Hot Rods Just Another 5-Window Build Thread

Looks great!! Well Done!!

 

Thank you - I was pumped before but not like this!!!

 

Looks great! Don't rush it. Enjoy the process.

 

Thanks ... I will!

 

She's a beauty. All your hard work is paying off. I too like the stock body look.

 

Fantastic!

 

You did a remarkable job. I too like the 5 window without a chop, and this one will turn a lot of heads!

 

Thanks so much, guys - I really appreciate your support ....

 

Worked on a few things today - since it was so nice out I painted my gas tank ....

The rest was not really picture worthy but I finished up with the body bolts, finished the battery mount, started connecting things under the dash: ignition pull, hl switch, interior light switches, pull cable for the heater valve, side marker/ signal lamps in. I also made a template for a part of my next build - that was between coats on the gas tank. Basically I kept going till I ran out of gas (me!) - tomorrow is another day. It should be nice weather again tomorrow so I am going to try and finish up the HL buckets. While the weather is nice I am trying to do the "dirty" stuff outside. The connecting of all the wires can wait for later on this week when it's supposed to be rainy.

I will post more pics tomorrow .....

 

Looking really good Tom, and that's good planning, doing the "dirty" stuff outside and saving the tedious stuff for when you can't be outside enjoying good weather.
Been really nice the last few days down here in GA also, and I keep finding things to do outside myself.

 

Thank you - I know it's just a shop but I work outside whenever I can. I live in a forest (relatively speaking) so it's usually cooler out than in. With a couple fans, I am golden for the most part. Winter is another story but fortunately for us it's usually not all that long/cold/snowy.

 

Here's the gas tank ...

I worked on the hl buckets today - here is what I started with ....

Both were pretty much the same. At the time, I just ground off the area where the HL mount would be for mock up purposes. After I got them ground off ....

I then used some Bondo - not much, really as two coats did it. The finished product, with all of their patina left in tact (pics don't really show that) turned out pretty well ...


I also did a bunch of smalls - connected the temp sensor to the block, did some work on the line for the oil pressure gauge as it was just "loose" on the engine side if the firewall, and a bunch of other stuff. I presently have no shortage of "smalls" to do. Tomorrow I am going to work on the grill shell, taillight locations, and more smalls .... had a good day .....

 

Looking good Tom. You are really making progress. Keep on trucking!!

 

Thanks, Lee!

 

Today I was a painting fool - although I have no pics, the steering column, steering shaft from the column to the steering box, all of my plastic heater box plumbing, the heater box enclosure itself, and I finish the body work on the rear trunk lid pan and painted that. The day was a bit short ended by a minor family emergency but I was happy with my progress none the less.

Will have some pics for you soon on today's work .... I am with the grands tomorrow
..

Happy Halloween ......

 

Another short but productive day - here the stuff I painted yesterday ....

Doesn't look like much but smalls were being done while things were drying. Most of my time yesterday was doing the bodywork on the rumble-to-trunklid channels out back. I had installed the UPAC trunk lid tray (very nice btw) and bought a piece of UPAC 32 trunk lid side channel from another HAMBer way back when and more-or-less seam welded pieces in place since welding was out due to the painted body. I did the best I could in the actual channel bodyvwork wise and made the rest passable ....


Today I worked on the grill shell and insert. Had to drill the insert holes into the Vintique shell and just off taped the insert to paint the shell ...





The shell will patina in time, naturally. I also connected my amp gauge wires, mechanical oil pressure gauge is now all plumbed, and put the heater piping in after some adjustment - still need one piece of 45 degree PVC to finish it, and worked underneath the dash on cleaning up/routing stuff to be out of the way of the cowl vent operation.

A short day but a good one ....

 

Had a soccer tourney today so only had a couple hours to play and the time change helped. All but a couple wires and the under dash wiring is now done ...

I've got enough to keep me busy but I am making progress ....

 

Took a break from wiring initially today and mounted and wired my tailights ....


Of course, the driver side bracket broke so I spent time rewelding and dressing if for paint. They are only held on with top bolt so I can tilt them to be parallel with the garage floor once the trunk has everything in it and say 1/2 tank of gas.

