Thread: Everybody that is currently building a car...

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Hey guys, hows it going? I got a half a day of work done yesterday; got the rest of the holes in the floor patched and all the seams fiberglassed. Also got the other cab corner in and the gas tank hole filled. Hopefully I'll be spraying primer next weekend if I can get it all sanded this week. As soon as I get the inside of the cab painted, I think I'm going to move to the front suspension for a break from body work. I think the target date of being finished on Jan 1 is a little unrealistic; but hopefully not long after. Last year was the first year in a long time that I havent had some kind of rod to cruise during summer and it drove me nuts. I'm going to sell this but i'd like to drive it a little before I do. Have a good weekend, peace to all.

That cab is looking really good falcon, did you say you where going to fiberglass the floor? That will be good and strong and also quit, Looking good.

There's a car guy locally that showed me that a long time ago. He'd spot weld all his floor pans in, then cut 2" strips of fibergalss cloth, soak them in resin and lay them over the seams. Then he'd put another coat of resin over that. It does make a nice strong seam that seals really good. Hey Brick, I was looking at your location and just realized where you are. My son's football team just played West Plains last week. I didn't get to go but I heard you guys have a great team down there. It was quite a battle from what I hear.

Falcon your moving on the truck so every step gets it closer . I've kinda been seeing more trucks in the mags . This summer will be a good time to move it probably.

Well been organizing up garage to move around the stang a little better . Things slid under it from years ago LOL. Well any way was working on shelf also when i ran up on some old emblems i had off my 48 Cpe . Also these from some pick up i assume they came with the Cpe when i got it back in 1981 they had to be nos with the #'s on the back .. Wish i still had that car clean from Kentucky.

falconvan, I envy your metal floorpan! I don't reply to this thread much, but I have been working on this firewall problem for a long time and I think it is finally finished enough to move on to installing the steering column. The problem was that the Bebops trans tunnel was so large and the brake pedal so far to the right that I could not get my foot anywhere convenient for an accelerator pedal so at the risk of ruining the whole 'glass body I cut out the tunnel flush with the upper firewall. That left a gaping inverted U-shaped hole at the bottom of the firewall and I messed around with that many different ways; you don't want to know how many different things I tried to patch that hole! Now I have a 16 gauge stainless steel sheet painted body color on the front of the indented 'glass firewall with a (1/4") aluminum plate in the inside to hang things on. The sandwich firewall is now about (1/2") thick and has a number of stainless bolts holding it together. There is about (1/2") or more between the bottom of the firewall and the R700 transmission housing, but of course if I ever need to remove the transmission I will have to unbolt the lower part of the firewall. There is also a sheet of Aluminum house-gutter flashing painted black bent at an angle around the seam of the firewall and the floor to keep out most of any splashes. Of course that also meant that I had to make a plywood floor but I put inner-tube rubber under the plywood and around the shifter opening. The shiny aluminum plate on the left of the brake pedal is where I will mount a foot-pedal dimmer switch, I really dislike the modern column dimmers and need something for my left foot to do. The conclusion is that with a SBC/R700 driveline there is little need for a transmission hump and I was able to salvage some of the 'glass hump for my new floor which is a lot more like the original Model-A floor. There must be an easier way, but I still don't know where my right foot was supposed to go with the original huge trans hump.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Brought the chassis home today for my 26 T coupe from my brother-in-laws place where I did all the work, can't do much else until I get the body back from Dave.

This week I put on all of the stock body mounts, "Ears" on the front of the frame for bolting on the front fenders, finished the running board brackets, fabricated a rear shock bracket, cleaned up the welds from the welding of the rear spring perches, primered all raw metal and put the rearend back in.

Next week I'll be building the wood for the body and running board mounts. Not too hip on using wood, thought I might try to whittle some truck tire rubber, put large washers on both sides and run a bolt through all of it. Anyone else built their own rubber mounts?

Over all pretty happy with my progress, especially happy with the reversing of my rear wheels.

