Scratch Building a Coupe

Here Sam, these probably wont help much as I added my downward pieces around the edge of the fender. This fender is tapered from rear to front. It gets wider at the front and gets narrow in the rear. I wanted it to match the running board width in the rear and wide enough in the front to cover the tire etc. Look at my later photos of additions I made today it will all come out in the wash. Heres 3 photos the best I could get no room on this side.

The first thing I did today was make a tool that will slice a 3/4 inch electrical tubing all along its length. I have some photos of the tool made from scraps in 20 minutes. I used one of these years ago when Dirt track racing to cover the sharp edges of the sheet metal on the race cars. I plan on using these to do my rear apron and along my running board bottom lips. This way I have no sharp 90 degree returns that are a pain to make. Just slip them on and weld or braze as I did tears ago. You can make more of these to fit any size tubing. I used a circular saw with a metal cutting blade on it. Make the slot in the wood snug and the tube will stay put, You can eye ball the slot for the next cut or make a guide to ride in the slot of the tube to keep it straight, No big deal Drill some 1/8 holes along the bottom of the tube if you are afraid of catching water etc.. Okay enough of this tool stuff. I added some 3.5 inch X 4 inch pieces of scrap 18 gauge to my front fender lip. I did this to extend the metal area for me to shape the wheel opening to the tire. I just put a string compass on the hub center and drew a line around the new metal for me to re- cut tomorrow, Then I will weld a narrow piece of 18 gauge all around the edge. This will give me double the thickness of steel lip. No pain in the rear returns here, I cant finish the rear part cause i have just enough metal for the right side so I can keep going. I have a bunch of photos Ill show the tool first..

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Some photos may look similar but they are the photos of the different bends of the pieces I welded on and the different degrees I tried. I ended up keeping the 45degeee bends they looked the best of all.

another tool photo..

No earth shattering work today. All i did was bolt the right side panel on for my fender frame pipes. And I outlined the drivers fender and cut the tire shape, I will weld the outer at a later time.

Nibbling away at these front fenders. I fabricated the right side pipe frame work for the fender skin. I also fitted the sheet metal and have it clamped. Tomorrow I will weld it when I check all to see if its what I need. The Coupe is starting to look like a car in the front now this is about what I wanted looks wise for this Coupe. It looks similar to an old Car front end. I have a few photos

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So how long before you roll it out into the sun and get some nice FULL car shots?

It will be a while yet before it sees sun light.

Had to run some errands today but was able to weld and trim the right side fender. And put the filler piece near the running board on the drivers side fender. Just a few things done, Was very damp today after all that rain. I can take cold better than damp weather my fingers don't want to bend in damp weather. In spite of the heat from the furnace.

A little more done today . I am now out of sheet steel I used my last biggest pieces on the fenders and 2 smaller ones on the floor. All usable pieces have been used.

I will be taking off this week to finish lowering my shop ceiling that I started. Its may and my last instalment, ill get this done and have all the nice warm weather for Hot rod stuff.

I am half way through the ceiling project its slow going by yourself.

Okay this ceiling project is now done. All sheet rock is up all I need now is one coat of primer for now. Then I can move to another item such as Coupe. This will pay large dividends this winter with heat savings and better light. I will run a string of 100 watt light bulbs down the center of the ceiling this should reflect a lot of light all over.

Approximately 16 sheets of sheet rock to get this done. Since Feb when I started the 1st framing to the finish now the costs is about $1000 dollars All this work if done by contractors would have been $2900 my lowest bid for this work. This is $900 dollars more than what i have invested in my Coupe. This is equivalent to 250 gallons of oil at $4.00 a gallon, so 1k dollars is a good deal for me. I cut off 1152 cubic feet that i will not have to heat and it escaped through the ceiling rafters as soon as the furnace blew the heat out. I already felt the heat build up when i was on the step ladder close to the ceiling. Big savings down the road for me. Now I can get back to serious stuff.