well after seeing what KoolKemp is building ....Fitz that has got be motivation . I think you were seperated at Birth !!! You have an amazing ability to massage metal , I never thought in a million years my Olds would have Quarters again . I cant wait to see more progress on your car ! I think I will start posting pictures off chopped Fleetlines on the Front lawn .
Hey Fitz, nice chat today, too bad I couldn't stay longer. I hope you got something done on the flatliner tonight. I didn't stop at your house to look at the wheels, friggin rain. I liked the idea of a get-together of like minded guys at your shop. I had a short chat with Chris D. at Donovan's Irving after I left your place.
What the!!!! I just came from the garage. have the pass side quarter done. after reading this I feel guilty and want to head back to the shop tonight!! Not going to happen. Me need sleep!!
All right here is a update.Last night I installed and made up the right quarter section. Did it much the same as the left side. Went in to work today and figure a day at the car was in order.Bills were paid what the hell. I Like the way the quarters are on a 49 Chevy which are a lot different then the 52 I have. So I started in cutting and kept cutting till I seen the shape I was after. Sorry for the poor pictures,all I had was my phone today and sorry I never took any details shots of the 4 pieces I made on my English wheel.I`ll take shots on the other side. I picked up two quarter section from a 49 Ford to use the tail light section from.Need to figure out where to mount it.I am thinking of running the point so it runs through the top of the wheel well. I like the idea of the lights low on the back and this will have the lights about 2 inch above the rear bumper. Anyway this is all for now.Want to be at it tomorrow but it is a race weekend for me.I work the tower at our local drag strip. So till next week.
Thats gonna be sweet Fitzee ! As if its not enough work fixing all the rust...we gotta go and cut up what little good metal there is on ta car eh
After playing with the right side quarter I figure it was time to get back on track and complete the right side rocker and door post. Much the same as the other side just that I had no lower hing mount.So I had to work around that and hope for the best. After installing the rocker,door post, inner rocker and building a new lower post mount it was time to see how the door fit. I was expecting some major problems with that lower hing mount so fitting the door was a must. Both hings were bind up solid. One came with the door post and all when I removed it. So I had some freeing up and removing of rusty bolts. I had some bolts that were from a 56 Olds that were the same. Always good to keep stuff like that from a scrapped rig. I fit the door expecting some major problems but was surprised that it took just some minor filing and the door fit. Fit better then I thought it would. The lower hings is not quit right but for a shot in the dark with all that rust I was amazed the hing fit at all. It was off about a 1/8 of a inch.I will cut and fix that. All seams look good at this point. time to cut the rust from the bottom of the door and start in on that next. that is all for now.
Oh here is a picture of that homemade door hings mount. Made it from a peice of 2x4 steel.Also here is a picture of the door seem inside the car you can see the post is ahead a bit on the bottom. That will be fixed.other then that all seams are good.
Holy shit that thing is (was) rusty !! Great to know I am not the only loony on the HAMB Looking good Fitzee !
I seen that.Not a lover of frenched tail lights but it looks cool all the same.Been busy,should have another update Friday night.I been busy!!
Next it was getting the door back to something that looks like a door. As you can see there was very little of the bottom of this door. Up by the hings it was gone right to the hing.I fit the door where I wanted it and welded it to the body so it didn`t move I then starting knitting pieces in on the inside of the door bottom. Made the back first then up by the hing. then I tied them together with a middle panel I made.After this it was on to the skin. It took me 3 tries to weld this panel in place. Trick is to start welding in the middle and work your way out. Now that everything is in place it was time to remove the door and dress the inside and build the back part of the door.
With the door off I Hammered the lip in place and welded up the inner door pieces I did and grind and dress all welds. I then made the back corner lip.I never took picture of this!! seems i was too involved to remember to do so. After all welds were dressed and i welded up the old molding holes and shave the door handle it was time for a final fit.
Today it was time to get the drivers door mounted and I had it in my head to see about fitting the dash. First I had to clean up the hings and cut the rust from the bottom of the door. This door will need some work on the fender edge. there is a lot of damage here. After fitting the door it was on to cutting the old dash out and while i was at it i removed the glass and everything on the fire wall and cut all the rust out of the floors and fire wall. then out came the dash and everything else.
Now came the fun part. Trying to fit a 56 Olds dash in a 52 Chevy. the 52 dash was about 51 inch and the 56 was 58 inch out side!! I wanted to keep the swords on the end of the dash if I could. The center had a large piece of chrome that couldn`t be cut and I was worried that the steering wheel opening would be off. First thing was to cut the dash to fit in the car to get a starting point so I chopped off both ends of the dash and trimmed it to fit the Fleetline window. Amazing the steering wheel opening lined up with the hole in the fire wall..After sitting and sizing things up I just started cutting. I figure out I could change the angle of the ends and cut much of the back side of them off. I then only had to shorted each end by about a inch and a quarter on each side. All I did then was trimmed a inch and a quarter off the swords and bent them a little for the change in angle.I fit them to the end of the chrome center in the dash. I was amazed how well this dash fits. I still need to fit it to the doors.I am close but it still needs some trimming and fitting. but I am very pleased that I saved the swords.worked out better then I expected.
Wow looking great Fitzee! There seems to be something wrong with the top of your pass door , it looks kinda low! The dash looks great, those dashes are beautiful but hard to re-fit to anything due to the cast pieces, awesome job!
Thanks guys. The chop is not cut in stone as of yet.that is a 4 inch chop and I playing around with maybe another inch. I have a line on another frame from a 49 that is in better shape then mine. Need to find out the deal on it. Going to look at some parts off a 57 Chevy today might find something to use.
Is that the 57 Chev in Logy Bay??? Not sure what car that is. Keep cuttin n hacken ---- looooking good. May drop in tomorrow and have a close up
Yes Roy that is the car. was looking for the grill bar but it was ruff so I left it there. He has a lot of cool 57 parts. Found another 52 chevy today.it is a 4 door and it been under my nose for years. Front glass is usable and there are a few other parts I can use.Thinking of picking it up and scrapping it.
Looking good Fitzee....Check out my profile album on my 50 fleetline. Just did a 3 1/2 chop on mine. I'm finishing up the back now.
That looks good.When you say a 3 1/2 in chop where was this taken from? Out of the middle post or the windshield post. I seem to get mixed measurement from different projects.some cars look chopped more then others.Some take it out of the front post while other take it from the middle. A 4 inch chop straight through the side will take close to 5 inch out of the front posts.
3 1/2 was taken out of the middle post. I think it dropped the front a little over 4. I was finally able to get my pics on photobucket so this may give you a better idea of what i did. I wanted to keep the curve in the back of the side rear window so 3 1/2 worked out just right. http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/rsorrowjr/1950 fleetline chop/
Ya just gotta bribe the right "Hillbilly"! LoL That was a bit of fun today. Car's coming along great Fitz! Starting with something so pristine certainly speeds up the job.
No pictures but I am still at it. Clued up the drivers door and setting up now for the front end frame swap. Setting it up at a 5 inch ride height. Picked up some seats and a few interior parts. nothing old here going for what I can use for now.besides it was free. Making due with what I can get. Not to worried about a interior this year just something to plant my ass on for now.
The Jalopy Journal
