I use a soft cloth like a hankie You can feel things you can't see.
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I use a soft cloth like a hankie You can feel things you can't see.
Ice little factoid for future use there August. I will have to give that a try, or the soft cloth Charlie!
Today we worked on tying up some loose ends. We had a slight mis-alignment at the front corner of the passenger door..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1094.jpg
The lower hinge had already been adjusted as far as the floating nut would let it...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1095.jpg
So the door was removed, and since we have no milling machine, we went through about 8 of these 60 grit sanding discs..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1096.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1097.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1098.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1099.jpg
For a better comparison, here's the before again...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1094.jpg
After
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1100.jpg
Very nice! The LH bottom rear corner of my door on my 40 sticks out farther than the quarter, but the upper half is flush. When I get to that point, I'm going to have to get your take on how I should fix it as I don't want to ruin the door. :LOL:
On a painted car, this involves rolling down the window, wrapping a 2x4 in a towel, and place the 2x4 between the door jamb and the center part of the door that fits. Then lean on the door above and below the 2x4 to "tweak" the fit. On a car without paint, save the wear and tear on the towel. :D
With the lower corner of the door fitting better, it becomes all the more obvious how poor of a reproduction these outer rocker panels are. The "concave" radius does not match the fender to the front or the quarter to the rear of the rocker. This would have been a good fix using the Wheeling machine with a Go Kart slick, had it been noticed before installation.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1100.jpg
Matching the lower anvils of the Wheeling machine to the radius on the quarter, this one fits the best. Also notice how it doesn't fit as well in the rocker panel..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1108.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1107.jpg
At this point I thought I'd try a "portable" version of the Wheeling machine to add a bit more radius to the rocker panel.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1109.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1110.jpg
Built in guide......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1112.jpg
After some "wheeling", and some bumping of the leading edge with a door skin hammer:
Just to show the comparison, before
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1100.jpg
After:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1113.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1115.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1116.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1117.jpg
Very nice work. Cool solution to working with everything in place. Also nice tips on door adjustments!
Wow, great work and thanks for the tips. Once the body is bolted to the frame I will try that!
More progress today, working on some metal bumping on the drivers quarter, so a profile template was needed... Took a 1-1/2 x48 piece of 19 ga and used the mag brake to fold it, then the bead roller to flatten.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1123.jpg
Then used the kick shrinker to get it to match the contour of the rear of the door, this will give us a close match to the front half of the quarter...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1125.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1126.jpg
If you shrink too much, no need to change dies, just shrink the rear portion of the template (away from the body)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1124.jpg
Ends are radiused...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1122.jpg
Then the factory battery tray (firewall mounted) was dissected to use with the "Factory AC car" parts, in order to mount the battery in the passenger front corner behind the core support.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1129.jpg
...and all the parts were media blasted. We have some sheet metal plugs to punch out tomorrow for use on a couple of repairs of thin spots, and then the works will get mocked up on the inner fender for placement, weld the parts together, and off for powder coating.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1130.jpg
One more tip for those doing mock-up/door fitment without latches, this will hold the door flush with the jamb. (Thanks to Laszlo Nobi for that idea)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1127.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1128.jpg
Great work and thanks for another great tip!
Thanks!
Tonight we turned our attention to inner fenders. We've got some items slated for powder coating, and these will get added to the pile.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1131.jpg
The front edge that bolts outside the grille is showing remnants of water retention...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1132.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1133.jpg
Mountain Dew template
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1134.jpg
Bead details to match the originals.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1135.jpg
Bead roller was set up with a backstop die...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1136.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1137.jpg
Skateboard wheel and "rolling" wheel used to add radiused ends....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1138.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1139.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1140.jpg
Grabbed a suitable scrap from the pile and used the sander to make a bead ender tool thingie, used on the treated 6x6 anvil...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1142.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1143.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1144.jpg
Clamped and tacked....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1145.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1146.jpg
More tomorrow......
Adds meaning to DO THE DEW!
Great work! I really need to get a bead roller!
A must have tool when doing floors
Ryan, the bead roller is one of the most versatile tools in the shop, highly recommended!
Well the Wheeling Machine finally has paint!
