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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Glad to help, thanks for all the comments!
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
More progress today, working on some metal bumping on the drivers quarter, so a profile template was needed... Took a 1-1/2 x48 piece of 19 ga and used the mag brake to fold it, then the bead roller to flatten.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1123.jpg Then used the kick shrinker to get it to match the contour of the rear of the door, this will give us a close match to the front half of the quarter... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1125.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1126.jpg If you shrink too much, no need to change dies, just shrink the rear portion of the template (away from the body) http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1124.jpg Ends are radiused... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1122.jpg Then the factory battery tray (firewall mounted) was dissected to use with the "Factory AC car" parts, in order to mount the battery in the passenger front corner behind the core support. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1129.jpg ...and all the parts were media blasted. We have some sheet metal plugs to punch out tomorrow for use on a couple of repairs of thin spots, and then the works will get mocked up on the inner fender for placement, weld the parts together, and off for powder coating. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1130.jpg One more tip for those doing mock-up/door fitment without latches, this will hold the door flush with the jamb. (Thanks to Laszlo Nobi for that idea) http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1127.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1128.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Nice!
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Well the Wheeling Machine finally has paint!
Napa Econo-etch primer.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16..._160851906.jpg H/K Pavo Purple and Flo Klear. I tried playing with the camera settings to get it to capture the true color, but it just wasn't happening. It may look blue in the pic, but it's about as close to Chrysler's Plum Crazy as you can get without putting a HEMI under the hood.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1151.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1153.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1154.jpg Here's the actual color... http://www.house-of-kolor.co.uk/images/BC10.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Ya gonna add some art work on it.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
I'll have to find someone that does some striping.. :metal:
While I was finishing up the paint on the English Wheel, Kyle stripped the driver's inner fender. This one has the same issues in the front as well as a spot up top where the flange of the fender had some rust issues we previously repaired.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1157.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1156.jpg Looks like our same template will work here as well.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1158.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1159.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1160.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1161.jpg And while I was trimming more rust away, Kyle was working on the passenger side learning the fine art of dressing welds... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1162.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1167.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1168.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Young ears no hearing protection.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
I picked up new safety glasses and respirator for him, had a brain cramp on the hearing protection. Thanks for the reminder...
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
While Kyle was working on dressing some welds this evening, I took some time to planish the weld on the driver's fender eyebrow. Here's the previous.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Picture500.jpg It had a noticeable dip throughout the weld seam. Here's the tool used..... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1196.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1197.jpg The eyebrow on the passenger side was planished all by hand, and probably has a couple hours of work. The Watervliet planishing hammer made short work of the driver's side, it took all of five minutes time to have it in a comparable state as the passenger side... with the dip all but disappeared http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1198.jpg Continuing on with more inner fender work, starting on the driver's side.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1188.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1189.jpg Back side, full penetration welds..... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1191.jpg Staple holes for seal filled... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1192.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1193.jpg Should get both these finished up Saturday morning and mocked up with the battery tray.. |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Nice welds as usual! I'd love to have one of the hand held planishing hammers. What lower die did you use?
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Sid, it was about a 4 or 6" radius die, can't remember which one I ended up using
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Here's the passenger side with the welds dressed and mocked up to the grille....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1204.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1206.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1208.jpg While Kyle media blasted the passenger side, I did some finish work on the driver's side. We still had this up at the top to fix... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1210.jpg A replacement was made and marked out on the inner fender.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1211.jpg Took a reference measurement to insure any shrinking effects were properly planished out... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1213.jpg Ice pick works well in marking the cutout pattern... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1214.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1215.jpg Trimmed and fitted http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1217.jpg Tacked in place... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1218.jpg Rear side http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1219.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1224.jpg After planishing and dressing the welds, re-checking the reference measurement.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1225.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1226.jpg Passenger side complete.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1220.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1221.jpg Driver's side complete..... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1228.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1229.jpg Next task will be to assemble the battery tray and send off the goodies for powder coating. |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Very nice work! Like the bead roller and shrinker too.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Seeing your work keeps me on target.
You make it look like there was never any repair at all. Top Notch |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Thanks for the comments guys!
