I made a hinge out of square stock, I don't have a bender so I had to pie cut it a million times, weld it up then grind it smooth. I have yet to do the other end, I'll do it tonight.
Fuckin crook! You and Fishbeck both! HA HA HA, I bet this ends up being a popular modification, suprised the factory didn't do it. Keep up the good work.
I know, I hope WOODPECKER doesn't get too upset, it's too easy to not do. The only thing I'm worried about is the angle of the filler tube, it's going downhill by only a few degrees, I hope it doesn't take me a half hour to fill her up. The pipe's only tacked in temporarily, it can still be modified. I suppose if I end up bagging her I could just raise the rear end up when refueling.
Now thats the best reason I can think of, to justify why I need bags! I 'want' them, just no bugdet for it right now. But when I 'need' them, they will become a priority.
Nice project. I can't believe I just found this. I was asking for pics of your El Camino on Jay's El Camino site. I'm just finishing up installing factory tinted glass in my El Camino. I hope to have it done in about 10 days. Any thoughts about welding in a ribbed station wagon roof insert when chopping yours? Keep up the good work......Mike
The chop's done, it was so much work, a ribbed insert woulda been nice, but the top is too small for the ribs to be anything but a distraction, plus I don't think it would work with the scoop.
I finished the hinge last night, it is bolted from the outside, the aluminum trim will cover the fasteners. I'm probably going to use a magnet for the latch. I wish I had the brains for an electrical actuator like Jay Fishbeck's but I don't. I was gonna fill in the ends but I can't find my damn snips, they were here a minute ago. Fuel pipe, I got the hose from Amazon Hose and Rubber, it's $9 a foot but I've learned from experience that regular old radiator hose will break down and cause problems. I welded the original pipe to a 90 degree elbow from Advance Auto Parts.
Not my idea, stolen from WOODPECKER, he's the genius, I'm a copycat. The factory shoulda done this, it frees up much needed space in the bed AND cleans up the lines.
Sorry, I missed the photo of the scoop on page 21. I would not have recommended the ribs had I seen it. You, Jay and WOODPECKER are doing amazing body work. Keep it up...Mike
It's a by-product that comes from 'Bonds'.. cos' I hear it refered to as 'filler' all the time. I wonder how many little "Bondys" it takes, to fill a gallon can! Same with naughahyde material, how many "Naughas" does it take to make a yard of that stuff. And "What" do Bondys & Naughas eat.. And are they free range raised ..An ...
Nads, im not upset i think its a huge complement and thank u for giving me credit and o yah keep up the good work on your elki !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I looked at the magnet thing last night and it's hokey, it won't work and I thought cable latch too, I'll go to the junkyard this weekend and get something from a late model.
Me and JT were working on the back window yesterday, no pics, but it's getting more complicated than first thought, it would be easiest to just put in a Lexan one, but it would scratch and look awful. There is no way the glass will fit without moving the cab back rearwards. I'm thinking about a graceful solution, the ledge where the stainless sits really can't be moved as all the trim will have to be cut and modified. I plan on running a tonneau cover because all my trim's been drilled for it, so the ugly truth can be hidden. However I'd like to get perfect trim one day, what to do? Here's a pic of the inner panel filled where the gas pipe used to be.
And here's what we found when we pulled the seat out, the floors looked perfect from underneath but what they did was simply take new pans and pop rivet them (about 8 rivets per side) from underneath over the rust.......GRRRRRR! At least they're there, they were never fitted right and those huge gaps were simply Bondoed over. I'll have to cut the rot out and butt weld the pans in place and make filler pieces.
Oh shit man, it just gets worse. The more you look, the worse it gets. No turning back now though, you're already balls deep.
Nadeem, I thought the hot tip on chopping with a hardtop windshield was to sink the rear glass UP into the roof---not down into the bed.... Of course, you're actually working on yours....both of mine sit patiently under the shed oh, yea, plan B.....aren't the repop rear windows laminated? Lam will cut.
Me too...I have never seen someone so dilligently document HORRIBLE work!!! Not trying to be funny, but it wouldn't surprise me if this guy has some kind of mental issue. The worst I have seen pesonally was a '62 Jag Mk II that a friend owned when I was in college. We called it the "Raguar". My dad and I were doing paint and bodywork for him, and when we started with a DA on the driver's fender we found that almost the entire upper part of the fender was made out of bondo, with steel hardware cloth brazed to what was left of the original fender. Old newspaper was taped to the hardware cloth, to prevent the bondo from falling through. The backside was heavily undercoated. Since these jags are true unibodies (the fenders don't unbolt), we had to cut the fender off and get a replacement from a Jag salvage yard, and MIG it back in.
Whoa, that's a thought, but those buggers are so severely wraparound that I think it would be impossible to cut without breaking. I just talked to my glass guy, John, he's really good and he reckons there's no way he could cut it without breaking it, and he said a custom made one would go upwards of $1,000. I'm just gonna move the cab back, I'm thinking of doing maybe a louvered panel, it might look good.
I have been in the hobby since '84, and distinctly remember watching a friend braze up the trim holes on a '56 Chevy hardtop back in '85-'86 or so,, and braze a piece of bent steel tubing to the decklid for an old-school frenched in license plate (duplicating stuff done on my Dad's '55, back in '57). It was finished off with Mar-Glas. That car is still in lacquer primer, and sitting in a pole barn, and other than cracks in the Mar Glas it still looks good. Everything has improved so much...parts, techniques, and the availability of home shop tools that once were the domain of only the best equipped hot rod shops. Knock HF all you want, but I'd rather buy a Chinese made tool there than a nearly identical Chinese made tool at most other places (including Sears). Even using some of them daily now, I haven't had a problem with any of them. I have gotten a ton of use out of one of the aforementioned buffer/polishers, and its still going strong. I wouldn't buy any real precision tools there, but for anything else you can't beat it. BTW, very nice work on the Elky! Most of the ones I see are in similar condition to what yours was, and I love seeing someone bring one of them back. I really like the chop!!!
The Jalopy Journal