Napa Econo-etch primer....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16..._160851906.jpg
H/K Pavo Purple and Flo Klear. I tried playing with the camera settings to get it to capture the true color, but it just wasn't happening. It may look blue in the pic, but it's about as close to Chrysler's Plum Crazy as you can get without putting a HEMI under the hood..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1151.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1153.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1154.jpg
Here's the actual color...
http://www.house-of-kolor.co.uk/images/BC10.jpg
While I was finishing up the paint on the English Wheel, Kyle stripped the driver's inner fender. This one has the same issues in the front as well as a spot up top where the flange of the fender had some rust issues we previously repaired..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1157.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1156.jpg
Looks like our same template will work here as well..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1158.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1159.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1160.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1161.jpg
And while I was trimming more rust away, Kyle was working on the passenger side learning the fine art of dressing welds...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1162.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1167.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1168.jpg
Great work as always. Thanks for all the lessons.
I like the purple people eater! :)
That purple looks very nice! Great inner fender repairs!
Telephone book? What's that? :)
While Kyle was working on dressing some welds this evening, I took some time to planish the weld on the driver's fender eyebrow. Here's the previous.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Picture500.jpg
It had a noticeable dip throughout the weld seam. Here's the tool used.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1196.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1197.jpg
The eyebrow on the passenger side was planished all by hand, and probably has a couple hours of work. The Watervliet planishing hammer made short work of the driver's side, it took all of five minutes time to have it in a comparable state as the passenger side... with the dip all but disappeared
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1198.jpg
Continuing on with more inner fender work, starting on the driver's side....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1188.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1189.jpg
Back side, full penetration welds.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1191.jpg
Staple holes for seal filled...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1192.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1193.jpg
Should get both these finished up Saturday morning and mocked up with the battery tray..
That planishing tool is very nice! It really looks great.
Think all the members will have to pick a time when the car is finished and drink a toast. I am about as antsy to see this project completed as I am my own.
I think I'll have to join in with the toast!
Here's the passenger side with the welds dressed and mocked up to the grille....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1204.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1206.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1208.jpg
While Kyle media blasted the passenger side, I did some finish work on the driver's side. We still had this up at the top to fix...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1210.jpg
A replacement was made and marked out on the inner fender..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1211.jpg
Took a reference measurement to insure any shrinking effects were properly planished out...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1213.jpg
Ice pick works well in marking the cutout pattern...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1214.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1215.jpg
Trimmed and fitted
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1217.jpg
Tacked in place...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1218.jpg
Rear side
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1219.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1224.jpg
After planishing and dressing the welds, re-checking the reference measurement....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1225.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1226.jpg
Passenger side complete....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1220.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1221.jpg
Driver's side complete.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1228.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1229.jpg
Next task will be to assemble the battery tray and send off the goodies for powder coating.
I will toastyou too!
Looking very nice!
Matching the lower anvils of the Wheeling machine to the radius on the quarter, this one fits the best. Also notice how it doesn't fit as well in the rocker panel..
At this point I thought I'd try a "portable" version of the Wheeling machine to add a bit more radius to the rocker panel.
After some "wheeling", and some bumping of the leading edge with a door skin hammer:
Lost me.... You mean you was bumping your die ? Or the rocker just in front of your die ? Thanks.
This was basically a glorified "rolling" operation, as there is no access to the back side like you would have with using an actual English wheel. So for applying pressure, I started on a creeper and found the casters counter-productive. :whacked:
Once I put the piece of diamond plate on the floor I could get a bit more pressure applied. Rolled it back and forth a few times with pressure applied. Even though it has a guide, by adjusting height location of handle end, you could move anvil's path up and down on the rocker about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. So I worked it front to back and then moved position slightly and repeated. About ten minutes time overall, took longer to make the handles than to use them.
It didn't appear to pull the gap open any farther. In watching the movement as I was rolling, what appeared to happen is the reproduction panel has rather bulbous radius on outside corners where factory is sharper. So looking at this crude depiction, I think it is just relocating metal and forming sharper creases in the process.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1118.jpg
Where the front end of the rocker has an end plate spot welded in, the roller didn't have as much effect there, so it needed more persuasion right on the end. Hence, the door skin hammer..
