View Full Version : wagon progress
Tonight we worked on getting the front fenders ready for epoxy primer, just a few more items to cross off the list. An earlier repair to resolve some rust on the top of the fenders.........
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%202/Picture366.jpg
.........when checking the gap to the hood recently we noticed it was slightly wide at these spots where the weld had pulled. Shown here with the straight edge....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1632.jpg
Time to make a tool that will reach between the inner fender brace for a bit of bumping...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1634.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1635.jpg
The shortened hammer comes in handy again...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1636.jpg
A few good raps along the area brought it out nicely.
Next, we have some early model fender emblems to install on the front fenders, so we needed to fill the old holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1637.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1639.jpg
Three separate quick zaps were used (about a minute in between) to minimize the heat introduced into the panel for filling the slotted holes. Note minimal HAZ..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1641.jpg
Holes laid out and drilled for the new emblem...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1646.jpg
Other fender...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1647.jpg
Note minimal weld bead height using EZ Grind..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1650.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1651.jpg
Next, we had one more minor adjustment to do to the driver door lower corner. It was tweaked inward slightly and needed some adjustment. I recently noticed one of my hole punches was broken, and it looks like it will work for what we need, in conjunction with the vise grip dent puller...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1652.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1653.jpg
Kyle started media blasting the inside of the driver's fender.... A bit of a squeeze in a 58" wide blast cabinet..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1655.jpg
Rather tight to the door!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1656.jpg
Until next time.....
carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
12-04-2014, 05:25 AM
nice work, thanks for sharing Robert. :)
Thanks guys!
While I was doing the family thing today at an FLL robotics competition, Kyle worked some more on prepping the front fenders for priming..
One down......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1657.jpg
One to go....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1659.jpg
Another issue that plagues most of the trifive Chevrolets is cracking at the leaded joint at the top of the A pillar.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1660.jpg
A look at the other side shows a gap that is quite a stretch to expect a good permanent repair regardless of the filler used..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1661.jpg
At over 1/4" wide, something we will need to address...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1662.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1663.jpg
So we'll attempt a repair similar to the radius-ing that was done on the rear tailgate, using STEEL..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture345.jpg
Until next time....
While Kyle continued media blasting fenders, I worked on closed up a gaping hole....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1673.jpg
A couple weak spots dictated a bigger hole. Here the radius was added from the A pillar to beneath the drip rail..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1675.jpg
Test fit
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1676.jpg
Welded in place.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1679.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1680.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1682.jpg
Used a torch and wire brush to clean off the other side, looks like this gap was a factory deal, and we have another radius to install..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1683.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1684.jpg
chevynut
12-14-2014, 07:39 AM
Wow, those gaps on the a-pillar are pretty big. I may have to re-address mine to see if I risk cracking there. On a Belair I think that area is pretty much covered up by trim.
567chevys
12-14-2014, 09:53 AM
Robert ,
Great stuff for all to enjoy and learn from . Thanks for taking the time to post for all of us !!
Sid
More progress, although it doesn't appear like much, progress just the same...
Door skins had been left "loose" on the inner door to allow twisting/tweaking for fitment within the door opening. Drilled some 3/16 holes from flange into inner door and plug welded. I've had many people ask how well the epoxy primer holds up to the heat of plug welds, here is a good indicator. It shows discoloration at the surface, but note the nice green primer underneath where the grinding wheel went through the paint..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1688.jpg
Parts ready for epoxy primer..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1690.jpg
These are the stiffeners for inside the door skin that go behind the door handle. The inside of the door will be sprayed, as well as these parts, and allowed to flash. Then another application on both and they'll get bolted in place, letting the epoxy primer act as an adhesive to hold in place and seal to the door skin. Once door handles are bolted on they will be there for good..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1691.jpg
This car has belt line trim that goes around the perimeter at the bottom of the windows, which needed to be added to the new door skins. I had saved a piece from the old door skins to get the locations correct. Here's the layout of the slots for the stainless attaching hardware, we'll get that finished next time..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1689.jpg
Why is it when you're getting ready to mix primer you find other issues to fix?? More minor tweaks so that hopefully we can spray this afternoon...
A crack that looks to be from some previous body damage.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1692.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1694.jpg
A post dolly is used to provide an off dolly effect, and the body hammer is struck on the "high" spot.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1695.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1697.jpg
Used a copper backing since we're so close to the edge and the metal has been fatigued. Filled the crack and dressed the weld...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1698.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1699.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1700.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1702.jpg
Then I noticed a low spot on the fender's bodyline crease...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1703.jpg
Time to lose another Craftsman chisel to become a body tool...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1704.jpg
....the rod was heated and bent around, then finished welding.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1705.jpg
Placed the fender on the large shot bag and used the dead blow hammer to apply the persuasive force...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1707.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1708.jpg
Much better with a more consistent crown across the fender..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1709.jpg
We have primer! Sprayed the SPI epoxy tonight, later this week we'll spray the doors and outside of the fenders and hood. Then we can assemble the front end and block across the adjacent panels..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1710.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1711.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1713.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1714.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1715.jpg
chevynut
12-21-2014, 05:10 PM
Hey Robert, how do you like the SPI Epoxy? I have read that it can be sanded pretty easily. It seems to me like that might make it more apt to water diffusing through it. There must be something added to make it more sandable than most other epoxies.
Also, I've been wondering what to do with the inside of my quarters and back by the taillight area. It's all gray DPLF now, but I think I need to spray it either body color or black DPLF. What do guys typically do in this area?
I've used it a couple times now but haven't done any sanding yet. The previous sprays were as a sealer for bus parts.. will let you know.. It's supposed to be one of the most waterproof epoxies out there.
For inside the quarters, I've seen epoxy used, epoxy plus undercoat, but as fancy as yours is you almost need to spray body color or lower it another two inches so nobody will see it.. :p
One of our projects for tonight was to make a stand to hold the doors for painting. I have some heavy duty "tripods" on casters that have a 2" ID pipe on top with a setscrew, which works well for changing out various fixtures for painting, as shown below on the left....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture066.jpg
My thoughts were to make a similar "tree" to hold the doors, using the hinge mounts. Here's the prototype design...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/doorstand.jpg
Here's our CAD layout this evening (cardboard aided design). As the flat bar is a bit cheaper than the pipe, we altered the pattern slightly...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1717.jpg
While Kyle was working on the parts for the door "tree", I turned my attention to one of the doors that still needed some finesse. One of the problem areas on the 55 wagon is that apparently GM did not have sufficient quantity of passenger doors specific to the wagon for the assembly line, so the quick fix was to install doors from the 2 door sedan. The downside was that the rear of the door tapers off where the sedans roof starts to drop off to the back window. With the belt line trim details aligned, note what appears to be a sagging rear edge with a widening gap to the upper door opening.... Most people don't notice this detail..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1718.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1719.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1720.jpg
For comparison, the driver's door aligns well to the trim lines...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1721.jpg
To fix the passenger door, we plan on a sectioning and a lift kit, adding a wider patch in the B post of the door to make up the difference.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1722.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1723.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1724.jpg
This may just work yet.. Hope so, there's a big gap there..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1726.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1727.jpg
New section fabbed and fitted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1728.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1730.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1731.jpg
Bottom seam welded in place...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1733.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1734.jpg
Yeah, this will be much better...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1737.jpg
One seam down, one to go...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1738.jpg
....and Kyle tackled his first welding project this evening..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1735.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1736.jpg
until next time, Merry Christmas to all!
Had some time this evening so worked a bit more on the wagon..
Finished up the door paint fixture.. will be adding some ballast to the base..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1739.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1740.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1751.jpg
Just to compare the driver's door and fitment / body line alignment to what we had to modify on the passenger side:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1741.jpg
Paint stick gap width at the top rear, all body lines straight across, about as close as you can get to what should be there.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1742.jpg
Also needed to finish the slotted holes for the trim under the door's window.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1743.jpg
We'll use a carbide ball nose in the Dremel...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1744.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1745.jpg
Straightedge spanned across two slots for a more precise scribed line..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1748.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1746.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1750.jpg
Today Kyle worked on another paint fixture for the wagon, one to hold the front fenders, while I started on adding the weatherstrip and drain holes in the bottom of the driver's door. I had made new bottoms and hadn't gotten around to these holes just yet. I did save the old bottoms to use as patterns.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1768.jpg
The old was merely laid over the new and traced to get the horizontal alignment of the drain holes and weatherstrip holes. Then a more accurate measurement located the vertical dimension of the drain holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1769.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1770.jpg
After drilling, a couple of twirls by hand of a 3/8 bit worked nicely to de-bur the holes, inside and out..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1771.jpg
The end of the old section was cut out and trimmed to be able to use it as a scribing template..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1772.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1773.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1774.jpg
Using our same Dremel set up from the top slots.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1745.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1776.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1777.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1778.jpg
Kyle is getting the hang of this welding stuff.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1779.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1781.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1795.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1796.jpg
While he started media blasting the core support, I finished up the passenger door's "un-chop"
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1784.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1785.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1787.jpg
Outside done, now for the inside piece...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1789.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1790.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1792.jpg
Fitted:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1793.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1794.jpg
And that will do it for today....
chevynut
12-28-2014, 03:22 PM
Very nice work Robert. I can't say that I've ever seen anyone go to that level of detail fixing imperfections on a car. Are you saying that a 2door sedan front door is different than a 2-door wagon front door? I thought they were the same.
Rick_L
12-28-2014, 03:50 PM
According to a guy I trust very much on the other board (who also owns what might arguably be the finest stock 55 convertible on the planet) - he says they are the same.
There has been quite a bit of discussion on this matter over the years. Apparently the 2 door sedan doors were used on the 2 door wagon, where they did not always have a good fit. Per Mikey Domoracki, GM never had a "wagon" door, and always used the 2 door sedan doors on the wagons. But in all the stories I have heard, as well as my own results, the driver's door is about perfect as is, the passenger door is not. This is what led to the speculation of an incorrect door being used on the passenger side..
chevynut
12-28-2014, 04:18 PM
Interesting....I just took a straightedge to the top of my 56 sedan driver's door, and it is NOT flat which was a bit of a surprise. It drops off about 1/2" at the rear from a quick glance. I'm pretty sure the passenger side is the same. I have a hard time believing GM would use a sedan door on a wagon, which does not roll down in the rear. It just doesn't fit correctly. It looks like there are wagon doors since one of yours is flat. I wonder if your passenger door was replaced at one time with a sedan door.
According to a guy I trust very much on the other board (who also owns what might arguably be the finest stock 55 convertible on the planet) - he says they are the same.
I always thought they were the same too. It's pretty clear that Robert's passenger door and driver door are different on top. My sedan doors are not flat on top as you would expect on a wagon, so I'd say your trusted source is wrong. ;) It looks to me like there are 2-door wagon doors and there are 2-door sedan doors and they are different. ;)
I now wonder if the front doors from a 4-door wagon are the same as those on a 4-door sedan. Any evidence to the contrary?
Laszlo, the top of the "wagon" door should not be flat at the top either. There is a slight crown at the door opening, and the drip rail from the B post back is about as flat as you can get. When I pushed the loose passenger side up the 1/8 or so, it becomes a nice parallel gap to the door opening. So there is a bit of crown there. Rick's source is the same gentleman I mentioned above, and if he says it's so, you can hold it as gospel.
chevynut
12-28-2014, 04:41 PM
Rick's source is the same gentleman I mentioned above, and if he says it's so, you can hold it as gospel.
Okay then I don't get it. :confused: Your driver's door clearly doesn't drop in the rear as much as the passenger door. It's also flatter than my sedan door, which is just like your passenger door. That tells me there is a difference between a wagon door and a sedan door, at least on the driver's side. Why would the passenger side be any different? What am I missing? You said yourself that rumor was GM ran out of wagon doors and started using sedan doors, which sounds plausible if your door is the original one to the car. To me that says there were two different doors in use.
Laszlo, I measured window openings after adding that section in the passenger side, and the distance at the back end of the passenger side is about 1/8+ over what I measured toward the front of the window opening. By comparison, the driver's side measured to be about 1/32 taller at the rear than what was measured toward the front. So by that comparison, the doors would appear to be the same, at least at the window openings, before I had made any changes. I also measured at the back of the door opening against the b post, from under the drip rail to the "crest" of the beltline crease, and both measured at/about (if I remember correctly) 16-1/8. Both the same. So I guess more measurements are in order...
Rick_L
12-28-2014, 07:18 PM
Cnut, why would there be a difference in the shape between a driver door or car versus a passenger door or car, other than the obvious that it' s a mirror image.
Further to that, check out listings for glass - it's the same piece for all.
I don't know if you know or know of Michael Domoracki - he is definitely an expert on 55-57s. And a very exacting craftsman. I think he's been doing this at least 35 years. One of his specialties is stainless repair and polishing.
chevynut
12-29-2014, 06:40 AM
Rick, based on Robert's pics the doors appear different to me and obviously to him too. If they weren't, why did he have to add what looks like 3/8" - 1/2" to the passenger door height? It sounds like this is a common occurrence on 2-door wagons - on the passenger side - based on what Robert said in his first post about the doors. But apparently it doesn't show up on all wagons. So something is different from side to side on his car. Did they just make some of the passenger side doors wrong? Is the b-pillar height wrong there? Or did they just use sedan doors sometimes on that side as the "rumor" suggests? Was this only in 55, or in 56 and 57 too?
I always thought the roofline drip rail on the wagons was straight, therefore the doors would have to be straight along the top. According to Robert the drip rail is not straight on his wagon, which seems a bit odd to me. In fact, Robert's measurements of the window opening show that the top of the door is just about parallel with the beltline, which I believe is parallel with the rocker. So how can it not be straight?
So I don't know what's going on and don't doubt that Mr. Domoracki knows a lot about these cars. However, I don't believe any one person knows everything there is to know about them. And it's of no consequence to me since I don't own a non-Nomad wagon. It's just a curiosity to me.
So what's your theory as to why Robert had to add so much to the passenger door to make it fit right? ;)
I actually only added a smidge more than 1/8", the patch was cut wider to get the weld seams farther apart to limit any weld distortion. What I cut out was slightly over 1/4, the patch strip was cut at 7/16 wide, and had some sanded off in final fitment. The cuts on the rear post also had some slight touchup to straighten things up. I think the camera makes it look fatter than it is.. :eek:
Rick_L
12-29-2014, 07:54 AM
I'm not doubting that the problem exists, after all we have photographic proof.
I'd say it's a factory quality problem. It also has me thinking I need to check the doors on my sedan, as well as the openings. I do expect them to be okay though.
FWIW, Domoracki was reporting the same problem on his wagon. He had a different repair in mind than Robert's but didn't elaborate.
chevynut
12-29-2014, 09:23 AM
This is strange. I measured my driver's door on my sedan and from the bottom of the window opening to the top of the window opening it's 13" in front, and 13 3/8" in the rear. Then I measured from the bottom of the window opening to the top of the door and it's 14 1/2" in front and 14 15/16" in the rear.
The top of the door rolls down at the rear, so this suggested to me that the beltline is NOT parallel with the rocker as I thought it was. So I measure it and it's 30" in front and 29 3/8" at the rear from the bottom of the door to the top of the door skin, below the bend. This makes the door about 9/16" shorter in the back overall than the front.
I also noticed that my Nomad beltline was lower in the rear than in the front, even with the frame level. So these cars have a slight "reverse rake" on the body, it seems.
My sedan doors definitely have a curvature to them on top, with the rear of the door 9/16" below the front as I just measured. It seems strange to me that they would have used these same doors on a wagon, but I guess it's possible. It's hard to believe 9/16" could be a quality issue. My doors fit my sedan body perfectly.
OK, some unofficial measurements... It's kinda late for me to measure door differences, so here are the details behind the door.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1797.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1799.jpg
Starting at the passenger side from the bottom of the drip rail, it's 1-1/8 to the crest of the upper trim, 15-31/32 to crest of lower trim, and 16-7/32 to the start of the quarter. So throwing out the drip rail in case of differing heights, crest to crest is 14-27/32, and crest to qtr bend is 15-3/32.
Now on the drivers side from the bottom of the drip rail, it's 1-1/16 to the crest of the upper trim, 15-29/32 to crest of lower trim, and 16-3/32 to the start of the quarter. So throwing out the drip rail in case of differing heights, crest to crest is 14-27/32, and crest to qtr bend is 15-1/32.
