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Sheet Metal Time
Our Donor 57 was brought home as a disassembled, abandoned project car. It was pretty stripped down and featured a cheap coat of black primer. We also hauled home a truck load of parts, some that will work on the project and some that won't. The best coarse of action is to strip the sheet metal down to the bare metal which will reveal the good, bad, and the ugly. Fortunately for us, the ugly, which can be dents, rust, and who knows what, was actually not bad.
We elected to have the body dipped rather than media blasted. We felt that after considering all the pros and cons for either choice, dipping would get every last area and remove all the undercoating-and boy did this body have loads of it (that's probably what protected the body from more rust than it had). The dipping revealed the usual floor rust in the front floor boards and trunk tail pan. Good for us, most all the braces, rockers, and quarter panels were pretty much rust free. As far as dents, the passenger side front quarter has some previous damage that was simply bondo'd over, complete with the usual amateur prep job-you know, drill some holes for the bondo to grab onto then smear as much plastic as it takes to fill the dent, or in our case, more like a deep scratch. Over all, our donor body is giving us a decent start.
Note the door opening cross bracing; we have been asked what they are all about. These braces simply keep the front to rear portion of the body from twisting and flexing when the body is off the frame (its spine). With out the roof, the only thing connecting the front dash and cowl to the rear quarters and trunk is the floors and rockers-not a lot of support especially if there's rust in the floor and rocker areas.
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Firewall 101
Can you say UGLY! The original firewall was nothing but ugly, and only meant for function. In the custom world, function and the all important visual appeal equally come into play. Our project is no different. Starting with a clean sheet of paper makes the most sense, since we will be incorporating several updates / modifications as well as installing a new symmetrical looking firewall.
Our currant plans for custom updates in and around the firewall will be; 1. A pair of billet aluminum scissor style hood hinges utilizing gas shocks mounted below the hinge to hold the hood up, 2. A Flaming River steering column and deluxe billet column mount. This is a self aligning ball and socket type of mount that securely holds the bottom of the column at the firewall (function), and looks great too! (visual appeal / eye candy). 3. Dual Wilwood master cylinders, balance bar and pedal assembly, and 4. A Vintage Air heat & AC climate control unit, plumbed thru billet aluminum firewall fittings.
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Rework of the firewall top
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Mock up to mark and cut the firewall top
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Inside shot of firewall and floor
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Layout for dual masters and steering column support
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Firewall installed and welds ground
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More Steering column layout
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Floors and More
Faced with a choice to repair the usual rust spots in the floor or replace the entire floor, we opted for the later. CARS Inc. now stamps the entire floor and has all the braces to boot. This made an easy choice, as cutting out, welding, and grinding the various spots here and there would require as much work as doing the new floor installation.
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Oh how nice the new floor is!
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Kick panel template and the final piece
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Tack and Weld time
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Finish welded floor, braces, & trunk area
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Custom rocker panels, blended & ground welds
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Trunk Tweak
Our trunk has the usual rust in the tail pan-which will be replaced with new metal from CARS Inc. Eliminating the old shock mounts and the spare tire well will be taken care of by fabricating the new floor and "over the rear end" section. The design of the area over the rear end will need to be modified to clear the inboard mounted "Shockwave" air springs.
Our currant plans for the trunk makeover will be;
1. A pair of billet aluminum trunk hinges utilizing gas shocks mounted behind the hinge to hold the trunk up, thus eliminating the old torsion bars and UGLY stock hinges.
2. Close up the trunk hinge openings which are huge!
3. A new floor which will house one of two Phoenix Gold amps.
4. A finishing wall around the trunk opening (sides & back), which will follow the contour of the trunk edges-including the corner radii (NO sharp corners) and be finished off in leather to match the interior.
5. A 2nd Phoenix Gold amp in the back finish wall to compliment the amp in the trunk floor.
6. A modern trunk latch system featuring keyless remote entry.
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Bracing the body for the trunk tweak
Our new billet trunk hinge system
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A new section over the rear end
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Template for hinge opening makeover
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Boxing to minimize trunk hinge opening
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Trunk floor and amp show box
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Trunk mounted gas cap
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Plunger type trunk latch
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Body On/Off
The new Warn home hoist makes light work of lifting engines & car bodies, especially if you are used to a manual style chain hoist.
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Front End & Related
Like the firewall, there are other areas on the front end of the 57 that are flat out hidious. The way the heater and fan is set up, the inner fenders, and the totally visible radiator and support all need help. What we do here will be a facelift in numerous ways and we're sure you'll like the results.
Our currant plans for the front makeover will be;
1. A pair of custom inner fenders-eliminating the ugly looks & the fan/heater duct.
2. A front radiator cover that starts at the grill top and blends to the back of the new tubular radiator core support.
3. A hood tweek that will be a surprise for later.
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Initial fender mock up
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Bye Bye ugly inner fenders
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