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Not unusual for the older cars to be that far off, body fit wasn't exactly a priority back then! Seems like the tolerance must have been about + or - .500".:LOL::LOL::LOL: I've measured up a lot of frames before turning then into Hot Rods and found measurements from side to side to be off by as much as .750"!!!!
The guys who worked the assembly lines in those days must have really had a tough time putting these together with the stampings being so far off!
They just had to get it close. By the 60's everyone said buy a german (european) car if you want quality! In the early 70's an american car would just rot away in 3 or 4 years here in New England! By the 80's no-one wanted an american car because the lack of quality was so well known..
You may disagree but remember slogans like Ford's "quality is job 1"? This was in response to the above scenario!
Americans could spit out a car every couple minutes, but the quality was awful! Cheap, but the whole concept of quality was almost non-existant.
Been waiting a long time to see this! Now just the hood and gravel pans left to paint and it's all reassembly from there. all I need is lots of $$$$!:LOL:
Looking very smooth, nice body work!
I agree. Very sleek looking. What's that color?
Thanks! It's Grand Prix White; it's out of the late 90's Porshe color chart.
Thanks for the info.. vewy intewesting......
Looking good Falcon, just throw a few more $$$$$ at it and it will be ready for cruizin'!!
Yeah, first order of business will be to finish up the drivetrain and wire it. Still havent heard the motor run! It'll be cool to have it freed up to where I can work on it. Hopefully another couple of summers and it will be road ready. You start adding up in your head how much $$ you need to finish and it gets overwhelming so I'll just pick at it one piece at a time.
Falcon I hear you on the cost issues, I sort of approach the truck like vacations, working on it when there is money for it! Since I'm not in a hurry, I don't mind the wait, but would like the garage space back from all the disassembled parts lying around! :)
I would love to have another garage to store finished cars in. It is to easy to mess up a finished car by working on a project .....been there and done that more than once
I guess if I stopped building other cars and concentrated on finishing one at a time........nah, forget I said that.
I was gonna mention that after your earlier comment about "waiting a long time for this" but decided I had no room to talk.........afterall, I'm juggling two projects myself.....:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
It's lookin' good!!:D
I wish I had the time and $ to finish and store just 1 project.:rolleyes::LOL: This past year+ has been putting out 1 fire after another coupled with family obligations.:( Looks like the 34 will be waiting till after our move to Idaho, hopefully before the end of the year.:HMMM::rolleyes:
Jack.
I hear you guys when you say about (a) money, the lack of the unspoken for funds to spend on toys, (b) garage space, why does a T Bucket take up more space when all I have done is turn it around so that I can work on the drivers side. Either the garage has got smaller or I really need to go on a diet real quick. (c) family commitments, as you may recall, I am the care giver for my Mum who has Dementia and heck, that is a 24/7 full on job at most of the time and it shocks me at times just how mentally worn out I get, so time out in the garage working on the Bucket seems to have declined which frustrates me at times, but family first eh.
I like the idea of the white paint job because it seems everybody goes for the " In " colors so this will be refreshing.
My wife picked the white paint for the same reasons you said. I do like it; with white/red interior I think it will look pretty sharp. I usually build my cars on the cheap using a lot of boneyard parts but we wanted this one to be really nice so we'd rather wait until we can afford to buy the stuff she wants on it. I'll keep building my cheap heaps for myself in the meantime.;)
White with Red interior is a great combo. From back in the 60s. mama got a good eye.
Falcon,
The coupe is looking good. I have plans to get paint on my 48 shortly. Will be going white with mine as well but more along the lines of the Chrysler 300 vanilla white. Going with bone colored pleated inserts with saddle tan trim for the interior.
Wanted the off white rather than pure white especially for the interior due to the upkeep.
Keep going looking forward to seeing your progress.
Did someone say a red and white interior??? Heck, can't go wrong with that IMO!!!!!