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

falconvan, I envy your metal floorpan! I don't reply to this thread much, but I have been working on this firewall problem for a long time and I think it is finally finished enough to move on to installing the steering column. The problem was that the Bebops trans tunnel was so large and the brake pedal so far to the right that I could not get my foot anywhere convenient for an accelerator pedal so at the risk of ruining the whole 'glass body I cut out the tunnel flush with the upper firewall. That left a gaping inverted U-shaped hole at the bottom of the firewall and I messed around with that many different ways; you don't want to know how many different things I tried to patch that hole! Now I have a 16 gauge stainless steel sheet painted body color on the front of the indented 'glass firewall with a (1/4") aluminum plate in the inside to hang things on. The sandwich firewall is now about (1/2") thick and has a number of stainless bolts holding it together. There is about (1/2") or more between the bottom of the firewall and the R700 transmission housing, but of course if I ever need to remove the transmission I will have to unbolt the lower part of the firewall. There is also a sheet of Aluminum house-gutter flashing painted black bent at an angle around the seam of the firewall and the floor to keep out most of any splashes. Of course that also meant that I had to make a plywood floor but I put inner-tube rubber under the plywood and around the shifter opening. The shiny aluminum plate on the left of the brake pedal is where I will mount a foot-pedal dimmer switch, I really dislike the modern column dimmers and need something for my left foot to do. The conclusion is that with a SBC/R700 driveline there is little need for a transmission hump and I was able to salvage some of the 'glass hump for my new floor which is a lot more like the original Model-A floor. There must be an easier way, but I still don't know where my right foot was supposed to go with the original huge trans hump.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don Shillady--Please don't take this as undue criticism, because it is not intended that way at all. You have created a terrible unstable mess by the modifications that you have made to the floor of your roadster. Those fiberglass bodies depend so much on the structural integrity of the floor to keep everything aligned and in place, and you have completely destroyed that by what you have done. The new wooden floor needs to be glassed to the remains of the existing glass floor on both sides,and at the rear. The remains of your tunnel that you have reused needs to be glassed to the new wooden floor, and also to the random peices of aluminum and stainless steel that you now have in there for a firewall.---And the random peices of steel and aluminum need to be glassed to the remains of your fiberglassed firewall. This should be done with at least 3 layers of matt and resin, and should overlap onto all the "new" peices and to the existing floor by at least 4". And the worst of it is, that it should be done on both the inside of the car and on the outside (underneath and on the firewall). You have cobbled together a bunch of peices that will keep your feet of the ground, but will in reality do very little else. I hate to be the bearer of such dreadfull news, and I sincerely hope that some of the other experienced builders like myself will jump in on this thread and verify what I have just told you.---Brian

Your pedals are looking good Don, lots of room for your feet. Man you have almost no hump at all, that is sure gives you more foot room.

That is a great looking chassis Tom, looks like a four speed huh? Did you reverse those rear wheels yourself? Nicely done.

I have found a 91 vortec 350 with a 350 auto, carb, distributor, headers and everything today for my El Camino for $550.00. I am looking forward to getting it painted and put in the truck tomorrow. I am hoping that it runs as good as everybody say they do, should make the ol' El Co haul the mail!

Ya it's a 4 speed, i also have a automatic that I got from Hemi T Coupe if it doesn't work out for me (clutch peddle problems), and ya I reversed them wheels myself. They fit under my fenders perfect.

Nicely done, may I ask what the advantage is of the raised rear section of that frame compared to a flat stock 27(I think) frame?

It's a Pro Street Frame from Total Performance.

In '62 I built up a 34 Ford fordor and used the stock rearend and buggy spring; every time I'd go around a corner it would tip. I ended up selling it and then in '75 I bought it back and put in a '56 Ford rearend with the dual springs like I have now - what a difference that made. And that's the reason I went with it again. Also I bought it used and the price was REALLY good.

If in the future I want to run wide tires and a narrowed axle, the frame is all ready made for it.

Sorry for the big size of the photo of the '34 Ford, hope this one turns out better.

Here's one of my frame when I found it, had to add 3 inches to the length, cut down the front crossmember, remove and replace the Four Bar, and change the Pan Hard also.

When I build my next car I'm going to build my own frame from scratch, it would be a lot less work.

I am in serious pain, boys. We had our Thanksgiving dinner with our kids yesterday to avoid the family log jam of trying to visit everyone's house in one day. It was great but I ate about ten times what I normally eat and my gut is paying for it today. Seems like before I hit 40 (or maybe before it hit me) I could eat whatever I wanted with no problem. Oh well, a piece of pecan pie and a little Cool Whip sounds like a pretty good breakfast right now.
I did get out early yesterday morning and finally got this thing primered. Not bad; I kind of dig the black primer look. Hopefully i'll get the interior painted tonight. I'll post a few pics if I do.

Falcon a good coat of primer equals thing out . Truck is looking good you've done some major work and made alot of progress . So you think it'll go when you get it finished or are you thinking of some seat time now LOL.