So for whatever it's worth, crest to crest appears the same, and upper crest to top of quarter appears to have a 1/16 difference. Anyone care to measure some door details from crest to crest and upper crest to "top of qtr"?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1800.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1801.jpg
chevynut
12-30-2014, 06:44 AM
Robert, on my sedan at the back of the driver's door the measurements are 1 1/16" from the drip rail to the top crest, 14 13/16" from crest to crest, and 15" from top crest to top of quarter. That's within 1/32 of your measurements on the driver's side. I can't get to the passenger side of my sedan because of the stuff around it. :(
Seems like that says a wagon door opening is exactly the same as a sedan door opening. So why did your passenger door not fit?
I believe there may be a difference in the doors, but it's a bit too late for me to measure these..
chevynut
12-30-2014, 07:24 AM
I believe there may be a difference in the doors, but it's a bit too late for me to measure these..
If that's the case, it seems like my passenger door should be the same as yours. I'll have to try to take a look.
Rick_L
12-30-2014, 07:52 AM
Not at home today, but I'll post up some measurements on mine when I return.
Working on the inner part of the door's un-chopping today..
Tacked...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1817.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1818.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1819.jpg
Then I got on a roll, here's the welded and finished product...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1823.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1824.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1825.jpg
Much better fit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1820.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1822.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1821.jpg
Took delivery on the ballast material today for the door paint stand. Without this it didn't care for the one door added at a time, and wanted to do a nose dive. This should work well!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/IMG_20150102_151939467.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/IMG_20150102_152516692.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/IMG_20150102_152555150.jpg
Rick_L
01-02-2015, 04:34 PM
Here's some measurements on my 55 Bel Air 2 door post.
Door opening - drip rail to top crest 1-1/8 L 1-1/16 R
- drip rail to lower crest 15-15/16 L 15-15/16 R
- drip rail to quarter 16-1/16 L 16-1/16 R
- crest to crest 14-13/16 L 14-13/16 R
- top crest to qtr 14-15/16 L 15 R
Doors height of window frame Left door front 15-5/8" rear 15-3/4"
Right door front 15-3/4" rear 15-7/8"
The big thing I see is that the measurements agree almost exactly with Cnut's sedan. Also Robert's drip rail to quarter is the longest of the three, which is significant to the problem.
The crown on the top of the door frame is about 1/8", peaking about 2/3 back.
Also Robert, your doors appear to be Bel Air doors, which means that they are both from a sedan.
chevynut
01-03-2015, 07:06 AM
Also Robert, your doors appear to be Bel Air doors, which means that they are both from a sedan.
Good observation on the sedan doors, I hadn't thought of that. So that proves the doors aren't the original ones to the car. However, the driver's side fits well, so it looks like this may be a wagon drip rail/roof issue more than a door issue. It is interesting that your door height seems to be 1/8" higher on the passenger side.
What makes them BelAir doors? Based on original paint finishes removed, all sheet metal parts including doors appear to be original to this vehicle. If you're referring to the trim holes at the top of the doors, the 210 wagon does have stainless trim at the top of the doors/windows/liftgate..
chevynut
01-03-2015, 07:54 AM
Okay, I retract my statement about the doors. I had forgotten about the 210 trim up there on top of the doors, and thought only the BelAirs had any trim there. In fact, wouldn't a BelAir door have holes for the long fender spears?
http://carnut.com/show/06/stul/tul0892.jpg
Here's a 210 wagon:
http://carnut.com/show/01/ptc/ptc115.jpg
Rick_L
01-03-2015, 09:14 AM
What threw me off is that a 210 sedan does not have any stainless trim at the top. Only the wagon. I learn something every day.
Today Kyle worked on prepping the driver's door for epoxy primer...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1829.jpg
Meanwhile, with the passenger door unchopped, I turned my attention to the slots for mounting the stainless trim and drain holes.. The old door's "window sill" was aligned and clamped in place to mark the slots..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1827.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1826.jpg
Then the slots are marked onto the new skin, and that location transposed down to the proper location..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1828.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1830.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1843.jpg
This is what happens when you pull the carbide cutter out too far while joining the holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1844.jpg
Weatherstrip holes drilled, drain holes laid out...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1845.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1846.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1847.jpg
Kyle has the driver's door scuffed and ready to go, once the passenger door is finished we can spray some more epoxy..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1848.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1849.jpg
Sneak preview of the powder coating, here's one of the inner fenders...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1867.jpg
Kyle working on more media blasting, we should have another batch for powder
coating this weekend....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1866.jpg
With the passenger door removed and out of the way, I worked on the
radius-ing and repairing of the lead gap seam. First to check the radius of the
completed driver's side with the Gatormeet radius gauge...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1851.jpg
Radius patch is bent using roll former dies in the Diacro press brake and
checked to the radius gauge...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1852.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1850.jpg
The patch is trimmed for the fit to the A-pillar, and a horizontal tail is
left to have something to hold on to while tacking in place. A score is added
using the cutoff wheel so the excess can be snapped off after tacking...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1857.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1853.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1854.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1855.jpg
Welded and dressed..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1858.jpg
Roof skin patch trimmed and fitted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1859.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1860.jpg
Welded...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1862.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1864.jpg
Welds dressed and radius checked...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1865.jpg
More progress on the wagon today. Kyle had finished the media blasting on the hood brace, so we had a few areas to address. As the hood ornament no longer exists, we didn't need the mounting holes going through the brace.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1868.jpg
A piece of brass flat bar is radius-ed to make an anvil..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1869.jpg
High spot is heated and tapped down with the hammer.. Then pick the next high spot and repeat....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1871.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1872.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1873.jpg
Slot is welded closed, welds dressed, area media blasted once again...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1875.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1876.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1878.jpg
Kyle working on prepping the passenger door for primer... Sorry for the blurry picture, gonna have to fire the photographer!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1874.jpg
The hood ornament hole in the cross brace was also welded closed and dressed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1880.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1881.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1882.jpg
Next on the list were the stress cracks on the ends of the hood brace.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1883.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1884.jpg
Some 16 gauge CRS was used to make some stiffeners inside the corners...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1885.jpg
test fit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1887.jpg
Plug welded in place and the flanges wrapped around... cracks repaired...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1888.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1889.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1890.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1892.jpg
Test fit to the hood...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1895.jpg
BAM55
01-11-2015, 06:52 PM
As always you are the man. Great work
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing some more green paint on that truck.. I'm sure you are as well!
Tonight Kyle was putting the finishing touches on prepping the passenger door for paint. Lots of nooks and crannies. We ended up moving the drill press so we could open the media blast cabinet door wide enough to put the door inside. It was a snug fit, but made easier work of cleaning the door on the ends... The rest will be done by hand...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1913.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1914.jpg
After adding the radius to the doors, it only made sense that the lift gate needed the same modification. Sorry to bore you with more of the same, just wait until we get to wet sanding :D
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1902.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1904.jpg
Test fit the radius...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1905.jpg
Scoring the second cut location, and tacking in place..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1906.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1907.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1908.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1909.jpg
Snapped of the excess....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1910.jpg
Checking the radius, and welded in and dressed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1911.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1912.jpg
They're calling for a heat wave this weekend (in high 40's on Sunday), so we should get some more primer sprayed....
chevynut
01-15-2015, 06:54 AM
Robert, curious why you're powdercoating instead of painting the inner fenders.
Got enough to paint now.. ;)
Kyle finishing up the prep on the door this morning, found another use for the GatorMeet radius square, here used as a sanding block to get into the tight crevices...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1915.jpg
Front fenders were both prepped with DA and 80 grit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1917.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1918.jpg
SPI Epoxy is mixed to allow for induction...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1920.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1919.jpg
As the body parts had been soda blasted, it was cleaned with a hot soapy water (dish detergent) and a grey Scotchbrite, followed by a towel drying session.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1927.jpg
Then this was followed up with preclean...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1921.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1922.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1924.jpg
The door handle backing plates had not yet been installed on the back side of the door skins, so a coat of epoxy was sprayed on both, and then bolted together to allow to cure..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1928.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1930.jpg
A good shot of the door paint fixture in action...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1936.jpg
Two coats applied...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1937.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1938.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1939.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1940.jpg
chevynut
01-18-2015, 03:19 PM
Damn those parts look nice and flat. Great work Robert. What's the plan from here? Are you going to assemble the parts and block them with the body?
Prepping my bare metal for the first time really made me nervous, because I knew it was the key to a long-lasting paint job.
It's not as flat as it looks. All the parts sprayed today have some dings and waves here and there. But yes, we plan to reinstall on the body and block across, then epoxy again. Then we should soon get the body back on the rotisserie..
Justin@ECP
01-19-2015, 12:16 PM
So much skill involved with the fab work here..I'm jealous
This evening while we had painted parts still lounging in the booth, we took some time to clean up and put tools away..... hey, there's that welding table!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1941.jpg
And found a new location for the ewheel.. Still gives plenty of room for access to the parts bins and gets it out of the way elsewhere in the shop..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1942.jpg
After that we worked to fix some pin holes along the passenger quarter's weld.. using a light from the back side to show the pin holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1945.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1943.jpg
....and this one was a pit from the back side, more of the dreaded dirt thrown from the rear tire causing rust....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture1944.jpg
Tonight we finished up radius-ing the liftgate opening...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201956.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201955.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201958.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201957.jpg
Next, we moved on to de-leading and shaving the last pinch weld seam at the back of the car. We've eliminated all of these to get rid of all the dirt/rust traps that we can...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201959.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201960.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201961.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201962.jpg
Removing the excess....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201963.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201964.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201966.jpg
Getting some gap filler.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201967.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201968.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201969.jpg
Flattening out the creases....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201971.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201973.jpg
Tacked in place, and test fitting a tail light before trimming our gap filler....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201979.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201980.jpg
....and we'll get the rest of the de-leading finished on Saturday...
A bit late posting the progress from yesterday.. We were supposed to finish up the passenger rear quarter, but looks like some reproduction tail light bezels are on the way. So just to be on the safe side, we'll post pone that so any final fitment will be to those parts once they get here... In the meantime, we got the primed body parts re-assembled yesterday, here installing the doors.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201981.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201982.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201983.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201984.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201985.jpg
The SPI epoxy does a good job of providing it's own "guide coat". I blocked this with 180 grit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201988.jpg
Here's some of the low spots filled with some evercoat...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201992.jpg
While I was block sanding, Kyle started modifying the hold down bracket for the battery. The post cutouts were on catty corner and didn't match todays battery posts. We had test fit the bracket on a 24F series Interstate today at Big Ed's Tires. Here's the filler piece....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201990.jpg
Shown here is the new location...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201991.jpg
Filler welded in place, and the new relief cut out...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201986.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201989.jpg
One down, one to go...
I've had guys ask what primer I was using and then why the switch to SPI, here's a home-brewed video (not mine) of a torture test on some panels sprayed with SPI... Pretty tough stuff...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yA8q4K-_Bo
.
Tonight's update. We took delivery on some nice used core support side panels from Jay Hammond's Chevy Parts. The others were quite mangled, so this will save quite a bit of time in making a set.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201994.jpg
Kyle finishing up the battery hold down modification...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201993.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201995.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201996.jpg
We also mocked up an MT24F battery...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201998.jpg
The factory version of this battery location for an air conditioned car also calls for a "zee" bracket to the back side of the core support.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202002.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%201999.jpg
So with dimensions taken, a practice piece was cut out of poster board...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202000.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202001.jpg
Laid out on some 16 GA CRS...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202004.jpg
And got a bit more blocking done across the door gaps..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202006.jpg
chevynut
01-28-2015, 08:40 PM
That SPI epoxy looks like some pretty good stuff. I would be hesitant to mix brands of epoxy and urethane primer, though. How are you going to deal with that issue? I guess I did that when I used Evercoat Slick Sand over my epoxy (polyester) followed by PPG K36 urethane primer.
Shouldn't be an issue. The epoxy will make a good sealer after something like slick sand.
chevynut
01-29-2015, 06:13 AM
Shouldn't be an issue. The epoxy will make a good sealer after something like slick sand.
So you plan to use SPI epoxy again over high-build primer? Are you using SPI topcoat too? I was warned long ago not to mix brands of paint materials, but I don't know how big of a deal that really is.
Rick_L
01-29-2015, 08:58 AM
I have seen similar tests on PPG DP epoxy primer on other sites. I have no hesitation using the PPG product. I see no functional advantage to SPI over PPG except for the sandabiility of the SPI. But since I do my block sanding with other materials that's not an issue for me.
I also don't see a problem with mixing material suppliers when it's quality primers. After all they are supposed to be a barrier. Look at the list of things that PPG DP is compatible with. Just about everything PPG makes. Why wouldn't it be compatible with other brands?
Also, lots of painters use different brands of clear relative to the basecoat.
Not saying there might not be a surprise out there.
Yes, work on the lows and epoxy over it again. It provides a more stable base for what goes on top over a 2K high build.. It does sand extremely well, even better than the H/K I was used to...
BAM55
01-29-2015, 10:11 AM
Robert I basically do the same thing. I use SPI epoxy on bare metal, slick sand, start blocking my panels, once straight I use reduced SPI as a sealer and top coat. Works pretty nice for me.
chevynut
01-29-2015, 11:50 AM
I also don't see a problem with mixing material suppliers when it's quality primers. After all they are supposed to be a barrier. Look at the list of things that PPG DP is compatible with. Just about everything PPG makes. Why wouldn't it be compatible with other brands?
Not all suppliers use the same chemistries. I was led to believe there could be compatibility issues if you mix brands, due to the difference in chemistries. Sure, all PPG products should be compatible, but it doesn't mean they're compatible with other supplier's products. PPG states that their products are compatible with polyeseter fillers so I don't think Slicksand is an issue. I'm hesitant to mix brands of paints and primers because I don't know what issues might come up. And do you think PPG would back their product if it was under or over someone elses's product? I doubt it.
I prefer no (bad) surprises. :)
chevynut
01-29-2015, 11:53 AM
It does seem like SPI offers some advantages. PPG DPLF sands like crap, so you have to use a different primer/surfacer over it. If you can just keep using SPI epoxy and sanding it until it's flat, that seems like a lot better way to go. What about the price? PPG DPLF is very expensive imo.
Rick_L
01-29-2015, 01:16 PM
I have to wonder about the block sanding on SPI epoxy. How can it be as easy as K36 or a similar product?
I don't have current pricing but the cost has to be lower. One downside is that you can't buy it locally, at least most places.
Don't worry about the warranty, you won't have one if it's a DIY deal anyway. Unless you have everything done in a PPG shop, you won't get PPG warranty (etc.).
One of the incompatibles is shown in Robert's youtube link. But you might be surprised how much of the chemistry is the same from brand to brand. I think the incompatibility of types of products is greater that the variation between different brands of similar products.
Bottom line though is most of us don't want to be test pilots on this type of thing.
When pricing primer for the wagon, For a 2 gallon kit, the SPI was $177 and change delivered to my door. Same qty of H/K is in the neighborhood of $260 plus shipping. Given that, I thought it was a good time to give it a try. I've had good luck with the H/K and am liking the SPI so far. I do like the semi-gloss of the SPI, it helps to see any missed dings/defects while eliminating the need for using guidecoat. Given the video's use of a sledgehammer on the finish with little effect, I think one can safely bump out any minor dings with no detriment to the primer's adhesion.
chevynut
01-29-2015, 02:43 PM
I found that the Slicksand showed the low spots well too, without guide coat. Most primers do, but it's harder to see on some of them.
The SPI is certainly less expensive. I think I was paying $315 a gallon for the PPG DPLF. Don't remember if that included the activator or not but I think it did.
When you say "2 gallon kit" is that 2 gallons sprayable? 1 gallon of DPLF gives you 1.5 gallons sprayable with activator.
BAM55
01-29-2015, 02:49 PM
SPI epoxy primer has a 1:1 mixing ratio so one gallon is two gallons sprayable. I really like the stuff. It does sand well but I really don't sand it. I use it to protect the bare metal and then I reduce it and use it as a sealer before my top coat.
The $177 was for one gallon of primer and one gallon of activator, on my doorstep. (A two gallon kit) SO if you calculated shipping and hazmat fees into the H/K pricing, the SPI is a bit over $100 cheaper on the two gallons...
Rick_L
01-29-2015, 04:45 PM
You probably need to rate your epoxy primer costs by considering substrate thickness per gallon or per sprayable gallon.
PPG DPLF mixes 2:1 so you get 1.5 gallons sprayable from a gallon of "resin". But you may get as much or more substrate thickness as the SPI that's 1:1 mix. Frankly I don't know the answer to that.
