Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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Thanks gents!!!



Progress from yesterday, while Jared was blocking out some of the window garnish moldings, I worked on the door panel stainless trim to ready them for stud welding. Mike had used the trim repair tool to remove the dings, which were then filed smooth.





The last 65 years had left their mark; we had numerous scratches needing removal as well. We started with 320 grit on the fine pattern palm sander, and progressed our way up to 8000 grit trizact..

















This is the final using the 8000 grit, and we'll start the buffing process once the stud welding had been completed..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5YYWcQgIRg


With the stainless prepped, we turned attention to the window garnishes. They were sprayed with three coats of SPI epoxy.








Today we went to A&A Metalworks in Ridge MD to get the studs welded in place. This sample shows the studs, where three have been folded over to a 90. This is how the factory held them onto the door panels as well. Note the back side shows no heat pattern with the Capacitive Discharge welder.








Welding the studs onto the stainless trim...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WZ25tqOXos


Our results...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXQCJe1hma8


A test to check the heat the welder introduces into the panel..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkDRJXstvH4


This shows these welders make a good choice to use where cases of heat sensitivity may be an issue.

Very cool polishing and welding, you guys are great for taking the time to post the process

Robert.. as always. WOW, just WOW! I'll echo Steve, thanks for teaching and posting.

Thanks guys. When we started I wasn't sure we could reuse these pieces of trim as they were missing a good half of the studs. We tried these and had good luck with the Capacitive Discharge welder in not introducing any heat to speak of (and thus heat damage that you'd see from a normal welder) it was too good a result not to share in case someone else needs such a repair. I would say the welder costs about 2000+, so unless you need one REAL bad, find someone with such a machine to perform the welds for you. Allen did have quite a few of the studs left, as well as threaded ones from 4-40 up 1/4-20. If anyone needs such repairs I'd be happy to act as a go between if you couldn't find such a service locally.

Happy Easter everyone!


Our wagon progress from this weekend, we finished up the interior lights. Here wiring up the rear light. The included pigtails were discarded to eliminate a butt splice, and our newly installed wiring made use of new lamp base contacts (W crimp) from Repair Connector.











The lens used in light fixtures like these are typically plagued over the years by overheating and then cracking, so we opted for a 1004 LED replacement. Should keep things cooler for longer lens life, and brighter!!











Onto more electrical issues, the "hidden fuel door" we had purchased was so intermittent in operation that when we had dropped it off at Absolute Rod & Custom Paint to test fit to the car when they were fine tuning the bodywork, we were second guessing whether we should use it at all.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=848V2PbuQJw



All the harnesses came into a terminal board with wires going to the relays on the opposite side. Some of the terminals had as many as three wires in them, and Mike Flores found about 6 loose wires. Splices didn’t carry the same wire color through, making trouble shooting a bit of a challenge. The toggle switch (which should have been momentary contact but was not) had some home-made fork terminals. This thing was looking more sketchy with everything we looked at next. For a store-bought product intended for an automotive environment, they should find someone more competent in wiring.











To get rid of the terminal board, we opted for weather pack connectors, one to each of the end terminations (switch, fuel door, power source). We eliminated the triple wires to single terminal by jumpering, making use of two wires in a single pin, and jumpered as required.















Our new wires going into the relay connectors made use of new Packard 56 style female spade terminals from www.repairconnector.com (more W-crimp) These were also jumpered two wires to a pin where needed.











The toggle switch was replaced by an automotive grade MOMENTARY rocker switch from McMaster. Works flawlessly.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxGo6JU19kY



Not pretty, but much improved. The relays will be located behind the rear seat on the sub box, conveniently between all our end points. Just like our speaker grilles, black plastic really doesn't belong in plain view in a 55 Chevy. So our more highly functional rocker switch will be hidden inside the glove box..

Wow the details you fabricate/modify are NASA quality controlled! Amazing! Cool automated behind the headlight gas tank access. LEDs are a smart mod too. My house is 95% led, and things like the 89 Harley Benefit from the rear tail light having an LED that isn't affected by filament failure from vibration. I try to replace what I can as I am in need of a bulb with an led option. If only they meade leds that worked in range oven! Heat problems evidently are too hot of an environment for the led appliance bulb to work.

Very nice work! The electrical is always over looked on most builds and can cause you the most trouble!

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So now that I'm back from the short hiatus in Albuquerque, hanging TV's for the day job... We did get to see some sights, here's cars and coffee attendees on April 17th..



















































Later that same day we rolled past the car wash from Breaking Bad fame...

The following weekend we ventured to Moriarity NM to the Lewis Antique Auto and Toy Museum. Heaven on earth...

The inside stuff....







a 427-8V powered 57 T-bird















Some of the treasures outside....



































Give me the old stuff over the new...







Alas, all of these goodies were part of the museum and not for sale. We did spend about 4 hours there taking in the sights, even still...

Love the diverse dislay of cars spanning the decades! Thanks for sharing

That is fantastic! I got to put some of this stuff on my to-do list when Kari and I make our big trip with Rita!

Very nice trip there! That museum has a lot of awesome stuff outside. Too bad none of that is for sale. Definitely a lot of cool projects there! Did you happen to take any pics of the black split bumper camaro at the cars and coffee event? The Breaking Bad car, that is neat. I was surprised how good that show was. My father in law got me started watching it and I was sad when it ended.

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Thanks for all the pics! Way Cool museum too. I'll have to visit it when I'm out there later this year.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Did you happen to take any pics of the black split bumper camaro at the cars and coffee event?

This past Saturday I went to the Jalopyrama show, held at the Talbot County Community Center in Easton, MD. I made a stop off at the parking lot of the Double T Diner in Parole, MD first though, had to finalize an online purchase of these two gems...











Should be some good overflow storage for the Lennox dies.. Here are some of the pictures from the show.. The Willys Woodie is a one of 6 made.































































Cody Walls had two cars there in bare steel, badass to say the least. The Buick has been sectioned and roof pancaked, the 32 is heavily channeled.


















This show is always a must see, and this year did not disappoint..