My First Ever Project Build.

[craigF]

Hi all.
We've had a busy weekend and made a little progress. Woody wasn't happy with how the bottom of the Fender finished up last weekend so he decided to re bend it to tighten up the bottom gap and add some stick welding rod to the front and rear of the doors to enable him to file a nice finished gap.
So far it seems to be doing the trick.
The lines are coming together and our gaps are looking a lot neater. Considering where we started with the aftermarket panel sizes and shape we are really pleased with how it shaping up.



The rear axle housing turned up during the week so that gave me a job to do while Woody was plying his trade to the bodywork.
I planned on fitting up the rear axle to check all the clearances and get the car sat on the ground to look at the ride height and stance. (without engine.)
All went well until i fitted the wheels onto the back. The lower control arm rubs the 305 size tire. Looks like i miscalculated the wheel back space or the axle length by about 7/16 inch.
Total control Products do do an off set pivot to give a little more tire clearance but i'm not sure it will be enough. I may have to get the mounting brackets removed from the axle and re welded further in. If the brackets don't come off then i'll have to get some new ones from Total Control. Expensive rookie mistake!!!!

Lower fender gap coming along

[craigF]

Skick Rod welded to the door edges to enable a nicely file gap.

[craigF]

Fully floating Axle and Diff housing from Race Products in Brisbane.

[craigF]

Suspension in place. Pity about the tire rub but i'll sort it out soon.

[craigF]

Looking good.

[craigF]

Does any one have any tips in reshaping glass bonnets. This one is bit all over the place and we are going to start on it after the guards are done.
It's a Mustang to Fear Bonnet and i have heard good thing about their products but i'm not to sure on this one. It may just be me not used to working with glass but it does seem out of whack.
If you look along the Fender line the bonnet lifts pretty badly.

[craigF]

This weekend saw the rear axle housing removed from the car to fix the mistake of the incorrect position of the lower control arm and shock mounts. The mistake was purely mine and i have no one else to blame, but i did try!!!.
I changed my mind on the wheel width from 9' to 10' but forgot to alter the backspacing accordingly. The only real way to fix it was to order new brackets and cut the old ones off.
Licve and learn with a $600 Aussie dollar mistake.

[craigF]

[craigF]

Hi all just a quick update for anyone interested.
Managed to get the new lower control arm brackets from Chassis works and had them re-welded into the correct position. The diff center and rear brakes also arrived and the whole package was assembled and put into it's rightful place. The rear of the car has been removed from the wheel dolly for the first time in nearly two years to see how she will sit.

[craigF]

Really like the way the car sits at the rear. Once we have finished my aim is to set and align the car to run at this height or as near as depending on how it handles.
The guys at ChassisWorks supply a top quality product and are super helpful in the time of rookie mistakes. Thanks heaps guys.

[craigF]

We have also spent time with the body work and its coming along nicely. The front fenders are now aligned and will only require minor beating prior to the car being epoxy primed.
The glass bonnet / hood was in a terrible mess and i must admit for the price of this product i am more than a little disappointed in the quality and final shape. I know some of you out there will say all glass parts are like that but at the price point it was at i expected better.\
We did a little research and tried out a few thing and it is starting to come together. Applying heat and flexing the glass gently we seem to be able to get the glass to become playable enabling us to reshape it enough to start getting lines and gaps. With a few more hours work and blocking i think it will work out.
At the start of the weekend i was all for ditching the glass hood and getting a steel one but i was persuaded to give it another go.


Fender Mod Coming along




Hot Sandwich Press Theory

[craigF]

So the next step is to get a rotisserie from somewhere and work on the under belly tidying up the open gaps and welds.
All the panels need to be spot welded and all gaps finished off.
I have placed a preliminary order with and engine builder for a 427 Dart block to be built. He pretty much has an open scope with the only criteria being it must have good street manners but enough torque to fry the tires with a stomp of the gas.
Stay tuned.
Craig.

[Spork82]

Craig you've done an amazing job with this car, can't wait to see whats next!

[craigF]

Thanks. Nice to see people enjoy the builds and progress. It's slow but fun.

[mildcustom2]

How did you actually deal with the rear quarter panel being too long creating an alignment issue with the quarter panel extensions??

Beautiful car by the way. Will be following along.

[craigF]

Thanks for the compliment.
The rear qtr end panels had to be unpicked from the end panel and a recess cut along the top and inside edge. These were then re-welded and the end panel reattached in a better position followed by a good filing to bring it close. They look pretty good now and we will get them to a final finish when we are getting ready to epoxy prime.
The build is slow progress due to funding and the choices i am making in how the finished car will be but, much to my wife's dismay i think it will be a cracking car when it is finished.

[wfo guy]

I looked into glass front fenders on my 51 Ford pickup. After talking to a reasonably honest salesman, he made reference to people who haven't worked with glass parts before. I came away with the fact that most require work. Only the high end are close. Without buying a lot of parts, how would you know what was high end? Price doesn't always dictate quality. Your project is looking good.

[minendrews68]

Man!! this looks good. Keep it up, I'm watching for sure..

[56rpm]

I love your build mate! You guys from Oz undertake some of the wildest projects. How did moving the rear shock brackets on the axle cost you $600 Aus? ($450 US) That seems really high. Good luck!

[craigF]

Hi.Thanks for the comments. Had to buy new lower control arm mounts from Chassisworks and get them shipped then I got my axle builder to reweld them rather than do them myself just to make sure the axle tubes stayed true. He charged me $200 for that. A little expensive but he did a great job.
Hope to post some updates soon but the holiday season is nearly here.