O.K. got it now, appreciate that. Really look forward to your posts.
I belong to Metalmeet, good site, but some times it gets hard to follow. You seem to take the time to explain and illustrate things so that it's easy to understand. Thanks again.
Glad to help! I used to write work instructions at my previous job, so I think my posts have some of that influence...
Tonight we worked on fitting the new Gene Smith grille components. It started with the mandatory instructions...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1230.jpg
To insure the studs didn't move once hand tightened, some thread lock stuff was used... We did find the qty of hardware was short by two each, and after a quick call to Gene Smith, Fred has some on the way for us..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1231.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1232.jpg
The new grille fits just like the old one, it is VERY tight in the top corners..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1233.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1235.jpg
To eliminate the paint rub syndrome and other possible front end squeaks from metal on metal, some templates were made so we can do some hammering on the new grille... and keep a consistent distance between.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1234.jpg
Initial fitment:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1237.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1238.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1239.jpg
Where the passenger side fit fairly well initially, the drivers side showed some rocking and gap issue.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1245.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1246.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1247.jpg
I initially thought the driver's side piece was mis-shapen, but in placing them side by side they were pretty much a mirror image. Checking the front edge of the opening with a straight edge, the passenger side showed to be good and straight, the driver's side had a depressed area. This likely occurred when some fender shaving and rust repairs were performed, without the luxury of the chrome pieces for fitment. So some relief cuts were made to bring out the low area of the opening...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1248.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1249.jpg
....for a drastic improvement in the fitment.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1254.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1255.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1253.jpg
The surround trim studs did have some alignment issues with the grille. One of these "tweaking" devices is highly recommended to fine tune the fitment..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1256.jpg
Very nice work. It's looking really sweet!
That tweaking device get a work out around here, with bigger deburr cutters. hahaha
Today we worked on filling some holes in the battery trays. Hard to drill out a slot, so we clamped on a plate with a pilot hole to use with the Blue Point sheet metal hole cutter:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1257.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1258.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1260.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1262.jpg
Plugs.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1284.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1266.jpg
We tried this same repair in the corners, but the pitting was too far along and did a good job of blowing holes. So, time to back up an punt, let's make some new corners..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1267.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1275.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1276.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1277.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1279.jpg
Shrinking the tuck....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1270.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1272.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1274.jpg
New corners welded in....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1280.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1281.jpg
Some of the lines from forming were left to duplicate those from the factory...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1282.jpg
Gusset bracket added to core support....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1288.jpg
Holes located on inner fender....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1289.jpg
Stiffener brace and angle bracket bolted in....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1291.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1292.jpg
Tray bolted to the gusset, and plug welded to the angle bracket....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1300.jpg
Battery hold down brackets added....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1303.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1304.jpg
Got a couple plug welds to grind, media blasting, and these parts are ready for powder coating!
As Kyle media blasted and otherwise prepped parts for powder coating, I turned my attention to the new grille. This looked to be a very accurate reproduction as it fit tightly in the corners exactly as the original did..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1233.jpg
In order to do some metal bumping on the grille corners and provide some clearance, which should help eliminate future front end squeaks and paint rubs, we'll need to make an anvil. This piece of pipe looks close to our templates..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1307.jpg
Unfortunately our grille shows some interference, so unless we plan on disassembly of a new grille, the anvil will need a specialized shape..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1305.jpg
After some drilling, band saw and sanding action, here are the results:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1309.jpg
This may just work...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1310.jpg
Working the corners.... Luckily any markings that may occur here will be covered by the surround chrome..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1313.jpg
Test fitment shows a nice consistent gap:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1320.jpg
You make it look so easy.. and your creativity to make special "tools" is really enlightening! As always, Thanks.
Robert, does anything ever have you stumped? Love following this thread.;):):)
Jack.
Thanks guys. Sometimes I look forward to that being backed in a corner... gets the McGuyver ideas going!
We like the McGyuyver solutions too! :) But you always seem to have more than a swiss army knife in the tool box! ;)
Very nice work! I agree the way you pop off new tools for your work is amazing. I always try to think of a way but some times the idea just doesn't pop out and look as sweet as yours. :LOL:
McGuyver 100, Corner 0.;):):)
Jack.