Back onto the wiring and I finished the signal indicator bulbs and the high beam indicator. I then went to install the heater cover but the control cable was in the way of the heater box - I had it running front to back. Don't know why I did it that way so I drilled and tapped holes for it to run vertically and that solved that problem.


With the bracket delay, I ran out of time at that point. Tomorrow I will bring in the battery and run some battery cable without the cutoff switch and see what works one thing at a time. Should be fun! (?!)

 

Chugging right along! Looks great.

 

Thanks - I appreciate it and your support ...

 

Looking good. Refresh me on the tire brand and sizes you selected. Thanks.

Phil

 

Thank you! Rears are Durvais I think it's spelled 235/85-r16 - found them on tirerack.com

Fronts are Austone, a British taxicab tire - 155-175 x 16. Universal Tire carries them.

I first found the fronts then matched the tread pattern as best I could, hence the Durvais. The same sizes are on my avatar ....

 

Sorry, no pics but I had a good run at it today. Got all my battery cables made up, made up ground straps, installed everything, and got the two cables coming up through the floor right at the cutoff switch. Switched out the 6 volt overhead interior light with an LED conversion and slipped my steering column into place. It now steers - ! For a change of pace, I also cut a piece of lexan for the steering wheel center, getting rid of the Pontiac insignia one that covered my V8 one underneath.

Pics tomorrow .....

 

Pics from yesterday - did alot if things today but none that were hot rod related unfortunately ....

The two red wires are for my amp gauge ....

The original center is just sitting on top of the center piece ...

I like it this way a lot better - much cleaner look ....
I was supposed to have jury duty tomorrow but was told not to report. Waiting to see if I need to take care of the grands tomorrow ...

 

Be CAREFUL with amp wires. a BUNCH of mopars burned up from ammeters shorting out. Make sure there is a grommet where they pass through holes in metal or silicone them in place so they don't move or contact metal.

 

Thanks for the heads up, loudbang. The picture doesn't allow you to see much but I do have them coming through a grommet and the wires are in the old style wire sleeves as well. The battery cable also goes through a grommet and both are tie wrapped underneath to keep them from moving .....

 

Took care if the grands today but they are close by to Dave Havlir's shop. He was nice enough to help me make a mount for a singular amber accessory light for the passenger side front frame horn. Sorry I do not have a pic at the moment but I thank Dave for his help and letting me use his shop. I am also making repair pieces for the 40 Ford STD and 40-41 pup passenger side cast grill. They always break in the upper and lower fender side corners. I made patterns for the bottom corner out of some heavy plate which will be welded together and epoxied in. Yes, you will see a little bit of the plate but the new cast versions are up there in price and with a little time and effort these grill sides can be saved and be stronger in those areas than the casting itself.

Although that's for the next build of my wife's 40 pup, when the opportunity presented itself to make them I jumped on it .... might do a tech thread on it when done .....

 

Here are the pics as promised ....

Dave has a huge metal break so we cut a 2"x4.5" piece of 3/16" steel and bent it to fit within the front framehorn channel with enough to use the accessory light mount ....

We found a triangular piece if steel to act as a truss and a cover for the mount bolt ...


I then drilled marked and drilled the mount hole ....


The light mount is basically a front to back swivel/rotate ...

I just need to orient the light left to right ......


Going to be a busy next few days family wise ....

 

Been working on the gas tank install. Needed to move my gas tank vent over a bit for ease of install, access, and get it away from the tank a bit ...

I then extended the pipe to reach the new hole ...

I used hydraulic line here and to connect thet tank to the chassis gas line. Better than most hoses out there because of the ethanol and I do not want to replace it any time soon. Due to its color it's good to use in unseen places. Put the tank in to see how things look ....


Need a couple bolts and a line clamp but that's about it. I also had an led light strip and switch I mounted in the trunk to give some light deep in the trunk.

It is self stick but I added a couple pieces of hd tape to help it along.

License plate mount is next ....

 

One last rear pic ....



Made some minor adjustments and a little dumb luck and it looks pretty good ....