamed of being able to go back in time and go to him and say here is my car...."fix it" So with that in mind here is my plan. I work in a shop with an old guy that is 68 years old, he is a huge custom car nut also, we both have studied Sams style and have been over every inch of most maijor customs and older rods, and between the two of us I really think we have a pretty good "eye" for what Sam would have done with my car, so please follow along with me on my journey as I start the first of my 2 Sam Barris builds for my life, the first will be just as his was a 40's ford, I am going to go for a car that is dated no newer than 1953, in other words everything on this car will be older than 1953, the only exceptions to this will be the car will have modern rubber wraped wiring, it will have new glass in it, it will however be tinted green, and the car will have a superbell axle with poly bushings, I am going to grind the axle smooth and paint it, and the bushings will all be black so that should not show, and I plan on running goodyear bias tires also. The car will have a maijor chop, around 5" front, rear not sure, just lay it down till it looks about right, thinking 48 cad grill, 49 merc taillights, lincoln pushbutton doors, no fadeaway, dont care for that, no driprail, nosed, decked, frenched headlights, cad caps, or I might run a set of lions caps that I have...49 plymouth or 50 chrysler bumpers, I have both...skirts for sure, either dark green with white interior, or black with a dark maroon interior for colors. Here is the car as of right now, just about finished stripping it, getting ready to blast it then start cutting it up! Jim
Cool I will be watching....this forum is designed for this style build. I can agree with the new axle and wiring.
The rear fenders have been cut for slicks, so I am thinking about buying a 2-door sedan for parts...are the rear fenders the same on a coupe and a sedan? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Can I get opinions, since I am trying to decide on the rear fenders, I was reading the little segment in the new Rod & Kulture about using the 41 Buick skirts on a 39/40 merc, and I was wondering if it would look good to do a set of flush fit skirts, or if I should stick with the skirts that lay over the fenders like original fitment, I know the flush fit skirts came along a little later but I am going to shave the drip rail and all the chrome so I thought this would aid in the smooth look, but I didnt want to hurt the early look of the car. So can I get some opinions please?? Thanks, Jim
Hello....its me again margret!! well its me anyways...I am a sore S.O.B.! I worked my ass off the last couple days and got the body stripped and got it off the frame, did a little pulling on the frame, it is now spot on square, so I can start working on it but I need somones help on here PLEASE!! I need someone to chop my car for me, I would like someone to photoshop like 5" and 6" and 7" out of my top, I took pics of the car with a tape measure taped to the door, the tape marks are 2' so that will help give you scale, I hope someone can do this for me, I would really love it if you could, it would be a huge help! I want the car radical, but not out of poprtion at the same time, so please, help! Thanks, Jim.
Some shots from today.....Check out the beautiful rear suspension!!! I was so impressed!! A real craftsman at work on this car at one time!! Check out the last pic, that is me pointing out a brace on one of the locating arms, instead of splitting the rear bones they used these 1" square tubes that I would not make a swing set out of, and I guess the drivers side started to buckle so they braced it up, you can see the nice job they did, now my fingers are shown in actual size here....LOL! Jim
Jim, if 46-48 Merc rear fenders are the same (I think they might be except for the trim and tail light holes), I have a pretty decent passenger side one you can have. The bottom edge will need a little work, though. It's left over from building the front desk at the office. Just my luck…it was the best panel on the car but the only panel I didn't use. LOL
Cool Dave! I may take you up on that! I am on the hunt for parts thats for sure, I need front fenders also, it had a tilt fiberglass front clip on it.....really nice..LOL!
Yeah, tilt fiberglass is a bit out of place on a custom. Can't help you with front fenders though....turned my bent and rusted pile into a desk. LOL That rear fender is just sitting here if and when you need it. Next time I head your way, I'll see if I can bring it along to you. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
OK everyone......sorry I have not updated you in so long...these cars are a hard one to chop!!! WOW!! I cut the car 4", then 5", and finally 6" at the A-pillar, I was finally happy with that, I blasted the body and frame with my DB-500 media blaster, I know there is a thread on here about using this system, I gotta say.....this system kicks ass!! I stripped my car and frame in about an hour and it had who knows how many coats of paint and primer on it, not to mention somone had knocked in the chrome holes and filled them all with fiberglass...So anyways I will start with some pics...here is the car stripped bare..
Started marking and making my first cuts....really was not that sure of what I was doing, I had looked at several how to's and a few on here but none that were quite like what I want my car to look like. So I just pretty much dove in and started marking and cutting, I decided to cut the entire rear window out like I had seen done on a couple other chops, and like I said ended up with a 6" chop in the front and about 6.5" at the B-pillar the rear I dont know...I did a ton of bracing...it was not enough, the car still moved a little, so if you are looking at doing one, brace, brace, brace, and then when you are done, brace a little more..Some more pics..
OK, now this set of pics is where it starts coming together....it starts looking like there may be some hope for it afterall!!! Jim.
How much did you take out of the a pillar and c pillar. When cutting out the 1/4 window did you cut the roof to line the b pillars up? Thx. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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