Chopped 55 f100
- Thread starter Duke55
- Start date
Had a 31 Ford Coupe dropped off for some metal and paint work. Originally I planned on doing a separate build thread for this but I find when its a customer car, I work on them too much and the wife would kill me if I came in late each night and went to the computer so this will have to do.
As received
Black coating seemed to be rubberized like cheap roll on bed liner which was terribly painful to remove. Underneath the black was the worst work I had ever seen. Not a single dent was hammered and dollied at all. Some dents/creases had over 3/4" of filler. Patch panels were tack welded in place with one panel being recessed in 1/4" from where it should be for no apparent reason then the joint sealed with rtv on inside and mud on the outside. Over 30 holes mudded over. Massive warping of the cowl when the gas fill hole was filled in (dish on each side ~5/8" deep and 8" in diameter). The trunk and trunk jamb were by far the worst. Somehow the new skin was put on way out of square and they decided to take a grinder to one side of the jamb until the ground clear through the corner for nearly the full length then mudded over it. the over side they tack welded in a coupe layers of 1/8" strap then mudded the entire jamb which was over 3/4" in the worst place.
A taste of some of the bad stuff
Rear quarters
Lower trunk jamb that ended up have 3/4" thick filler here
Fast forward a bit and I fabricated new trunk jamb arches and trunk skin
Modified door jambs to eliminate the overlap and have flush doors with body
Completed and also see other patch panels I put in on both sides
Made this section to hide the ugly floor/subframe edge and provide a sealing surface for the weather stripping. Not sure what these look like from the factory...kind of think the running boards provided this but not sure?
Have worked over all the dents, warping and rust work. Now I am doing the flush door work on the other side which should be done in the next night or two after work then I have to make and install trunk jamb drip rail. After that should be ready for body work.
Sorry for the quick jump through but I figured it is better than nothing. Maybe now that this intro is out of the way I can try to post more frequently on the other side flush door mod and trunk jamb work.
As received
Black coating seemed to be rubberized like cheap roll on bed liner which was terribly painful to remove. Underneath the black was the worst work I had ever seen. Not a single dent was hammered and dollied at all. Some dents/creases had over 3/4" of filler. Patch panels were tack welded in place with one panel being recessed in 1/4" from where it should be for no apparent reason then the joint sealed with rtv on inside and mud on the outside. Over 30 holes mudded over. Massive warping of the cowl when the gas fill hole was filled in (dish on each side ~5/8" deep and 8" in diameter). The trunk and trunk jamb were by far the worst. Somehow the new skin was put on way out of square and they decided to take a grinder to one side of the jamb until the ground clear through the corner for nearly the full length then mudded over it. the over side they tack welded in a coupe layers of 1/8" strap then mudded the entire jamb which was over 3/4" in the worst place.
A taste of some of the bad stuff
Rear quarters
Lower trunk jamb that ended up have 3/4" thick filler here
Fast forward a bit and I fabricated new trunk jamb arches and trunk skin
Modified door jambs to eliminate the overlap and have flush doors with body
Completed and also see other patch panels I put in on both sides
Made this section to hide the ugly floor/subframe edge and provide a sealing surface for the weather stripping. Not sure what these look like from the factory...kind of think the running boards provided this but not sure?
Have worked over all the dents, warping and rust work. Now I am doing the flush door work on the other side which should be done in the next night or two after work then I have to make and install trunk jamb drip rail. After that should be ready for body work.
Sorry for the quick jump through but I figured it is better than nothing. Maybe now that this intro is out of the way I can try to post more frequently on the other side flush door mod and trunk jamb work.
BBChevro
Well-known member
Great work as usual Royce. 
TimeWarpF100
Well-known member
very nice!
1Garageman
Well-known member
Awesome work!
Can't wait to see it when you are done
Can't wait to see it when you are done
ilovevocs
Well-known member
That existing body work is crazy bad. Nice job remediating it and thanks for sharing.
nonhog
Well-known member
LOL my wife complained about looking at the back of my head, so she turned my desk around.
.