Tonight we worked on fitting the new Gene Smith grille components. It started with the mandatory instructions... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1230.jpg To insure the studs didn't move once hand tightened, some thread lock stuff was used... We did find the qty of hardware was short by two each, and after a quick call to Gene Smith, Fred has some on the way for us.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1231.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1232.jpg The new grille fits just like the old one, it is VERY tight in the top corners.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1233.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1235.jpg To eliminate the paint rub syndrome and other possible front end squeaks from metal on metal, some templates were made so we can do some hammering on the new grille... and keep a consistent distance between. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1234.jpg Initial fitment: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1237.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1238.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1239.jpg Where the passenger side fit fairly well initially, the drivers side showed some rocking and gap issue. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1245.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1246.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1247.jpg I initially thought the driver's side piece was mis-shapen, but in placing them side by side they were pretty much a mirror image. Checking the front edge of the opening with a straight edge, the passenger side showed to be good and straight, the driver's side had a depressed area. This likely occurred when some fender shaving and rust repairs were performed, without the luxury of the chrome pieces for fitment. So some relief cuts were made to bring out the low area of the opening... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1248.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1249.jpg ....for a drastic improvement in the fitment. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1254.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1255.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1253.jpg The surround trim studs did have some alignment issues with the grille. One of these "tweaking" devices is highly recommended to fine tune the fitment.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1256.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Great work!
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Today we worked on filling some holes in the battery trays so we could finish the inner fender mock up. Hard to drill out a slot, so we clamped on a plate with a pilot hole to use with the Blue Point sheet metal hole cutter:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1257.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1258.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1260.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1262.jpg Plugs..... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1284.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1266.jpg We tried this same repair in the corners, but the pitting was too far along and did a good job of blowing holes. So, time to back up an punt, let's make some new corners.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1267.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1275.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1276.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1277.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1279.jpg Shrinking the tuck.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1270.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1272.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1274.jpg New corners welded in.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1280.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1281.jpg Some of the lines from forming were left to duplicate those from the factory... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1282.jpg Gusset bracket added to core support.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1288.jpg Holes located on inner fender.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1289.jpg Stiffener brace and angle bracket bolted in.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1291.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1292.jpg Tray bolted to the gusset, and plug welded to the angle bracket.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1300.jpg Battery hold down brackets added.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1303.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1304.jpg Got a couple plug welds to grind, media blasting, and these parts are ready for powder coating! |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Great ideas, nice work! Did you make the plugs?
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
A buddy of mine has a turret punch, and I punched out a variety to have some for such repairs....
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
As Kyle media blasted and otherwise prepped parts for powder coating, I turned my attention to the new grille. This looked to be a very accurate reproduction as it fit tightly in the corners exactly as the original did..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1233.jpg In order to do some metal bumping on the grille corners and provide some clearance, which should help eliminate future front end squeaks and paint rubs, we'll need to make an anvil. This piece of pipe looks close to our templates.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1307.jpg Unfortunately our grille shows some interference, so unless we plan on disassembly of a new grille, the anvil will need a specialized shape.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1305.jpg After some drilling, band saw and sanding action, here are the results: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1309.jpg This may just work... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1310.jpg Working the corners.... Luckily any markings that may occur here will be covered by the surround chrome.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1313.jpg Test fitment shows a nice consistent gap: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1320.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Went to fall Carlisle today while in the car corral I looked at all the tri five and did not see one out of at least a dozen that the grill fit correctly or that the fenders, hood gaps align up and they all were in the 30,000 asking price range and even some were by professional restoration shops.
major props to your work |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
You do such an amazing job and thanks for taking the time to document all this and post it!
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Thanks for the comments guys. James, I'm surprised some of the car owners didn't run you off, picking their car apart like that :lol:
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Today we worked on hood and gap alignment at the front of the car, the passenger side is all but done, so we started around to the driver's side. The windshield cowl showed a high spot behind the fender and door, that was bulged about 3/16. Good ol' factory fit!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1328.jpg So we made a vertical slice behind the fender and door, bumped the high spot down, and welded the joint. We had a blowout near the leaded seam due to some rust that had collected on the back side.. Forgot to take a picture before slicing and dicing, but here's the culprit. Also had some porosity in the vertical weld that got cleaned out and re-welded later... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1331.jpg Fitted, tacked, and finished http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1333.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1334.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1336.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1337.jpg Gaps... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1338.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1339.jpg Much better http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1341.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Very nice. Really appreciate the focus on detail and quality of the work.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Thanks!
