Framework

The body is back off again, but for good reason - we need to create a bit more room to sit and need a bit more strength than this re-purposed frame provides currently. Again, I have the cast of characters John (aka dub) & Mark (aka the hippie, wicked hair, etc) who came by to join in on the fun.

When mark took off it was up to John and I to turn this into a complete debacle, however for some reason we made damn good progress albeit into the wee hours of the morning. John spent most of his time grinding & cutting I was busy finishing up welding, bracing and moving the shock mounts.

Body, frame - frame, body

The 2 met for the first time the other night when John came by and we decided it was time to cut some more then see what it looked like. After cutting a bit out for the firewall, blowing a fuse and moving some old steel we got it sitting on the frame - most of it that is.

The back half still needs to be cut for the wheel wells and its not sitting as it should, just propped up on jack stands but the firewall is pretty much good to go.





Mark will be over tonight to undo what we have done :)

Tranny stripping

Yeah, you've spent too much time on the internet... However, we are talking about transmission paint stripping here. There was a few layers of paint & primer on the transmission that needed to go. I am just going to clean up the case and paint all steel parts and hardware. This update also includes a bit more cleanup, some griding, welding, cutting and of course more parts removal.

A real cut up

It was better than the the Catalina wine mixer - John, remember that Joke from when we worked on Mark's hotrod? I bet you do.

This was a last minute decision to start the cutting, John was already planning on coming by so I rang up Mark and Chris as well. Mark had to leave a little early so I had to resume my duty as master welder (of course). We spent the night measuring, welding, cutting, and just having a great time. The run Shannon made to Taco Bell for us didn't hurt either. The pics tell the story, but I will narrate a bit.

John inside the A lining up the doors, Mark tacking them to the body.





Chris & John measuring up the chop lines, or rather John putting down tape and Chris making sure its reasonable. Luckily, I kept the calipers away from Chris so he had to accept some old school tolerances.



Two vertical cuts were made, the last had the car shaking a bit with the Sawz-All so I finished up with the plasma cutter.



And the re-joining of steel. The seams actually do line up, I didn't snap a pic of it clamped together but everything is within range, just some tweaking and welding before we get to do the roof chop. I will probably be cleaning up the shop again next the working on the frame.

3..2..1.. Lift off

The first thing we did last night was to free the bucket body from the frame. I had a great deal of that done the night before and just left a few cuts and heavy lifting for others. It was a fairly straightforward job that now gets me to exposed frame that needs some attention.

It's sectioned

Just finished the section tonight with John, Mark & Chris. Great times, it still needs to be welded back together but I can start to realize the vision a bit more. Many pics to post tomorrow.

My minions

A little more work last night, removed some more brackets, gauge fittings, brake pedal, body mounts and the headers. I had some help, probably not OSHA (or Dept of labor) approved but hey, they enjoyed it. :)

It's nice to have the kids out there helping, especially with heat out there this year. We all had fun and will have some great memories this summer when we hit some of the local shows in a car they helped build.

Dissasemble Mr. Number Johnny 5 ..... 12

Well some of you got that and that's just fine with me.

The removal of all that its bucket is underway. What you aren't seeing is all that was hidden beneath the seat; Wiring, battery, fuses, tools, amp, switches, controls, etc. Gone now.



Steering column, gas pedal, speakers, shifter, firewall plate, console, more wiring, etc.



And here be some of it.

A little playing

Curiosity got the better of me while playing with the frozen 80 year old speedometer and I decided I was going to see if I could get it working again. After figuring out how to disassemble it without destroying it I found it was full of old grease and debris. I cleaned, polished and straightened the gears, lubricated everything and re-assembled. It moves freely now and resets at 0. This may work for me if I can figure out how to make it understand my TH350.

Body in the garage

I spent some time this past weekend cleaning up the shop and moving things around to prepare for the build. I had to move the welding bench to make room for the furnace (which is working perfectly, so no radiant heat build this year - full on warmth) and I had the kids help organize all the shelves.

The body

It used to belong to John through one of those "just had to have deals" and then became one of those "I just have to move this" deals which I gladly helped load up and bring home - along with a few other toys, I wonder if he will notice the missing AMC 360? I already pawned off his seats, enjoy that Ozz.

New Blog

No content here yet, still getting pics & info ready but this is the new build, taking over where the Bucket Build left off.

Some of the pics will be quick camera phone snaps, some with my older Lumix FZ so no complaints about picture quality. I am still working on site layout, themes, graphics, etc so please be patient during construction.