Falcon,,it's looking nice..I know what it's like to have to stretch a build out,too.. When ya got the time,,there is no money,,and vice versa..Thankfully,,I have been making a bit of progress on Lynda's Customline again..Looking forward to seeing that nice ol'Mopar finished..:cool::cool:
I'm not sure about the rest of you (I like to think we all feel the same), but there seems to be one reason or another that we can't/don't get to work/finish/drive our projects-
For me personally (and you might think I'm crazy), but I work in a different State than I live-first off, this takes a Wife that is amazingly strong and able to be happy by/with herself (and a passel of Grandkids doesn't hurt!-heck, she has her own Hobbies-we get a House full of Grandkids in two weeks for "Grandma Kamp").
Secondly, they simply pay me too much to NOT to be here, so, my problem isn't a money thing, it's a time thing (I simply don't have enough of it)-I am getting closer to Retirement so this won't go on for too much longer though-
While this sounds great (it isn't always perfect for certain), it can be frustrating to know that your project is just sitting there and the hold up is YOU (and it seems like Friday will NEVER get here to go Home and work on the "other" Mistress (as my significant other would say) :(.
So, I can completely understand the Money thing (and empathize with it), but the reverse is also agonizing-it's great to be a Gearhead though, isn't it?
Yes it is! I guess we all have those projects where we get a little case of ADD. It WILL get finished! But somehow I also just ended up with a 49 Plymouth business coupe.............
I like that term "ended up with"-I use it on the Wifey all the time (and sometimes it works, sometimes not :( -on the not side, it almost always costs me (usually some sort of trip with the Grandkids or that latest Scrapbooking gadget)-
Oh yeah; no doubt she's making a payback list as we speak.:LOL:
scrap booking, Quilting, grandkids. What ever it is I DO NOT get in the way. :D
I know my place and stay there.:)
You're a wise man, Charlie.
Happy 4th! I got to spend several hours this morning on the 48; seems like it's been a while since I touched it. Nothing major, just vacuumed out all the dust out of the inside, cleaned up and painted several small parts, and bolted in the dash and brake pedal assembly. But progress is progress. Now its off to eat some BBQ at the inlaws.
Phew!!!! Time for new glasses soon, had to re-read your post, Falcon!!!! Thought it said you were going to BBQ the Inlaws!!!!!:eek::eek::eek:
Hah! May have felt like it a few times;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Severson
Here's the steering column I put together a while back; this was out of a 1 1/2 ton Checy truck. I cut it down 8", installed a bottom bearing, put on a weld on joint to connect to the steering shaft, and built the mount. Also been cruizing my busy coupe around. I went and picked up a 5 speed trans for it yesterday; it'll be getting a Mopar small block over the winter.
Finally got some primer and guidecoat on the hood and gravelpans. They should be getting some paint in a week or so and then after 5 years of bodywork and paint; it'll all be one color.:D
Fantastic!!!! It's been a long time coming.
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You aren't kidding, Mike! Who knows, it might even run someday.;)
Hard to believe its been almost a year since I touched this thing. I dont know why but this one has always been really hard to stay focused on. I havent been in the garage for a while but I finally spent a couple weeks doing some serious cleaning and hauled off several loads of crap. I pushed the car out a few weeks ago and cleaned it really good so Im going to try and set some small goals to finish. The hood and gravel pans need painted and I'd really like to hear the engine run. There's several things I need to finish to be able to do that so for now that's what Im focusing on. This weekend Im going to work on finishing the hood and getting it ready for paint.
All in good time.
Sounds familiar Falcon!!!! I can go months (or even years) ignoring a car, then something trips a switch and it becomes the hot project again!!!!
That's what i'm hoping for, Dave. Although I've been tossing around some ideas for a tube chassis reverse trike powered by some type of 4 clinder FWD donor drivetrain. I was looking at all the Elio ads that are coming out and then started looking at several other designs. Looks like it could be a fun build and a cool work commuter. My wife said,"If you really want one just go buy one of those Elios when they start selling them next year." Nah, where's the fun in that?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Severson
"...... Sounds familiar Falcon!!!! I can go months (or even years) ignoring a car, then something trips a switch and it becomes the hot project again!!!!....."
Yeah, here too. I moved the 37 into the shop a couple of years ago to get started on it again, got the firewall roughed in and there it sits.
.
Same thing with the 57 I couldn't believe it sat in the other shop for 2 years untouched. Oh I am back at it again..sorta.