Model A job

[Canuck]

By the way, customer expressed interest in a tank at front of trunk. This pic edit satisfies my curiosity fully and I would chop now if I had the roof insert.

Don't know if you have ordered the roof skin or not, but a 68 Chevy full size 4dr HT skin drops on perfectly, just trim to fit.  Same arch front to back and side to side.  Think I put it on backwards.

[idrivejunk]

By the way, customer expressed interest in a tank at front of trunk. This pic edit satisfies my curiosity fully and I would chop now if I had the roof insert.

Don't know if you have ordered the roof skin or not, but a 68 Chevy full size 4dr HT skin drops on perfectly, just trim to fit.  Same arch front to back and side to side.  Think I put it on backwards.

We are getting a prefabricated, ribbed metal roof insert panel.

I pretty much have a door fitting in a hole with a slight overlap on top and at the top rear where cutting will already be happening. I have not cut the quarter, can you see what I did?

[416Ford]

I pretty much have a door fitting in a hole with a slight overlap on top and at the top rear where cutting will already be happening. I have not cut the quarter, can you see what I did?

Did you extend the body about 3/16" to get a nice gap compared to the original overlap I see on most car?

[idrivejunk]

I pretty much have a door fitting in a hole with a slight overlap on top and at the top rear where cutting will already be happening. I have not cut the quarter, can you see what I did?

Did you extend the body about 3/16" to get a nice gap compared to the original overlap I see on most car?

Yes, the owner requested flush fitting doors, no handles or hinges showing. Where the hood seal lies on the cowl theres a bead that is rusted through on both sides. I plan to keep the original seal location and remove a half inch of rusty bead there, then put a new bead on the trimmed cowl edge and weld old to old. That will make up the half inch I just scooted the cowl and A pillar forward in relation to the rockers and roof. We are doing a smooth cowl top panel so I imagine trimming that a half inch too should be about all there is to it.

This is the loaded B pillar, ready to stuff back in. I will need to add structure to the door shell to have something to connect the door side hinge pockets to. That would be next, so I can swing the door open.

[idrivejunk]

This is how far I moved the cowl and A pillars in relation to the fixture, at the dash area.



I was planning to just remove the rusty band under the molding where the tape is here, and make up the half inch that way but I believe we will make a new front section, smooth. And hello molding I didn't realize goes there, it means that can flange, overlap, plug weld, and hide. Aha! Planning just wins.





End of today, door in hole but gap needs work all around. Footloose was right, the previous rockers were installed with the B pillars too far in. Its a work in progress...









I set the hinge post deep as it can go into the pillar, for shoulder room. So the door moves down considerably when opened. Apron clearance will be checked. It does open to a 90 degree angle to the car, there was a screw head in the way of one hinge at pic time so its just partly open.



Heres the business end. Yes thats the old B pillar to side window brace you see a piece of, repurposed as a hinge pocket brace which is probably temporary.

[idrivejunk]

Worked toward a better flush fit today and tied A and B pillars together, screwed hinge post to pillar, flattened body line below side window some, etc. Sneaking up on it. Its probably time to go catch up on the other side.  

[kb426]

For some reason, I expected that if the lower body was repaired before that it would still be good. Obviously, I'm missing a lot of the history of this body.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

For some reason, I expected that if the lower body was repaired before that it would still be good. Obviously, I'm missing a lot of the history of this body.

Looks to me : the body rot was covered up , not repaired any where near correctly.  Cosmetic bondo repair process was used.  

[idrivejunk]

How's the age old saying go...

Heat it til it drips, pull it till it rips, cave it, pave it, blend it, and send it.

When the job was handed over, Mike had cut the left B loose from the rocker because it was obviously out of place. He thought the bottom of the body was squished together. He was right because swinging it out helped door and quarter line up. I will have to center them once both sides gap out OK and mock up with aprons. All hinge pocket and tube final locations are still up in the air because the pillar can still twist. There will have to be a top cross brace on those for anything to be solid. It was better after today, door swings more like a door lol.

History moment: Rewind to customer visit... when his Paw done the mud and stuff (rockers, pan, braces, patches, tail panel) he got it from some place it was buried up to well... where you can see. Assuming another chassis came into play, and that either tree limbs or livestock or maybe even creek had had their ways with it and I'm sure the car thought it was a goner. But see I think the origin is a generation deeper yet, it came from his Gramps. I am violating an heirloom pretty hard, its like walking into a crypt I tell ya. So much unfathomable history.

I know you bodymen like supplements, so here are some in the form of pictures.

Befores-







In order to distract and conf... I mean amuse, here are supplemental pics to the supplement (think it'll total?). Additional angles from today.

[idrivejunk]

Only one I got. From October.

[idrivejunk]

Its been a long strange couple of days. Long story short, banging the mental rev limiter and popping loudly. Started to hook today though, and after much bewildering fuss I am ready to match up the right side of the car to the left. Meaning I've got the left side close enough that I could chop. I'll be taking the shortest path which leads to chop and the same degree of bracing may not be needed on the right side now that dimensions have been established. Today I left off working on right A pillar position. The week got off to a slow start but today hatched some plans for how to make what and where.

Heres a scribble that shows where I'm at and rough ideas, and may help you sort the fixture from the car in the following pics.













Couple things from the other stalls-

[idrivejunk]

Reckon I'm a wee bit flustrated with the A. Too many side-to-side dimensional variations. I raced to a point of ready to stick a right door in the door hole, then when I did... the body line of the door sits an inch low. So if I move it up, the door top bumps right into the drip rail. Dadgum IT!

