As you may recall, my 49 (first series) Plymouth coupe was rather flattened by a large walnut tree in a May 8th wind storm. Looked like this. Well....my son-in-law Dale and my daughter came down for a weekend visit from Kansas City. He brought along his porta power. Started working with the farthest out end of the damage. Eventually moved to the driver's side. http:// Those window frames/ door tops were really hard to deal with. But he got the top back up in about 2 1/2 hours. http:// So, although not perfect, it's a lot better than it was -- you can now get into the car to start it, etc. Pretty amazing to me......he certainly knows his stuff. He used to do body work for a living, now does some part time in the evenings at his home. We later went and looked at two coupes in the area.....found one that we could use to cut off the top and get the doors to put on this one.
Looks good! Was he able to get the body back where it needs to be to install another roof? The passenger side B pillar looks good, but that driver's side one will have to be replaced from the looks of it. Looks like the tree got cleared, did the guy make money and toss you some?
Man thats WAAAAAAAAAAAY bad karma. Not that i believe in such a thing. However if you bodyman can wave his magic wand over your coupe, Big Hats off to him. Why not use one of the other coupe shells, i'll take undamaged sheet metal any day. Please post, it'll be must see TV.
Rod, the body is close to where it needs to be. Will need some more tweaking to be just right. These cars have that nice little crease that makes a good line to cut on. This coupe has no frame and no running gear, but the top and doors are OK. Guess I'll go ahead and buy it for those parts. Seller wants $400. The owner of the tree hasn't offered any $$$ thus far.
Amazing work on your Son in Law's part! I happen to be a huge fan of 49 Plymouths, and yours is looking a lot better. I might ask Mr walnut tree owner for the wood in payment. Old walnut is worth a few shekels to cabinet and furniture makers... probably won't cover all the damage, but might defray some of the costs.
Man,, that got hit hard.. It sure is taking shape though, Nice work.. .. you should see if a Guitar Manufacture would buy the Walnut tree for making bodies.. help the finances..
Great Job to get that top back. I am surprised. No Im SHOCKED that it came out so well so far. Do you think the owner of the tree should pay for it? From my experience it is just called an ACT OF GOD. You have to have your own insurance to cover it. Would you pay for someone elses car if your tree fell on it? I do not believe if he had homeowners insurance that it would cover it either. Has to be proven neglect on tree owners part. etc etc. I am NOT trying to make anyone mad or upset. Just mentioning it.Thats All
Cool to see the ole girl regaining her silhouette. I think with trees it's act of god and responsibility is not based on where it was rooted, but where it fell. If their tree falls on your property, it's your problem. But if your tree falls outside your property, it's their problem. Win some lose some I suppose. good luck with the plymouth
Yep.....neighbor's tree, big wind, my problem. His insurance won't pay. Tree owner evidently found someone to pay him some amount for the largest pieces of the tree. But so far has not offered any recompense. Of course, I haven't really seen the guy since the tree got cut up.
That parts car is a bargain for $400, the pieces you need are really clean, and you'll make all of your money back plus a profit parting the rest out. Swap that roof and doors over and you'll be back where you needed to be. The porta-power work is impressive, I didn't think you'd get it that far back into shape. That work will pay off when you go to swap out the bent roof.
You mean the neighbor sold your tree? The one that became yours when it fell onto your property and became your problem? Maybe I'm misunderstanding. This thread shouldn't really be about the tree anyway. Good luck with the project!
Man, that is some amazing work. I have to admit, if that has been my car, I probably would have yanked the good parts and scrapped the rest. Didn't look salvageable to me, but just goes to show, in the right hands and with the determination and skill, anything is salvageable. He got that top damn near ready to just hammer and dolly back to good.
I might be interested in some parts myself. I don't live to far from you. I banged up my front left fender on my '48, the fender is salvagable but I don't think I can straighten up the trim that wraps around from the headlight and above the wheel well.
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