wagon progress

[MP&C]

I think the major issue here is that the original antenna could be more readily positioned because the only thing inside the cowl was the antenna wire. This is using a power antenna, which has the motor and other parts to contend with inside the A-pillar area of the cowl in proximity of the door hinge. The confines don't leave you with much choice.

[asbicca]

I think the major issue here is that the original antenna could be more readily positioned because the only thing inside the cowl was the antenna wire. This is using a power antenna, which has the motor and other parts to contend with inside the A-pillar area of the cowl in proximity of the door hinge. The confines don't leave you with much choice.

This is what I used for my power antenna, RetroSound PA-02 Power Antenna. It has the motor separate from the antenna and is very easy to install with plenty of room.

[chevynut]

I think the major issue here is that the original antenna could be more readily positioned because the only thing inside the cowl was the antenna wire. This is using a power antenna, which has the motor and other parts to contend with inside the A-pillar area of the cowl in proximity of the door hinge. The confines don't leave you with much choice.

Holy crap, I hope mine fits. I never installed it before paint except to kind of hold it in place. Didn't think about the door hinge possibly causing a problem. What power antenna did you use?

[asbicca]

Holy crap, I hope mine fits. I never installed it before paint except to kind of hold it in place. Didn't think about the door hinge possibly causing a problem. What power antenna did you use?

Look at RetroSound PA-02 Power Antenna. It has a remote motor so it take as much room as a stock non power antenna under the fender. I am not able to upload a picture but you can see it at their website

https://www.retromanufacturing.com/c...-power-antenna

[chevynut]

Look at RetroSound PA-02 Power Antenna. It has a remote motor so it take as much room as a stock non power antenna under the fender.

I actually have a similar one to that (maybe identical), one of the many things I bought twice. But I couldn't figure out where to mount the motor. The concept is fine if you have room, but in a 56 I couldn't find place to route the cable and mount the motor. How did you do it?

[asbicca]

I actually have a similar one to that (maybe identical), one of the many things I bought twice. But I couldn't figure out where to mount the motor. The concept is fine if you have room, but in a 56 I couldn't find place to route the cable and mount the motor. How did you do it?

I ditched the fresh air vent and stuck the motor upside down in the void that was left. I have a 55 but I assume that they are the same? I cut away some of the sheet metal to open up the hole so I could fit the motor and a secondary fuse panel

[MP&C]

Final version of the wedge spacer for the antenna

BEA84600-DE7F-4323-A6DF-BE9C1A3E13FF.jpeg

4A1E598D-AC21-4B2D-A767-B465BE0BB74E.jpeg.

About as vertical as I’m going to get it.

[WagonCrazy]

That looks fine Robert. Movin' on...

[MP&C]

More progress on the wagon. While reassembling the front end, Jared noticed the fenders were a bit high at the cowl. This next picture shows it, although the perspective makes it a bit exaggerated.





So we pulled each of our new shims we had made and shaved another 1/16" off the height.


This shows the fender height after adjusting the shim height.





But shows our next back up and punt moment. The wedge shim we had made for the antenna was too steep, and this shows the actual angle needed. So we made another with less angle...





Note some "pre-polishing" was done on the lathe prior to cutting off the wedge to make things a bit easier. Final version installed and vertical orientation verified...








Next, we got the driver's door wiring routed through the upper door hinge... much easier after the trial-and-error practice we did on the passenger side.





...and with the front fenders back on to stay, Jared reassembled some of the core support parts.





Moving to the rear of the car, we started the rear tail-light install now that they have been painted inside and out. Wiring was routed through OEM style boots to help minimize any water intrusion into the lamp sockets. Replacement button contacts were used in the sockets (w-crimp) to eliminate any unneeded splicing of the wiring. Wiring complete, with bulb seal attached to the housing:








Rivet-nuts were installed for mounting the housing....








Nice snug fit to the body, and a functional test to make sure we're done here..








Moving to the passenger side, we'd need to secure the harness to the tail-light swing arm mechanism (part of the hidden gas door mod) so we planned to add some heli-coils in the arm for adel clamps. I had a long 1/8" bit to get in close to the corner, but our final size of 13/64 for the 10-32 heli-coil tap would be another issue.





Then I noticed some tubing in the scrap pile that had a 3/16 ID, just undersized. So our drill bit was clamped in the 3 jaw chuck of the lathe, and the tail stock used to press the two together.





Now we had an extended bit to complete the heli-coil installation.











...and a functional test of the wiring on the arm...


https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JzA6W2BdyyQ

[MP&C]

Wagon 2.0 progress, I was tasked with adding a paint job to this:





but had a couple of issues to address first prior to paint. The dropped axle design lacked lateral strength of an I-beam, so we ordered some 1/8 x 1/2 flat bar to cap the top and bottom, adding much needed strength. Next, the frame hoop was produced with limited tooling availability, and the corners made use of pie-cuts that some still remained and would show through the paint. I attempted to weld some of these closed, but realized it would be quicker to remake the hoop.





Always one to make tools into multiple use, the new tubing corners were bent on our buffer stand "radius brake"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyTLqpeXSk














The rear "axle" stanchions had been bolted on using rivnuts, but I was worried the side wall of the tubing may deflect from weight in the wagon. So in true Robert overbuilding form, some threaded standoffs were turned into a sleeve that would weld on both sides of the tubing for less stress upset.











Both ends were ground flush prior to welding..





Welding the front end to the new frame hoop...





Next, to clean up the front end components a bit in order to add oilite bushings...























With spindle perches welded to the ends of our "I-beam" front end... a test fit of all the bits..





And here with our center link added, the last fabrication detail needed will be the handle.. to be continued...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE6G7vHhYmc