1937 Chevy Coupe

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Your making great progress Doc I suffer from the same sleepless fits trying to fix problems. I can usually get to sleep okay but when l wake at 2-3 am for a bathroom trip the brain won't let me go to sleep again.

You guys aren't the only ones. I have to turn on the TV for a little bit to get my mind off the overwhelming thoughts:confused:[S
 
You are getting there Doc. [cl :D :cool:
If it was easy, anyone could do it.:eek:[ddd
I was hoping ( and still am) to find a piece from another car that I could will into shape to use on my Dodge.:)
I, like you prefer butt welds. A lap joint done correctly will work and it does give you a bit of wiggle room.
[P [P [P
Torchie
 
I remember doing my 40 Pontiac rear roll pan. It was a sedan which has a taller piece under the trunk lid which made it easier but still had to be messaged.
It came out pretty good for an EMS piece.

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I appreciate your comments, guys. :D

Sleep is overrated anyhow. I've said for years, "You can sleep when you're dead." :p

I'm not crazy about the lap joint, but it's more important to keep our sanity... besides, it can't rust if it never leaves the shop!

zz: A younger, hotter headed me would have clubbed a few things. I once threw a floor jack out the back door, by the handle, olympic hammer style... it went across the lane, through the neighbour's fence and I hurt my back in the process. :eek:

Old Iron: I always liked your Pontiac and thank you for the visual. I agree, if we had more metal to work with, it would be much easier to massage...

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I appreciate your comments, guys. :D

Sleep is overrated anyhow. I've said for years, "You can sleep when you're dead." :p

I'm not crazy about the lap joint, but it's more important to keep our sanity... besides, it can't rust if it never leaves the shop!

zz: A younger, hotter headed me would have clubbed a few things. I once threw a floor jack out the back door, by the handle, olympic hammer style... it went across the lane, through the neighbour's fence and I hurt my back in the process. :eek:

Old Iron: I always liked your Pontiac and thank you for the visual. I agree, if we had more metal to work with, it would be much easier to massage...

.

I used to say the same thing about sleep,Doc. Till I almost died.:eek: [ddd
Grew up with a guy that liked to throw tools when things didn't work out. I watched him throw a opened wrench once because it slipped off a nut and busted his knuckle.
That wrench bounced off of everything in site till it landed on the windshield of his old mans brand new Caddy. Where it didn't bounce.:eek::eek:[ddd[ddd
[P [P [P
Torchie
 
I'm mellowing with age, but it's still possible to "touch me off." :eek:


Small steps:

We found it necessary to rework the driver side piece. It was close, but not close enough. We now have it properly fit and fully tacked, but the panel isn't welded to the car yet. (It's still hanging by a few screws and clamps.) The combined weight makes it droop a little, but that'll be cured when it's welded to the body.

I haven't heard from my friend who's supposed to shear and brake the weatherstrip pieces we need. Those pieces are now holding us up, because we want to form and fit them, plug weld them from the blind side and then weld the assembly into the car...

I might have to pay him a visit and take my deadly flying floor jack with me. :p



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"I haven't heard from my friend who's supposed to shear and brake the weatherstrip pieces we need."

To keep from holding people up, I always do what someone needs immediately. I told the friends, that do me that way, that until they start doing what I need from them, in a timely manner, that I'll not do what they want.
:p So far I've cut my friends and work load base in half [ddd[ddd[ddd
 
We got a few short hours in yesterday...

My friend (Ryan) called me last Sunday to say he had our channel parts made. (Good. I didn't want to slap him with my floor jack, but I was willing to.) So, I jumped in the evil Mrs Crankstermobile and retrieved the pieces. One is 1" x 1", the other is 1" x 5/8", exactly as prescribed.

We drilled holes for the "blind" plug welds, but I failed to take that photo, so I had to draw them in...

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Next, we went to town with the shrinker/stretcher... and again, we found it necessary to split the pieces into halves.

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I hope this makes sense... when both sides are fit, we'll remove the panel and plug weld the horizontal underside... then we'll put the panel back on and fit the other two parts to complete the U channel... panel off (one more time) to plug weld the vertical backside. The idea is to keep the channel smooth and clean like it was from the factory... aside from the obvious splice joints, there will be no welding or grinding inside the gutter.

This should clear things up. In the example below, part 2 welds to the underside of part 1... part 3 welds to the backside of part 2. You have to imagine all three parts full length and shaped to match each other. You also have to imagine those big ugly "stops" flying across the prairie, because they're hideous and somewhat redundant.

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Due to family commitments, we're off the project for a couple weeks. When we get back to it, I'm thinking one good FULL DAY will finish the channel... then, we can finally weld the whole bloody mess and move on to something else!


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Looks like you've got all the puzzle pieces and the plan to go with them sorted out. The gas struts look like a good idea - will you use them too? Thinking they would work good on the Packard lid - it's heavy with all the wood framing and gets kinda twisty resting on the original single prop rod.
With the stops gone, what will you use as a latch - don't see one in that blue car...
 

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