Old car build thread

[Popeye the Sailor]

I've been rearranging the shop as one bay is shorter than the other, and one car is longer than the other, and true to form, the short car was in the long bay. That and I wasn't expecting the Chrysler back here so soon.

I did manage to locate an entire floor (with the crossmember no less!) in Arizona. One of the guys on my old car board just happens to be heading through the area on his way to California, so he's picking it up for me tomorrow and bringing it here. This is all sorts of wonderful as I didn't want to go get it.

My wonderful wife helped me stuff her into the shop.







Now we can get going again.

[Duck-Stew]

Soooo cool...

[Popeye the Sailor]

After much effort and scouring a floor has been located and picked up.

Supervisors have been appointed.















This thing is immaculate. I've never seen intact rocker panels on one of these.

Now to just...put it in.

[Duck-Stew]

So.  This 'floor pan thingy'.  It's gonna go into the Chrysler?

[ungeheuer]

No wonder my internets is still slow. 

Is gonna remain slow.

For months to come.

With all these terrestrial distractions 

[Popeye the Sailor]

The pointy end goes.....




....in the back 

[Popeye the Sailor]

So.  This 'floor pan thingy'.  It's gonna go into the Chrysler?

That's the theory. What could go wrong?

[Duck-Stew]

That's the theory. What could go wrong?

Nothing.  Ever.  Sorry I asked. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

Nothing.  Ever.  Sorry I asked. 

Wanna come help? 

[Duck-Stew]

...tap, tap, tap...

Is this thing on?!?

[kopfjäger]

...tap, tap, tap...

Is this thing on?!?

I think this got in the way.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Ah yes, updates. Lessee here. So at some point, I apparently did something to my spine. No one has been able to find anything specifically traumatic so I'll go ahead and assume it's from staring too close at Kopfjager's avatars. Anyway for about three-four months I lost most of the use of my hands. Couldn't grip anything to save my life-couldn't open a jar, couldn't cook, couldn't really do a damn thing.

All sorts of doctor visits and physical therapy has me sorted now. Hopefully I won't do this again. Maybe Kopf can put up a picture of a chicken wire car grille or a hideous VW bus to save my poor neck.

Moving on.....

There was a room set up to be a bathroom (no fixtures) in the barn. I didn't really need one, nor have a septic tank so I pulled out the sheetrock and added to my storage space.



Then the 120k Honda service got done:



Then this happened:



Gene Winfield was doing a weekend-long workshop on metal forming/welding/etc out at his shop in Mojave. How could I miss it?

Here were the topics:
gas welding - hammer welding - leading
FABRICATION OF
compound curves and complex shapes by using the following equipment
english wheel - sandbag - wood hammer forms - station bucks - sheet metal break - bead roller - stakes - shrinker & stretcher
OTHER TOPICS INCLUDE
basic metalurgy - strategy for metal repair - hammer & dolly theory and technique - shrinking - hole filling - metal finishing

[kopfjäger]

That had to be pretty cool.

[Randimus Maximus]

And then....?

[Popeye the Sailor]

For those of you not familiar with Gene Winfield....

Gene made the car the Shatner as Captain Kirk or some alien babe drove in one ST episode

(along with the shuttle craft), Blade Runner vehicles, and Back to the Future cop cars.

You won't actually learn any of the things listed because at 89, Gene goes so fast you can't intake and process it fast enough. What you do get is a couple of priceless nuggets, lightbulbs going on -it isn't rocket science by any means- and to see a master at work, but only if you have the ability to replay slow-mo brain videos.

Gene is driving the blue truck, he built both and they really did what happens - twice

He had a number of interesting vehicles on the property: