60 Biscayne

[idrivejunk]

Starting to feel better because I took the loud car for a sunny spin   :0-0  it was heck convincing myself to do so. Perhaps in the sake of conversation a little thread fluff is called for.

Bob, nothing would beat seeing a show where all of you fix your fenders because you saw me do stuff and thought if he can do it, I can. Pardon my inoperative sense of humor today though. The fenders I did on a 41 Ford truck... never had to metal work any bare gennie fenders older than that... were an absolute nightmare. Steel leaf, I called them. Just nothing to work with. Too many previous repairs. But dang if didn't look like a museum piece in the end. As I've said before, in those cases try to just create a stable bed for the inevitable filler bath. Mmm, a bath and then bed... sounds good.

So how do you guys see this Biscayne when done? I mean how would you like to see it colored and trimmed? They don't have a great deal of chrome. This car sits super low in front, has big wheels and a wicked nasty idle, and I can only envision it in a dark pearl or candy, or just black. With either lake pipes or zoomies. Maybe some other shuck and jive from the era? Paint trix? I have not so much as met the owner and have zero knowledge of plans beyond metal stage.

What would you-uns like to see? )bye(

[enjenjo]

Cadillac had a dark blue back in those days, a metallic, that looked black at night, but in the sun had bright blue highlights. That would be a good color for it. Then all the trim bright polished and chromed, rather than the anodised aluminum look. And dark center five spoke Americans, polished rims, maybe in 16" with some sidewalls on the tires.

[UGLY OLDS]

Just like Frank said ...Maybe with a contrasting color in the side spear on the quarters ..  
 NONE of that 20" "jumbo" wheel stuff though ....In my opinion, NOTHING ruins a car faster that 20" flashy wheels with a 2" sidewall tire... :evil:

See ...I told you ..Just THINKING about taking my drugs & you're feeling better already...    

Bob..

[idrivejunk]

I don't think I have pic with wheels on but they are exactly what you don't want to see :cry:

[lofat46]

Bob, come by here with some of those meds willya? I am in paiiiiin!

 Trust me Matt....With my meds, you don't even THINK about pain....      
 It makes life more about seeing the little birdies, stars, the occasional UFO...   :?
 You are finally able to truly understand the story line in cartoons .....  :oops:    

Bob..

There's a lot of truth in the old advertising slogan "better living through chemistry".  

[UGLY OLDS]

Bob, come by here with some of those meds willya? I am in paiiiiin!

 Trust me Matt....With my meds, you don't even THINK about pain....      
 It makes life more about seeing the little birdies, stars, the occasional UFO...   :?
 You are finally able to truly understand the story line in cartoons .....  :oops:    

Bob..

There's a lot of truth in the old advertising slogan "better living through chemistry".  

 And Lofat see's me live & in person quite often ..    :?   ( Well ...In person anyway..  :? )..

Bob..

[idrivejunk]

I ventured forth today. It was a QuilDay  :|   and I didn't know how I would do with that chemistry. Did alright though. This was a long row to hoe by any stretch of the imagination. So I'll call this episode a two post "Special".







Stand back        

Ok, here looky




Smoovenuf. Did not get a closeup, oops but will after the welding is done. Let me hit this corner right fast,...

[idrivejunk]

...roughly, then lets flip it over  






Gack! I love to chop so lemme trim that shagola-









I plan to do the simplest flange possible here, and just plug weld it except maybe at the ends. There are 2 or 3 other areas with tiny individual rust holes on the shell, and it looks as though I'll need a small patch at each front corner before my new flange goes on. I was thinking underlap it at my little gap there, but I may overlap to simplify because the inner center brace is layered behind the shell, several inches wide and hiding just barely out of sight. If I go from the top here, I'll definitely weld down to it. Some of those pics just confirm penetration on the skin flange patch. According to my plan, I was able to planish the seam and lessen the warpage which in my book was an acceptable amount. Not much craziness happened

I figured since Muddy Mudskipper was over there dust foggin I'd let him in on the pics. Big mud job too, ain't it?






We are the shop thats willing to tackle bad stuff I guess  :?  A guy stopped by today with an Eclipse convertible that he wanted a "3 wheel conversion" on.    Do whaaaat?

[UGLY OLDS]

Darn it Matt ....You make that patch installation stuff look soooooooooooo easy ....  :oops:  

A three wheel conversion  :?:  :?:    
Sure .. No Problem...How's about Thursday after lunch  :?: Bring it by ...We've got room ...

Bob...

[idrivejunk]

Yeah I don't know what the thinking was with the "conversion". Boss said he actually wanted two wheels right together but laid out like a trike. Folks with clipped on IDs from the world's richest retailer often show up needing to dispose of excess income because HQ is next town over. This guy bypassed the office, went straight up to the shop and belted out "I need to see a technician. For a very  interesting project!" in a heavy New Delhi accent.