No need to be sorry, fun to see your repair approach, thanks!
xtremek
Well-known member
This update is fine. It's about balance. Keep up whatever updates you can. I get the thought process behind the RTV (though I don't agree with it). What do you do for the back side/inside?
very nice work. Really like some of your paint jobs. model A is looking good. I like how you inset the doors I did the same on a 31 Im working on along with many other other mods. And as far as the 55 goes its a work of art, came out very well in my opinion. Keep it up.
christopher7390
Well-known member
sweet ride!
Your dad is always with your brotha!
Good luck!
Your dad is always with your brotha!
Good luck!
Thanks for all the comments and feed back, I really appreciate it.
Most of the time I leave the back side/inside bare metal. No major rust problem will occur unless you get a build up of moist dirt/crud which will also attach a painted/primed surface. Once you have a problem it will move much quicker under painted surface.
Thank you. The thought is what keeps me pushing myself to continually improve.
Updates
Try to do a little better job showing how I did the flush door. Bent L shape piece and shrunk to match contour of door.
Bent upper piece and started welding together
Jamb completed. The rest of the jamb also uses L shaped bent pieces that are shrunk/stretched as required to match body contour.
Door closed and latch functional. You can also see in this picture that I marked the side of the trunk skin that needed to be shrunk every inch. This made it very easy to keep track of what I did on one side so I could do it on the over side and keep everything symmetric.
Trunk jamb
All welds ground on trunk jamb outside pieces
Most of the time I leave the back side/inside bare metal. No major rust problem will occur unless you get a build up of moist dirt/crud which will also attach a painted/primed surface. Once you have a problem it will move much quicker under painted surface.
Thank you. The thought is what keeps me pushing myself to continually improve.
Updates
Try to do a little better job showing how I did the flush door. Bent L shape piece and shrunk to match contour of door.
Bent upper piece and started welding together
Jamb completed. The rest of the jamb also uses L shaped bent pieces that are shrunk/stretched as required to match body contour.
Door closed and latch functional. You can also see in this picture that I marked the side of the trunk skin that needed to be shrunk every inch. This made it very easy to keep track of what I did on one side so I could do it on the over side and keep everything symmetric.
Trunk jamb
All welds ground on trunk jamb outside pieces
spyderbyte
New member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2015
- Messages
- 1
Hi Royce, Ran across your 55 build and story. Having a 54 that's been in the family for a few generations, I started going deeper into your build. I am extremely impressed with your ideas and work. I have much to share and as many questions, but this being my first post I just wanted to share something on your current build. My friend Paul (a master machinist now living in Redbluff, CA) has the nicest "T" I have ever seen. He did all the work. Lic Plate 1 FINE T. If your interested in talking to him let me know. i will try to attach a couple pics. see how that goes.
Larry
Pic Links
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuaaUZZWlBIU0V2QXc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuaTHhpd0pkZXFrSk0
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuabnJ2cDZ4c3NNOFU
Larry
Pic Links
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuaaUZZWlBIU0V2QXc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuaTHhpd0pkZXFrSk0
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0amnMIzlzuabnJ2cDZ4c3NNOFU
Last edited:
Finally shot some paint. Painted gold and black then topped with pagan gold kandy base.
Also working on some center caps for a chopped 52 Caddy convertible. Roughed them in tonight. Will likely shave down a little more but its hard to add material once removed so her is a first cut. The emblem will be recessed in once done.
Also working on some center caps for a chopped 52 Caddy convertible. Roughed them in tonight. Will likely shave down a little more but its hard to add material once removed so her is a first cut. The emblem will be recessed in once done.
MP&C
Well-known member
Nice job on the painting! Well, really on everything 
Flush fitting the doors really cleans up the look.
Flush fitting the doors really cleans up the look.
willymakeit
Well-known member
Nice work. Gives me ideas.
xtremek
Well-known member
Great work. How are you attaching the hub cap?
1969
Well-known member
Very nice !!!!!! Top shelf all the way !!!!!
First thanks for all the comments. As far as mounting the center caps, I plan to make a plug with a threaded stud that will go on the inside of the wheel and stick through the center hole in the wheel. I have a 1/2" hole through the center of the cap with a 1.25" counter bore to house a 1/2" nut. I will also make a piece for the emblem to attach to that has a 1/2" threaded I.D. So the emblem will also thread onto the same center stud. Also the back side of the cap is machined to a slip fit inside the center hole on the wheel to keep it concentric.
