update on my project

[Joe Flanagan]

Inner rockers ready to go:

[Joe Flanagan]

This is what I started with on the drivers side:

[Joe Flanagan]

Drivers rocker cut out and temporary brace welded in place:

[bmt47p-15]

BMT47, nice job. Did you do anything with the back side of your welds? Very neat work.

Thanks alot Joe! I have not done anything yet, I was think about hitting

them a lick with grinder then add some seam sealer to the cracks! Then a nice layer of undercoat.

[Joe Flanagan]

Passenger side rocker finished with two coats of PPG epoxy:

[rearview]

Wow. Serious origami work. Now I know why I drove to GA to get mine. Results are looking real good though.

bob

[Jim Yergin]

Joe, Chet and Rodney,

I am up for a visit to Joe's. I would love to see his impressive work in person. Maybe we can schedule something after the holidays. Then maybe we can see about viewing Rodney's collection.

Jim Yergin

[Chester Brzostowski]

Joe, Chet and Rodney,

I am up for a visit to Joe's. I would love to see his impressive work in person. Maybe we can schedule something after the holidays. Then maybe we can see about viewing Rodney's collection.

Jim Yergin

Joe,

Great Work.!!! Great Pictures.., I'm with Jim after the Holidays we will have to invade your work space. That is if you don't mind...

Chet...

[Ryan Robbins]

Joe, are your panels butt welded or did you lap them a little. IF they are butt welded thats pertty good precision to not have space between panels that would need to be filled with weld. What/if anything did you do to the under side of the welds and floor.

[Joe Flanagan]

Ryan,

I butt welded everything except where it was impractical or impossible. I was advised to treat the back side of the welds with Ultra Glass short strand fiberglass filler. It's a paste that comes with a cream hardener and mixes like epoxy. It's very tough stuff. Everything gets painted with two coats of Zero Rust.

My cuts were not all that great. Where the gaps were a little big, I managed to fill them with weld, but this is time consuming and the back sides of seams like this are very lumpy and porous and I wound up under the car on my back grinding them and also touching them up from the back side with more welding. Not fun. As they say, a good tight fit is everything. I managed to do it, but gaps of more than one eighth are a problem. I have read (and heard) that lap welded joints should be avoided in areas where you're likely to get moisture. It's amazing to me that the manufacturer seemed to give very little consideration to this. There are original joints under that car that looked custom made to take in water and hold it there. Maybe it was planned obsolescence.

I know that the car was made in San Leandro, CA and spent its first 35 years in San Francisco, part of which it served as a gypsy cab. The owner started to paint a checkerboard pattern on the left rear door but gave it up. It's still there, though. I'll have to post a picture.

The guy drove it cross country twice in the mid to late 70s, and says he got it up to 100 in a desert in Nevada somewhere. He was kind of a tinkerer. Repaired the seat upholstery with some old velour drapes and pop riveted old license plates into the floor to cover up the holes. The guy died a few years ago of cancer and his wife gave me the car. She lives four doors away and says she's really happy the car is being restored. She actually comes to visit it every now and then.

Anyway, I got off track but yeah, butt welds and fiberglass sealer on the back.

Any time you guys want to visit is OK by me. Will you bring your cars? Those of you who have cars that run?

[55 Fargo]

Here is a pic of behind the back seat, floor area and front floor area of my 48 Chrysler, had to also repair and replace rockers outer floor and some trunk panels,. I butt welded some of it, lap welded other spots, then used autobody seam sealer, primer and rubberized undercoating. The good news once this is done it's over with and a big task is complete and you have learned a lot, I also made my inner rockers with square tube steel and my outers are 16 gauge sheetmetal, a very simple design actually...............Fred

[Joe Flanagan]

Rockwood, don't you love those corners by the rear wheel wells? Mine were rusted out and of course you can't get any cutting or grinding tools in there. I spent two full days on the passenger side alone. Hatin' life. It's like a prolonged Hell Week for car hobbyists.

[55 Fargo]

Here is a pic of my inner rockers and outer floor support changes, not quite as well done as yours, but there strong and rigid, so I guess that's the point. Nobody sees them underneath either, this is absolutley fine for a driver and not a show queen............The Rock

[Rodney Bullock]

Joe, I have been on the web-site you suggested and yes, it has a lot of good info. I am looking at you and the other guy's work and I must say it is very interesting. I now know why body men would tell me that I should learn how to install floors , the work is very percise The square and grinder are nessaary. It will take lots of practise to come close to what you all have done here however I am up for it. When we visit I will have lots of questions the one good thing for me is classic enterprize has all the parts I need already made however the small squares patches I will have to make that will be my challenge. Does your mig welder work off house current 110or 220? I will drive something very easy on the eyes may not be the plymouth however you will like it just the same, so after the holiday's we all will get together! oh boy this is gonna be great!

[Joe Flanagan]

Rodney, my MIG works off 110 and I think most do. Give me your address and I will send you the video on MIG welding. Someone on this forum sent it to me, so I might as well pass it along to another hobbyist. It's meant to sell a certain type of welder but it's very useful. Mostly you can hear what a proper weld sounds like. The sound is very distinct. If it's popping and crackling, there's something wrong and you will see it in the result. You should be getting a sound like a door buzzer.

