Hot Rods 31 Model A Victoria Build w/Pics – Miss Vicky

Brendan, you may just be kidding, but I'll offer you this advice anyway.

You should seriously consider how you will most often use the truck. If it is to be a show, pleasure, fun vehicle, then a hemi could be a good choice. If you plan to drive it a lot and drive long distances where gas mileage, dependability and parts availability are real considerations, you may want to stick with the small block Ford.

Beyond that, the other most important consideration is the build cost. I had less than half the money I've put into this hemi in my completely rebuilt, turn key, tri-power 283. Hemis, Rockets, Nailheads and pretty much any other obscure engine will cost a lot more to put together.

So did you show OJ the videos?

 

Sounds great!

 

The truck will be for cruising around town and will be a show piece. A Hemi in a 56 just looks good and the idea sounds right. I'm doing a Mustang build also that will be for going fast and going long distances reliably, so all that will be out of my system. I had a plan to do the truck with Ford parts only but a small block Ford just seems a bit boring. I know a Hemi will blow the budget but at this point I figured what the hell haha.

OJ is in Florida visiting family I'll show him when he gets back

 

OK then, go for it! A hemi would really fill all the open space in that engine bay.

Since money is no object,, Ford did make hemis of their own. They called them Boss 429s and Cammers. Either one would allow you to still do the Ford in a Ford thing.

 

Haha no way on the Ford Hemi, I never even seen one can't imagine what those cost haha. The Chrysler Hemi just gives that hot rod vibe especially in that 2nd video you posted, it's just got that grunt to it, just bad ass. What are the details on the motor? Or is there a post in this thread with all the details.

 

The motor actually sounds more radical than I expected, but it's really a pretty mild build – 1956 354, 9:1 compression, .040 over bore, Isky 280 mega cam and the 2x4 set up.

 

Yeah but Hemi's are awesome even mild. Sounds like a good setup. What about all the machining where was that done?

 

Ballos Precision Machine in Richmond. They build lots of obscure stuff – flatheads, jimmy sixes, a Boss 429, straight 8s, FEs, Caddys, you name it. They've even got a Caterpillar head in right now. Of course they also do the usual stuff too.

 

Awesome, hope you bring it by the shop one day, would love to hear it in person.

Also I went through the whole thread, great work! Only question is when are you gonna upgrade to TIG? Haha just kiddin, the MIG works just fine

 

Ha Ha, thanks man. I really want a tig, but for a home hobbiest like me, it's a sizable investment for something I wouldn't use a whole lot. I want to get a blast cabinet and a good vertical band saw first. But I regularly cruise Craigslist for a good used tig set up.

 

Dave, Hemi is sounding nice!

 

Absolutely awesome man! I just picked up a 31 Vicky haha It to is a leather back. Love what you did with all the detail. great thread, great info and awesome job. Love this car.

did you slant your posts back when you did the chop?

 

Thanks Robert.

Thanks man. No, I didn't slant the A-pillars back with the chop. I was able to extend the top length with the extra material from the 32 header.

There's another big body mod coming soon – I'm going to lean the back window forward about an inch starting very soon. Then I'll finally shoot some shiny paint on her.

 

I got my E-brake (LoKar) done this weekend.

It went in pretty easily, but I did have to make my own bracket for the cables because there was a tube crossmember (blue) in the way and the bracket needed to go right about where my seat belts bolted through the floor. So I fabbed up a combo seat belt and E-brake cable bracket (raw steel in the pics).

 

Very clean Dave- nice work.

 

I'm all aboard. I think this was a great idea!!! Love the new engine, in fact it might be one of the prettiest hemi's I've seen yet!! Nice work buddy!! Is it going to be at Jalopy Showdown in May?

 

It Looks and Sounds Great! Nice Job Dave!

 

I started leaning the rear window forward this weekend. First I found the peak of the curve where the top transitions to the vertical part of the back window.




Then I cut the sheet metal out.






Then I took the wood out.






Next I trimmed a total of an inch off the top and rear section at the top corner where they meet and tacked the center top and center below the window opening so I could figure the rest out. I'll definitely need relief cuts in the corners. You can see the new forward angle of the back window in this pic.

 

You're a maniac, Dave! I love it!