And if you're going to block sand the SPI that means you'll probably need more substrate thickness. So maybe you should compare the SPI at some number of coats to one coat of PPG DPLF + however many coats of K36 or K38 you'll need.
Just food for thought, it's not always as simple as your first thoughts. I'd sure like to see those numbers.
Today Kyle cut out the battery tray's zee bracket, and I had told him we should tip the top lip first and then make the vertical bends...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202007.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202008.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202010.jpg
As you can see, it turned out horribly, and sometimes I need a learning curve myself... :lol:
We had used a narrow bottom die to tip the top flange, and should have also used something different for the vertical bends.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202015.jpg
So let's back up and punt, here bending the vertical bends FIRST and using a roll former die to keep any markings to a minimum. We did a partial bend here, then did a partial tip, and jumped back and forth a few times for a much better result:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202018.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202019.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202020.jpg
Plug welded through the thinner battery hold down into the 16 ga metal of the zee bracket using a Letter A sized holes and enough heat for weld penetration to show on the back side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202021.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202022.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202023.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202024.jpg
Also did more fine tuning on the front end today..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202011.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202025.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202026.jpg
Test fit of the "early" side emblem..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202012.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202013.jpg
chevynut
01-31-2015, 07:12 PM
You're cookin' now! It's nice to see the little pieces coming together. I can sure see how that SPI epoxy would be nice to work with. You sand it, and if you sand through you just spray more and sand again. Looking good.
We noticed the driver's side hood gap was a bit tight and then noticed a difference in the end plates on the core support. The driver's side appears bent straight, so some hammer action made them more consistent and helped out the gap issue..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202038.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202039.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202040.jpg
After checking the hood brace to core support for any fitment issues, we noticed some cutouts that will allow the air around the radiator. This opening, although minimal, was re-formed with a couple of fancy chisels..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202027.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202028.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202029.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202030.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202031.jpg
The excess metal ruffles were addressed easily with the kick shrinker...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202032.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202033.jpg
The next opening was a bit more substantial, and would require some replacement metal. Here was our first attempt at a bead along the edge of the panel..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202036.jpg
The dies would not permit quite enough length, so we used a vee die off the press brake and a 1/2" steel rod to make a radius die for the mag brake..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202041.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202042.jpg
...and between that and a straight die in the press brake, the edge bead was formed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202045.jpg
...here transposing the crease locations...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202043.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202044.jpg
To pre-stretch the areas for the diagonal vee beads, we loaded these in the bead roller....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202046.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202047.jpg
This didn't appear to add enough stretch, so the linear stretch die was used in the Watervliet planishing hammer....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202048.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202049.jpg
Vee was added using 3/4 wide female bead die and a narrow tipping die..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202050.jpg
A bit of heat was added to make it a bit easier to transition the round and vee beads together...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202053.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202054.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202055.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202056.jpg
....and this one we'll get formed up on Wednesday night and get both welded in place...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202057.jpg
I had a bit of a short night as I had to pick up the young'n from after school activities, so most of the progress this evening was Kyle's efforts.
Making the patch for the center relief, starting with adding the radius to the bottom edge... This uses a bottom vee die from the Diacro and a 1/2" rod to form the radius..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202058.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202059.jpg
Test fit of the radius...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202060.jpg
Trimming out the hood brace...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202061.jpg
Scribing the patch....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202064.jpg
Trimming some of the excess on the bandsaw, and then fine tuning with the snips....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202066.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202067.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202068.jpg
I did work a bit more on hood gaps.. an official gap gauge shown here....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202073.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202075.jpg
Also took some radiator leak preventative measures....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202069.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202070.jpg
Trimming the other patch for the hood brace....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202072.jpg
Kyle persuading the patch's crease over a bit. This uses a glancing blow to keep the crease's new location from sliding down on the anvil...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202071.jpg
Both pieces clamped in place, we'll get some welding done on Saturday...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202076.jpg
Today Kyle needed to start some welding on the hood brace, so while he was getting set up with the welder, I started making him an anvil that he could use to planish the weld dots inside the radius voids..
Heat applied...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202085.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202086.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202087.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202090.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202092.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202093.jpg
Kyle's first job at welding sheet metal, he's a quick learner. He did have a couple spots that didn't like the heat and blew a hole, but he did a real nice job in getting those fixed as well.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202089.jpg
Planishing weld dots on the new "anvil"..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202095.jpg
Full weld penetration...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202096.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202097.jpg
While he welded away, I turned my attention to the front end. The passenger door had a bit of a tight spot to the rear edge of the fender while opening.. Using a hack saw blade as a "feeler gauge", it was tight in one area. To help out the situation, time for another tool. I have a dent puller with a small pair of vise grips permanently attached, so we just need an adapter kit...
This was some leftover square tubing scraps...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202101.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202100.jpg
In use..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202102.jpg
After the pulling effort, the tight gap was well over two HSB thicknesses.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202111.jpg
Moving on to other fender fitment, the bottom edge of the fender was higher than the adjacent rocker. Any adjustment was futile as the bolt was at the bottom of the adjustment hole. Time for some die grinder action to bring the hole downward and also flatten the bottom edge of the hole so any movement forward or backward doesn't push the bolt upward..... This was done on both fenders..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202112.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202113.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202114.jpg
Test fit shows much better alignment.. This may be why the 57 went to a square hole..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202115.jpg
Kyle done with his welding on the center patch, just needs to be dressed with the sanding disc. We'll save that for after the other patch gets welded in place..
Front:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202116.jpg
Rear:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202117.jpg
And I was also busy making more dust... Can't wait for springtime and the leaf blower :)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202118.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202119.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202120.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202121.jpg
chevynut
02-07-2015, 06:52 PM
Nice, and it looks like Kyle is learning really well with that welder. I finally figured out what "two HSB thicknesses" was. LOL!
Tabasco
02-09-2015, 05:10 AM
I have enjoyed watching your build on the wagon. I am always amazed at your skill and attention to detail.
I do have a question. How old is that ice pick you were using? I couldn't make out the writing well. I looked to be from an ice house with a very short phone number. It may be older than the car you are working on.
Depicted on the handle is "Phone 30". So yes, very old, not sure on the exact date. My wife and I were at an auction years ago and a lot came up with three ice picks in it, she looked at me like I was crazy as I bid on them. Best scratch awls/markers to be found. Sharpen with a fine file, not a grinder, to keep them around for another 100 years.. :D
Here's the total collection of the three I picked up at the auction. One has a shorter number yet....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202131.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202132.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202133.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202134.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202135.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/McCartney%20Paint%20and%20Custom-Shop%20Eqpt/Picture%202136.jpg
Tabasco
02-10-2015, 04:49 AM
Thanks for showing them. It's great you still use them.
567chevys
02-10-2015, 09:44 PM
Robert , The stuff you do and share here is truly amazing.
Thanks for taking the time so we can all learn your tricks & skill .
Thanks Sid
Thanks for the comments guys!
Kyle finishing up on the hood brace....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202122.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202123.jpg
Because he had gaps to contend with, we used some copper to insure less chance of blow outs. A piece of 1/2" copper pipe was flattened and bent in the press brake to make a fitted backing for the vee bead detail..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202124.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202137.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202142.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202145.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202146.jpg
Just a bit of work with the sander and this part should be done. Like the new look without all the gaping holes..
Meanwhile, I continued to make dust. Here's a good view of the built in "guide coat" feature of the SPI. Blocking on the top of the hood shows a low spot.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202140.jpg
And with just a couple scuffs from the bottom, the low shows up there as well
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202141.jpg
Just a few bumps with the hammer from the bottom into the small shot bag on top and the low is gone.
And the rest looks pretty much the same other than the piles of dust on the floor moving around.. :lol:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202139.jpg
Today's progress, Kyle finishing up the hood brace..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202156.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202157.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202158.jpg
While I continue to generate dust on the floor...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202159.jpg
Recently we installed a used core support that was quite a bit nicer than our original, but still showed some issues...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202160.jpg
Here we see some rust...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202161.jpg
And not quite enough clearance to the petcock..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202163.jpg
So this will be next on the list, cutting out a new one with a bit better fitment.
55wagoncrazy
02-14-2015, 06:46 PM
They sell this as a replacement Robert. I may be better to remove the old one and then change the depth of the drain opening,on a new one. I then drill holes in the back of the support and plug weld through from the back. It provides a nice finished product.
Mikey
Thanks for the insight Mikey. Although I think we can make it quickly enough to be comparable cost, and won't have to wait for shipment. Hope to get this part done tomorrow evening.
Well as I still hadn't finished blocking the front end, rather than pull the core support just yet, Kyle will start on the rear of the wagon in wrapping up some details there. Before pulling the tailgate, there was one gap that was inconsistent, so I gave him a hand with the rework before he got welding..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202165.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202166.jpg
First to unfold the flange a bit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202168.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202167.jpg
Next, some 14 gauge steel was cut out and a strengthening bend added to use for some friendly persuasion..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202169.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202170.jpg
Refolded...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202172.jpg
For comparison, before:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202166.jpg
After:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202171.jpg
Then we tweaked the twist of the tailgate for good fitment to the opening and Kyle added three plug welds down each side to lock the skin to the inner tail gate.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202173.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202174.jpg
...Then we removed the tail gate so he could finish the plug welds for the top flange of the tail pan, I had only tacked it in place when the tailpan was installed, so this should help check off another item from the list......
Meanwhile I continued blocking out the front end..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202176.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202177.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202178.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202179.jpg
55wagoncrazy
02-17-2015, 03:34 PM
I can't believe you are wasting that epoxy like that. Next time only put it where ya need it.......LOL
Brackets came today. Thanks
Mikey
Worst part is the floor getting dirtier.... :D
Well Kyle skipped out on me tonight, something about a birthday and his parents taking him out to dinner.. and here he could have been welding! :lol:
So I took the opportunity to have dinner with the family, so tonight was a short night...
One of the other areas I skipped over at the rear of the wagon was when the tail pan was installed. The factory version with the pinch welded flanges has a gap in the crimp seam for the rear bumper seal:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202182.jpg
As I got rid of all the pinch weld seams at the rear of the wagon to eliminate those rust traps, the gap at the crimp seam will be filled in. To assist in filling in the wide gap, a piece of copper flat bar is used as a backer..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202184.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202185.jpg
Next, as the reproduction tail pan has a rounded crimp seam and the area on the original quarters is more of a square, we'll add some hammer action here. The remaining piece of the flat bar is clamped in and used as an anvil..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202186.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202187.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202188.jpg
Continuing welding...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202191.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202193.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202195.jpg
.....and a repeat on the driver's side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202198.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202201.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202202.jpg
55wagoncrazy
02-20-2015, 02:20 PM
Make sure you leave those gaps in the lip. This is where the center bumper bracket(s) lines up. If the bumper is lifted(with a jack of just a bump) the bracket will hit rubber, not metal, and not break the paint........ask me how I know this.....
Mikey
Today Kyle finished up another loose end, tying in the bottom of the NOS quarter panel.. A bit of hammer bumping to get the panels aligned...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202203.jpg
Plug weld holes drilled and filled.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202204.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202205.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202207.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202208.jpg
Then he turned his attention to duplicating a second half for the front divider panel for the rear seat.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202209.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202210.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202211.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202212.jpg
Using the Erco kick shrinker....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202213.jpg
Needs a bit of fine tuning still but he's getting there...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202214.jpg
And I was making progress on more blocking of the front end body parts, at least until an emergency phone call from one of our tenants indicated some water pipe issues from the recent low temps... This is what I was greeted with....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_163201468.jpg
The hole to the left is where the plumber had put the pipe through, right against the outside wall. Then the brainiac insulators failed to caulk, and then put insulation over TOP of the pipes, keeping them well acclimated to any outside temps. I cut some access holes in the wall and relocated the one pipe farther away from the outer wall board where insulation could go between the pipe and the wall, as it should have been done from the get go.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_195630853.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_195729801.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_195658368_HDR.jpg
And here's the culprit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_211715802.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_211721433.jpg
I'll let things dry out overnight, and finish tomorrow with adding a bit of caulk and insulation. Drywall/painter due in early this week to close things up..
Custer55
02-22-2015, 06:26 PM
Your doing a great job. Love your home made tools.
Thanks for the post
Thanks Brian!
Here's the fitment of the two seat panels together, all clamped up for welding..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202217.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202218.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202220.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202223.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202227.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202228.jpg
Test fit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202229.jpg
More work on the rear seat supports.. Once the welds by the tunnel relief were dressed, the sharp corners (inside and out) were removed to help prevent any cracks from starting..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202226.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202230.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202231.jpg
Then on to fabbing up the other side..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202232.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202234.jpg
Kyle using the tipping die, I was relegated to bead roller powered option...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202235.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202236.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202239.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202240.jpg
The two short flanges were bent in the press brake.. Then on to shrinking the flanges in the Erco. You'll have to visualize this one as we didn't get pictures. :lol:
Comparing the two...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202245.jpg
Test fit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202246.jpg
Seat cushion will need a widening kit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202247.jpg
Our upholsterer stopped by the other day and discussed interior components. We are going to make some arm rests for the rear seat similar to what is used in the 55 convertible. To make room, we're going to keep the bottom seat cushion it's original width and just add foam to the corners to form the radius. So the sides for the seat risers were trimmed once more and test fitted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202261.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202260.jpg
The center of the seat riser was trimmed for the new size while leaving the flanges intact for later trimming..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202266.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202267.jpg
Relief cuts added to tweak the radius, test fit into the car, and the top flanges clamped in place.. While clamped, the bottom flanges are trimmed for welding.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202268.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202269.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202270.jpg
Copper backer made for welding up the corner..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202272.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202274.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202275.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202276.jpg
All clamped up for the next one...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202277.jpg
Seat riser completed, test fit of the rear seat...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202278.jpg
Corners of the lower cushion will have some foam added to fill out to a radius. Seat back will have some end cushions added to match the width of the lower seat..
Blocking out of the driver's door is the last to go, and all the front sheet metal will be ready to come off for the next round of epoxy primer..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202280.jpg
And here's the before and after of the frozen water pipe damage...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150221_163201468.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/IMG_20150305_103115766.jpg
A bit of paint touch up and this will be done!
Spent the past few days at Dan Pate's. Well, it was only about a day and a half, but once you include the travel time...
To preface, I had posted a WTB ad for a 52" shear and Dan had sent me a PM about the one he had in his shop. It was getting replaced with a 6' machine. Dan hosts a yearly metal shaping workshop and he suggested I come to his spring meet and pick it up from there. This conflicts with a mother's day event that I must attend every year (annual yard sale....I'm the furniture mover :D ), so I picked a window of opportunity that left minimal chance for the white powdery stuff falling from the sky. Namely, this past week. I departed Southern MD at about 12:45 am on Wednesday and drove through (rather un-eventful), arriving at Dan's at about 8:45 pm the same day. I recommend Mountain Dew and sunflower seeds for such an undertaking. ;)
I was looking forward to a break from the 55 wagon and to help out on some of the many challenging projects that Dan has shown us on the metalshaping sites over the years. So Dan, what have you got to work on? Oh, this car here over in the corner, he says......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20005.jpg
I restrained my enthusiasm as best I could in true Charlie Brown fashion
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/AAUGH.jpg
(just kidding Dan)
We walked down the hill to the shop the next morning and Dan had experienced some fitment issues with some of the panels on the 55 and asked that I take a look. RichardK showed up mid-morning and we proceeded to take measurements and cross diagonals nine ways to Sunday. We verified these to a sample car sitting out in the yard, and still didn't have that ah-ha moment. Everything we checked seemed to be within factory specs, although that was pretty loose in 1955.
My plans were to work around the shop for a day, load up the shear the next morning (Friday), and leave around noon. I have a cousin, Nancy E. Rueckert ('http://www.crowrivermedia.com/independentreview/lifestyle/paralyzed-at-work-litchfield-woman-copes-with-new-life/article_42fc2ddb-adbf-5dbe-b4fa-e07f82c82080.html'), who lives in Litchfield, MN. She had been in an industrial accident at work and was now paralyzed, and I was going to visit her that evening. Dan wisely pointed out that we should load the shear to have everything ready to go, and then worry about other shop activity.
