MACKAZs 22 Buick model 45 Rat

Glad to see you're back in the game. Full speed ahead!

Well Ive tagged the bodybase, polished up where the welds go and secured it to chassis. Lanced off all the old tack welds and ground/polished them flat. Now the bodybase is flat with no protrusions, ie slag or weld. Floor needs to follow this perfectly...(RED ARROW) Ive made a rough template out of cardboard and tape and, holy crap, the sheet metal Ive got for the floor is about 3mm too wide and 100mm too long so mint, **** all wasteage. Out with zipdisk tomorrow night and cut it down to size. Forming this bit of plate is going to be a mission but needs to be done. The floor is also going to be cut to form the back of the rear seats. Ive also need to remove a factory spreader bar and move it rearward (BLACK ARROW) because the rear seats are going to be there.

You have it figured out. That's half the battle. All you have to do now is do it. Keep us posted, eh?

Productive night tonight. Fabricated a rear floor, freshly bent with trusty old Ford and Wood precision bender. Pretty pleased with the end result

I also acquired this piece of antiquity, been told it is Model A Ford. Its in poor/fantastic condition for ratrod. Nothing the welder wont fix.

Roughly in the right place, this section need to be narrowed by about 250mm to fit the bodybase correctly. This will save me hours in fabricating a rear section, but there still is hours of repairs to be done on it, which is just adding to its character

And I scored some awesome help in floor decoration from my youngest Daughter Abbey

I just read what she wrote on the floor. Had to chuckle to myself.
"Jenna sucks".....Jenna is her older sister. What happens in a six year olds mind is baffling

Sad to report absolutely NOTHING has happened since my last post, House is 100% repaired on outside and painted, has a brand new bathroom and kitchen and lounge/kitchen is fully insulated. New carpet/vinyl flooring and paint to go. Bye bye 50K..... Few more months I might be able to start again, Ive bought some choice headlights and taillights for her though.

MACKAZ said:

Sad to report absolutely NOTHING has happened since my last post .........

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[S Huh, sounds like a LOT has happened! Sounds like you have whipped the ol' Homestead into shape big time! Congrats on buttoning up that project and I'm looking forward to you getting back to the Rat Rod.

This house is driving me nuts, motorvation is seriously lacking to do the interior doors, finish the laundry and clean the garage to drag the ol' girl out from its parking space, arm is going to be sore this weekend, TATTOO TIME!!!!!!

Holy thread dredge Batman!!!! I've got back into the old girl, put the side drafts on for a look. They foul on the headers (number6) but gave me a general idea how they look. And that is awesome!




I've sectioned the Model A rear and attached it, temporarily, again for a look.






They next mission is body mounts, so Im going to remove the floor and start on that next time we have a fine day.

Good to see this thread come up again.

You and me both. I honestly didn't think I was going to get back into it. Just need to get over this 'flu and do some more

Great work work dude. The longer it takes the more fun you can have =) keep the pix coming[cl

Looking real good. I hope you can stay motivated. I ain't getting any younger and I'd love to see the finished car. Keep at it, Mac.

Devastated. Water 2" deep flowing thru garage, all my power tools/welder/ goodies are safe at least. My sheet panel steel got mad patina as they're on the floor submerged under the Buick.
And girls trampoline is toasted, got blown OVER a 7 ft high shed and slap bang into the neighbours house, splitting all the mortar inbetween the bricks, thankfully we are insured, but there's no sign of letting up. Apparently gusts of 200kph have been reported..... My wife's got a 400 km drive home tomorrow so fingers crossed she makes it home in one piece.
I had 5 buckled wheels thru the shop today from potholes......eeek

A nasty turn of events. Good that your tools and equipment are okay.

The crappy weather is good for the wheel repair business it appears.

Hope your wife got home safely.

She made it home safe, thanks Bob. Yesterdays tally for bent wheels was 17 with only one tyre salvageable. Sales were good....

I'm at a loss as to what to build my body mounts out of, I thought tyre sidewall might be a go, but no, it's not a uniform thickness. Our rule book says it has to be rubber mounted. I've lost the original mitsi ones in the move and my brother buying our parents house. It's gotta be cheap, or free is even better. Any ideas???

Hey Mac, don't know what you have there in terms of farm supply stores but here they have these rubber cattle stall mats that I use for all kinds of stuff...they are 4' X 6' and are about 3/4" thick. I've cut all shapes and sizes of mounting pads etc. out of them. http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/p-1985-tenderfoot-rubber-stall-mat-4x6x34.aspx They are also great for concrete floors where you stand a lot like in front of a workbench.

What about a piece of conveyer belt? It's multi layer like a tire, but flat.

I used conveyor belt. It's really durable and cheap/free. If you have any gravel pits, cement or concrete companies, or mines around, just ask them for a big chunk of it.