Last minute of the day, I C-clamped it up there for a glance and my heart sank. For lack of a better analogy on weary wit, I'll say its like the moment during a fistfight with a stranger where you realize you must give up now or kill.

Only solution I see is to get the quarters off and jig them to each other so I can locate and address where they don't match each other. Then I can proceed but the stock B pillar and old replacement rockers ain't gonna cut it. They cloud the issue. Any remnants of replaced panels must go. Not gonna do war with this door too, its time for the thinking man's approach where the steel has no choice but to comply with my wishes. I just was trying not to go there but negotiations with the vehicle have failed.

The old rocker helped me on the left (I think) but the right one is throwing the compass off so to speak. I believe I can just about create mirror image quarter / pillar / door assemblies off the car with them jigged side by side, nothing between. Set them down on rockers and go.

I can hear the collective "So when are you going to chop it?".

After that. Not looking to make goof moves just for show. On this one, anyway.

This was morning, and the experiment failed. I moved what I wanted to move but I needed to be pushing apart on the other side rather than pulling together as shown. I undid what I did but hey theres a friction jack in pointless use!



Lunchtime-



End of day-

[UGLY OLDS]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm........ :?    Maybe Henry is showing his disapproval  :?:  :?:  

History shows us he wasn't real keen on changes .....

Bob...

[chris spokes]

right hand side roof line seems a lot fuller and the drip rail also looks to sag midway

[idrivejunk]

Today was entirely different, it was wierd. I cleaned my stall first and that took awhile. What a thrash zone it was.  Step one toward mental clarity.

Step two, talk out details of our mutual jobs with the good help, wiping away questions, addressing concerns, etc.

Step three, clearly log those activities. I started to, but...

Friends had gone to a nearby junkyard and decided to drop in. They snuck right up on me. During the bull session, the friend who I have not only worked with but also for... pulls his head out of the Cat and says "You've come a long way since you were painting cars for me!"

But I didn't paint...

Oh yes, you did! Twenty years ago.

Oh, sure enough. Yes I did!

Before putting in about four years at his shop ten years ago, doing crash work, I was a painter twenty years ago and he was a bodyman.

After their visit, I finished catching up my log book and was suprised to see enough time left before lunch to get some actual work done.

I turned to the A. But needed to P first. Eric's words echoed in my ears as I walked.

Generally I despise praise, but like anyone I crave it. I brush it off as insincere by default knowing its the car owners who pay the price.

Unsolicited positive facts with gigantic amounts of supportive evidence, delivered in unbiased conversation with someone I trust and respect... regardless  of whether I am fond of them... I can accept. Makes me want to look down, kick dirt and change the subject though. And grin with genuine satisfaction. Couple buffer sentences later I am ready to thank them.

I did come here, in I think 96 or 7, knowing I would have to prove myself all over again and start at the bottom because my reputation was splattered all over north LA and east TX. Dang if one day, jobless but house sitting for my RV-ing folks, the phone rang. A reference from Shreveport to a south AR man building the fanciest body shop I ever seen, where I live now... got me a job right there on the porch swing, out of the blue. And so it began, here.

Seeking the best flat rate and two weeks vacation after a number of years, among other benefits, I worked all over this area.

I've never found the vacation. Jobs either peter out before you can earn it, or you are flatly denied that long of a break if you do.

Shop after shop, to this day I am still always trying to prove my worth and get that elusive two weeks off. I guess if I stop that, I'd probably suck. But I know I will never achieve that, its just not possible. I'd have to quit. I've come to accept that.

But Eric's remark tipped my perspective. I look around, I remember things said. I look over my work all around me.

And it occurs to me that perhaps I ought to behave like an accomplished professional. Heck I have never grown past T shirt and jeans mentality nor have I taken time to reflect on things I've learned. Don't feel as though there was ever time to grow, only to work and crash.

But this car fixer dude I've become is finally getting my own attention. I can see most of my work is solid. Not that I am that great at what I do, but others with less solitary lives would have to invest far more effort to get where I am, at my job. All I am is too dumb to quit to pursue riches so I stay, and end up like this at most jobs I've had... in a top technical position.

So I don't know what it is I am trying to communicate, other than maybe that I've experienced a perspective change. No, I don't feel like quitting posting ha, ha. Just natural personal growth, I suppose. I do see that I can stop trying to prove my worth and focus on continued development of my abilities though, and thats new. Recent years have been a blur of personal damage control and loss prevention, and I feel perpetually precarious. The skill growth just kind of grew naturally while I wasn't paying attention.

Maybe I have worked hard enough all my life that the rest of the all would allow me to regroup. Perhaps prosperity does not ride a dead horse after all.

Maybe theres hope. I have reflected on my works and am well pleased. Others are too. I'm way past needing to prove anything to anyone in any shop except the boss. He put me here and I appreciate it much.

Just wanted to share that little coming of age. It was a long time coming but as always (way late) I finally get the picture and sometimes act on it correctly, (here comes the key word) eventually. This time, the lesson is quit doubting yourself. I am proven and could even be called an old hand at this stuff by some and to you men I'll express my gratitude for telling me this all along and tolerating my version of humble bodyman. Nothing has changed nor do I plan to, I just got a glimpse of myself from someone who knows me from way back. Enlightening!

Step four- take four days off at Labor Day. YESSS!

Stand by for a picture post like you have come to expect, gents. Thanx.