Hopefully that makes since. I will post the final product when done.
johno
Well-known member
The wheels and caps look great imo.
What are the wheels?
What are the wheels?
Xmoonstompx
Well-known member
That gold looks rad!
1Garageman
Well-known member
Looks awesome!
The wheels are Centerline California Smoothies.
The body hammer is still the shifter and hasn't changed in any way. It will always be there. One of these days I will change the wheels and tires and would love to have a y-block in it but don't know if that will ever happen.
Finished the 31 Coupe
Helped a friend stripe and paint his 60 caddy. This is the same car we did the roof on a handful of months ago. Took 8 hrs. to mask the designs then I coached the owner through spraying his first paint job.
Base coat
Kandy and Clear
Helped a friend stripe and paint his 60 caddy. This is the same car we did the roof on a handful of months ago. Took 8 hrs. to mask the designs then I coached the owner through spraying his first paint job.
Base coat
Kandy and Clear
djjsr
Well-known member
Nice Caddy! I don't care for the graphics but the paint looks great.
MP&C
Well-known member
Recessing the rear edge of the doors on the A really makes it... Love the pop on the paint.. OK, I know I've asked before but my local Walmart didn't have any, where did you get the lace for the Caddy?
Robert,
I have been getting it from Walmart. I will look and see if I can find an item number or something and see if you could order it online.
Finished up the center caps. The owner is going to do the rest of the sanding and polishing (will try and get pictures when done)
They are installed by placing the puck with bolt threaded through it into the back side of the wheel. The wheels would be bolted on at this point. Then the center cap is installed with washer, lock washer and nut. The emblem base threads onto the same bolt end.
txvwnut
Well-known member
That coupe is exactly how a hot rod is to be done. Subtle mods great paint and a multiple carbbed flathead.
That cad's bichen too.
That cad's bichen too.
MP&C
Well-known member
Found it!
Robert,
I think that lace should work good. I have found you want a lace with lots of open/coarse mesh which will give lots of sharp/crisp detail. The really tight mesh gives a blurred look.
This is what I have been using.
I think that lace should work good. I have found you want a lace with lots of open/coarse mesh which will give lots of sharp/crisp detail. The really tight mesh gives a blurred look.
This is what I have been using.
MP&C
Well-known member
That does look like a less "repetitive" pattern than what I got. I think yours would be better for larger areas (wagon roof) ..... If you can get me a p/n I'd appreciate it..
JC23
Well-known member
A tip we use with lace is to dampen it with water. It lays down better that way.
C91x
Well-known member
Amazing work.
6 Grrrs
Well-known member
Love the Caddy! Lace and all.
nonhog
Well-known member
OK a few of you are (have done) doing lace paint jobs. I have no interest in ever doing one. However I have great interest in knowing how you keep it from moving around say like on a roof? Detailed write up on lace paint jobs would be cool.
MP&C
Well-known member
Speaking of lace, here's a bump of Royce's Fridge. This thing is bad-***!
Thank for all the complements and for bringing the fridge back up. The fridge keeps the drinks in the basement very cold (freezes bottled water).
Robert I had the wife get the number off the lace i have been using.
I dont have any good secrets for spraying lace. Just get it to lay flat and tape it in place. I only spray one medium coat. Multiple coats don't look as crisp. This has worked good for me but I have laid kandy base coat over everything that I have laced and that reduces any non-uniformity in the base. Definitely want to lay down a very consistent coat if no Kandy base will be sprayed over.
Haven't tried it but dampening the lace sounds like a great idea that I will try on the next job.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Robert I had the wife get the number off the lace i have been using.
I dont have any good secrets for spraying lace. Just get it to lay flat and tape it in place. I only spray one medium coat. Multiple coats don't look as crisp. This has worked good for me but I have laid kandy base coat over everything that I have laced and that reduces any non-uniformity in the base. Definitely want to lay down a very consistent coat if no Kandy base will be sprayed over.
Haven't tried it but dampening the lace sounds like a great idea that I will try on the next job.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
MP&C
Well-known member
Thanks! I checked their website, it indicated no longer available. Better tell her to buy it all up next time she goes shopping..