51 Olds project

[purplepickup]

I've been following this thread but haven't told you how impressed I am with what you're doing.  

Great talent and minds at work there Don...and thanks for the updates.

[DRD57]

Very nice.  That recycled cardboard looks vaguely familiar, like it's a product I'm familiar with.  

My medication comes in that box, yeah..that's it medication. I think I need a dose right about now.

[sirstude]

Glad to see you are getting the large economy versions of that medication.  I really like the job you are doing on the car too.
That quarter window corner made a huge difference.

Doug

[DRD57]

It's been a while or two since we've had an update.

Rotten has been working on smoothing out the knots in the roof.


I've been working on the tail lights. I'm not even half way done but, I think I've got enough for an interesting update.

The stockers aren't going to mutt the custard


We want tail lights that look something like this


So, we're going to start with this 54 Merc lens


Here's where I made the first cut


The lens looked pretty good in the hole


Then I put some duct tape on it to simulate the finished product


The customer liked it so, we're moving forward. The first step was
making some reflectors for the lenses








The next step was to bend some 3/16" rod to form the top and bottom edges of the opening.


Then I made some side pieces from 18 gauge steel


The rest of the shots show tacking the rods in, forming some sheet metal panels, tacking it all together, and then welding it all up.









There's still a little welding to do on the right side and then I have to do the entire left side. The right side was easy by comparison because I was sort of making it up as I went. On the left side I'm going to have to make it a mirror image of the right. That's going to be a little harder.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Getting your feet wet now, aren't ya Don? Good solutions and good medicinal beverage selection.

Charlie

[DRD57]

Doing the 2nd tail light was easier than I thought it would be. Still a lot of work but, not as bad as I expected.

First I tacked in the bent rods that made up the framework for the lens. I measured several reference points from the other side to know exactly where the ends and intersections of each rod should be.



Next i mocked up the lens to see if everything looked right.



Here's where I did things a little differently than before. On the first side I did the sheet metal before I figured out how I was going to secure the lens to the body. Because that was such a pain working in the tight confines behind the sheet metal, this time I decided to fab the mounting tabs before the sheet metal went on. Way easier!.
Here's a shot of the tabs that hold the whole unit in place. there are tabs that attach to the back of the reflector and the tabs that are welded to the curved rods that go around the lens. The two sets of tabs are bolted together from the back. The lens is sandwiched between the reflector and the body.



Then it was time to bend some metal. The bottom pieces were just bent over a big piece of pipe since they didn't have any compound curves. The top pieces were hammered over a sand bag and then smoothed out with a power hammer.






Here it is mostly done. I still have to do some slight adjustments to the first side and I have to work on the sides of the openings around the ribs on the lenses.

[39deluxe]

That is definately a different look than we are used to seeing on one of these bodies. I like it.

Tom

[river1]

looks good don!!

love the inventive use of the can koozies  

later jim

[Grandadeo]

As always, very nice work Don.  Had hoped to run into you at Austin but I guess your boss wouldn't give you the weekend off.

Lee

[Bob K]

Hey Lee:

Great to finally meet you in Austin, I was hoping that Don would make it also but his boss is a  real slave driver.

B B

[Grandadeo]

Bob, maybe the weather forcast kept Don away.  No top on the roadster ya know.  By the way, I think we may have met in LA one time with Don and the RRT gang for breakfast several years back at the Roadster Show.  

Lee

[enjenjo]

Bob, maybe the weather forcast kept Don away.  No top on the roadster ya know.  By the way, I think we may have met in LA one time with Don and the RRT gang for breakfast a few years back at the Roadster Show.  

Lee

I thought so too, but I have been wrong before.

[tompeters]

boy o boy, theres lots of action going on here . almost like watching a movie! i like the big bumper a lot, but maybe not there. your dr. must be very happy that your meds are having such a positive effect? what are your thoughts on final color and rims? things such as this will get everyone out in the shop to get busy onour own projects! thanks

[DRD57]

boy o boy, theres lots of action going on here . almost like watching a movie! i like the big bumper a lot, but maybe not there. your dr. must be very happy that your meds are having such a positive effect? what are your thoughts on final color and rims? things such as this will get everyone out in the shop to get busy onour own projects! thanks

The car will be a shade darker than Washington blue. On the outside of the car the paint will be flattened. Under the hood and on the dash it'll be shiny. Lots of striping on the firewall, dash, aircleaner, etc. in process blue, gray and creamy white. Steel wheels with wide whites and Fiesta caps.

[DRD57]

Rotten Rodney has been slingin' some mud and makin' lots o' dust.

Engine & trans are in, bags are plumbed, brakes are plumbed, Mustang tank with Astro van filler are in, hard lines for trans cooler are done, steering is done.

I found 53 Ford headlight rings at Nightprowlers and made my own clips from .047 piano wire from the hobby store.

I'm using 57 chevy truck headlight buckets because they were the cheapest repops I could find. It appears that most GM's of the era used Guide buckets that are all the same except for trim ring brackets.  

Next on the list is fuel line, pump, & filter, engine accessories, wiring, windows, adapt a 64 Tbird center console, primer and lots of sanding.