While I lay awake to the song of inconsiderate city dog neighbors this morning I am trying to dream up an idea or two to suggest for the Biscayne that might help blend the Millennial's Choice stagecoach wheels and stance with the fin-era body style. The younger crowd seems to be really hung up on eliminating all incandescent lighting for example. So I'll mentally cue up a couple suggestions in case there's ever an opportunity for me to voice them.

For what it's worth I think the look you guys described is great. I'd even go for wide whites, fuzzy dice, and a whip antenna. But even window tint takes it out of that realm and nobody is gonna go for no tint. I reckon we shall eventually see how it shakes out. Next battlefront is the body itself so I'm getting there. But I am personally burned out to a point where even my loved ones are feeling it. More work, less rest is always the only answer. Grump grump sigh. Send the Wah-mbulance.

[idrivejunk]

Perhaps I'm in luck. Interviewing bodymen today. Too little too late though, today making those shell patches I kinda hit a wall and mentally checked out. Don't want to mess with any of it. Reckon I broke. Early lunch, maybe that will fix me.

[idrivejunk]

Today was just sad and I really don't know how I managed to keep my cool (nothing to do with interviews) but heres what I got done in spite of it all. I'm fairly pleased with the part I made and must state that it didn't take all day. There were "training distractions" but I'll reluctantly spare you. As I said, I have "burnout" and am experiencing a great deal of irrational behavior. Vittles, fresh air and a blast in the Pontiac helped.

Gonna drag you through this post now though

Grabbed a piece of 18 ga cold steel, cleaned it off. Measured cutaway hood shell front section. Determine size needed as 2 1/2 x 30" x 2. Marked that new sheet of steel. Went to pneumatic shear. Cleared it off, turned on air, connect air and electric. Shear pieces to rough size. Back to my work area. Welcome  

Below, at bottom is a scrap of the strips I cut. From that, I cut these test slices. At left is one bend with the brake in my stall, and one with Mike's brake out back (sharp). Center two are attempts to adjust the nearer brake and establish where to correctly mark my actual piece for bending. Top right is the winner.



You with me so far? Hope so. Skip to end of day...





Thats the old and new flanges next to each other. With clamps and screws for a tight fit throughout, I positioned one new half then trimmed and drilled as necessary for plug welding. Slices of matching depth on the outer end at the inside bend allowed forming of the small wraparound area at the corner of the skin, which was done with a vise and lineman pliers then welded.

I removed the first completely shaped half at 2:45. Then I made a mirror image of it, screwed it back on then clamped the second half in place and welded the two halves together at the center. Fits like a glove.





This image shows that like the original, it is flat across the bottom of the flange.



Close-up of the second corner, also showing a small gap to be patched in the coner where the skin was patched.



A guy was walking around with a gunful of epoxy so I'm just about all set for a simple morning plug welding task. Then I get to work on perforations along the sides of the skin. Oh and fix the big dent near the front. That should be theraputic, hopefully. Thanks for your tolerance.  

[idrivejunk]

Almost forgot... Color will be red and white. Load of chrome is at plater. I think its a bagged stock frame which may also recieve appearance work. First bill was for blasting, epoxy, and parts. Second sent. I expect to get a visit soon  

[chris spokes]

that looks so neat matt well done

[idrivejunk]

Thanks Chris.   My hope is that the added plug weld flange doesn't stand out as not belonging there. I think you'll like today's post as well, things went fine.    

Had the bottom fall out of a nagging sinus infection yesterday and am only now starting to feel like myself again. It was like a pudding snack pack or half tub of margarine. Hey, too long without a puke joke so there ya are. Those are exclusive IDJ details! Speaking of food, I forgot to make my trusty sandwich today but that gave me an excuse to hit a grocery store deli instead and thats a whole lot better fuel.    Stuft m'self  :T)  berp

Alright, alright,  I hear you. Heres bodyworks and stuff-

This is the patched corner of the skin that almost hides behind the new flange. All cozy in epoxy back there. You can hardly see the cut edge of the shell in the pic though-



A quick patch of the shell-



Step back and put on your    while I spark it up...



Woops started grinding before pic    







Awright now, step off once more while I put on my most bestest more gooder maker hat.













Now, before flipping it back over, theres these pesky holes to deal with. See silver Sharpie dots. Pick pokes then burr taps and gentle zaps to the finish line.











Yeah yeah, blah blah. Can we flip it over yet?

Yes we may. Grab one side... Hyup!

And there we are-



I scooted a block across it to show you how messed up it either is or isn't. Seen worse for sure, on a 5 footer. Anyhow, now you can see the straightening I'll be tackling next.



Been saying I'll do trunk floor next. I dunno. Boss says customer sounds fine with whats happening so off I'll go, and which thing to do first is open. May decide to tackle the worst quarter. In any case, a steady stream of metal work eyefulls for the likes of you.