Concept car build?

Show off your work! Anything from final results to full start-to-finish project journals.



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PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:49 pm
Yes, not structurally bad, but pitted. Funny, the 76 Impala subframe I put on the car, was in worse shape than the 56 Olds frame!



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:59 am
chopolds wrote:Feels like I'm going backwards!


Dam you Got the Roof all done and on? quarters all done? all the metal work is done?
You been holding Out! That was serious work there please more Pics?
Also didn't know you were using an Impala frame?????
How did you set up the Frame to Body mounts? please tell how that Process is done to figure out how long to make the body mounts to frame rails and get both sides level thats gotta be a trick.
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:21 pm
Yeah, most of the hard part of the body is done. So busy I don't take pics all the time! About the frame, I originally was going to do a full frame, but there was some structural damage on the back of the frame, so I just used the front sub.
When you come down to it, body mounts are super easy, Dennis! On the Olds, I only had to take the radiator support and bumper crossmember from the 56 frame and adapt it to the Impala sub. But on the Vette/GTO project I had to make all the body mounts. I just took a piece of 2 x 3 or 2 x 4, depending on how far from the rail, the mount was, angle cut it, and drilled the hole. Here's a pic of one of the mounts from the GTO. It's low on the frame, because we channeled the car a bit to get it lower.
Leveling is time consuming, but straight forward. Level the chassis, ALL around. then suspend the body over it, exactly where it belongs, level IT out, and put your mounts in. At this point I prefer to use metal, or wood spacers, instead of the rubber mounts, as they don't compress to confuse things, and I don't burn up good bushings welding too close to them.
Attachments
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:49 am
On the bushings do you actual rubber ones or do you use Urethane?

I have to make new ones for the Studebaker project if I ever get back to it.

In that picture I see your using a Frame Table I have yet to make my own, I have some 12 Inch I beam to make one from some day I will get around to it.

I also see that Frame rail looks Brand new, did you bend it your self? or was it purchased?
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:58 pm
Dennis, I prefer using Polygraphite bushings, they don't squeak like regular Poly. If I can't get them, rubber will do. Those rails , for the GTO, as well as a chassis we're doing for Kenny's 54 Plymouth, we had bent at Art Morrison's. We spec'd out the bends, I believe 6 per chassis, and then put the frame together using them. No one made frames for the cars, with Vette C4 parts, so we had to make our own. And with the bends where we needed them, no one could do the bends so close to each other. So we pieced them together. Here's a shot of the GTO frame, before I added the crossmembers. It used side rails bent inwards, and a front kick-up, and the "over the rear" section, so 3 bent pieces per side.
Attachments
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:21 pm
Man I wished I lived closer to you, Very cool stuff!
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 6:47 am
No progress on the Olds-Mad yet, still working on the 53 Lincoln chop. But Classic Cars.com did a write up on the project! Cool getting ink, even before the job is done!
https://journal.classiccars.com/2020/09 ... mad-wagon/



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 12:46 am
Too cool! I am glad your being recognized in Print! again way too cool!

And don't be holding out on me with Updates! Work has me going many many different places this year for extremely long periods of time.

:cry:

I really don't know what I will miss most? My wife? My shop? or my car projects or my home????
I am betting on Wife and HOME!
Last edited by Doright on Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:58 am
Dennis, you've been so encouraging to me here, I'll put up some more pics. Here's the 53 Lincoln that is "distracting me" from working on the Olds. (Actually, I haven't brought in any pay work in a while, needed a break from the pressure, and dealing with customers) The Linc will be put up for sale when I get the front and rear windshields in. If it doesn't sell, I'll do more work, raise the price, and on and on.
I got 2 of these from a friend who moved to Pahrump, NV, when he retired (Get the connection, Dennis?) 2 door was REAL bad, but the 4 door was pretty nice. So I converted the 4 door into a 2 door using the doors and roof from the bad car, and of course, took a little off the top, since I was changing the roof, anyway!
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:11 am
Lots of changes to the sheet metal going from 4 door to 2 door, also from sedan, to hardtop. So lots of details to do when the big stuff gets done. One of the bigger problems with doing chops of cars with wraparound glass, is the rear window. Since it's tempered, it can't be cut. Sometimes you can cut out the entire surround, and lean it forward, but with more sever wraps, the front corner of the window 'dips' into the quarter, looking awkward. The curvature of the roof and window might also mismatch and look weird. I had both of these. SO I decided to sink the window down. A bit tricky, but an easier solution than others.
Using the shrinker-stretcher, I build a channel with 2 pieces of sheet metal, to fit the curvature of the bottom of the glass. Cut out the whole area, and situated the glass where it belonged, supported the channel to the body, and with tubing, to the trunk. Then built a longer catwalk.
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