I started this car way back in 2005 w/ a chop top and didnt do much more but drive it since then. So heres an update, This car is now off the road and wont go back on till its finished which should be this year. I knew the floors needed some patches but I didnt realize how bad they were. When the carpet was removed and the rusty floor was cut out I also found out the body mounts were shot. Also in that pic you might notice there is no inner rockers (theyre is now!). Call me stupid but I never realized it. I chopped that top AND DROVE that car for several years w/ hardly a body mount and only outer rocker skins!! Floors are heavy gauge shelving unit metal (cost? free!) next up was time to start the body work. Doors were first up for patches. My pops has access to sheet metal brakes where he works so I had him bend up some pcs. While doing the patches I realized I might as well radius the corners too. so I made a radius gauge to keed them all the same While waiting for pops to bend the next panel, I got impatiant and decided to make my own brake. It took me a week to finish, but man has it came in handy moving on, Just jump right in and cut out any bad areas! I have a problem w/ getting started on something. Ill stare at it for hrs or days before I figure out how I want to deal w/ it then I just make some drastic move like cutting the entire bad area off. Once its off, then im all set to continue on (as if I have a choice at that time). this pc also helped w/ tieing in the radius door corner . one problem area done, how many more to go? Of course the door jamb has to be reworked for the radius corners too. In this pic you can also see the new rocker panels top edge. I found this to be a super easy way to get all the gaps nice and even, just cut off the old ones and weld new ones on straight w/ the rear of the door done, This ugly rea was next. The molded lakes by the previous owner were packed w/ bondo between the rocker and the molding pipe. All that was scraped out and readied for welding. all welded up and figured I might as well radius the front corner while im at it, LOL The wind splints (I think thats what theyre called) that were added to the '49 ford lights where pretty crude. Once again I stared at them for a couple days , then just cut them off W/ all the weld splatter, I also covered over the gas cap so that has now been relocated to the trunk area w/ a nonvented cap and the filler neck was tapped in the wheelwell area for a vent line. drivers side done. second verse, same as the first. Thats where Im at for now, hopefully Ill keep the ball rolling! jeff
this was how she looked they day I brought it home back in '05 and this is the way it looked for the last 6 yrs w/ me putting off finishing it. jeff
Thanks for this picture. I've been agonizing over how to shape the B pillars on my '51 cranbrook. I'm going to keep them vertical like yours. Car looks great!
Some people asked about pics from the chop top. Sooo I went way back to 2005 and grabbed some pics from the site I posted them on back then. Hopefully theses pics might help someone. this was about 2 wks after I bought the car, Alot done but at this point I had no idea how much work I had left to do. then it was back in the shop to figure out the rear window I decided to just reuse the original back window so we went from this to this: jeff
slowly but surely im making some progress here. Passenger side was pretty much the the same as the drivers, that meaning old repairs that needed to be redone and rust . there was some rott where the stainless trim was (of course it was filled in w/ bondo) and rott along the top edge of the fender (again, all filled in w/ bondo) also some new patches on the bottom of the front fender which tie in the lake pipe moulding and door corner radius. one more corner rad on the back edge of the door there was some funky stuff going on w/ the door gap so that needed some work A pc of motavation also showed up in the shop too. the bumpers were picked up fro the platers on Saturday. I wish chroming wasnt so dam $$. thats pretty much the metal work for the drivers and pass side. Im thinking of doing the body work on everything ive done so far just so I can get it in primer. then ill go back to the front and back. Im wanting to do '53 '54 buick headlights so if anyone has them to sell, shoot me a pm. thats it for now, jeff
Finally found a direction to go w/ on the front end. Im still working out some ideas in my head such as how I want the grill opening to look. So far this is all I got. Jeff
Wow, very Kool! lots of hard work, but must be done. headlights look good. ideas on future color yet? leaving interior stock? what upgrades done to drive train, suspension?
Thanks, The color hasnt been picked exactly, but it will be a light (silvery) green met. w/ a white roof and possibly white scallops. Interior is stock benches from a '51 ford that will be covered in white pleated vinyl from ez boy (just got all that stuff in last week). The drivtrain was done by the previous owner and its just a tired 318 and auto trans. The engine will get redone while the body work and primer "cure" . Jeff
Very nice metal work. I like the Buick headlights and the reshaped grille opening as well. Should look nice with the stock grille bar. Has anyone ever added 2 more teeth to a 51-52 Plymouth grille bar? Seems like that'd be a natural, but I don't think I've ever seen it done. Just curious.
Still trying to get motivated on the front end but Im having trouble picking a spot to start. so for now Ill just keep bouncing around. Im thinking I want a large radius like a merc surround but w/ out the cost. I found these pcs of 3" tubing at the local muffler shop for $10 so that set the direction. The shop dosent do mandrel bends and I recently got a TIG welder that I need to learn how to use , so...... jeff
amazing, loving the attitude. I use shelving too for my sheetmetal work. i always seem to find loads of them at the local scrapyard or at work. nothin's better than free material. Now, about the break. can you by any chance post a pic by pic how to? i need to make myself one too. Thanx. and keeps it real
Great work savin' another MoPar. Your metal skills are really paying off! Stay MoPar with drivetrain if possible.
any updates? your car is lookin killer man. its nice to see someone doin that much to a early 50's plymouth. i wish i had some of your talent to get mine lookin like that
been having trouble staying motivated on this project but Im back on it again. Still pluggin away on the front end work. a little more rust repair then onto the bumper filler panel w/ a little sectioning and smoothing and lumpy hole removing. mmmm.... smooth jeff
I also started to blend the front fender into the '53 buick light. so far, so good Im not quite happy w/ the 3" tubing that I used to make the surround w (in previous pics), Im thinking that 5" would give more of the look Im going after so that may need to be redone. Jeff
I think this will work out pretty good. Took me way to long to bend this the way I wanted but then again I was using just my knee and a dolly in the vise. When you guys do something like this do you leave the original fender underneath for strength or......???? I was thinking of drilling a bunch of more large holes in the old fender so I can spray paint inbetween the two plus it would help to prevent moisture between them also?
There is Bloxide weldable primer from Eastwood. I have seen people use stuff like POR 15 behind patch panels, I always wondered if you could weld on that stuff...
finally scored some 5" exhaust tubing so that I could redo the grill surround. Id say bigger is better! I started doing a little TIG practice and welding up the slices and then ran out of gas, DAM IT, I left the bottle on the last time. Jeff
The Jalopy Journal
