And so it begins...I have threatened to put up a thread here to showcase the work we were commissioned to perform on this US bodied 5 Window Coupe "Silver Bullet". The requirements were to remove Four and a Half inches from the front and Three and a Half inches from the rear of the roof, and we were to retain the roof infill. The method and cut line lay-out were up to us. This car arrived in Australia in the early `70's as an essentially stock coupe, fully fender-ed and fitted with a 289 and juice brakes. Not long after, it went into hibernation... The current owner traded his Model A Coupe and some cash 2 years ago, during which time he has upgraded the drive-line, sold off the fenders and running boards. Our pathway focused on the ethos of the Hippocratic Oath...firstly-do no more harm. Significant discussion centered on laying out the cut lines to minimize the amount of cutting and welding, more from a standpoint of getting a result without slicing and dicing, rather than punishing the metal un-necessarily, trying to stretch contours with a blocking hammer. The original wood was removed in preparation...all the wood, other than the pieces above the door are to be re-fitted
Go easy. Angle chops and leaned back A posts on 34 5 windows can get out of hand real quick. There's been a couple done in recent years that were "over done" in both areas, throwing the roof lines way out of wack. They can't take the treatment as easy as 3 windows. Just my humble opinion. Sure looking forward to following along.
This is not going to be a Pierson Brothers Bonneville Coupe... The first section is removed, to prepare for the removal of the complete roof The header panel is drilled out of the roof, there will be One and a Half Inches added to the length of the roof through this area There was signs of Bondo from a previous respray...lots of areas that were whacked in with a ball pein then filled ? Trial fitting and making observations, here it is evident why the header panel needs to be extended to align the center pillar The front of the roof is separated to add material through this joint The front header panel is tacked in position after the Four and a Half Inches has been removed from the pillars
Point taken... Bondo The lower front pillars were spread to assist alignment The rear pillar swage lines were reworked partly by heating and pulling into alignment, and partly by re-shaping the metal cold to ease the body lines to the new shape A spur shaped infill was added to close the gap
I hope it doesn't end up one of them back burner projects! (I don't know if it's just me, but I'm not into the vertical A pillars on a chopped 33/34) We need to see the end results!
The Jalopy Journal