A lot of this part of the project has been mental. I'd just look at all this rust and be overwhelmed. But I found that if I just took it a little bit at a time and didn't let my mind start the next job while my hands were still working on the present one, it worked out OK.

Check some of Tim Adams work if you want to see some nice stuff and get inspired. He's helped me alot with advice and pictures, etc.

Does Classic Enterprise have your floor panels? I got mine from Gil Knudsen of Precision Auto Parts in Iowa. He only had some snapshots of the interior of my car and he managed to fabricate floor pans that were darned near perfect. He's a good, honest guy, too. The rockers were a struggle. My car is a 49 Second Series and the rockers are a tubular shape, which was really hard to duplicate. In fact, it was impossible. I ended up getting a set of replacements from JC Whitney which were meant to slip right on over your rusted out rockers. I altered their shape a little and they worked out fine but it was a major struggle. I didn't slip them on over rusty rockers, either. If you get stumped finding anything, let me know and I'll see if I can help but it sounds like you're on top of it. One thing I did wind up doing was going dumpster diving behind auto body shops so I had plenty of scrap sheet metal to fabricate various sections with. I got a piece off a van that belonged to an alarm service and I've been cannibalizing it for a long time. There's almost nothing left of it now.

[55 Fargo]

Rodney, I am using a Campbell Hausfeld Mig/Fluxcore combo welder, it's 110 v is 75 amp and has a 20% duty cycle. If I had to do this over I would have bought the Lincoln MigPak 10, it's a better unit. Or go and buy a Hobart or Miller unit. My CH was $299.00, the Lincolns are about $449.00 this is in Canada, will be cheaper in the States. When you buy a welder get yourself a decent auto-darkening helmet, learn to set your heat and wire speed and practice on scrap, it's not rocket science just takes practice, before you use any welder, read and know all of the safety concerns, keep a fire extinguisher near by and be mindful of combustables, practice safe work habits to avoid a disaster. Also keep all exposed skin covered, there are a lot of harmful UV rays that come off these welders, good luck.............Fred

[Joe Flanagan]

I second that. Things that have caught fire during my project: old insulation behind the door panels, old undercoating on the floor, a piece of plywood, the front of my shirt. I've also had flash burns on my wrists and arms. Feels just like a sunburn. I know I should have been working in long sleeves. Most of this happened when I was welding underneath the car and didn't have much maneuverability so wound up part way under the weld. Pain is a great teacher.

[Rodney Bullock]

Everything you guy's have mentioned is very important, the safety issues are a must I will be working in the country so I must be very careful as their is nobody to put the fire out. I will send you my address Joe because the more I can see and hear the better. Fred I will be getting the lincoln machine because that's the one eastwood company sells I will get the machine in the middle 449.00 I think it has the attachnents, I am so excited learning to weld will take me to another level. I normally get someone to weld my floors for me and it's never what I really want thanks all!

[55 Fargo]

Hey Rodney I can relate to being in the country, I am 5 minutes from a city of 12000, and 15 miles north of a city of 750000 (Winnipeg), but we have only a volunteer fire dept in my county ( we call em municipalitys). But 2 years ago I accidently lit a grass fire and had to call them, they were here in 5 minutes and the rest of the crew within 10 minutes, so not bad.

But like you I don't want a fire , so get a large ABC type fire extiguisher, keep a bucket a water handy, for grass if it catches on fire, when your outdoor welding, and keep combustables at a safe distance, always keep and eye your area after welding to make sure nothing is smoldering. And of course follow all safety for yourself, using good eqipment and working safe..........Fred

[Guest mikeys toy]

my '53's floor; I saved a wrecked, rusty trunklid from a '71 cricket that I cut up and used it to make new floors

[Joe Flanagan]

A 71 Cricket! That's a classic itself. I haven't even heard of one of those in over 30 years.

Rodney,

The Lincoln is a good machine. You'll need a good one with all the welding you'll be doing. Are you looking into sandblasters too? I'll pass on what I know. That's been visited and revisited on this forum. Maybe should start a new thread or maybe it's all archived.

[Guest mikeys toy]

My Cricket driver;

OT; I plan to grind down all the high spots, then have the entire floor sandblasted, then I will cover the floor in 'glass

[Rodney Bullock]

A 71 Cricket! That's a classic itself. I haven't even heard of one of those in over 30 years.

Rodney,

The Lincoln is a good machine. You'll need a good one with all the welding you'll be doing. Are you looking into sandblasters too? I'll pass on what I know. That's been visited and revisited on this forum. Maybe should start a new thread or maybe it's all archived.

Joe I have a sand blaster however I would have to move the car out side to blast, that sand gets into everything. I used it with my other studebaker(1941) and spent more time cleaning and vacuming. I have this high speed wire brush, I am gonna clean everything after I make my cuts so the weld will have a good surface to stick to. If it were summer I would have no problem sandblasting plus that helmet gets real hot in side.