So here is the shear prior to the John Deere moving it...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20017.jpg
...and for anyone with sufficient space available for one of these, Dan has this nifty equipment hoist...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20018.jpg
As there was some rain forecast for the east coast on Friday, the shear got some appropriate attention..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20023.jpg
It was about time for me to get cleaned up for the visit to my cousin's, and Richard mentioned that he had a buddy who lived in Howard Lake, a short drive before Litchfield. Since the truck was hooked to the trailer, he offered to drive me to Howard Lake, where he could visit his friend and I could continue to Litchfield. What a true gentleman, and as I've seen with Dan, genuine MN hospitality.
Had a nice visit with Nancy, and I think our conversations got carried away that when I looked at my watch I was worried Richard would put out an APB on his car :bounce:
Here's Nancy with her husband Dan.. (to eliminate confusion, let's call him Dan2)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Nancy.jpg
I made it back to Howard Lake and got a chance to meet Richard's friend, Jan Gilmer. He's well known in the Midget racing world and even more so, since his retirement, in his meticulous reproductions of 1/4 scale RC replicas. Here are some pictures of a restored Midget from 1956...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Richard1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Richard2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Richard3.jpg
.....along with Richard's thread posted here about the body he built for the car.. A work of art to say the least.
http://www.allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=2768
And here are some links on Jan Gilmer for those interested...
http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2012/stories/Gilmer-cars-Australia.html
http://www.quarterscalelegends.com/gilmer/gilmer.htm
Jan has a small machinist shop and still produces amazingly accurate 1/4 scale reproductions to this day. They are highly sought after, and after seeing them in person, I can see why.
Richard and I returned to Dan's with only one close call with a couple of Minnesota's 4 legged Bambi creatures.. Even as late as it was, Dan greeted me and I think we talked of more metalshaping stories for the next couple hours. My day job has me heading to Oahu in the near future, and he was telling me of his visit to the only Pullmax owner on the island of Oahu, let's call him George. So I hope to meet up with George on my next visit to HI.
After breakfast we headed down to Dan's shop. Back on the 55, it wasn't until we took the height dimension of the windshield that we came up with the answer, there was a quite a difference there. Dan had installed a new roof on this from a donor car, one of the seams being in the A post. We found a slight excess in vertical made for quite a jump in the windshield opening. So with a bit of slicing, our height adjustment at the a-pillar made for quite an improvement and a more consistent and parallel gap to the door behind it..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20040.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20041.jpg
Since I wasn't going to be at Dan's spring event, he spent quite a bit of time showing me some shop tricks...
Band Saw "guide" for cutting convex shapes on the band saw... Slides into the blade and gets bolted to the table.... Essentially moves the table surface for those oddball shapes that don't fit the table..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20026.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20025.jpg
Linear stretch dies for the Pullmax....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20006.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20008.jpg
The cantilevered and jack bolted design allows you to adjust the stretch for a tight radius, and the pointed ends allow you to get into the corner as tightly as needed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20010.jpg
Adjustable backstop for thinning a panel for sharper bends
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20016.jpg
Delrin die to use for panel beading.. in conjunction with MDF forms.. (partially unscrewed to show threads)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20034.jpg
"tank roll" or 45* radius tipping dies for the Pullmax... 3 pieces were laser cut in 1/4" stock and welded together to form the 3/4 shank..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20032.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20033.jpg
Flanging/step die using an MDF guide....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20036.jpg
Imagine this for a bed side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20039.jpg
At this time I think my target departure time had come and gone.. But no visit to Dan's shop is complete until you've used the Yoder....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20042.jpg
All packed up, ready to head east.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Route%2056/Route56%20048.jpg
I made mention to Dan that Friday the 13th was not a good day to travel. About halfway down I39 in Indiana proved this. I had just passed by a semi and pulled back into the slow lane in front of him when I noticed a set of headlights coming toward me.... in the fast lane I had just moved out of. I made out of that rather lucky. About a mile down the road some scattered auto debris and one car against the center divider showed they weren't as lucky. Everyone was OK, and I think most of the damage resulted from hitting the divider after swerving to miss the clown heading north in the southbound lane. Well upon arriving home, the rain added to the recent snow from last week has made my driveway a swamp. Looks like we will unload the trailer when this has dried up a bit.
Tonight's shop progress. Got the 55 moved into the paint booth....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202286.jpg
.....but only temporarily, not quite ready for paint yet.. Shuffling some stuff around to make room for bringing in the new shear on Saturday, and needed the car out of the way. The new shear is just shy of 7 feet long, so it wouldn't fit in the same spot as the old one without moving something else as well. In measuring the tool box, it looked like a good fit in that spot, so moving it and the kick shrinker will make a better spot for the new shear against the back wall.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202282.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202283.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202284.jpg
.....and as we haven't used the radial arm drill press in over a year, I think that's getting ready to go on CL to make room for the planishing hammer, when that gets finished up..
This morning started at my brother-in-laws to pick up the new shear. It's been parked in his garage since last week while my driveway has been drying out..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202295.jpg
Here's his El Camino project, narrowing the frame rails in the rear....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202296.jpg
One of the neighbors a few miles down the road has a Pettibone forklift. I had him lined up to help lift the shear off the trailer today. He made it about 1/4 mile and had the brakes locking up and frying, so we had to back up and punt. Another buddy has a skid steer with the fork attachment, but the shear was on his trailer. So we dropped off the trailer/shear at the shop, went and got another trailer and picked up the skid steer.. I will say this shear is about at the limits of the lifting capacity of this skid steer, the back end was trying to go airborne when lifting it off the trailer. So we inched it up in the air and then pulled the trailer out from under it. Here's the placement...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202297.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202299.jpg
Now just need to finish the electrical hookup...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202303.jpg
Got some electrical work done this evening, wired up the phase converter first, checked the voltage, then wired up the shear..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202316.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202315.jpg
When I went to Minnesota to pick up the shear, I noticed that Dan had a couple pair of snips laying on the shear.. Didn't put two and two together at first.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202304.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202305.jpg
He had the shear installed without the back gauge due to the space requirements, and I had even less shop room than he did. This is where the snips come in. Mark your panel for the cut line...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202306.jpg
Use the red shears to make a slight cut on the right side of the panel....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202308.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202309.jpg
.....and the green shears to make a slight cut on the left side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202310.jpg
Now you have the cut line "marked" on both ends...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202311.jpg
Slide the panel into the shear just past the cut edge, then gently pull back until it stops against the lower blade...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202312.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202313.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202314.jpg
Now shear. No back gauge or second person to help sight in a full width sheet needed.. No fuss no muss. Thanks to Dan for the helpful hint!
While I've been playing electrician, Kyle has been plugging along in getting various pieces media blasted so they can get epoxy primed....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202317.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202318.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202319.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202320.jpg
While the wagon was still in the booth, the floor and welding table got the semi-annual cleaning....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202321.jpg
even the top of the tool box...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202322.jpg
Kyle had finished a bunch of media blasting so they were hung up in the booth to get ready for some epoxy, likely next week....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202326.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202327.jpg
Kyle used the ball end carbide in a die grinder to remove the lower baffle of the core support, so we can get rid of the remaining rust there...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202329.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202330.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202332.jpg
Starting on the replacement piece, we'll get this finished next time..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202331.jpg
Everything back in place....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202324.jpg
Our Saturday progress had us making more painting fixtures, this time for the rear gates. The lift gate used some square tube and riv-nuts for attachment...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202334.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202335.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202337.jpg
Fixture was made to hold lift gate in same position as on car for spraying...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202339.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202340.jpg
More blocking....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202341.jpg
Tail gate painting fixture....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202346.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202347.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202348.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202349.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202350.jpg
Then a bit of scuffing to get ready for the next coat of epoxy....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202351.jpg
As Kyle was going through the interior trim pieces the last couple weeks he did find one that had a few pits...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/IMG_20150329_161834533.jpg
So we got a used replacement from the Stainless Shoppe in Seymour WI. A shame to paint this one 0.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202352.jpg
As I was getting the next batch of parts ready for epoxy, Kyle was setting up the bead roller for making the lower baffle of the core support. But looking at the center bead, the Fasti didn't have quite the reach...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202355.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202356.jpg
I had wanted to make axles for the bead roller dies to fit the English wheel, so today was as good a day as any. This will give Kyle some practice on the South Bend..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202357.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202358.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202359.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202360.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202361.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202362.jpg
And my accomplishments for today...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202364.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202365.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202366.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202367.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202369.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202370.jpg
And as I had a bit of epoxy left over, time to seal the inner door to the door skin.. Both had been primed before assembly...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202371.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202372.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202373.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202374.jpg
Definitely want to cover the floor in doing this...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202377.jpg
Had enough to do both doors, should keep the rust bugs gone for a long time to come..
Well it was taking a little longer on the English wheel adapter kit than I thought, and since that is on the shop's dime, I thought we'd try something that we could get done a little quicker. So the other machine with plenty of throat was the Lennox, so let's make some dies for it..... Also got in some more block sanding while Kyle was cutting out pieces for the dies.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202424.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202425.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202426.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202428.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%202429.jpg
Pre-stretching the bead areas of the baffle...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202430.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202431.jpg
Adding the bead, using the backstop...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202432.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202433.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202434.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202435.jpg
Laying out the petcock recess. This is about a 1/2" lower than the factory to alleviate the clearance issue..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202436.jpg
The tipping and skateboard wheels are used to "trace" the bend line to make any hammering a bit easier to locate the correct "edge".....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202437.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202439.jpg
Relief trimmed, ready to make the folds....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202443.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202444.jpg
Last night we got the recess finished on the baffle plate.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202446.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202447.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202449.jpg
Test fitted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202450.jpg
Media blasted, ready to install....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202453.jpg
Then Kyle removed the splash pan so he could clean up the core support prior to welding it in....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202460.jpg
We also got started on some blocking of the parts sprayed last week.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202455.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202457.jpg
Today the baffle got welded into the core support, here with the plug weld holes drilled.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202461.jpg
The modified relief we fabricated shows to be about as low as we could have made it..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202462.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202479.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202480.jpg
Then attention was turned to the rear quarter on the passenger side where we had shaved the lead seam..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202463.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202464.jpg
We had held off on the tail light opening as we wanted to fit the opening to the light bezels. We had received the reproduction chrome light bezels a couple weeks ago, and gave them a protective layer to keep the chrome nice and shiny..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202465.jpg
The light opening seemed all out of sorts, with a bulge protruding out past the corner of the bezel here....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202466.jpg
Let the modifications begin!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202468.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202470.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202471.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202473.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202469.jpg
And we had the opposite problem on the inner side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202474.jpg
The vise grip dent puller and the special hook was used to spread the opening...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202100.jpg
A bit better.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202476.jpg
...and the tail light bracket is welded back together.. This mod seemed to make the attaching holes align better as well..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202478.jpg
And Kyle continues to finish up the seam and we'll fine tune the opening once more when the welding and planishing is complete.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202482.jpg
Well, it's that time of year again, and the local Arby's Wednesday night car shows are in full swing, so we've changed the shop nights from Mon & Wed to Tues & Thurs so that we'd have Wednesday free to stop by the shows. We plan on taking Brad's Fairlane (the shop's last project) to a couple of the events this year, Arby's is just over a mile away from the shop, so his 4 gallon tank may just make the trip.. :lol:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1965%20Fairlane%20super%20street-super%20gas/Picture522.jpg
This is one of those cars that you'll feel and hear well before you see it, so it should draw a nice crowd :eek:
Last night's shop progress had me doing more block sanding, and Kyle continued on the rear quarter seam shave. The top weld is about done (except at the edge), other than final bumping and planishing. The weld through the middle of the mounting bracket was dressed out. The final weld seam that travels over to the gate opening will be addressed once the body is on the rotisserie, the planishing is a bit cumbersome working around a corner, so with the car up on it's side it will make the task a bit easier.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202499.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202500.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202501.jpg
The tail light fits much better but some final tweaking will be done after the gap at the top edge is completed..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202502.jpg
Well since Kyle has the top weld all the way back to the tail light opening, we checked the top crown and found a low spot by the 90* in the weld seam. We had to change the hoop on the Watervliet but since this one fit in the tail light opening so well, this will make short work of raising the low area..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202506.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202505.jpg
We decided to go ahead and work on the opening a bit more, it was wide in spots as shown here...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202502.jpg
Some "friendly" persuasion...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202509.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202510.jpg
Much better fit....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202512.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202513.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202514.jpg
carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
04-17-2015, 05:38 AM
thanks for sharing Robert. :cool:
chevynut
04-17-2015, 12:17 PM
Looks great Robert! I did something similar to my 56 taillights and I removed the stupid '56 rubber seals. They always looks like crap on these cars, imo, because they don't stay in right. So they're gone. My bezels don't actually touch the body anywhere, except at the 5 mounting points. They're "floating". :)
4342
Yeah, we're still working on the gasket/seal issue. :)
Got a care package in the mail yesterday, we had the hood hinges rebuilt at Wilson's Antique Car Parts....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202527.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202528.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202529.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202530.jpg
I had talked to a couple dealers about the reproduction hinges and did not hear good things, they indicated they had replaced a few sets due to the gears jumping teeth from being too loose. A member on one of the forums had recommended Wilson's rebuilding service, and I gotta say, this is top notch work. If you're having hood hinge issues, I highly recommend their services..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202531.jpg
Kyle was looking for something else to weld, so on to the dash. Here he's prepping for welding the seam, bumping the panels a bit for better alignment before welding....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202532.jpg
Checking across the gap using a 6" rule...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202533.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202534.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202536.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202537.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202539.jpg
Next on the agenda was to shave the radio holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202541.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202543.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202544.jpg
Weld, planish, grind, repeat...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202546.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202547.jpg
chevynut
04-19-2015, 08:19 AM
Looks like Kyle is really learning some skills from you Robert. I'm curious why you're filling the radio hole. What are your plans for the dash?
Laszlo, he's doing real well. I've been taking care of blocking out body parts and he's done all the welding here recently. The plan is to go with either a DIN or 2DIN radio chassis, neither of which belong in the dash of a 55. So the radio will be hidden, likely in the glove box..
chevynut
04-19-2015, 03:06 PM
The plan is to go with either a DIN or 2DIN radio chassis, neither of which belong in the dash of a 55. So the radio will be hidden, likely in the glove box..
I'm going with a 2-DIN radio in the console, but I'm not filling the radio hole. I can put trim over it that doesn't have a hole in it. I may even use it for A/C vents....but I haven't figured that out yet. I guess I just don't see a good reason to fill the hole at this point.
Kyle got some more welding done and we noticed the patch he made didn't quite have the same crown as the dash next to it. He had left the patch flat, so the difference was becoming more noticeable the more it was welded.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202549.jpg
So the Watervliet planishing hammer was used to add some crown to the panel, and also to planish some of the weld while we were at it..
An 8" radius lower die worked nicely to duplicate the crown:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202550.jpg
Planishing welds...
https://youtu.be/fAnfqtw-C6I
Two holes to go..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202553.jpg
rear view... both sides still need sanding with the roloc, we'll get that once the radio knob holes are done and ready for sanding as well.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202561.jpg
Tailgate is blocking out pretty nice, did have a few low spots to address that still need feathering out....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202556.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202557.jpg
Finishing up on the radio holes...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202565.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202564.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202583.jpg
Shaving the other seam, here bumping the panels to get a consistent height across the front...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202572.jpg
The upper section would prove to need a bit more persuasion...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202573.jpg
Tool modification...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202575.jpg
A chunk of 3/4 square stock laid in dash void to use as fulcrum...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202576.jpg
Heat applied...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202574.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202577.jpg
Results... before..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202573.jpg
After...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202578.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202579.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202582.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202584.jpg
This view from the back side of weld dot penetration shows Kyle has pretty good consistency in weld dot sizing.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202566.jpg
chevynut
04-26-2015, 10:16 AM
Robert, I've been wondering why in the world you'd put a crown in the dash. I think the trim panel that goes over it is flat so I don't see why a crown is needed. Then I went and checked my Nomad dash, and it has a crown too. Why would they do this?
As with most any other panel, likely to add strength and help hold the shape.
Custer55
04-26-2015, 08:49 PM
Great work as usual. One question, do you grind the welds, then planish? or Planish first and then grind them out?
Thanks, Brian
Brian, welds will shrink as they cool, especially notable on the MIG welds. My preference is to planish the weld dot while its all by its lonesome, as you are now stretching in all directions, just as it shrank, pulling from all directions. Then grind FRONT AND BACK sides to remove the bulk out of the way for welding/planishing the next set. Plus, removing the bulk will help to limit the heat sink effect so you don't end up with cold welds. If you use another method and it works for you, by all means please continue to use it. If you'd care to try this method, there are quite many people using it with success.