I've had my Mig welder for quite a while now, and thought I'd downsize a bit. Most of the work I do is sheet metal, and the occasional 1/8 or 3/16 plate. I had looked at the Miller 211's online and on eBay, so I had a price range in mind. I stopped by my local Welding supply and was pleased to find that he had those prices beat by a good bit. So it came home with me.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1343.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1344.jpg First order of business was to test it out and do a comparison to the coupon I had done with the old machine. I still had the 11 lb. roll of .023 EZ Grind, so that was used in the new machine. Here are the results... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1351.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1352.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1353.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1354.jpg Both versions, .023 EZ grind and the .035 ER70S-7 in the old machine had very similar results. Good wetting, nice flat weld for minimal build, less grinding, less cleanup. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1355.jpg Back to the front end of the car, the hood had been giving us fits when opening, it was dragging the cowl vent in a few spots... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1359.jpg Removed the hood and altered the angle of the rear flange for better clearance to the cowl vent.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1356.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1357.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1358.jpg After refitting, the problem persisted, but was not as pronounced. We did notice the center of the hood was sagging a bit. So I jumped inside the engine compartment with the torch and did some contracting of the rear brace to give the center a lift... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1365.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1366.jpg Cooling off the hot spots with a damp rag did the trick. Next we worked on getting the hood's rear edge to match up to the cowl. This is something that the driver will stare at continually, so it needs to be a whole lot better than it is now: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1361.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1362.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1363.jpg Further refinements included this and others: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1367.jpg After taking the hood on and off about a dozen times, this is closer, and the outer edge adjacent to the fender needs to "droop" a bit more. We're running out of time this evening, so we'll try our luck next time with the rocker panel roller to see how well it addresses the edge. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1369.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1370.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
So. In your opinion is the little touch worth the money? I have seen them at the fair and car show but kinda pricy.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say nice work yet again! |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
I haven't done too much welding with it yet, but so far so good. Looks to have better adjustability than the old one, this one has infinite control on both settings, the old one didn't have that on the heat settings.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
I thought he meant the gas torch but maybe not.
I am not a pro welder, but the big Millers and Lincolns I used in class had very heavy cables. I had to drape the cable over something to get good control of my welds. My small Thermal Arc has a very lite weight feed cables. Much easier to work with. It won't weld a ships hull, but I don't plan on that either. |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Yea i could have been more clear in my post. I was refering to the oxy acet hand held torch ☺
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Sorry, misread that. The torch is a Henrob, which should tell you how old it is. I think I bought it some 20-25 years ago. I believe the company has changed names twice since, they should be going by Cobra torches now. It comes with about 5 or 6 different tips for a good range in heat, and works well. I use it mainly for heating (shrinking) purposes, and should get out of my comfort zone a bit more and do some O/A welding.. Maybe it's time I try some of that and do another video so the results can be seen firsthand.... But other than high heat where someone would need a rosebud, it's done anything I've needed it for..
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
A bit more progress last night on the front end fitment. We've taken the hood off and reinstalled so much that one of the captive nuts came out. Once we fished it out of the hole, it still looked intact, so it will get reinstalled. It was proving difficult to pull back up into the hole, so a bolt was threaded into the nut and the fancy dent puller clamped onto the bolt head. One pull and it was back in place..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1371.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1372.jpg It was tacked in place, and to prevent a reoccurrence with the other three, they received tack welds also. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1373.jpg Next, we were working on the hood to cowl gap. We noticed towards the ends of this gap it tended to tighten up. The highly calibrated gap feeler gauge was used... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1375.jpg Here the gap tool had no chance, we need to reform the rear fold on the ends... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1376.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1377.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1378.jpg The wedge anvil was used, along with a x-large cold chisel that had a radiused edge formed for the more curvaceous profiles, to reform the rear fold inward for this tight area.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1356.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1380.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1383.jpg Gap looks much more consistent there, a quick look at the passenger side shows it needs reforming as well, but not nearly as much. Getting late, so we'll finish this up next time... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1384.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1385.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1386.jpg |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Very nice work! Love the dent puller.
You've followed a great and logical sequence on fitting to get to this point. My luck (or lack of sequence) I could fit my hood to cowl then realize I was off up toward the front. Not wishing to be a burden, what is a quick summary of the sequence? Was it doors to body, then fenders to doors, then front of hood to fenders (fore and aft, side to side) then hood to cowl? Apologies if you have this in the build. Lotta great work and information here. Thank you for sharing. |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
I've always been told that on this car you should start with door fitment, then fenders and hood, working your way forward. It seems that every piece I've touched has needed some work to get good, consistent gaps. 1955 tolerances leave a lot to be desired...
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Great work, it is looking super.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Thanks!
More progress today, part of our hood fitment has been hindered by the hinges. When closing the hood they didn't want to close properly and the back corners of the hood had to be pushed down by hand. Don (acardon) on Trifive website suggested replacing the original shouldered rivets with some bolts and sleeves. We hadn't heard anything promising with the reproduction hinges, so what did we have to lose. First to come up with a hinge spring removal tool... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1397.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1398.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1399.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1400.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1401.jpg Now to disassemble the hinge and remove the rivets.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1387.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1388.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1404.jpg Some 3/8-16 rivnuts were used to make some spacers, and used the lathe to trim them to size, allowing a few thousandths clearance. All of the rivet holes were drilled out for the spacers.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1402.jpg Here are the results, click on the pic for video http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...icture1394.jpg Thanks much to Don for the suggestion! |
Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Solved that problem.
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Nice work! I found a company that rebuilds hood hinges, obviously you don't need the link. LOL!
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Re: 55 Wagon Progress
Great idea and nice work. That is the smoothest operating hood hinge I've ever seen.
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