Model A job

[idrivejunk]

[enjenjo]

Looks good to me.

[idrivejunk]

Thank you Frank. I stayed at it an extra hour before lunch break today just to be sure they were presentable.  

They may not fit inside a perfect cube, but considering their position on the vehicle I felt that if the radius is about that consistent and the orientation of the bulge is reasonably matched... them dogs will hunt. No denying there will be mud fudge required for the wheel bead but not beyond whats to be expected on this specimen. I had left enough material to cautiously trim and do comparative checks to match them. Each took roughly the same time to make but that sneaking up on it process took maybe half as long as making one. Believe me, I've had my eyes peeled for a junk part I could scavenge for about a week but to no avail.

Saved the patch I started but goofed on yesterday, and got that smoked on. Tacked the pan caps, whacked the tire mount panel and cut metal for the pan and that was the day. If I feel froggy, I will see if Mike's slip roller will do anything with a 5x36" piece after I sand it in the morning. If no frog, brake bumps in the shop's kinda loosey goosey brake. Pantera work will start after the next A owner visit. Meanwhile, I'll try to make like downhill and run while the running is good.











If I get my hands on a metal file at any point, theres enough meat for improving the trunk bead. Did a full investigation today as to the whereabouts of mine, including toolbox searches and inquiries. One guy said you had two, didn't you and that makes him a suspect.

On the way home, I saw my choice of tires for it and a cheesehead far from home. Nobody here is from here.    

[chimp koose]

NICE SAVE on that quarter panel !

[idrivejunk]

NICE SAVE on that quarter panel !

Thank you sir.  I am not out of the woods just yet but I think I can hear city noises.  

[idrivejunk]

Mr. Malcontent here (me) wasn't quite satisfied with the trunk bead. Not squared or straight enough for me on the outside and it looked like it would require too much mud. So I was mean to it and went through in a few places but got the shape best I could, all around the area. The tip of the side indent is higher than on the other side but I think it will pass.







So I called it touch up welding in the log book and now am convinced thats all I want / need to do there. Should have welded that from the inside in the first place but lazy hurry, etc. Looks satisfactory to me now.



First thing I did today was bend the roll pan. With the shop's brake.





That dog'll hunt, too. But it didn't stay clamped up long. The rear well portion of the trunk pan no longer matched height-wise. Meaning the trunk latch support would also require reconfiguration. So I hacked it out and reconfigured it to connect to the bottom of the tail panel. That leaves the roll pan hanging down by it's lonesome so that exhaust cutouts up to 2" tall could be added easily if desired. Didn't have to make anything, just added a step for plug welds at front of the well. It no longer hangs down past the frame. While I was there I made access holes for the shock mount bolts.





So here is the current state of affairs.

[idrivejunk]

Got started making covers for the shock bolt holes but boss wanted out early...



After my last cut of the week, the leftovers of the scrap I was using caught my eye-



I could not resist, of course.    



Thats the trunk latch support at the revised height. Simple trim and re-bend in vise.

First objective was to prepare for some ergonomic mockery and style review next customer visit. More accidental symbolism.  







I had just foraged in the scrap bin and slapped mockery bracketry in to hold stuff then made a throne and place for heel. The brake pedal has to go way left. The lever is made with a dogleg to the right  which puts the gas pedal over the trans  :?





Come to think of it, I should mock up an armrest and handle too.

Heres a closer look at the DeTomaso on-deck project.  :cry:    :!:  :?:  The fender does not unbolt.

What say you... shaping project or bump and shrink?  :?:  :?:  :?:

Penny for your thoughts, Bob.







That Blazer I fixed rockers on looks fresh enough to eat off of-





I just picture it full of college chix. O yea!



There were four square and twenty... oops no four square Broncos on site today. Boss drove his green one, the orange plastic one is out back being built. These two from the grey room are Footloose's job that fell off a twin post and the ancient sideswipe Longhair is on-





Paintar is making his way around the Cat in good time. Thats kinda exciting but the picture ain't.



Oh and heres some idea how much funk was on the Pantera. Glad he switched from mud hog to razor blade!      

[moose]

Matt, Very nice fab work on the newer patch work on the A quarter panel. So what if there is slight variance side to side. You can only see one side at a time  and from the factory they vary a lot! The roll pan is coming out great! Did you wheel the corner pieces or hand planish them?

moose

[idrivejunk]

Matt, Very nice fab work on the newer patch work on the A quarter panel. So what if there is slight variance side to side. You can only see one side at a time  and from the factory they vary a lot! The roll pan is coming out great! Did you wheel the corner pieces or hand planish them?

moose

Thanks! That first quilt-looking mess on the quarter had to be there to hold things straight while I replaced it with better pieces.

The two pics above the first roll pan end pics show A: Started with english wheel. Making the deepest, smallest bowl I could. B: A piece of wood in the vise with mushroomed top which I used as a dolly for planishing.

There was also some use of the pointy end of the big anvil. The process varied from one piece to the other slightly but generally speaking it went something like this:

Select orientation of metal scrap, mark front on inside. Wheel, deeply in one spot as the corner bulge. Hammer over stick in vise, beginning to make L shape. A little shrinker jaws and vise bending around edges. More wheel. Make cut toward outside corner from near center. Hammer over stick and overlap where cut. Trim overlap, weld, grind. Planish over anvil tip. Wheel more. Eyeball lumpy spots and planish over stick and anvil as needed.

The one cut stage was when it starts looking like a pan end and the wheeling after that is when the shaper's smirk sets in. A guy could keep on going and perfecting way beyond where I stopped but I called it good at a sensible point in my mind. Spent not quite half a day making each end which seemed awful slow to me but it was fun. Boy was my bum wrist talking to me after all that, whew! The second end was done with a bit less hammer and more wheel.  

[idrivejunk]

[idrivejunk]

Woops, I posted the wrong version. Door panel tops are more finished.

[enjenjo]

I am not a big fan of those AC vents  but the placement is on the right track. you might try them a bit lower.

[idrivejunk]

Pan ends and tub humps stay on the quarters, center section of roll pan stays on tail panel until all the fitting is done and structure is primed.

[idrivejunk]

[idrivejunk]

Took the tail panel off



so I could finish the metal out easier and be sure it was still a rectangle from behind.





Hey Mac's.... this came loose.



Flattened the back corners of the trunk well pan-



These go there-





Learned from welding right on the step of that quarter trunk bead earlier.... I will slice quarter and tail panel and butt these stepped strips in instead-



Makes fitting the panels easier with screws, too.



Other stuff-



Heres a car I worked on that got stashed in a barn afterward-



I dunno. More Fords.



This is the one with 'glass body shell-