Today was the Spring Fling car show in Leonardtown so we took the opportunity to do some "window shopping" for vents to fit in the dashboard. With all this nice real estate now:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202583.jpg
.....our plans are for some rectangular AC vents in the radio's original place. I always thought the "up in your face" vents do a better job of keeping you cool than the under dash ones that freeze the knees. So in no particular order, here are some sample vents..
1940 Ford "ashtray replacements" by VA... Although small, thought these may work toward the outside in the same "band" area of the dash...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202586.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202587.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202589.jpg
Grand National...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202590.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202591.jpg
Lower dash vents for a 65 Impala...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202592.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202594.jpg
I like these and the dual parallel deflector vanes over the 55 factory, which is a ball vent with a wide open hole.
These next ones are the ones I'm leaning toward for the dash center as they are an easier install than most of the GM ones of the era. The GM vents have a solid pivot shaft at either end that would require making a saddle and clamp deal to hold it in place. The Fomoco style shown here has the pivot pin on a tab that springs inward for installation/removal, so it requires two simple holes. A much easier fabrication of needed ducting.. if we need to fabricate..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202595.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202596.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202597.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202598.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202599.jpg
This had no AC vents, but was a super clean ride, and still sported the Straight 8 under the hood, so consider this complimentary eye candy!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202601.jpg
More VA pieces, these are nice and compact
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202604.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202605.jpg
I like the rectangular for the center of the dash but worry these round style vents may "clash" with rectangular ones. So the 40's small rectangular may be a good option for the side vents. Thoughts, personal choices, ones we haven't shown (with pictures) are welcome. This build really isn't a billet type, so black and chrome are a preferred option. Thanks in advance for any advice/pointers..
Custer55
04-26-2015, 09:24 PM
Thanks Robert, That makes sense to planish first to take the shrinkage out first.
On your AC vents you could check out some after market options. An oval would look nice in the center of the dash. I think I have seen these in billet. I know you said you didn't want billet aluminum but it could be chromed or powder coated.
Thanks, Brian
Custer55
04-26-2015, 09:43 PM
I did a google search for billet aluminum ac vents & vintage style ac vents. Tons of choices including some nice looking rectangular vents. Just have to find what you like that fits your budget. Happy searching :)
Brian
chevynut
04-26-2015, 10:04 PM
Robert, look on pages 54-57...
http://www.vintageair.com/catalog.asp
rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017
04-27-2015, 11:42 AM
These guys have several styles also,
http://www.oldairproducts.com/catalog/system-accessories-parts/louvers-switching-c-1_50000000_120132055.html
First, thanks to all for their input on dash vents. I'll have to agree that these shoebox cars lend themselves more to curves, but given the long, flat, rectangular mounting surface in the center of the dash, it seemed that two round vents would not begin to fill the void. Thus we were leaning toward the rectangular vents to fill the space. Dana wanted to keep the outside vents round, and mount below in the factory location. So these are the ones decided on, Vintage Air pieces...
for the corner locations.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202626.jpg
for the center of the dash.......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202627.jpg
Of course, something told me to keep looking, and as someone had suggested to do the Google image search on "dash vents", I skipped the catalogs this time and looked at installed vents. Then it hit me, how could I have not seen this before.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202625.jpg
Three wide in the round vents vs. only two did a better job of filling out the dash and would give us matching vents all around. So, with only two round on order (and two rectangular that will likely go back), we plan to see how "tight" these 2-5/8 round bezels look on a 2-3/4 high flat area, and make the final decision from there.. The saga continues..
Now with the dash seams all welded and waiting for gauges to be delivered, the moment I've been dreading. Installing the Rocky Hinge fuel "door". First thing noticed was that some of the holes on the weld-in mounting plate were off by half a hole..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202609.jpg
So Kyle cut out a fresh piece of 14 ga crs to make a new one, a bit oversized to trim later. Used some transfer punches to get the bolt holes lined up a bit better on our version of the weld-in plate..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202606.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202607.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202608.jpg
Attachment screws fitting better already....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202612.jpg
To provide the proper "pressed" countersink, we broke out the tubing flare kit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202615.jpg
Redneck press...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202614.jpg
Our lower "die" was a 1/2-13 nut, centered over the hole, perimeter marked, and then taped in place before locating this into the press. Hey, it wasn't pretty, but it worked!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202616.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202617.jpg
Some trimming of the hole to provide room for the weld-in mounting plate....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202619.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202618.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202623.jpg
Test fit of the tail light housing showed the opening was a bit wide, especially to the inside towards the tailgate. So some glancing blows with too large a hammer provided a bit of stretch in this inner valley to persuade the panel over to the left, tightening up the opening....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202624.jpg
A bit better here, but more tweaking will be needed on the outside before the mounting plate gets welded in place..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202622.jpg
Received a couple of care packages today, first was some of the tailgate hinge trim rings, shown here after Kyle media blasted them. So to all the guys that were watching the ebay auction for these, sorry..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202630.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202631.jpg
Next, we got our AC vent samples in.. Here is the test fit with tape... Only have two of the round ones to show, but if we go with these there will be three in a row here in the center of the dash.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202632.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202633.jpg
Any thoughts on the vents now with them mocked up?
Then Kyle tried his hand at block sanding epoxy on the inside of the hood..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202634.jpg
Mid-earth Creations
05-01-2015, 05:56 AM
Very nice, thanks for the info and sorry you are not in my state!
Bihili
05-01-2015, 09:22 AM
These would be right up your alley,
http://pic100.picturetrail.com:80/VOL470/4002687/9976060/305851762.jpg
chevynut
05-01-2015, 02:32 PM
Robert, FWIW I think I like the round ones over the rectangular ones. The only thing is they look like they're too big for the width of the dash area.
I gotta figure out what to do with my vents too. :)
Here's one I'm considering to match my door handles and lights....
http://www.claytonmachine.com/product/elliptical-ac-vent/
http://www.claytonmachine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ac-902.jpg
567chevys
05-02-2015, 11:17 AM
Round ones or the ones you are showing Laszlo
Sid
Went to a metal shaping workshop this past weekend, and just in case we needed a project to tackle, I took along one of the round vents so I could make some "buckets" as an option for mounting them in the lower outside corners of the dash. To prevent scratching, I covered the chrome with painters tape. As it turned out, we had plenty of other projects going on, and I never got to the vents. Removing the tape when we got home resulted in this:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202651.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202652.jpg
So be forewarned, don't use tape to protect the chrome on the plastic vents from Vintage Air.
Also made a Xerox copy of the vents to be able to lay them out and test a pattern before cutting any holes.
Thanks to all for the input on vent selection. Here is the 5 round pattern that the owner has decided on...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202656.jpg
carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
05-05-2015, 05:45 AM
that's a lot of vents. :geek:
chevynut
05-05-2015, 11:58 AM
Robert, that looks good with the 3 round openings.
I'm curious how you're going to route the hoses. My VA unit has two outlets facing up (defrosters) one to the left, one to the right, and one pointing straight down to an under-dash opening with deflectors attached.
Likely the box will be modified slightly to make use of the under dash plenum.
Well, the past couple of shop nights we've had some detours and some back up and punts. Where to start..
Started with a test fit of the power antenna the owner had bought, installed somewhat easily and even clears the door hinge when closed by 1/4". But this trim ring on top is just......obnoxious. Anyone use a power antenna that is a bit easier to hide?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202700.jpg
Next, lets get the VA unit under the dash to see how much room we have to work with on a radio..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202701.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202702.jpg
Doh! We had planned on a single DIN chassis, so it appears the radio will need to be 4" deep, or go back into the dash, or go in a console. She did buy a console with the bucket seats, they all came out of a late model Monte Carlo. Let's give that a go.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202703.jpg
Not much room for installing a single DIN chassis, but even worse the console tapers in at the bottom where the trans tunnel is spreading outward. So it looks like its teeter tottering. Doesn't match the car at all. So this looks like something else to add to the list, perhaps a custom made console is in order..
Since we're not doing too well inside the car, let's shift gears and move to the outside. We had a couple more parts to add to the pile awaiting powder coat. The side baffles of the core support had some hole alignment issues, must be off a 57 or something.... so we'll fill those in and get them re-drilled correctly. Next, we need mounting brackets for the radiator. These were made from some 16 gauge cold rolled steel..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202658.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202659.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202675.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202676.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202677.jpg
We do now have much better clearance around the radiator petcock with the new improved version of the lower baffle..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202678.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202679.jpg
Kyle had learned some Tig welding this past weekend at GatorMeet, from Gator's boy Dakota. Dakota is quite accomplished for his youth, having won the state competition for welding. Here Kyle runs a couple of practice samples to get the machine dialed in... Seems he forgot his long sleeve welding shirt this evening. :)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202684.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202685.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202686.jpg
I had shown him how to tack without using filler, and gave him more aspiration by showing him a no-filler fusion weld. All in due time..
Practice aside, here is the hole filling effort in the baffle panels...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202688.jpg
While Kyle worked on filling the holes, I had directed attention to the condenser and the holes we would need to add to the passenger side baffle prior to powder coat... just as shown in the book..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202662.jpg
....only Murphy had other plans, it appears our condenser was intended for a cross flow radiator...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202668.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202665.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202667.jpg
Hmm..... don't think this is going to work. So to back up and punt, the plan is to make a mounting bracket that will hold this universal condenser to a top flow radiator all while hiding those ugly holes that scream "I'm a universal fit". Then we'll have to get some new hard lines made up that fit correctly.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202664.jpg
Layout of the mounting bracket...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202687.jpg
Don't try this at home, it was done on a closed test track...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202690.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202692.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202694.jpg
The ears inside will be folded inward to use the same bolts on the side of the radiator.. Here we are making the top and bottom folds in the magnetic brake, this design will help to hide all those holes..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202695.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202697.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202699.jpg
....and we'll finish the mounting flanges next time..
chevynut
05-08-2015, 08:19 AM
Robert, nice work. That magnabrake sure seems like a nice piece of equipment. I've run into some bends that I can't do on my 4 foot finger brake and I wonder if it could do them. Imagine a long piece of sheetmetal with the edges bent up, but with the end bent down. I had to do the down bend on my workbench with angle iron because I couldn't do it on my brake. Could the magnabrake do it? What's the shortest "joggle" it can do? I often need to make smaller joggles than my brake will allow me to do, which is about 1/2".
Looks like Kyle is learning quickly. He'll be stacking dimes in no time. ;) How old is he and is he related to you? I'm sure you said once, but I don't remember.
Laszlo, I think it would make those bends you describe, have you got a picture of the piece you are making? The magnabend works well but is doesn't do everything. The inside flanges on the condenser mount we did this evening are an example, we had to do this on the press brake. Kyle is 17, he's the son of a guy I went to school with, and he plans to rebuild the 57 Ford p/u his dad drove in high school. He's a good kid, and enjoys this type of work.
More progress on the condenser mount... The flange fold marks are run through the tipping wheel to better show the bend location. I've found that when using the press brakes this helps to "feel" when the upper die is located properly, less guesswork with the eyeballs where it's harder to see in the press brake dies..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202712.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202713.jpg
Clamped in place for a test fit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202714.jpg
The side folds add some stiffening as well as hide the bolt heads for the core support baffle plates.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202715.jpg
Test fit of the condenser...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202718.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202719.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202720.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202722.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202723.jpg
Radiator brackets got a nut welded in the bottom hole, the condenser mount will get nuts welded in place for the top 2 sets of holes, so everything will bolt in from the outside in..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202724.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202726.jpg
Making the slots for the radiator brackets, used a cone shaped burr....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202728.jpg
Found that this cutter had less chatter when the cutting edge was perpendicular to the hole opening...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202729.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202730.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202731.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202727.jpg
Some more details to iron out on the condenser mount, the corners seemed to "roll" a bit, so some corner braces are in order..
Using 16 gauge cold rolled, holes drilled to provide an inside radius to help prevent stress cracking..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202732.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202733.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202735.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202736.jpg
Plug welds to hold things together..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202738.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202739.jpg
Bob Heine over on GJ suggested using a Corvette antenna as they use an escutcheon with a flush fit, so I had a Corvette part delivery over the weekend, size of the business end is rather larger than the aftermarket one we had. As this fit in the void behind the A pillar (see in background between cowl vent and A pillar) and also needs to dodge the hinges closing, this did cause some interference. Dan thought this was from a late 80's/early 90's..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202744.jpg
The biggest issue with the universal power antenna we have is that the top of the fender is considerably rounded, and the antenna escutcheon is designed for flat. So we are also looking at the factory piece, to see if we could adapt (drill hole larger) to use with the power antenna.
http://htsmall.classicchevy.com/assets/cci/images/size/600x/sku/02-07.jpg
chevynut
05-18-2015, 07:37 PM
Robert, I have a couple of power antennas and I was trying to figure out how to make them work with the stock base. I set the project aside months ago to do something else, so I hope you figure it out. I have to get this done before paint.
Looks like we'll end up using the teardrop escutcheon before all is said and done. Waiting for one to show up for fitment...
More progress on the condenser, used some machine screws to attach to the bracket, and some AVK style rivet-nuts in the frame of the condenser to act as a captive nut.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202747.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202749.jpg
Bolted in place...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202752.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202753.jpg
Meanwhile Kyle ties up some loose ends, finishing the weld across the remaining "shaved" lead seam on the passenger quarter.. It does need some grinding on the underside of the weld still but we'll wait for the car to be on the rotisserie for easier access.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202765.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202766.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202770.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202771.jpg
Fitment of the Driver's side tail light... this was even worse than the passenger side in fitment, and we did need to make a relief cut at the top, but after some massaging, it's getting close. A few more tweaks to get this done and then the headache of installing the motorized tail light pivot for fuel fill access..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202768.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202769.jpg
Sorry for the slight hiatus, been in UK and just got back this past weekend. Time to catch up on what we had done before I left and what Kyle did while I was gone to take up my slack..
Part of our fitment issue with the passenger tail light was that we are installing the "hidden fuel fill" which required the removal of the brace welded in the opening. Next, when the old quarter was cut off and the new one installed, without the brace in place both pieces tended to wrap to the right, which can sort of be seen in the following picture, where its flush above the inside corner and rotates to the right upwards of that. The outer quarter was rotated in a similar fashion. We weren't having much luck in resolving the issue with the top weld seam remaining, so a relief cut was added, a restraint device employed to make use of some off dolly bumping to eliminate some of the right rotation. I didn't get a good picture of it, but you can see where the inner quarter comes in considerably upwards of the tail light right corner..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202772.jpg
Anchor
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202778.jpg
Off-dolly bumping...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202779.jpg
Then some shrinking was used to pull in the inner quarter, and a 16 ga plate used to hold things in place while the top seam was re-welded.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202780.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202782.jpg
Kyle got the seam welded closed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202789.jpg
And temporary brace removed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202791.jpg
Much better, almost ready to tackle the "fuel door" pivot...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202793.jpg
Got another care package in the mail... The new escutcheon for the antenna
looks like it will work, the hole size matches the nut on the antenna and we'll
just need to get rid of the flat spot/keyway in the hole. Only I don't think
we'll be using this one. Between a recess under the chrome and visible
scratches in it, this one's going back.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202817.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202818.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202819.jpg
On to the next new pieces, hopefully these fit better, Reproduction
headlight buckets..... wanted to test fit all the headlight and turn signal
pieces before re-priming the fenders..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202801.jpg
Decided to use some AVK rivet nuts over the u-clips..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202801.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202802.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202804.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202805.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202816.jpg
Parts fitted..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202812.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202814.jpg
NickP
06-09-2015, 04:13 PM
Are the pics broke? I'm on a proxy server and this last posts pics show to be broke.
Rick_L
06-09-2015, 04:19 PM
Nick, I see everything on the last page.
NickP
06-09-2015, 04:42 PM
I do now. Who knows.
Check these Nick....
Well this isn't much of an update, but since Kyle was busy media blasting
some parts I had torch and hammer duty.. So to have a place to drop the torch
quickly, bent this up:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202820.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202821.jpg
When the top seam was welded we had a slight bulge just in from the tail
light. So some dime sized spots were heated and then hammered with glancing
blows to bring things down a bit.. The fit of the tail light is much better
now, and we've started the fitup of the motor assembly's mounting plate. Should
get that welded in tomorrow..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202822.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202823.jpg
NickP
06-12-2015, 03:57 PM
Sweet!
chevynut
06-12-2015, 04:32 PM
Looking god Robert...nothing like a "blueprinted" car. :)
Thanks guys...
