I am planning to go to Spring Carlisle on friday to look for parts. I am getting to the point of the build where I have to buy stuff, new street rod materials, like a gas tank, shifter etc…so, if you have any of this stuff listed below, let me know, or take a look at my wanted page.
Stuff:
I hate looking at the tools I would like to have and seeing the price tag that goes with it. For example, a nice brand new set of body hammers or forming hammers run something like 250 dollars. Crazy, so I have been going around the net looking for home made tools, not pretty and painted, but functional and cheap..so I found this picture of a interchangeable cart. It would allow you to make different tools that would sit of the top of it allowing you to do what ever you wanted. So, with some help from some steel I had laying around, fabbed this up. It sits about 36 inches high and is pretty strong. I used 2.5 inch tubing with an 1/8th inch thickness. Best part is that it rolls around on steel castors!!
What you can’t see is the mount that sits underneath it and the screw that allows it to be tightened. What I plan on doing with this is getting a panel beating bag and practice metal forming. I also plan on making a shrinker stretcher piece to mount mine to as well as panel holder for fenders and the like. Looks ugly, costed nothing, and will last longer than I need it to…
5 bucks to anyone who can figure out what the flat plate is made out of….
Yeah, so it has been awhile, and I am sorry for that..but lets just say thanks because it is ON!!!
I consulted with my chief design engineer..aka friend about this chassis and came up with a much better plan.
I cut it out..what is it..glad you asked
Then things got crazy..tubing..measuring, cutting, grinding, welding…measuring…measuring..more measuring..
I think this suspension is going to be fun…
check it out
The toughest part was making the front pieces…now..i still have some structural steel to add, but it works great.
This suspension is used in NASCAR’s cars and it originated from 60-72 chevy half ton pick up trucks..still lots to do, but this was a MAJOR step.
I have been on the look out for a nice work table. One that I can “plug and play” my various tools with. My shrinker/stretcher, vice, bead roller, shear and panel bag, however, I couldn’t find any until a week ago.
I went to an auction for a school that recently was re-zoned and they were selling off everything. I picked up a table and a cabinet for about 20 bucks. Perfect for what I wanted to do. I plan on making more mounts to the table but for now it works. I feel like I can finally start building my skills in fabrication and metal. I really don’t know why I like it so much, but i am not worried for now.
As well, I picked up this really big, really heavy cabinet. The school kids seemed to like spray paint alot, so I will have to cover this with some paint when I get the chance.
Now I am on the look out for a better air compressor. Preferrably a 220v 5hp.
So I had some time off this week, being Thanksgiving and all, so I had a chance to get to the metal yard and pick up what I needed to start my frame work. I picked up some steel tubing, mostly 2×4 and 2×6 with some plate as well. I think I will need to head back there again shortly to pick up some more stuff. Anyway, I got to work on the first part.
The rear crossmember. Rusted out and bent, it needed to be replaced. In addition to that I also needed to get the rusted bumper bolts out of the frame. So I went to work.
The rear crossmember is 50 inches and so when I got the metal I made sure to have them cut it to specification. It worked out perfectly.
With some prepping and my welder all warmed up it went in perfectly. Though you can’t see it, there are 4 bumper bolts that I had to remove from the frame. They were a royal pain.
My plan is to run a trailing arm rear suspension, simliar to nascar and so I will need to stiffen up the center of the car as well as take care of some of the rust issues. I plan on cutting out the center member hump, once I get every other brace welded in and the arms positioned. For now though, I have the center pieces in place. It reall stiffens up the frame.
Eventually I will have a 2×4 cross member running width-wise connecting the two outside rails and used as a locating piece for the front of the arms and I will probably run plate along the inside of the frame as well.
The work has begun on the frame. I have removed the body bushings (small rubber disks cushioning the body and reducing the squeeking. Most are hard as a rock from years of weather and climate so those will definitely have to be replaced.
As well I have started to clean the frame and assess areas that need to be strengthened. I should be able to make quite an impact by welding some well placed braces and connection pieces.
Starting with this frame certainly makes me appreciate new metal as most of the frame has pitting.
I haven’t made a decision just yet regarding the rear kick up area of the frame and when I do I will post on my progress.
I have picked up driveshaft but haven’t had time to get it cut down quite yet.
As I continued to dig into this project, I knew early that I needed to get to the frame to make sure that everything is strong. With so much of the parts running outside of the car like fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust, it would be a wise choice to start with a bare frame.
So, with a little help from another mercury owner I build a wooden buck to store the body of my car.
As with everything in this project having another person there to help makes things a whole lot easier. So my friend sawzall came over and we got it going.
The process wasn’t as hard as I thought, though I have a new appreciation for the “frame off” restoration process. I had to spend the afternoon cutting all the bolts free from the frame, moving the car to set it up, cleaning the garage and building the buck.
It was all pretty fun actually, but I think that now the hard part is coming. I looks like I might move in a different direction with the rear suspension opting for a trailing arm style, popular with NASCAR guys. As well I will be doing some significant bracing and welding of the frame as I have found some weak points.
All in all it took about 2 hours and most of that was set up and jacking the car up. With a little ingenuity and time it worked flawlessly. Now I can get to the fun stuff.
Next up is getting a drive shaft and pulling the drive train together. Stay tuned.
I have started on the hardest part of this car - the pretty stuff.
The grill surround, desoto grill and making at all line up. As you can see, I am dealing with some pretty beat up pieces, most people wouldn’t even mess with this, but because I am not above trying I will.
I will let the rest of the pictures do the talking.
I have alot of work still to do, but because it has been so long I thought to catch you up. Look for more tomorrow.
Just a quick update - got the passenger side finished and the fender mounted. Needs some adjustment but should work just fine.
Well, sorry for taking so long to update you, but my site is going through some weird problem with an internal server error. I cannot seem to upload pictures very easily.
Anyway I kind of found a way around it so that should work for now.
I have been pretty busy in the garage lately. With some more help from my friend Jeff - I got some pieces bent up so that I could start to fabricate pieces and move forward with undoubtedly the hardest part of this project - the grill.
The Desoto Grill swap is nothing new to custom guys, but until you do one, you have no idea what goes into it. Alot of measuring and take this word of advice from me - PAY FOR GOOD PIECES so that you do not have to work through all the rust repair and fit issues.
