Custom Mopar ????

Skip said:

I will add my thank you for this tip also, Mr. dutch. My brain is spinning with the possibilities. Pounding in lines, curves, spirals, and so on, to get where you want to go. This is great! I have never thought about it in this much of an organized way. What spacing do you use for the lines?

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Skip, most important is you understand the basics of what shaping metal is.

You can do just 4 things with sheetmetal

- cut
- bend
- stretch
- shrink

these 4 enable you make any shape you need/want. So all fancy tools like e-wheel ,powerhammers, shrinker/stretcher are there to make life easier, but only when you understand what yer doing.
At the end of the day you can shape what you want with a couple of hammers and dollies.

So, for example , you have a 10" square of sheet and you want to have a convex shape, you can either shrink the egdes or stretch the center, of both. This will result in raising the center of the panel. Just try... leave a 1" frame on the edges of the panel which you don`t touch. Draw lines up & down and left to right at say, a half inch or a tad more apart. Take a autobody hammer with a light curved surface and hit the crossings on an anvil ,dead on the anvil. You flatten the sheet and therefor enlarge the surface, which results in raising the panel. check with ruler

Sorry for the interruption Torchie...

Skip said:

I will add my thank you for this tip also, Mr. dutch. My brain is spinning with the possibilities. Pounding in lines, curves, spirals, and so on, to get where you want to go. This is great! I have never thought about it in this much of an organized way. What spacing do you use for the lines?


Torchie - My head is also spinning at your speed on this project. I already knew you were good at this stuff.[cl

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Thanks skip. I feel like I move like a turtle these days.

dutch said:

Skip, most important is you understand the basics of what shaping metal is.

You can do just 4 things with sheetmetal

- cut
- bend
- stretch
- shrink

these 4 enable you make any shape you need/want. So all fancy tools like e-wheel ,powerhammers, shrinker/stretcher are there to make life easier, but only when you understand what yer doing.
At the end of the day you can shape what you want with a couple of hammers and dollies.

So, for example , you have a 10" square of sheet and you want to have a convex shape, you can either shrink the egdes or stretch the center, of both. This will result in raising the center of the panel. Just try... leave a 1" frame on the edges of the panel which you don`t touch. Draw lines up & down and left to right at say, a half inch or a tad more apart. Take a autobody hammer with a light curved surface and hit the crossings on an anvil ,dead on the anvil. You flatten the sheet and therefor enlarge the surface, which results in raising the panel. check with ruler

Sorry for the interruption Torchie...

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No apologizing necessary dutch. We are all here to learn.
I have done some metal shaping thru out my life starting in Junior High metal shop glass where I made bowls out of copper sheet.
Most of my automotive experience has been making pieces using a buck of some sort, but I have beat out a panel or two. I don't consider myself to be a good metal shaper but I am a decent body man. (Having done it for a living. Long ago.) So as long as I can get it as close as possible I have no problem using a minimal amount of filler to finish it off.
One of the best metal shapers I ever saw work used a bowled out tree stump as his main tool. His stuff was amazing.

Thanks as always for the input...
Torchie

dutch said:

Skip, most important is you understand the basics of what shaping metal is.

You can do just 4 things with sheetmetal

- cut
- bend
- stretch
- shrink

these 4 enable you make any shape you need/want. So all fancy tools like e-wheel ,powerhammers, shrinker/stretcher are there to make life easier, but only when you understand what yer doing.
At the end of the day you can shape what you want with a couple of hammers and dollies.

So, for example , you have a 10" square of sheet and you want to have a convex shape, you can either shrink the egdes or stretch the center, of both. This will result in raising the center of the panel. Just try... leave a 1" frame on the edges of the panel which you don`t touch. Draw lines up & down and left to right at say, a half inch or a tad more apart. Take a autobody hammer with a light curved surface and hit the crossings on an anvil ,dead on the anvil. You flatten the sheet and therefor enlarge the surface, which results in raising the panel. check with ruler

Sorry for the interruption Torchie...

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I've done this instinctively for six decades, I just never thought about it in this organized way. Thanks again to you, and to Torchie for letting us hijack his thread for a bit.

Oh yes I know you are a pretty decent shaper Torchie I only wish I could chop up cars at you pass... [cl

I use stumps a lot, awesome tool for sure. There`s no other way to shrink faster or cleaner. I don`t think there`s a right or wrong way to shape as long as the outcome is what one had in mind in the first place. Heck, I`m wresteling panels on a daily basis...

