I stumbled onto Dodgerodders Fordor build a while back and really liked what I saw. Then about a week ago I saw a posting on Craigslist for a Model A. So I go and check it out and low and behold its a Fordor. So after sitting on it for a week I called the guy back up and drug this home.
It's been awhile since my original post. Progress is being made. But alot of the stuff up to this point hasn't really waranted pictures, just all the small stuff that needs to happen to get a project moving. Anyway thanks to some additional info. from Dodgerodder, more pics, the project is finally making some noticable progress. Step 1: Make base to mount body onto.
are you going to keep it a fordor?, i have a similar project i have yet to start, i`m thinking of an extended cab pickup with 4 doors.
This was the first chop my brother and I have ever done. Very exciting. It's amazing how much the chop changes the whole attitude of the car. We still have some work to do to get it all back together. I do have a couple of questions regarding top chops: 1. Is it common to have to touch up areas to get a good fit? 2. When you start tacking do you start at a particular point? (ie. A pillars and work your way back) 3. I've heard about pie cutting at the doors to get the posts to line up, can somebody explaing this procedure?
there is a thread on here with some really nice pics of a model-a chop, shows his pie cuts on the posts, it was a fordor, now i cant find the thread, its here i know it. ok i found it, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142240&highlight=model-a+chop
Hey man that looks great-brings back memories! The platform thing worked out great for me, it helped keep it all square, hopefully its working out on yours too. For what it's worth, my input on your questions: 1. It is very common(for me). I probably had the roof on & off 74 times to get the fit right, but its worth the extra effort. The better your fit-up is, the easier the welding will go and the better the end result is. The exta time you spend here will pay off in the end 2. Once I got the fit where I wanted it, I tacked the whole thing in a few places in each area(each pillar, and the back section). Once it was all tacked, and still lined up well, I finished welding, skipping around to keep it cool and minimize distortion. You must get #3 right though before you can finish the doors..... 3. This step is simple, but needed to make the posts line up. Done right, it will mean very little finish work to get it into paint. Pie cutting is needed because once you cut the section of pillar out, the bottom section will be fatter then the top section, because there is a slight taper to the door posts-they get thinner toward the top. To fix it, all that is needed is a simple cut in the lower door post, so that you can pull it in to make it match up-SEE PIC: Weld it up and be done with it. The first door will take the longest-once you do one, the rest go really quick. Plus, you got four doors, so there's plenty of practice Keep up the great work. If you run into any questions, let me know. I might not have the best answer, but I'll have something after going thru it on mine already Dan
Looking good.....whatever happened to dodgerodders ride, did it get finished? That thing was (is) very cool.
Dan- Thanks for the post and encouragement. The info. you've posted here on the HAMB and sent has been a great help as well as very motivational. Are you still working on your RPU? I check for new posts from you all the time. Love the quality of your work. Mike
Man that looks cool. I know you said you were keeping it fordoor and that is friggin cool. It's not the same ol thing and the proportions look bad ass to me. Good Job
looks great . four doors are normally overlooked and cheaper, thats one reason i like them. keep up the good work.
Wanted to make a quick update. Been working on the lower subframe. Dan, you were right about that being alot of work. Also been doing some design work/layout to prepare myself for the frame build when its time. Check these out!
Finally gettin around to posting pics of the work my brother and I have been doing on the subframe. Dodgerodder wasn't kidding when he said it was alot of work. I gotta say if it wasn't for Dan's help and awesome build thread I'd be lost. Progress is slower than I'd hoped but I'm happy with the results. In the future I'm going to try to do a better job of making regular posts. First pic shows the subframe bars. These will tie the bottom of the car together front to back and form the frame for the floor to be channeled over the frame rails. Used two pieces of 1x2 tubing welded together to form a 1x4 rail. Here's a pic showing the cowl bracket that attaches the sub frame rail to the car. This pic show the support fabricated for the rear fender well. Sliced it so it could be bent to follow the shape of the fender well and then welded it back up. This support will also be used to tie the rear into the sub frame rail. This stuff isn't very exciting but very essential for a Fordor build. The body had no integrity with all the wood missing and it's going to require some major hours to get the body tied together as a unit before it can be placed on a frame. If you dig fabrication there's plenty required.
Nice project I have just picked up a 1930 fordor. I like the wooden base idea. Where did you get the dimensions for the width of the body at floor and the distance between the "b" pillars. I look forward to starting my build, just not sure where to start squaring it up first
Nice chop! what color you painting it? i missed it if you said it before. No offence to you, but i dont think ive ever seen a sedan or fordor hotrod that could actually fit people in the back.
adamcarp- The body fits perfectly on a 4'x8' sheet of plywood. I ended up replacing the OSB with a piece of melamine (sp?). The plywood was flexing to much, everytime I'd get into the car the base would flex. The melamine is much stiffer. I marked lines on the base every 1.5", this alowed me to position the body and locate it. Once I got it all where I wanted it I attached it to the base so it wouldn't move around. I don't have the B-Pillar distance with me but I can take a dimension and send it if you need it. Here's a sketch of the base:
Bought some material and started cutting it up for the frame rails for the Fordor. Went with 2x3x.18 tubing. Tacked the rails together and then laid out the cuts. After the cuts.
Looks like a good start man! Did you get your table all setup yet?? Word of advice for you... After doing this very same thing with my Fordor, the table could NOT have been too substantial! Add more supports and maybe even another sheet of plywood for good measure. Make that table as rigid as possible. Mine still worked out VERY well and everything is square, but towards the end of fabrication, things really started to go down hill. Tore that table up pretty good! Keep use posted! I want to see more!
Next up on the sub-frame endeavor was the B post. The original B post was a thin sheetmetal outer shell surrounding a wood pillar that ran from the floor up to the top. The wood was the structural member and gave the B post its integrity. My brother and I decided to remove all wood and replace it with a steel subframe. Here's how we approached the problem of rebuilding the B pillar without the wood. The plan we decided to pursue was to trim the B pillar, saving just the sheetmetal portion that you see from the outside the car. Here's some before and after pics of the trimming of the B pillar. Here's a pic showing the outside. The stuff that was trimmed away made up the door jams. First I welded a piece of flat stock to the trimmed sheetmetal to give the jam some integrity. So now the jam has some integrity just need to fabricate some new jams. First I made a template that matched the shape of the sheetmetal and cut them out. Here's a rough mock up pic of how the jams will be attached to form the finished B pillar. Well that's it for now. Stay tuned next time I'll finish fine tuning the jams and weld up my new B pillar.
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