Worked on the Rocky Hinge hidden fuel door this evening. The mounting plate we made is plug welded to the tail light opening..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202825.jpg
Slight trimming needed.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202827.jpg
Then some 3M body molding adhesive tape is added to the top of the pivot bracket and the lens pressed in place. Here's the initial test...
https://youtu.be/oZ6JYr988dc[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/oZ6JYr988dc)]
That worked fairly well, so it was clamped in place and a transfer punch used to mark the housing for drilling mounting holes..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202829.jpg
Then the holes were slightly slotted using a dremel for side to side adjustability. Here's the results, from different views....
https://youtu.be/848V2PbuQJw[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/848V2PbuQJw)]
https://youtu.be/N_Qz0NZxh5g[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/N_Qz0NZxh5g)]
https://youtu.be/PVeWQyb35j8[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/PVeWQyb35j8)]
OK, now for the bad that we found with the kit... The original lamp housing must be removed for clearance, and a new (included) one gets installed below the original position. The new housing has those spring loaded contacts that some tend to bend over and short out, so I gave the wires a couple gentle tugs to see if the contacts deflected toward the outside shell...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202834.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202835.jpg
Surprise, surprise, the contacts pulled clean off....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202836.jpg
Note there is no copper inside the contacts, indicating these had a loose crimp...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202837.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202838.jpg
Next, the operation of the motor function seemed to be intermittent. A recheck of the power connections showed no issues, so we pressed a bit harder on the switches toggle, and the function returned. Multiple repeat attempts were performed and the switch proved to be the culprit. It appears to be a cheapo switch that has intermittent contact function. So looks like we'll be replacing a couple of the parts for this kit... So much for everything you need in one package....:rolleyes:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202833.jpg
chevynut
06-16-2015, 08:59 PM
Robert, how does the driver know when the door is open, so he can let up on the switch? Is there a breaker in the circuit that opens or are there limit switches? If the motor stalls, it seems like it would blow a fuse.
567chevys
06-17-2015, 05:45 PM
Thanks guys...
Worked on the Rocky Hinge hidden fuel door this evening. The mounting plate we made is plug welded to the tail light opening..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202825.jpg
Slight trimming needed.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202827.jpg
Then some 3M body molding adhesive tape is added to the top of the pivot bracket and the lens pressed in place. Here's the initial test...
https://youtu.be/oZ6JYr988dc[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/oZ6JYr988dc)]
That worked fairly well, so it was clamped in place and a transfer punch used to mark the housing for drilling mounting holes..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202829.jpg
Then the holes were slightly slotted using a dremel for side to side adjustability. Here's the results, from different views....
https://youtu.be/848V2PbuQJw[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/848V2PbuQJw)]
https://youtu.be/N_Qz0NZxh5g[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/N_Qz0NZxh5g)]
https://youtu.be/PVeWQyb35j8[/URL (http://[URL]https://youtu.be/PVeWQyb35j8)]
OK, now for the bad that we found with the kit... The original lamp housing must be removed for clearance, and a new (included) one gets installed below the original position. The new housing has those spring loaded contacts that some tend to bend over and short out, so I gave the wires a couple gentle tugs to see if the contacts deflected toward the outside shell...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202834.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202835.jpg
Surprise, surprise, the contacts pulled clean off....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202836.jpg
Note there is no copper inside the contacts, indicating these had a loose crimp...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202837.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202838.jpg
Next, the operation of the motor function seemed to be intermittent. A recheck of the power connections showed no issues, so we pressed a bit harder on the switches toggle, and the function returned. Multiple repeat attempts were performed and the switch proved to be the culprit. It appears to be a cheapo switch that has intermittent contact function. So looks like we'll be replacing a couple of the parts for this kit... So much for everything you need in one package....:rolleyes:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202833.jpg
Looks great Robert ,
Thanks for taking the time to post this so others can learn and enjoy looking at your talents .
Sid
Thanks for the comments... Laszlo, the tail light should be in the driver's rear view mirror if it's open. It has a set of relays that the light goes all the way out until it hits the limit switch. Then pushing the toggle switch the other way to close, it rotates inward until it hits the next limit switch.. I like the gas door on the quarter panel more every day...;)
More progress on the wagon, got some SPI epoxy sprayed, hopefully this will wet sand out and be ready for BC/CC.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202888.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202889.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202890.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202891.jpg
Also got some primer on the sheetmetal for an 01 Dyna
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202892.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202893.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202894.jpg
Look Scott, the dent's gone...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202896.jpg
Kyle learning the fine art of blocking....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202898.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202903.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202908.jpg
Meanwhile, I was wet sanding the motorcycle parts...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202900.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202904.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202905.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202907.jpg
This SPI epoxy sure is nice sanding!
chevynut
07-01-2015, 12:40 AM
Nice Robert! If I ever get to do another project, it's going to be with a one-step primer like SPI or the high-build that my painter uses for the $1M+ cars he does. The 3-step process I used was a PITA.
Wet sanded with 600
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202909.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202910.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202911.jpg
SPI Epoxy seal coat
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202914.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202916.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202917.jpg
Dupont Cromax Black Diamond and clear
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202919.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202920.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202921.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Great%20Escape%20MC%20Shop/Picture%202925.jpg
Well, we had gotten some more sanding done......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202928.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202929.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202930.jpg
.....and since it was still early in the evening, mixed up some more epoxy....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202931.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202932.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202933.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202934.jpg
Doesn't seem like much to show, we're still sanding away....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202936.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202937.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202976.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202938.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202945.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202946.jpg
Got about half done with the tail gate and remembered we needed some holes drilled in the new skin for the emblem. Only issue was that I had done some spring cleaning earlier this year and the original skin with the hole pattern and location was now gone. So I sent an email to Mikey at The Stainless Shoppe, as he had an original, and he got me squared away... Thanks Mikey!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202953.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202952.jpg
I located the hole for the center alignment pin first, and planned on using some spotters for the remaining 4 holes... Some measurements were taken to insure the emblem was on straight, and then some "backstops" used. The spotters come in a set of various sizes, and typically you never find the exact size you need...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202957.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202959.jpg
These will go in some 10-24 threaded holes on the emblem. The closest size was the 1/8" spotters, so we'll need to adjust the fit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202958.jpg
A couple wraps of fineline tape and we now have a snug fit so the spotters don't fall out..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202961.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202962.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202960.jpg
Then the emblem is located on the tail gate with the center alignment pin, then the back stops. The emblem is pressed onto the tail gate, and the spotters leave their mark on the epoxy paint finish..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202963.jpg
Next, the studs are installed finger tight using sleeve retainer. This will hopefully keep them from spinning inward any further risking possible damage to the chrome bezel...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202965.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202966.jpg
The nuts that come with the emblem are the split thread variety, and I had some threaded ones left over from the Fairlane build, that also are slightly larger in diameter, which may help out as the emblem also serves as a lift handle..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202967.jpg
Holes drilled and emblem fitted
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202969.jpg
smooth 56
07-15-2015, 06:47 AM
Robert you sure do fantastic work love your posts I have learned so much from you.Going to have to get some of those blind spotters.
McMaster Carr has them... but may want to shop price.
chevynut
07-15-2015, 08:50 AM
McMaster Carr has them... but may want to shop price.
Couldn't you just use a 10-32 screw, cut the head off, and sharpen it? I've done that in the past.
Looks good with that fresh new emblem on it.
55wagoncrazy
07-15-2015, 02:38 PM
Nicely done Robert.
FYI be careful using those larger nuts. Because the tailgate has a curve on 2 dimensions you can "spike" the metal around them.......seen it done on lots of side trim using the larger pal nuts. An option is to install the smaller nut using a rubber washer as a seal behind it. In fact if you look in the assembly manual on the trunk lid emblem it even shows a rubber seal was used. The early cars had a special press on retainer, because the studs were cast with the bezel and NOT THREADED STUDS.
Mikey
Thanks Mikey. I also have some of the same style nuts as supplied with the emblem with the rubber already inside the cavity, so I'll likely use those. I think they were the same diameter..
Laszlo, also an option, I've done that in the past as well but need some fresh tooling for the lathe so the already sharp spotters were more appealing at this point.. :p
I was blocking out the tailgate the other day and had a "halo" effect appear in the epoxy, shown below just to the right of the latch hole. This has a light skim of Evercoat 416 beneath the epoxy in that area. It was nice and flat while in bare metal, after spraying epoxy, after blocking the Evercoat/ before spraying the last coat of epoxy. I was baffled at what would cause such a nicely formed circle in the paint...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202939.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202940.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202942.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202944.jpg
Even scratched the area to see if there was any softness to the Evercoat, but no..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202947.jpg
Here's the panel in bare steel before paint and after first coat of epoxy...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202350.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202366.jpg
No dings, or defects otherwise seen. I had posted a query on the SPI forum to see if anyone had ever run into this. I don't know why I didn't think of this first, but it was suggested to: 1) look inside 2) only time this type of defect had been seen was dropping screwdriver inside door and left similar mark on outside of door bottom after sanding.
So in full investigative mode, I first measured the distance of the defect from the turn latch hole..
The Halo is approx. 3" away from the handle hole..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202982.jpg
Measuring that distance on the inside shows.....oh wait....what's that bare metal?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202983.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202984.jpg
As soon as I saw this I realized there had only been one thing inside that could have caused it... the painting fixture we made..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202985.jpg
This was made to hold the tail gate in correct alignment as on the car for painting. I had radiused the lower bar but failed to do so on the top one. A check of the skin with body sweeps shows that a #15 sweep is about correct, so it was used to verify some relief grinding on the top bar...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202986.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202987.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202988.jpg
As added insurance, some truck cap gasket seal was added to further isolate the issue on both top and bottom bar....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202989.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202990.jpg
On a positive note, glad to find this issue in the primer stage......
But let's back up a second and look at this picture, it should have been my red flag. Where the second mark to the left in the picture was not as round, looking at it now does show a rather symmetrical device was causing this..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Misc/Picture%202940.jpg
So please use my lesson in dumassery to prevent a similar occurrence. :lol:
Another job in the shop, here's one of the downfalls of the insulation blankets the factory used above exhaust systems...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%202991.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%202992.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%202993.jpg
Nice moisture traps and rust generators. All the used beds found either had similar rust issues or the lower quarters rounded under where the salvage yards had removed them and set them down on the ground. So we went back to the local dealer and ordered the bed floor and new cross members. We have a couple cross members that still haven't arrived, but we can get started in prepping for epoxy primer on the parts we do have..
Scuffing up the floor using 400 grit. Here's the new apprentice for this job, my niece Katie. (her truck) She's not afraid of work and needed little instruction.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%202997.jpg
All scuffed, now to wait on the cross members to come in..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%203002.jpg
Meanwhile Kyle and I have continued blocking body parts for another dose of epoxy...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202996.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%202998.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203000.jpg
Got some more SPI Epoxy sprayed, here's the parts for Katie's truck that she prepped...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%203010.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Ford%20Ranger%20Bed%20Floor/Picture%203011.jpg
....and some more on the wagon parts....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203013.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203014.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203015.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203016.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203017.jpg
Tonight's post offers some blocking pointers.
We had already done a couple sessions of priming/blocking the door across to the quarter and to the fender, all installed on the car. After this, more primer and put a perimeter of tape on the door skin. Now block separately, and the tape allows you to block the door and keep off the edge to prevent losing your match to the fender/quarter.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203031.jpg
I don't stick with 45* angles, if you want to keep a long direction flat, you need the long block to better follow that direction. So change up to some sharper angles, about 30* off the long direction every now and then. Work one end to the other, consistent spacing, consistent angle, end to end. Then alternate to passes in the opposite direction.
Once done, and the inner part is good and blocked, now remove the tape and GENTLY block to the edge, taking care to not pull down at the edge and round things back off again. Whatever hand is holding the block make sure it is minimal pressure and stays on the door skin. In other words, no pressure pulling down past the edge.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203034.jpg
One other point, to keep the inner end of the sanding block from sanding out all your hard work in the center of the door, put a wrap of tape around the end of the sanding block that is towards the center of the door. This helps that end to glide across the center of the door without cutting primer there.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203033.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203036.jpg
Now to show the importance of the long board..
We had done some blocking with the 27" AFS and seemed to have two high spots with a low in the middle of the door..
Note the high areas marked by the green tape...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203024.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203026.jpg
Now we can see that as the sander is moved to the left, the left portion of the AFS is over the high spot on the left, and a bit more movement and the right portion of the AFS will start dropping into the low void. Effectively, this is still cutting material out of the low, keeping it low.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203028.jpg
Looking at the next size up, a 36" AFS....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203019.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203020.jpg
Here we can see this one does a much better job of spanning the high spots and staying up on top, for a more effective job of knocking down the highs and leaving the low in the center alone...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203029.jpg
After a few horizontal passes at slight angles, like so with the 36".......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203018.jpg
We follow up with some vertical passes at slight angles with the 27".... all rods removed to better follow the contour. Then alternate back to the 36 and another horizontal session..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203030.jpg
DocHarley
08-05-2015, 05:38 AM
Robert, great tutorial as always. :)
I never sanded vertical which may be one of the reasons it took me sooooo long to get my doors straight. So I wonder, how did I got them straight never sanding vertical? Lucky I guess. I will be using that tip when doing my quarter panels, hope it helps because they are a pain. I'm thinking it's not just me because I've yet to see a waveless/straight 55 quarter at any of the car shows.
Thanks for sharing your talents and taking the time to help us amateurs, it truly is appreciated. :)
chevynut
08-05-2015, 05:54 AM
There's some great ideas here as far as blocking a car. I never saw it as a "science" before. I am going to be returning to blocking my Nomad before long so I'm glad you brought this topic up Doc. And thanks to Professor Robert for the instruction. ;)
Robert, great tutorial as always. :)
I never sanded vertical which may be one of the reasons it took me sooooo long to get my doors straight. So I wonder, how did I got them straight never sanding vertical? Lucky I guess. I will be using that tip when doing my quarter panels, hope it helps because they are a pain. I'm thinking it's not just me because I've yet to see a waveless/straight 55 quarter at any of the car shows.
Thanks for sharing your talents and taking the time to help us amateurs, it truly is appreciated. :)
As mentioned in your thread, especially in high crown areas the flat sanding block may have a tendency to leave flat marks. We noticed it after many rounds of horizontal blocking that there were some "ridges" left behind, so a couple swipes in the vertical direction took care of them quickly..
Well there has been a slight break in the updates, as I've been in Okinawa for about a month. Not to fear, Kyle has been plugging away on the wagon, it even has a floor in it, as you can see here...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203051.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203053.jpg
He did get a quite a bit of blocking done while I was gone....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203045.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203059.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203060.jpg
And did get some wet sanding done on a few of the interior trim pieces. Today he started on the rear floor, part of the problem with welding a flat plate is that it doesn't stay flat. The plug welds to secure the floor to the bracing beneath caused some shrinking, which resulted in the metal between bulging outward, some up, some down. Looks about like the Atlantic on a calm day.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203054.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203056.jpg
Today, as I was going to be wet sanding, he was going to try some torch shrinking. To better make this a one person job with minimal risk of open flame, we thought to give the "electric" torch a go.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203063.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203061.jpg
The plastic dust pan served as a tray to hold the wet rag, keeping it in closer proximity to where it was needed and attempt to limit the amount of water elsewhere. The results showed quite an improvement, and it's in need of some bumping at this point..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203064.jpg
But alas, the gas tank is in the way, so we will likely get the body back on the rotisserie here soon in an effort to get the remaining prep prior to paint completed.
Meanwhile, I was wet sanding and couldn't find the squeegee, so a trip to the local Ace Hardware at lunch, and we had a replacement. Works well, and no metal hardware on this new one to add any scratches....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203067.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203068.jpg
Exterior of the hood is about done...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203069.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203070.jpg
Well last night I picked up a winch and an engine hoist, if all goes well we should see lift off this evening. Kyle will stop by after school and get all the unbolting prep ready...
