Hot Rods Rich's Coupe - a ten year odyssey

My final choice for wheels, and tires. Rears are 16" x 7" w/4" back space, 245 75 R16
Michelin Latitude Touring. Fronts are 15" x 5" w/3" back space, 205 65 R15
Michelin Defenders. The rear end is 56" drum face to drum face.

 

I cannot live with this gap,and I already repaired this area once. I had used the old
piece as a measurement , and it had been repaired before. Sooooooooo here we
go again! We are not evan going to talk about fender fit yet!
The bottom reveal line did not quite match the door reveal so I cut a piece out, and evened it up. Of course the door bottom gap won't match so it also gets redone for the second time.

 

After redoing the bottom of door to match cowl.

 

I'll have to stop posting on this thread for awhile. I have been recovering from
surgery, and have not been able to work out in the shop. Last couple days I
been doing some bench work. This sitting around drives me crazy! LOL
I want to use a original 31 IN plate, of course they are a odd size. I bought
one of those adjustable frames, but of course I had to modify it. I like the
looks of the old plate, and will not repaint it.

 

That 3rd shot, in front of your DD pickup, gives quite the hood illusion to the Coupe!

 

It was views like that which led me to set height of grill shell to get the body reveal line
to look right. The doors over lap the body which throws everthing off any way.

Rich

 

Man. This thread moved fast.

Number 1 : Thanks for posting your ever attentive details.

Number 2 : These are my favorite kind of threads to take in.

I realize the luck to witness talent, imagination, and fortitude in not only building your car, but also formatting for others to enjoy.

Thanks a bunch. Love it.

 

Following a great build. Thanks.
Looking forward to seeing it person sometime soon.

Phil

 

That wood buck was routered with a 3/4" rounding bit, and everything sanded smooth. I did not anneal the piece because I wanted no distortion in
the flat top piece on top. I slowly beat the edges down working the corners into themselves. You cannot allow the wrinkles you form to over lap them selves.
These wrinkles are used to tuck shrink the metal into itself. Start at the top of the tuck (wrinkle) working down to the wider point to flatten it into itself.
I'm sliding the hammer towards the center of the corner as I hit the tuck. If the sides were any longer I would not have been able to control the corners.
With the .063 alum I was able to metal work the marks out, and sand it smooth. We went from 220 grit all the way to 2500 to prep for polishing.
It's very important to keep the piece clamped tightly while working, and have the cover piece as close to the edge as possible, yet give you room to hit the edge
with your body hammer. I try to use plastic mallets on the sides, but the corners require a lot of force so I use the body hammer. I order most of my alumn
from McMaster Carr which will ship 3 x 4 foot pieces ups.
defog vents are simply made from 1/4" plate.
I added a finished pic witch shows I added another 1 1/4" to the bottom edge.

 

Here's what they are going on:

 

I was not happy with fender fit. I'm not using fender welting, and need
a good fit. I bought these from Brookville only to find out they don't
make these, only the 32's. These pics will be out of order as they are
spread around my files.

 

I had to make them fit the running boards, and body. I split the flange in several places,
and rewelded to fit the rear wheel well opening.

 

More pics

 

Had to redo this panel to fit bottom of grill shell, and shorten to fit fenders.

 

The reveal line did not match up with the others, these doors did not come with
this body.

 

Wow Rich! Serious attention to getting everything fitting straight and tight!

 

Gordon: I have had a lot of trouble with the door
fit up. Every time I get them so I like the fit up, I
end up redoing it again. I’ve gone through this
3 times now, so that’s as good as they get!

Rich

 

What a fantastic build. I hope to see it some day. Do you do cruise nights if so which ones?

Jim

 

Jim:
I would have you over to bench race anytime, but
health problems are keeping me away from home
right now.
Love that Dunkin Donuts on Willow Creek right
off Rt20. On Thursday night. Free coffee and donuts
My son had the Coupe there a few weeks ago.
Rich

 

I love how you you metal magicians just think it doesn't look right snip, bend and hammer and voila presto changeo nice good fitting parts.

 

Best wishes on recovering your health Rich

 

Yeah, I love watching this stuff, guys like Rich just amaze the crap outta me.

 

Thanks for the kudos guys, but I don’t compare
to some of the metal shapers on this site. We are
lucky to have guys like Mike Wagner (corn field customs) Flop ( Pittsburgh Pa) , Robert of MP&C.
showing there work.
I do love it though, nothing like beating the snot
out of a piece of metal!
Rich

 

I had been wanting to make my own side panels for the hood to mount
blisters on for valve cover clearance. I was surprised to find the hood
is closer to 20 gauge than 19 like most of the body. Probably a weight
issue as the hood is pretty heavy to open. All the panels are hemmed
to stiffen it up, and also to keep paint on the edges. I also found that the
edge against the cowl is not straight, it has the slightest curve to it.
The edge against the rad shell is straight, but neither is 90 degrees from
the hinged side.
I made a small try piece so I could figure the take up for the bends, and also
to finalize the shape of the reveal line.

 

I created the hems by over bending the piece in my brake, but did not beat
them flat with a hammer. I did not want to chance stretching the metal, and
causing the edges to be wavy. I pressed them flat with my press using only
enough pressure to close the hem. Probably over cautious, but I have the
time!
Now I bent a 90 on the hem which will be the bottom of the reveal line, and
strengthen the bottom edge of the hood panel.

I layed out the reveal line on the try piece after trying several methods on scrap.
To soften the reveal shoulder I move the dies further apart. This isn't a 'perfect'
match of the body reveal, but pretty darn close.
Now I can start on the hood panels.

 

After many, many measurements I laid out the first panel with the only excess
material at the hinge side. I had to notch the corners for hem clearance.
To soften the reveal shoulder I move the dies further apart. This isn't a 'perfect'
match of the body reveal, but pretty darn close.

After many, many measurements I laid out the first panel with the only excess
material at the hinge side. I had to notch the corners for hem clearance.
The blue tape is the hood position when closed.

 

I'm using the hinge from the original hood. I plan to overlay my panel onto
the hinge assembly. The stock side panels have a offset in them that
allows them to fit under the top panel. I hope to duplicate this to attach
my panel to.
I had to reshape the hinge slightly to make up for the thickness of adding my panel.

 

Wow, how'd I miss this thread given my build is similar and over 10yrs in the making. Love it!

 

This view shows the hinge which I have bent a 90 on for strength, and trimmed
back the ends of the 90 to clear rad shell, and firewall lacing. Note the over lap of my panel to match the original, very little margin for error. I used the same bead
roller setup to form the overlap. I ran the bead than cut it back till leave the
desired shape. I riveted the panel on which saves a bunch of work, and will
match up to my blisters.

 

The above pic shows the panel after hand forming a gentle bend in the whole panel
to match firewall, and rad shell. The bottom lower left part of the panel did not
want to follow the curve of the firewall. I had to shrink the small 90 on the bottom
of the reveal line from the middle of the hood to the corner.


This pic shows the gentle curve in the finished panel (sorry for the poor pic!)