Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Yep, forgot about the record players. Never owned one, but remember seeing them in all the ads of the day.


Don

Don,

Just finished the read. Great info thanks for all of the effort. Got a question.
Why wood floors? Why not use sheet metal?

Thanks,
Zachairah

Plywood is the traditional way to do a fiberglass body, especially on T buckets that come with no floor. Steel wouldn't bond well because of the different expansion, contraction rates between it and the fiberglass. Wood is very similar to fiberglass in that respect.

Even boats until recently used wood for stringers and transoms (foam core and other hi tech products are now becoming popular, but only in recent years) Plywood is cheap, easily worked by the home hobbiest, and bonds well.

The secret to keeping it from delaminating or rotting is to totally encapsulate it in resin, especially the ends, as this is where moisture can enter most easily. Also, the thickness of the wood in the floor and sides is where the body gets it's strength. Without the wood it is very flimsy and weak.

Thank you for the nice words and for reading the thread.

Don

phonograph yes had one with the reverb, and the lights under the dash and under the fenderwells. Still have an 8 track in the shop. I had a kid over helping me clean out the shop one day and he said "What kind on player is that,I never seen anything like it"? Well I don't understand Plams or IPODS????either so I guess that made us even

Originally Posted by cffisher

phonograph yes had one with the reverb, and the lights under the dash and under the fenderwells.

Yeap, Charlie, and to really look cool, we painted the inner fenderwells white so the light would really reflect. And now I find myself wondering about the youngsters and their neon lights. Funny how I could forget the old stuff we used to do.

Lights under the fenderwells, I had totally forgotten about that too. Used truck clearance lights (like 29 cents each back then). Just knew we were cool when we turned those babies on. How could the girls resist something so cool????

Remember scavenger pipes?? I put two on my one car, and it only had a single exhaust. The one turned blue and the unused one looked like new, so after a while I switched them around so the new one discolored too.

Friend of mine wanted to rake his '50 Ford, so he mounted the rear springs on top of the axle. The perches were on the bottom of the axle, so he simply flipped the entire axle housing over. He put it so the right tire was now the left tire and visa versa. He bolted it all up, lowered the car down, and man did it have a nasty rake.

When he put the car in reverse to back out of the driveway the car went forward, when he put it in forward it went backwards. Found out he had 3 speeds in reverse, and one in forward. He never took into account that when you flip the rear end over, you reverse the direction of travel. I remember laying on the lawn laughing my butt off on that one.

Yeah, we were really cool back then.

Don

Yeah I forgot about the white paint. I got stopped by a cop in one of the suburbers of Chi. for speeding and loud exhaust. Lake plugs open. He told me to close them and leave them closed. Yea. Only got the speeder ticket. It wasn't an hour later SAME COP behind me again I wasn't speeding but U guessed it The plugs were open. I got to go see the majoistrate right then and there. Don't remember what it cost me but he didn't get me a third time. If I went through that town the plugs were closed. I can't beleave how DUMB I was. Wonder how I managed to get this old without killing myself.

Wow, what nostalgia. I had a copper colored '60 Pontiac Catalina 2-dr with spring spacers in the rear. Had the wheelwells and the rear end painted white and scavenger pipes underneath. White wheels with blackwall tires and dogdish hubcaps. That was 1969 and I was a Junior in college. I always wanted a reverb, but never had the spare bucks to buy one. I'd love to have that Pontiac now...

Tonight I went to the shop after work, and think I have wrapped up how the pedal and master cylinder assemblies will mount to the frame, and where exactly they will go. What I got done wasn't a monumental amount, but it finishes one of the tasks that has been dragging the project down time-wise.

You know, I think anyone who has built a car or fixed one up over a long period of time will say that there are peaks and valleys to the process. Sometimes it seems you make huge strides, and sometimes the work just drags on and on. I am sort of at that draggy stage right now, because all of the tasks I am doing are time consuming yet mundane little jobs that don't seem to give any serious progress to the build, and yet they have to be done to get it running.

When you are bolting on wheels and it is starting to look like a car, things seem to move ahead very quickly, but when you start doing things like building the master cylinder mounts and chores like that, it is hard to see any real motion in the building process. Some nights I have to drag myself to the shop after work because the things I am doing right now aren't the fun things. However, I did get this pedal thing nailed down tonight, and once I get it welded to the frame I will be able to move onto finishing up the steering box mounting.

Here are a couple of pictures of the final assembly I came up with. The pedal mount has a top plate welded to it, and this whole assembly will be welded solidly to the frame. The top section is tapped for a 3/8 bolt, and this is going to be one of my body mounting locations. I will make up 3 more just like it so the body can bolt down to these pads. I didn't have to drop the master cylinder as far below the frame as I thought, it is only about 1/2 inch below the bottom of the frame. I'm pretty happy about that, as I didn't want too much sticking below the frame, which might catch on something as I drive down the road.

I dummied the pedal assembly up on a scrap piece of 2 x 3 frame tubing to illustrate how it will weld to the real frame.

Thanks for looking,

Don

Looking good, Don....

Thank you Dave.

Don

Thanks Denny, I too think it will be pretty strong once it is all welded to the frame. I pretty much copied Total Performance's unit, and they seem to think their stuff out pretty well.

Denny, did you ever find out anything about lt1S10??

Don

I checked his posts. Last time he posted was the 29th, so not real long ago, but you are right, he usually is on here almost every day. Maybe he is away somewhere.


Don

Don
That looks great one would think you know what your doing I know what you'r talking about with SLOW times in the build. I'm at that point now. I honestly dislike doing interior work. I think thats why it took me 5 yrs to do my 38. You just can't go buy what is needed. I've talked to upolsters and they all say the same thing you have to make what you need. I'm not realy in any hurry but I'd like this part behind me.

Yep, you are right. There are days when I should be at the shop working on it, but going home and taking a nap has more appeal. Some of these little tasks are just boring sometimes.

I think once I get the frame and running gear in primer and paint the fun will come back. (I still am bouncing back and forth on about 4 different color combinations, at the top of the list right now is a nice bronze I found on a new Hummer, looks really old timey. Won't really know until I actually go look at some paint chips at the paint store)

Don