The last time we removed the car from the frame we used two engine hoists, which proved to be a bit cumbersome and a pain to get the frame rolled out. So I thought to try something different, this time an engine hoist at the front, and a winch in the back. Needing an anchor point for the winch, I welded this up last night to span two of the shop's trusses from overhead....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203071.jpg
Rear lift eyes use the tailgate hinge nut plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203073.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203074.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203075.jpg
Front lifting eyes bolt to the hinge mounts on the firewall...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203076.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203077.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203078.jpg
We have lift-off!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203080.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203081.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203082.jpg
The frame has a bit of welds left to do and we can clean it up and get it to the powder coaters...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203083.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203089.jpg
Dana helping out tonight...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203084.jpg
One way to clean it out...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203085.jpg
Here's the framework added to support the fuel tank and rear floor..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203086.jpg
This shows how nice access is for prepping, works equally well in painting..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203087.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203088.jpg
55wagoncrazy
09-17-2015, 12:55 PM
Me thinks you will get more work done if you hook up the air to that sander........
Just when ya think the project is looking good, then ya have to turn it upside down and all the hidden areas jump out a at ya...
Progress is progress. Moving forward is always GOOD, wish I was.......
.....but the PSA sand paper lasted so much longer..... :p
Todays progress, we've had to move the frame a couple times and it becomes a chore to steer, so a 1" bolt was modified with a home made steering wheel. Works well, good thing there's no weight on the front end!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203089.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203105.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203106.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203108.jpg
....and Kyle's been busy getting the bare metal prepped for epoxy..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203109.jpg
Picked up some stump blanks last night to have some extra stations for the upcoming metalshaping class...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203090.jpg
This afternoon, Debarking with a draw knife...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203095.jpg
Kyle took over as I used the chain saw to cut some to length...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203096.jpg
This one is about all the JD bucket could stand..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203101.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203102.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203103.jpg
....and some Talstar to take care of any remaining ant domiciles.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203104.jpg
chevynut
09-25-2015, 08:36 AM
Glad to see you working so much on that wagon, Robert! Any idea when you might paint it?
If I can stop travelling for the day job....
We're checking this week with a local machine shop to see if we can get the body media blasted... should be a much quicker prep for the epoxy..
In the meantime, the downside to plug welds and mig welds.... cleaning up all those welds..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203132.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203133.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203134.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203135.jpg
Kyle working on more welds..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203136.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203138.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203139.jpg
...and to get ready for the class next week, we put all the 55 parts away in the paint booth...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203140.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203141.jpg
Getting ready for the metal shaping class at the shop this week, picked up Peter today from the airport.
Last night Kyle and I made a pedestal for some home-made stake anvils using a couple 45 lb dumbbells and some pipe/tubing, tonight made the round-head anvil and another with a holder for press brake dies....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203142.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203143.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203144.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203145.jpg
.....and stopped by the upholstery shop this morning to get another shot bag stitched up...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203147.jpg
Counting the hours!
A few of the projects showed up this evening for the class, more to come tomorrow....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203148.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203149.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203152.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203158.jpg
One of the attendees brought a CP hammer for us to use...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203159.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203157.jpg
I'm going to have to get Peter here more often, forces me to clean up the place!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203151.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203154.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203153.jpg
chevynut
09-30-2015, 08:51 PM
Good luck with the class, Robert! Looks like fun.
Thanks Laszlo, Here are some of the highlights of today's class....
Peter shows how to prepare a stump for shrinking....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203164.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203167.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203168.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203169.jpg
Discussing weld location in panel forming....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203170.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203172.jpg
Using magnets to hold a paper pattern for layout....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203177.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203180.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203181.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203183.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203185.jpg
Wheeling, tuck shrinking and annealing aluminum sheet...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203190.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203192.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203196.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203197.jpg
Capturing the tuck and shrinking on aluminum sheet
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203201.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203202.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203203.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203204.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203205.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203206.jpg
Blocking and wheeling our 19 gauge steel fender panel...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203208.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203209.jpg
Forming the rear corner for a Model A..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203222.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203226.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203231.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203232.jpg
Blocking on the sand bags and shrinking on the stump....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203224.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203225.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203229.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203223.jpg
Wheeling....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203230.jpg
Here's some of today's class projects.
The start of a scooter fender...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203264.jpg
Test fit of a fender panel...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203267.jpg
Copper work, trash can taking shape...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203235.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203237.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203265.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203272.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203277.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203285.jpg
Paper pattern on a roadster quarter panel....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203234.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203240.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203246.jpg
Using the blocking hammer to pre-stretch
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203253.jpg
Making a pattern for the dies
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203257.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203260.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203261.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203263.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203273.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203274.jpg
Making a pattern of luan board for a divider offset in trimming the top edge..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203286.jpg
What happens when a metal shaper gets around wood products...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203287.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203288.jpg
Trimming and filing up the top edge....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203293.jpg
On to the Lennox....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203300.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203311.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203312.jpg
chevynut
10-03-2015, 07:53 AM
Very cool. ;)
Project updates for todays class:
Wiring top edge of the copper trash can..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203314.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203315.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203316.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203329.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203331.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203346.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203327.jpg
Roadster quarter, making dies for the upper bead detail....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203317.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203318.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203319.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203320.jpg
Sharpening the crease
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203324.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203338.jpg
A bit of shrinking....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203360.jpg
Test fit...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203366.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203384.jpg
Marking for trimming the wheel opening...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203406.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203408.jpg
Inside radius backstop
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203417.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203418.jpg
Scooter fender...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203328.jpg
Trimming...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203395.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203399.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203402.jpg
Prepping for Sport Coupe door skin removal
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203410.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203412.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203416.jpg
We took a short break for a Maryland treat...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203419.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203421.jpg
of course, using only the correct utensils....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203423.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203424.jpg
Blocking the top section of the roadster quarter.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203428.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203437.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203438.jpg
Final update of the class, pictures from yesterday.
Wheeling door skin for a sport coupe:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203442.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203443.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203449.jpg
Annealing copper wire to use as rivets:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203451.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203466.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203467.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203465.jpg
Cover plate for military vehicle:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203474.jpg
Paper pattern
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203475.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203494.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203517.jpg
Tuck shrinking on post dolly
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203452.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203453.jpg
Forming upper quarter reverse
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203457.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203458.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203461.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203462.jpg
Wheel opening bead detail added
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203478.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203479.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203481.jpg
Tipping flange with vise grips with jaws that have been smoothed...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203482.jpg
Stretching
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203484.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203485.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203495.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203496.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203497.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203498.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203501.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203510.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203511.jpg
Here's a video of Peter demonstrating lead loading aluminum:
https://youtu.be/MSfK9XhnLeM[/URL ([URL]https://youtu.be/MSfK9XhnLeM)]
Loading stumps for the journey to their new home..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203512.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203513.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203514.jpg
This class has been a blast, Peter is a wealth of knowledge and experience, and we are honored to have him share and pass this on to others. Anxiously looking forward to next year!
chevynut
10-05-2015, 07:24 AM
Very cool stuff Robert. I'm amazed at how the English wheel can take a lumpy piece of steel and make it so smooth. It must have been a great learning experience for everyone.
I was wondering why you didn't make this a separate thread instead of adding it to your "wagon progress" thread. Seems like it belongs in the "metalworking" forum. ;)
Not much to show, still working on grinding welds and filling pin holes... A good testament to using Tig or O/A welding :)
Also welded up/shaved the upper firewall seam....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203535.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203536.jpg
Lesson for this evening is to watch welding around stuff mounted JUST BEHIND the firewall!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203538.jpg
Well, more welding, grinding, and then we decided to give the roof insulation removal a try. Picked a spot and dumped on some lacquer thinner, which softened it up nicely and then made a sticky mess. So we put the putty knives aside and tried the paint scrapers..... without solvents. Dry removal was definitely better...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203539.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203541.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203543.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203542.jpg
Also got another shipment of shirts in from Bonehead Graphics...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203547.jpg
and promised the owner a modified set of spot welder tips to tackle his own wagon roof repairs...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203545.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203546.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%204/Picture%203548.jpg
Kyle was off tonight so I missed getting some in-process pictures.. Still cleaning up welds to get the body ready for media blasting. The rear brackets for the gas tank straps were welded in...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203582.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203583.jpg
I also worked on the passenger quarter this evening. One of the biggest problems with welding a horizontal seam down through the middle of the quarter on a car is the tendency for the seam to cave inwards.. I had some help this evening using the Watervliet hammer and a 24" radius die..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203591.jpg
Still have some highs and lows to address, but the weld seam is back out close to where it should be, and the Atlantic Ocean has calmed quite a bit..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203590.jpg
Next was to remove some creases in the cowl vent, seen here...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203584.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203585.jpg
Looks like someone may have kneeled on it at some point in the last 60 years. I've found the easy way to "highlight" an area like this in need of repair is to use a piece of 80 grit on the back side:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203587.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203589.jpg
Got the creases out using the body hammer with the chisel tip, and forgot to get the finished pictures. Next time...
Here's the top side of the cowl vent.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203607.jpg
....using this hammer....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203609.jpg
the marks on the back side show where the strikes were placed to remove the
creases...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203610.jpg
Kyle has the inner roof insulation about gone...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203611.jpg
Our enclosed trailer has the white wagon wheels that always seem to turn rusty in a few years, so I have been trying different wheels to see what might work....
These are some late model Mustang wheels, the hub hole would need to be opened slightly, but the offset was, well off.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203619.jpg
Perhaps on a fancy trailer with more stainless trim, but these just looked too much. Next, some plain Jane Ford Ranger wheels....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203620.jpg
Much better, correct offset, and no wheel modification needed. Just need to change up the color and add some stainless trim rings. I do have some bright orange, some bright red, and a few other colors in the paint locker..
Some before and after media blasting..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203615.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203616.jpg
Two down, two to go, and then we'll get some SPI epoxy on there for some rust preventative measure. Can't get it all done in one night. And more weld grinding and other prep work on the wagon continues. Since the big cleanup in preparation for the class in the shop earlier this month, we haven't been able to find our quarter panel profile template, so Kyle made a couple of them, one for in front of the rear wheel, one behind, and we've been working on the weld seams and doing some metal bumping to minimize our stock in filler products. Drivers side is looking much better than it did last week, still about another day to go and the quarters should be good for epoxy primer..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203617.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203618.jpg
DocHarley
10-28-2015, 04:34 PM
Awesome thread!
Your post/threads and personal help the past few years is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for sharing your talents with all of us. :)
Thanks for the comments. Hope my posts have helped out.
Stopped by my brother in law's and took delivery of the rotisserie for the frame, he had been using it for his ElCamino...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203626.jpg
And Kyle cut some adapter angles out of a piece of 4 x 6 tubing...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203628.jpg
Well, we didn't get pictures of the funny part. Kyle and I loaded the frame in the trailer and headed off to the local car wash to remove the grease from the front cross member. We had quite a few stares and a couple horns honking as he pushed the frame around the car wash parking lot and I was sitting on the frame rail, maneuvering with the Jr. steering wheel. We found the tire presoak and a wire brush does wonders for the engine grease. The car wash attendant did not look too pleased, but never said a word.
Back at the shop, bolting the adapter plates onto the frame...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203633.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203639.jpg
You can see in the above picture we used 1-1/2" long spacers to get a better access for media blasting the frame..
Disassembly starts....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203649.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203651.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203652.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203653.jpg
After a few revolutions and a bit of air pressure, we had quite a pile of 60 year old dirt..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203654.jpg
Override springs from the era. The handyman wagons were often used as work vehicles, and this option helped with the heavy loads...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203655.jpg
All stripped....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203658.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203661.jpg
chevynut
11-01-2015, 07:57 AM
Robert, it looks like you're going to catch up with me in no time. ;)
Hi Robert, you do amazing work! I started in the forum a few months ago. I'm into a project on my 55 2 dr 210 swapping an LT1 for my 283. It's been 35 years since its been painted and I may try to fix some troubled areas at the same time? My rear quarter panels where they meet my trunk lid are too close (I guess pushed inward or wrecked way back before I got it?). I was thinking about trimming the metal out with a circular wiss wheel and welding a new surface in on the quarter panel where it meets the trunk lid. I have access to a mig. Would this work Ok for this section? I guess what I'm saying is what kind of welder did you use to fix the doors and pillars? ... It's funny how your passenger door met, mine dropped down the same way...we loosened the hinge and put a floor jack under it with a block of wood and jacked it up until it fit better but my rocker panel was ate up so we had to fix that anyway... Thanks in advance for any help!:):D
Do you have any pictures of the affected area? Is the "tight" area in one location or pretty much along the entire gap for a tight but still parallel opening? Got a real name or you just go by My55?
http://www.trifivechevys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5197&stc=1http://www.trifivechevys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5198&stc=1
Hey Robert, this is DJ (My55). Thanks for responding! http://www.trifivechevys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5199&stc=1
Here's some pics of my trunk area, if u look close it's narrow or touching on both sides near the bottom but the gap opens up to normal on top. The door pic is what u, Cnut , and Rick-L were chatting about which I used a jack to get it close. Not worried about that as much but it's weird that we all had the same problem???...:):D
DJ, looks to me that someone has installed a new tail pan and perhaps trunk floor without having the trunk in place to properly set the gaps. I would try a porta power between using blocks of wood to both protect and spread the load. Too much and you'll start to see buckling, so I wouldn't get carried away, but you shouldn't need much to show a dramatic improvement. Other than that, I would remove the spot welds holding the tail pan across the bottom of the trunk opening, spread apart using trunk as a gap guide, and re-weld.
Hey Robert, thanks for the info! Would u use a mig to tack then weld your pieces in or do u use something else?:):D
DJ, for overlapped panels I use the Mig and plug welds..
Had a early Chevy hood side show up at the shop tonight, the owner wanted a couple different versions of louver samples made up that he could hold against the hood on the car to better visualize. One style he was looking at lends from an early Alfa Romeo that extends the louvers onto the cowl, as shown in the green tape..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203663.jpg
We took a paper pattern of the details so the hood side could go back with him to use as a pattern for the opposite side that still needs to be made.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203664.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203665.jpg
Spot welded on some "end stops" for the louver die.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203667.jpg
.....and a squared plate for the back gauge.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203668.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203669.jpg
Louvers in the Lennox.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203670.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203671.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203672.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203674.jpg
One sample down, one to go..
Robert, it looks like you're going to catch up with me in no time. ;)
My pace may have picked up a bit, but let's not get carried away here... :p
567Mike
11-04-2015, 10:04 AM
Those louvers came out awesome. ;)
thanks Mike!
Well FedEx showed up today with a CL delivery, got a matched pair of 48" linear rails. The two bearing blocks will have a material clamp bolted to each block, and used on one rail. We'll get a chance to try it out on the second louver sample. Where we had been manually holding the workpiece against the back stop, this should work better with a simple glide back and forth once clamped in place..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203676.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203677.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203678.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203679.jpg
While I was getting that squared away, Kyle was removing some scraps that were left on the frame from the original trans crossmember.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203683.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203684.jpg
He also removed the spot welded guides from the louver panel. The good part about samples is we can see what works well and what doesn't. Here we can see that we won't use spot welds next time as it's too much clean up. I think we'll give some stainless rivets a shot on version 2...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203680.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203681.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203682.jpg
The more I looked at our panel with the spot weld carnage, the more I disliked the result, so with new linear guides installed, we made all new today using stainless pop rivets to hold the guides in place. This will leave a few 1/8" holes to fill, but should be much less issue than cleaning up after the spot welds...
We needed just a bit more throat for this set of "lengthened" hood sides, so one bolt was removed from the material clamp and then rotated the clamp inward 90". This lets the panel pass through rather than bottom out in the clamp.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203686.jpg
Guides riveted in place....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203687.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203688.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203689.jpg
Here's the new version 1, much cleaner, less distortion, and we can re-use the guides...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203694.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203695.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203696.jpg
The cowl piece was done without guides....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203700.jpg
And version 2 with the cowl piece.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203699.jpg
Dave (the car owner) stopped by this afternoon and picked up the samples, and indicated he was being over-ruled by most parties on louvers in the cowl, so likely that version won't be used...
