55 Wagon Progress

[MP&C]

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.





Kyle finishing up the battery hold down modification...











We also mocked up an MT24F battery...





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.








So with dimensions taken, a practice piece was cut out of poster board...








Laid out on some 16 GA CRS...





And got a bit more blocking done across the door gaps..

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by MP&C

Should be able to, just watch you don't get the heat too far away from the creases where the panel wants to warp. I normally just watch the lead. When it starts to bubble a little, brush..

Thanks I appreciate it.

Marc

[oldman3]

Front door gap looks great...Jim

[MP&C]

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...











As you can see, it turned out horribly, and sometimes I need a learning curve myself...

We had used a narrow bottom die to tip the top flange, and should have also used something different for the vertical bends.





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:











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...














Also did more fine tuning on the front end today..











Test fit of the "early" side emblem..

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the zee bracket. Was it a regular tipping die / wheel you used? A small diameter one?

The gaps look great!

[MP&C]

It was using a manual tool, the one on the left here.....





....that and a hammer and flat anvil clamped in the vise...

[oldman3]

Very nice detail work...Jim

[MP&C]

Thanks Jim!


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..











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..

















The excess metal ruffles were addressed easily with the kick shrinker...








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..





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..








...and between that and a straight die in the press brake, the edge bead was formed...





...here transposing the crease locations...








To pre-stretch the areas for the diagonal vee beads, we loaded these in the bead roller....








This didn't appear to add enough stretch, so the linear stretch die was used in the Watervliet planishing hammer....








Vee was added using 3/4 wide female bead die and a narrow tipping die..





A bit of heat was added to make it a bit easier to transition the round and vee beads together...














....and this one we'll get formed up on Wednesday night and get both welded in place...

[oldman3]

Nice update, and again some great metal work...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Really nice work! Was the opening to clear the radiator hose or ?

[MP&C]

For a 6 cylinder car the radiator was in front of the core support, so it was likely clearance for the top hose..

[youngrodder]

Wow your metal working skills is fantastic. I like the detailed pictures of the process.

Marc

[MP&C]

Thanks Marc!


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..








Test fit of the radius...





Trimming out the hood brace...





Scribing the patch....





Trimming some of the excess on the bandsaw, and then fine tuning with the snips....











I did work a bit more on hood gaps.. an official gap gauge shown here....








Also took some radiator leak preventative measures....








Trimming the other patch for the hood brace....





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...





Both pieces clamped in place, we'll get some welding done on Saturday...

[duallyjams]

Looks like Kyle is doing pretty good job.

[Advanced Design]

Yes, really nice work. The magnetic brake is pretty handy.

[MP&C]

Kyle is a quick learner, I think he enjoys welding especially, but we'll see this weekend how he fares with sheet metal

The magnetic brake does have some limitations over an apron brake, but overall it really comes in handy for radius forming and other situations where the truss of the brake would normally get in the way..

[MP&C]

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...




















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.





Planishing weld dots on the new "anvil"..





Full weld penetration...








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...








In use..





After the pulling effort, the tight gap was well over two HSB thicknesses.





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..











Test fit shows much better alignment.. This may be why the 57 went to a square hole..





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:





Rear:





And I was also busy making more dust... Can't wait for springtime and the leaf blower

[duallyjams]

Are you keeping track of how many hours you have on this project.

[MP&C]

Yes, I got a time clock at an auction a few years back and have been keeping better track of all the projects since then. Don't have a running total right now, someone asked me about that a couple weeks ago.

[MP&C]

Someone noticed we use some rather "vintage" ice picks as scribes for metalwork, and asked to see a closer look.. I had picked these up a few years ago at an auction as my wife looks at me with that "and why do we need those" looks... The one came shorter as shown, but to prolong the life of the picks, sharpen with a very fine file, never use a grinder

The auction was in Fredericksburg VA, if anyone recognizes any of the old ice plants, be sure to chime in so we can all get a history lesson. I tried calling them but nobody answered 8 or 30..

[swamp rat]

Thats too funny, phone 8, phone 30, thats back in the 20's era i would guess, back when every little town had a switchboard and operator to physically connect each call.

[reaper71]

Rob...Just was able to get up to date on your build...Love the metal and detail work.
Alot of cool tools in your shop!! Makes life easier for metal shaping..

Mark..

[MP&C]

Thanks for the comments guys!


Kyle finishing up on the hood brace....








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..

















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.....





And with just a couple scuffs from the bottom, the low shows up there as well





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..

[Advanced Design]

Kyle did a really nice job on the hood brace!

[MP&C]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Kyle did a really nice job on the hood brace!

He's a quick learner.. I've been pleased with his work.



A while back we had made the brackets to make up three "reproduction" battery trays based on a 1955 Chevy factory air conditioned car.





The only part that did not come with the used original pieces we had as patterns was the factory hold down with it's attached "zee" bracket that secures the battery hold down to the rear of the core support, as seen here in the factory assembly bulletin.





We recently mocked up the battery location, and made a zee bracket based on the picture and the dimensions we had in front of us.








Now to make the remaining two brackets for the other two battery trays.. A roll former die in the press brake was used to make the vertical bends.





A bit of tipping using a press brake die as an anvil, and then using the tipping tool...








The finished brackets and a comparison....