I got rid of my 98 ranger to a fellow mini truck fan in the area and took trade for this body. I started it being my first time diving into a full build from the frame all the way up. Plans for it was a suicide front end, traditional steering, SBC, chopped, channeled, sectioned, and airride out back. I wanted it to be all hand built and to grasp some more skills in sheet metal fab and layout. Started the same as Jason’s Ford Sedan but in reverse order. I got the body already braced, but doors were overlapping the cowl, it was no where near square, and it had a lot of rot. So I started by removing the doors from the car and getting new metal in the place of the rotted out wood structure. Got the doors square and sectioned off 3" from the bottom. Installed new bear claw latches and built some simple steel door panels.
Day I got the car, shaved cowl vent, and shaved doors with a maltese cross that will be found throughout.
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Inside of the doors. 2"x1" box to build the frame work, bear claw latches, and a diamond pleat pattern for bead rolling.
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Moved on to removing wood, restructuring the inside with metal and working from on side to the next getting the body square and lined up. Welded the doors in place with decent door gaps. Set my suicide hinges and new strikers. Got them set opening well and body lines all set. Braced the roof and set my firewall in place with a coulple more maltese crosses bead rolled into it.
Once the body was braced up good, doors working well, and everything squared and solid I laid out how I wanted the roof chopped. I wanted it slightly raked and I knew how I wanted the back window to look. So I found some straight lines to match up front and rear on my window openings and tapped it out. Took around 3" out of it and laid it back down.
Got the roof lined up for my back window opening and b-pillars straight. Tacked them in place and moved to the a-pillars. Laid the top of the pillars forward. Added to the crown on top and added to my doors to get my windshield lined back up. Got it all lined up and sent it home.
Thanks! The crosses were my first try at bead rolling a hard curved shape. I did them using a 1/4 round bead and they came out alright. I didn’t have many die sets when I did them, but I will post up pictures later of some interior crosses I did with a tipping die set. They came out much nicer and easier to follow hard edges with a tipping die. I will try and post up some of my bead roller work later on. I have been doing a couple art pieces using the roller and honestly the skys the limit to what you can roll into a sheet of metal.
Thanks man! Also laid out my taillights waiting on my front suspension to arrive. Using old caddy tails I slip rolled some buckets and recessed them into the hard edge out back until I liked how deep they were. Cut the buckets to match the contour, and welded them up.
Thanks! This chevy is being built to be a quick sale this summer. I am also sitting on a model t coupe in great shape that I am hoping to build this year. That one should have a wild frame under it with a BBC up to the roof line. Bagged on all four corners as well with some pretty trick suspension if all goes to plan. If that one is done and rolling by next year I will keep this show in mind.
Updated - - -
Finally got all my front suspension in and my front rails back from the plasma guy so it was time to start the frame. The layout for the frame is similar to the 29 Ford Sedan in that its z’d heavily front and rear as well, and all 2"x4" box for the rails. Suicide front suspension using a 4" spring behind drop axle and some 27" hairpins. Lever friction shocks and 49-54 chevy spindles and brakes finish off the front end. Traditional steering used again with a reversed corvair steering box. Out back its got a three link to keep things front to back and to hold pinion. It utilizes a watts link for keeping the f-body camaro rear end centered. (Pictures show it set up using the original torque arm setup from the camaro, but for sake of leg room and center console width that has been tossed out and another forward facing link arm ties into another crossmember now for pinion hold) The bag setup is just an over the axle setup with ss-7 slam specialties bags and generic shocks are used outside the rails as well. Viair 450c compressor and a 3 gallon tank will be hidden under floor and a pretty trick valve setup will finish off the management. Everything was mocked up and then fully tig’d by Mike. (KrazyKid)
couple more.
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From here I started to get my front end all set up. Brackets for the headlights and friction shocks were finished up. And I made a mount to hold the grill shell/radiator in place.
Finished the top off on my radiator mount and started to wrap the grill in copper. Mike made me up a aluminum grill insert. Made some copper radiator lines up. Also made an old propane bottle into a catch can and mounted it up.
More photos of catch can and finished grill.
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Mounted up the steering box and fitted up a steering column. Dash is out of a 30s Chevy pickup and the gauges are a set of autometer vintage faced.
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At this point everything is buttoned up from the firewall forward. It was all stripped down and basically everything was powder coated in house. A mixture of wrinkle black and silver vein with a shocker yellow top coat are the colors of choice throughout. Also built a top for the door panel where it meets the window edge, and started to lay out the floor.
Finished off the top edge of the dash on the shrinker and stretcher, hit it with some dimple die work and welded the dash in. Also started to make some upper panels with some dimples as well to cover up some of the brace work.