Now, in the interest of showing the good with the bad, the lessons learned if you will, Safety tip of the day is to deburr your sheet metal even if it's only for practice pieces....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Metalworking/Picture%203685.jpg
WagonCrazy
11-10-2015, 08:02 AM
Consider that as "paying the tax man" for all the great work you do Robert. :(
So far so good, nothing turning green... :p
Tonight we worked on the frame, used some poster board to make a pattern for a strengthening plate to span the pocket kit on each frame rail..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203705.jpg
While Kyle filled in some frame holes by plug welding to the pocket kit, I cut out the frame plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203706.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203708.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203709.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203710.jpg
And the shop vacuum is about on it's last leg, it leaves behind about as much as it picks up. For anyone at DYSON or SHARK vacuum that would like to send a test sample, we can sure do a stress analysis on your product.. :lol:
More prep and welding on the frame....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203722.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203723.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203724.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203725.jpg
and we cleared out the remaining vacuum inventory from the yard sale pile.. This one is working a bit better!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203721.jpg
We've been going through a dry spell here in the shop, it's been quite some time since we've seen any yellow body panels. Soon to change....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/2009%20Freightliner%20School%20Bus/Picture%203726.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/2009%20Freightliner%20School%20Bus/Picture%203727.jpg
Still working on the frame, Kyle was prepping the frame for welding on the strengthening plates while I drilled the plates for plug welds..
Plug welding....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203733.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203735.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203737.jpg
The outer perimeter will be Tig welded...
Still working the frame, here's the driver's side plate all clamped up and ready to go.. Hindsight and all that, should have made the plates about 2" longer and we wouldn't have those pesky holes in the way at the front end..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203739.jpg
So we decided to cut out some 14 gauge and fill in those holes. Cut a piece the same width as the hole, and rounded the end. Then used the band saw to cut a vee on the back side of the "plugs" and continued to clean up the radius with the 3" Roloc sander. Once close, a bit more on the band saw and break off the remaining, then fine tune with the sander..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203741.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203743.jpg
Magnet used to hold in place for tacking..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203748.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203742.jpg
For TIG welding the perimeter of the plates, we decided to make up a "crutch" that we could rest our hand on for better holding the torch...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203751.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203750.jpg
Kyle is getting a pretty good hold on this welding stuff...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203747.jpg
He even let me get in some practice....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203755.jpg
1320GASSER
11-19-2015, 11:34 PM
been following your work from the begining, all I can say is incredible skill and attention to detail...
Custer55
11-20-2015, 06:17 AM
NIce work!!! I like your welding crutch Idea. That has to make it lots easier to get a nice weld.
Hind Sight is always 20/20. :)
Brian
Thanks for the comments fellas. The crutch definitely helps out..
c57heaven
11-21-2015, 05:03 AM
thanks for your continued great posts...
Kyle got the welds finished up on the frame plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203756.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203758.jpg
Frame is ready to send to get media blasted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203757.jpg
And the rear was busted apart for some media blasting as well
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203762.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203763.jpg
Getting the bus parts prepped for paint, the owner had a used bumper in stock so it will get repainted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/2009%20Freightliner%20School%20Bus/Picture%203761.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/2009%20Freightliner%20School%20Bus/Picture%203760.jpg
We've been waiting for an opening at the machine shop's blasting booth, we're
going to get the frame done first. They have some large platform in there now
for the US Navy, so it looks like another couple weeks.. So in the meantime,
Kyle has been prepping some front end components for paint..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203764.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203765.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203766.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203767.jpg
......and we should have this showing up tomorrow, need to get some metal cut
out of the side and new replacement made up...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/2009%20Freightliner%20School%20Bus/Picture%203726.jpg
rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017
12-05-2015, 01:27 PM
Robert Looks like nice suspension hardware. What brand is it?
Rocky, they are Heidts components. Lowered and narrowed.
Dropped it off before work, picked it up afterward.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203866.jpg
After about an hour in the driveway with an air hose, the flow of trapped
media is scarce, but I'm sure there's still some there. We'll get some SPI
epoxy sprayed tomorrow night...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203867.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203868.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203869.jpg
55 parts everywhere....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203870.jpg
Two coats of SPI epoxy....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203871.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203872.jpg
Had some left in the paint gun so a couple of extra pieces were moved in...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203873.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203874.jpg
Oh yeah....the "new" trailer wheels were all blasted and ready to go, so they got a couple coats on the back side...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203875.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203876.jpg
The frame had some slight pitting so the sides were hit with the DA to
flatten things out a bit, and some Evercoat 416 used to address some of our plug
weld grinding marks on the frame plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203882.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203880.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203881.jpg
Here's the "winter" heating method for spraying in cold temps. 170,000 BTU
aimed at the air return, and the air handler fan turned on constant to circulate
the heat. Open window for air intake..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203883.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203884.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203885.jpg
After three coats of primer, the sides of the frame are looking much better
than before...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203886.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203887.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203889.jpg
Also got some more primer on these parts as well, should be ready for
blocking in a few days.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203891.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203892.jpg
The other day when we primed the frame a second time we also did the front
side of the trailer wheels..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203893.jpg
and today I mixed up some Centari that has been sitting on the shelf a few
years.. It sprayed pretty decent...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203896.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203897.jpg
And more blocking.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203900.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203901.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203902.jpg
Laszlo, how much does a bare frame weigh?
chevynut
12-29-2015, 08:36 PM
Robert, a stock bare frame should weigh about 275 pounds. I don't remember if that's for a seamless or a 2-piece one.
Thanks, it's a bit muddy here for rolling the rotisserie outside, so trying to figure out how many hard heads it takes to carry it.. ;)
Made another trip to the car wash tonight. Tire soak, high pressure soap, and a rinse...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203904.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203905.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203906.jpg
While Kyle was media blasting, I used the 36" AFS to block the tail gate.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203907.jpg
This had been blocked a couple times before and never seemed to come out right. Of course, I was using a shorter block as well. The 36 really did the trick in getting things nice and flat...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203908.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203909.jpg
.....and getting things ready for another epoxy session...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203910.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203912.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203913.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203914.jpg
Moved these out of the way, closer to the door so we can get tires on this weekend. Order trim rings today, now for some baby moons that fit... I swear they get brighter every time I look at them..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Other/Picture%203911.jpg
chevynut
12-29-2015, 09:06 PM
2 guys can carry a frame...my son and I do it all the time.
Aren't you going to mask the rotors off? Or are you going to have them turned after painting?
I'm doing similar "spray sessions". I'm using a one-step high build primer that my painter uses on all his cars. Just did my differential case and torque arm and brackets. Got everything sanded and ready for the second coat once the diff is assembled. I try to spray as many parts as I can in one session.
more worried about good coverage in the fins as they will be visible. We'll clean them up afterwards..
WagonCrazy
12-30-2015, 08:54 AM
Curious Robert...
Will your paint hold up to the high heat temps those rotors will go thru? Do you use a high temp primer and paint?
Just going to spray them with SPI epoxy. We'll see what happens, will be a good test..
Picked up some 400 grit PSA paper yesterday, used it this evening to get the tail gate finished to 400 grit, next week we'll wet sand to 600 grit.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203932.jpg
Nephew Chris came over and helped Kyle and I get the frame off the rotisserie and back on the floor..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203933.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203934.jpg
With the rotisserie freed up, we now have a new paint fixture...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203937.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203935.jpg
Parts prepped for epoxy primer tomorrow...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203936.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203939.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203940.jpg
While I was getting these parts taped off, Kyle started blowing apart the rear end for media blasting..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203943.jpg
Today Kyle worked on getting the axle pads welded on....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203945.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203946.jpg
.....while I was spraying some SPI epoxy....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203949.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203950.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203948.jpg
.....and while I had some epoxy mixed, we poured some inside the tailgate to
seal the inner and outer skins ..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203951.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203952.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203969.jpg
Axle pads done, then heated the opposite side to counter the weld
shrinking...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203954.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203955.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203956.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203959.jpg
It's real close, just a little more straightening to do...
other parts from the booth today....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203962.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203963.jpg
....and then sprayed some silver metallic Imron on the A-arms..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203965.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203966.jpg
Well tonight we worked on getting the parts out of the booth so we can get
the next load of parts ready for epoxy, and in between spent some more time on
straightening the rear. In measuring at the bead of the 18" wheels, we had a
+/- .020 on the passenger side and a +/- .035 on the drivers side.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203977.jpg
....and more heat applied for some shrink..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203979.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203981.jpg
We'll let that cool and get some of the front end parts bolted up..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203982.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203983.jpg
chevynut
01-05-2016, 09:10 PM
Robert, I guess I'm not understanding why you think a crooked HOUSING will cause wheel runout. Seems to me that the axle itself would have to be bent to do that. :confused:
With the axle housing fixed on top of jack stands, a bent axle shaft would cause run-out as you rotated the tire. This does not, they rotate perfectly straight. With the tires fixed, sitting on top of milk crates, as shown above, the axle housing is rotated around the axle shafts. The shrinking from welding on the pads causes a short side along the bottom, which pulls the wheels inward. This pull follows the bottom (pad) side of the housing as it is rotated around. Our shrinking efforts have removed about 1/2 of the run-out, just a bit more to go.
chevynut
01-06-2016, 05:57 AM
Gotcha Robert. I didn't understand that you were rotating the housing, not the axle. How important is is to get the housing perfectly true? Seems like it shouldn't be that critical since it won't cause the tire to wobble, but will affect camber. Would a small amount of camber hurt or help? I understand how the shrinking works as I have had to do it now and then on frame parts. ;)
Rick_L
01-06-2016, 06:17 AM
Like anything else, it's a matter of how much makes a difference. Seems like if you can do it and measure the results, and it doesn't take much time - it's something you can do.
I've used a similar heat shrinking technique to tune up the bend on a tail pipe to get it parallel to the other one.
Gotcha Robert. I didn't understand that you were rotating the housing, not the axle. How important is is to get the housing perfectly true? Seems like it shouldn't be that critical since it won't cause the tire to wobble, but will affect camber. Would a small amount of camber hurt or help? I understand how the shrinking works as I have had to do it now and then on frame parts. ;)
I was more worried that it may cause premature wear on bearings. ???
chevynut
01-06-2016, 06:32 AM
Seems to me when you put the load on the tire, the axle and the housing are going to flex a little causing a slight negative camber. So wouldn't a small amount of positive camber be good to prevent uneven tire wear? I remember my 69 Camaro's tires always wore more on the inside than the outside. I don't know what the right amount would be, but it doesn't seem like .035" is that much.....about 1/4 of a degree.
Years ago early 90's I built a 9" stock car grand national rear axle from components and straightened a couple as well seems like there was a slight camber and toe out built in can't remember what the #'s were though
Getting the front end put together...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203985.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203986.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203987.jpg
....and more blocking and hanging parts in prep for the next round of
epoxy...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203988.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203989.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203990.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203992.jpg
The doors are getting real close to needing wet sanding..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203991.jpg
markm
01-10-2016, 07:20 AM
Robert, I guess I'm not understanding why you think a crooked HOUSING will cause wheel runout. Seems to me that the axle itself would have to be bent to do that.
Cnut, Its nice to see you don't know everything, I have had hours of lecturing on this topic by an old school machinist/welder/ drag racer/ drag strip owner.
I was more worried that it may cause premature wear on bearings. ???
I will my Dana 60 in my 55 had this Issue and the aforementioned person fixed it, its his story that many rears especially Fords are crooked when new.
Mark, I was worried more about bearing wear. I used the wheel runout caused by the crooked housing to indicate where the shrinking needed to be applied.
I'd agree that you'd be hard pressed to find one from the factory that isn't flawed, we were just trying to remove some of the flaw that we caused.
markm
01-10-2016, 07:59 AM
I wiped out a big Olds bearing, some call it big Ford, wheel bearing out in 1500 miles, replaced both and wiped another in 250. Stripped the housing bare and reinstalled the alignment jig and it fit fine. This guy chucks the whole rear in a lathe to determine straitening required then moves to a press. I was glad to see you bring this up there are a lot of high dollar rides out there where this item was neglected.
Rick_L
01-10-2016, 08:03 AM
markm is right, a bent housing doesn't cause runout. An indicator reading will be steady and always off the same amount. A bent axle flange would cause runout, as would a bent wheel.
I don't think a bent housing would cause a significantly increased bearing load. The extra load would be taken by the other end of the axle, but there is already a significant load there and it wouldn't change much.
This is with fractional degrees of error. The Nascar cars use a special arrangement of a full floating hub to allow several degrees of camber. Those parts have to be really strong to avoid breakage. They are also subject to the extra loading of banked tracks and of 900 hp x 4 corners x 500 laps or miles.
Some drag race and more often circle track cars have intentionally bent housings for camber and toe in - sometimes to get neutral under load, sometimes to induce desired toe or camber.
chevynut
01-10-2016, 08:05 AM
Cnut, Its nice to see you don't know everything, I have had hours of lecturing on this topic by an old school machinist/welder/ drag racer/ drag strip owner.
If you read my post you would understand that I thought he was turning the axle, not the housing. There's no description of exactly what he was doing, and it looked to me like he was turning the wheel. Of course you would be talking to an "old school" machinist, anyone born after the 60's doesn't know anything. LOL! :)
Bottom line is a bent housing or flange won't cause a wheel to wobble. You shouldn't have to get a lecture by a machinist to understand that. ;)
chevynut
01-10-2016, 08:09 AM
markm is right, a bent housing doesn't cause runout.
Mark didn't say that, I did. ;) He didn't use the quotes icon to separate his comments from others.
This is with fractional degrees of error. The Nascar cars use a special arrangement of a full floating hub to allow several degrees of camber. Those parts have to be really strong to avoid breakage. They are also subject to the extra loading of banked tracks and of 900 hp x 4 corners x 500 laps or miles.
Some drag race and more often circle track cars have intentionally bent housings for camber and toe in - sometimes to get neutral under load, sometimes to induce desired toe or camber.
That's what I was asking about above. By welding the pads on the bottom of the housing he induced positive camber in the rear, assuming the flanges were put on straight. Seems to me the weight of the car would negate some of that positive camber, so I'm not sure if there's even a problem. I agree that such a small 1/4 degree misalignment would probably not affect the bearings.
With the housing stationary and wheels rotated, we did see a bit of fluctuation of about +/- .005 to .010, but it was rather sporadic and not relative to the welded pads. When the tires where stationary and the housing was rotated around, before our heating efforts the runout started at about +/- .050, and was directly related to the welded pad location. At the point the housing was being rotated, the dial indicator remained in the same spot on the wheel, so although the wheel isn't perfect, the reading should have reflected housing issues only. So calling it run out on the wheel is really deceiving as the tire isn't being rotated. More accurately, it is only being used as a tool to indicate better where the shrinking needs to take place.
Rick_L
01-10-2016, 03:52 PM
So calling it run out on the wheel is really deceiving as the tire isn't being rotated. More accurately, it is only being used as a tool to indicate better where the shrinking needs to take place.
Yep. Picky bunch aren't we?
rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017
01-10-2016, 05:06 PM
Rocky, they are Heidts components. Lowered and narrowed.
Are they custom then? Just asking I did not see arms offered on their site fir trifives only complete frames for tri fives.
Rocky
They can be found on Danchuk's website.... Heidt's 1-1/2" narrowed a-arms
Rick_L
01-10-2016, 05:31 PM
Those Heidts arms as well as the standard width ones are the standard of the industry for those products. Not that they like others don't have their own issues.
For instance, Earle Williams sells a different Heidts upper arm that uses a stock ball joint but he modifies them for a proper bump stop in extension.
Well Kyle was mostly on his own tonight as I had some repairs to do on the wife's vehicle..
New U-bolts came in yesterday, they have a pretty good selection on their web site if anyone needs some....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203997.jpg
Threads taped off and all the parts media blasted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203994.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203996.jpg
Then Kyle got the rear torn down for media blasting as well. Blast cabinet just the right size..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203998.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%203999.jpg
Getting things ready for the next round of SPI epoxy, here hanging the 9" rear on the multi-purpose rotisserie a-frame..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204007.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204008.jpg
We had this bare spot after the last time we blocked, and had bumped it a bit with the flat body hammer.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204009.jpg
Doesn't look like it did much to rectify the issue, let's look further....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204012.jpg
Looks like the rear end of the inside bracket is pushing a bit on the skin, no wonder the hammer didn't do much. Time to find the tool for the job, a pair of crimping pliers for stove pipe/ductwork.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204013.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204014.jpg
That should give us some breathing room, and bumped it again with the hammer.
Put the SPI in the paint shaker, should have tapped the lid a bit tighter..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204015.jpg
More parts ready for spraying....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204017.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204018.jpg
After 3 coats of epoxy....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204019.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204020.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204021.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204022.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204026.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204027.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204028.jpg
Here's some of the "restraint" methods for painting the small parts....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204023.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204024.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204025.jpg
Here clamps for the tie rod ends are held in a twisted loop..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204029.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%205/Picture%204030.jpg
I think the fenders should be good for wet sanding after this go round:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHrxzkEc618
.
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