I don`t know very much about anything, but if it helps anyone I share whatever I do know.

back to choppin` [P

As dutch said..."Back to chopping.
This afternoons goal is to get the B pillar back in place.

Pic 1. This is what happens to pillars when you chop a top. And it becomes even more so when you chop and slide pillars forwards or back.

Pics 2-3. Relief cut made to the bottom of the B pillar. Cut thru the backside as well. In bringing the top and bottom back into alignment it opens up the gaps on the original cuts. I have an assortment of steel rods of different diameter's that I use to fill these gaps as it's too hard for me to cut out a pice of sheet metal that small.

Pics 4-5. My 3 points of concern were getting the inner edge of the widow frame as well as the outer edge that gives it the shape lined up.And maintaining that plane up the B pillar.
The door jambs are no biggie to fix with some relief cuts.

Pic 6. Well..... Sometimes I can still cut a piece that thin.[ddd

Pics 7-8. Here we have the final shape of the quarter window. The tops of the doors will need to be tilted in (Like I did on my custom truck) to get them lined up and I will add welding rod to close up the door gaps when the time comes.
That's it for todays show. Tune in tomorrow.....
Torchie

[cl[cl[cl[cl[cl Jolly good show.

Well now...this is all very interesting [P

The top has a nice flow to it now [cl[cl[cl
[P[P[P

Thanks all.
Don't feel that good today but headed out to the shop anyway.
Pics 1-2. Need to fill in the gap in the roof/gutter area so I used a piece that was cut off of the end of the window frame. Right above the back corner. As you can see it has a bit of a curve so I made a relief cut down to the gutter edge and then tapped straight.
Pic 3. Gutter tacked in.
Pics 4-6. Trimmed the gutter piece off and made a piece to fill in the rest of the gap. Had to put a little curve in it. All tacked in now.

Pic 6.Then I went after the door tops. My main concern is getting the inner window shape as well as the reveal line to match up. The outer edges of the door can always have metal added to them.
Turned out alright.
I didn't any pics of the process as I was too busy clamping stuff and wishing I had a third hand.
Thats it for today folks.
Thanks for checking up on me....
Torchie

Door looks perfect. Are you sure you don't have a magic wand hidden somewhere? You are making pretty fast magic. [cl

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Skip said:

Door looks perfect. Are you sure you don't have a magic wand hidden somewhere? You are making pretty fast magic. [cl

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Old Iron said:

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Thanks skip and OI.
Far from perfect skip but it's a start. We all know that pics of cars on the net are much like pics of people on those online dating sites. What you see is not always what you get. [ddd
I have a Heart Drs appointment tomorrow so I don't know what I will get done. I need to work on the back side of the door tops to get everything lined up and tied in.
This is the stuff that takes time.
Torchie

Todays "Thought for the day."
Thinking about reshaping the backs of the door tops to something like this.
It picks up the inner curve of the window frame and adds to the sleekness I think.
I will do a better mock up tomorrow and post a profile shot.
Goodnight all.......
Torchie

You amaze me[P

I say go for it [cl, more metal work but then it will match the curve at the front of the door frame. It's the little mods like that which make the whole job look more natural.

kenny c said:

You amaze me[P

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Thanks kenny. Doing the best I can.

zzrodder said:

I say go for it [cl, more metal work but then it will match the curve at the front of the door frame. It's the little mods like that which make the whole job look more natural.

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Rounding the door corners( as well as hood and trunk) is a tried and true custom addition. As ZZ says it helps make the whole thing look organic.
As the great Duke Ellington once said. "These guys are stealing my s#$$.)
I posted these pics on the custom Mopar site and a couple of guys have already done this and are going to send me some profile shots. One guy even used the 41-46 Ford car rear window transplant that I was thinking about early on.LOL
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. Just put my spin on it. After 70 years of an art form being around it's really hard to come up with something new..... So we are all walking in someone's footprints.
I think that my twist on it is leaving the quarter window it's original length. Most of the chops go with the shorter quarter window to avoid cutting up into the roof like I did. Although I suspect that there are a few like mine out there too. LOL
Torchie

I like that a lot [[P

I like the curve much more than the squared off top

Ab-so-freakin-lutely! There is good reason why some mods are considered classic moves. They work!

Had every intention of getting into the shop to finish welding up the inside of the door top this morning but I had a major blood pressure drop.
Now it's too hot to be out there so this is the best I got today.
Thru the use of ultra-modern technology ( White masking tape and a sharpie) the improved mock up.
Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.
Torchie