jaransonT3 from MI

[jaransonT3]

Got out and did a little bit of and on the Lead Sled today. Not much to show, but I know how you all are about pictures....so here you go.

First I added the last filler piece on the fender skirt mod for the RH fender...



Then I started forming the new body line for the RH fender...



not a lot of progress, but it always feels good to make a few small steps. Still hard to get motivated whenit is only 40 degrees out. Should be warming up here soon.....

[jaransonT3]

The blister on the back is just a piece of sheetmetal that I hammered over a couple of different anvils to get the shape in it. I started with a cardboard template to get the shape of the blank right. It took a bunch of fiddling around to get it because of the curve of the decklid and the compound curve of the blister. Much easier to keep trying with the cardboard and some scissors than with sheetmetal. After getting it close adn matching it to the light housing, I tacked it in place andthe then cut the decklid metal from the inside and then welded it all up.

The new bodylines/bumps in the lower front of the rear fenders are formed similarily. Just banging them out of some sheetmetal. I put relief cuts due to the amount of compound curvature. These need to be welded up. A true metal craftsman could make them without the relief cuts, I am sure. You are right....I made one and am now trying to make the other to match. The good thing is that you will never see both of them at the same time so I am not too worried about getting them dead-nuts symmetric. They will be close. I made some more cardboard templates and am doing a bunch of measuring.

[jaransonT3]

So.....

The weather cooperated today and I got a chance to spend a few hours with the Sled.

I got the new bodyline piece grafted into the RH fender.



Here are both fenders back to back. The symmetry is pretty good. Certainly close enough for me.



and a wide view of the pair.



after getting that done, I started on the "tail fin" mods by removing the unnecessary sheetmetal from the inside of the fender.





I also manage to cut the donor filler piece from the donor fender. Forgot to take a pic. I hope to get some more time tomorrow to get it grafted in.

[jaransonT3]

Got some more and done on the Sled tonight!

Got the new inside of the "tailfin" cut to fit and tacked in place.



Of course I had to put it on the car and take a coupe of shots. Here is a close up of the added piece.



I still need to do some trimming and add the flange to connect up to the bodyside.

And one last picture of the rear of the car...

[jaransonT3]

Yup I am.



This is what I got done today. Got most of the inner fender to car interface tacked in place. Still lots of welding to do, but it is more progress. For grins I dragged her out of the garage and put the taillights adn rear reflectors on for some pics.










I really like this last shot. It shows off the "fins" nicely and shows the tie -in to the license plate light.

I also cleaned out all the extra sheetmetal I have been "storing" in the car. I did some on the inner structure of the roof to body joint. I have a game plan for it that I will start on over the next few days.

[jaransonT3]

Got to spend some time with the Sled today. Decided to leave the rear of the car for a little bit and do some stuff up front.

I started out by finishing the filler strip necessitated by moving the windshield forward.



Then I figured I would get the roof welded down across the front header. Decided it would be nearly impossible to weld with the "visor" part of the roof still in place. So I cut it off and then was able to get the roof tacked to the front header.



I had to make a few relief cuts in the corners and do a little hammer work to get everything lined up and welded



I will definitely be adding the visor back on since I don't care for the look of the roof line with out it.



Then I spent a little bit of time working on the finishing of the c-pillar area of the roof. Lots left to do here.





That's all for now.

[jaransonT3]

Originally Posted by 1slo3

wow bud.. .just went back and read page 1 again... has it really been 3 years already? i'm impressed with your sticktoitness! the vision is taking shape so nicely!

I did the same thing recently. Hard to believe it has been that long already. Although the vision has changed a little over all that time....

from this....



to this...

[jaransonT3]

Went to a big hotrod/street rod car show and swap me today. Scored a couple of more bits for the Sled.

I picked up a very nice '49/'50 Ford Dash panel to be grafted in. I even managed to get all the cutting done to narrow it up to fit in the Sled. Had to take about 9-10" out of it total. Will try to get the final fitting and tack weld it together tomorrow.

I also picked up a decent, but surface rusty, 49 Mercury front bumper. Looks like it will work for either the front or the rear of the Sled. Not sure yet which end I want to put it on. This will have to be narrowed by something close to 2 feet to get it the right width for the Sled!! It will need some other mods to for it to work....but what on this car doesn't?

Sorry, but I left my camera with my girlfriend. Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

[jaransonT3]

Sorry....no pics of the girlfriend....but I did get some pics of my new parts and the progress on grafting in the dash.

This is the 49-50 Ford Dash I picked up at the swap meet. Complete with glove box door and ash tray.



This is the dash after today's work...



Took out about an inch or so to the left of the large main gage bezel in order to get the gage centered on the steering column. Also took out about 4" on either side of the speaker grill to get the width right and save the grill and the clock location.