 

Dave,

I had forgotten that the Vicky bodies had an all wood subframe. Kind of like the old GM stuff. How much is it chopped?

Ted

 

Dave, now that's really committing to an idea! It's all in the details..

 

So, I guess you have to refit all the woodwork, figure out how to reattach it, remove it, weld the rear panel back in, do whatever hammer and dolly work is needed, reinstall the wood, prime and paint. That should take about a day on a TV car show, maybe finished by Fall in real life. Bob

 

Thanks Scott. I wouldn't say maniac though, just a stickler for details. This is nothing compared to what I've already done to this body, and my metal finishing skills are better than ever.

It's chopped 2-1/4 inches. I replaced the wood subrails with 1x2 steel tubing, but the rest of the body wood is still in place. The doors and cowl are all steel. When I chopped it, I chopped the rear skin separate from wooden structure and then chopped the wood. That way I could rejoin the wood with mortise and tenon joints just like original.

I also put in a 32 header and windshield, a 31 sedan rear window section, 32 sedan body lines on the C-pillars, 33 truck cowl vent, I curved the lower cowl body line, rounded the front door corners, extended the belt line all the way to the hood opening on the cowl and shaved the cowl band beads.

You're right Robert. I've learned a ton from your workshops and watching your threads – so thank you.

I'd say I'll be finished with the entire mod by mid April with the exception of finish body work Bob.

I removed the wood at the original joints, so after some trimming, it should go back in fairly easily with glue and screws just like before. The only part that the body was nailed to was the rear window, and I'll just nail that part back together. I hope to have the car painted by early summer and reassembled and on the road for the fall season. It will be finished with the exception of a headliner and carpet.

 

Keep cutting on that car and you're gonna have to rename it Phyllis Diller. Looks pretty sweet though.

 

Excellent work Dave....Wish I had paid more attention to building and working on cars back in the day instead of just driving the PISS out of them. Would have also had more money to do it with instead of paying for all those damn tickets....Howard

 

Now time for some slicing and dicing....

 

Stop teasin' us.....let's see the rest of it tacked in....

 

Are you stretching or adding & stretching?

 

That's right Robert. Thank you for your advise. I thought I'd post it for the benefit of others. I'll be working on the method you've described this weekend.


My question to MP&C was this:

Because of the convex curve I'm dealing with, the tacks are causing the seam to shrink inward. When I hammer the tacks to stretch the joint back out, should I hammer the high point from the outside off dolly, or hammer directly on the seam from the inside off dolly?

Or should I hammer on dolly directly on the tacks?


And Robert's answer was this:

Let me explain just a bit to help you see what's going on first, many times it helps out with the fixin part..

When you tacked the roof panel on the outside crown, you likely saw just a bit more weld proud on the outside than you do on the inside. So when the weld dot cools off and starts the shrinking process, there is more mass on the outside to shrink, so it pulls more there, thus the dip in the seam.......

When it shrinks, the weld dot pulls from all directions. So it is most effective to planish each dot one at a time to stretch it back out again. You're using EZ grind, correct? Looks like it anyhow...

Now, I don't know what you have for a dolly, but you want it to closely match the back side as much as possible. So for that radius, this may mean getting a chunk of steel round bar or thick wall pipe that matches the inside. Keep in mind you also have a crown side to side, so you may have to use the lathe / get out the grinder to relieve the sharp edges on the dolly so it matches in both directions. I think getting this dolly to fit that inside radius will help to restore the contour, and you want on-dolly. When you strike the hammer on the outside part of the weld, you should hear that metal on metal ring. I've also used that ring to locate a dolly, very light taps won't affect the metal but you'll still hear the ring when the hammer and dolly align.. Now located, a couple of good raps on that dot should help restore the crown, grind 'em down and repeat..

Disclaimer!

If those suggestions don't seem to want to rectify the issue, then perhaps tacking from the inside will help, or alternate one set of tacks from outside, next set from inside. Whatever makes it work for you. Let me know if it helps...

Sorry Al, I really haven't worked on it this week, so there's nothing new to show.

As MP&C mentioned above, I'll be slicing and dicing, I.E. doing some relief cuts so the compound curves line up. There will also be a need to add a thin strip of metal to the resulting gap on the C-pillar.