Clamped in the car.



I like it!



The edge of the dash matches up to the body quite nicely. I still need to remove the original Type 3 dash and get the new one fit in there and moved forward from the pictures. I will also have to make some new filler pieces between the dash and the windshield frame.

I also picked up this '49 Merc front bumper...



I am likely to use it on the rear of the sled. I want something a little more elaborate for the front.





I will have to significantly narrow the bumpers to get them even close.



and I will need to do some significant mods to get the sweep of the blade to match the rear of the vehicle the way I want it to. I am also thinking of eliminating the part of the blade under the towel bar and having the exhaust exit there.

More to come.

[jaransonT3]

Spent some more time fitting the Ford Dash into the Sled tonight.

Started with this...





Spent some time out the old...



and then a bunch of time trimming and fitting the Ford dash and the body. Got it pretty close to where I want it. Little more to do and then I can get it welded in. Going to have to do a little bit of a steering column drop to get the steering wheel to gage bezel relationship better...

[jaransonT3]

I did manage to get out this afternoon for a few hours and play with the rear bumper for the sled. If you remember, I bought a 49 Merc bumper a couple of weeks ago.


Well, after much , , and , I ended up with this.







Now I just need to make the other side match. I also have to decide if I am going to narrow up the upper center bar to use the original bolt locations in the lower bumper piece or leave the center section alone and move the bolt locations....

[jaransonT3]

Spent some more time with the Sled's rear bumper. Got it roughed together. Some more and to do before it is done. Need to tweak the alignment of the pieces and clean up a few spots. Pics below.




Still need to trim the blade between the overriders.






The small "bite" out of the cross bar is going to get filled. I am going to try to hammer in the small peak to continue it all the way to the edge.


I am also going to do something with the ends of the bumper. Probably just add a filler piece in to make it match the fender.

I am working on a rough rendering of the rear view to see what it will look like all one color and to add in some exhaust concepts.....watch this space.

[jaransonT3]

OK....I went a little more than a rough sketch.

This is were I am going with the Sled. Not sure about the color yet, so grey primer will do for now.

[jaransonT3]

The stock early Type 3 tail lights are staying. (although I like the treatment FishGutz did). I just really like the shape and proportions of the stock tail lights. They finish the fin perfectly and will be one of the few recognizable Type 3 parts on the car.

As for the paint....not gloss black. I want to drive it in this lifetime and I don't have enough time to get the body work that perfect. I have been playing around in PhotoShop with the colors. I am sure I will come up with something that I like and will serve as a perfect canvas for a whole bunch of pinstripes.

The bumpers will get chromed eventually, but not right away. Will just get chrome rattle can paint.

[jaransonT3]

OK...here are some of my favorite color combos. Still don't know which I like best, but I am a long way from paint.

[jaransonT3]

Spent a little more time with the Sled tonight. Still working on the rear bumper. I added these two filler pieces to the inside of the overriders.





So that when it is assembled it cleans up the inside edge of the overrider...



...and it will give me a place to put a nice stainless carriage bolt to help hold the overrider to the bumper in the proper position.

I am going to start on the bumper brackets tomorrow morning.

Oh, adn case you missed it in the "SCORE!!" thread, I picked all this up for the Sled today for $200!!

[jaransonT3]

Got up this mornng and started on the rear bumper brackets...







my sheet metal brake...


after much and hammering...





and here it is clamped to the bumper...


just have to make a mirror image of this one and then two that go outboard at the bumper and then get them tweaked and welded on.

[jaransonT3]

Well, I made my trip home to MN to work on my cabin and to visit my family. I also managed to stop in Eau Claire, WI and pick up the donor bumper for the front of the Sled.

This is what I started with....





After a bunch of and and , I ended up with this...



I still might go with the larger Merc bumper guards ( the shiny ones in the first couple of pics ), not sure yet. Will do a little Photoshopping to try and figure it out.

Here are a few shots of it in position...









I am liking it so far.

[jaransonT3]

Thanks for the compliments folks. I am really enjoying this build. Hope to actually get it done some day.

Anyway... I did a sketch of the front view similar to the one I did in the rear. Played around with the colors too. I still want to modify the sketch to show the other bumper overriders, but I do like these.











BTW, I did notice that I forgot to add in the visor detail. Will probably add that when I add the other overriders.

[jaransonT3]

Originally Posted by welshj

That's all I think it'd need... just that OG type3 bar on the edge of the hood. I've always loved that look.

joel

Wow! This is what I just finished sketching up!



It would need to be a custom piece since the late Type 3 hoods are different shape than the early hoods.

[jaransonT3]

Spent a little time on the Sled tonight. Nothing real exciting, but I did manage to make the left hand, rear bumper bracket. I think I got it to match the right hand side one pretty good.








Need to make the attachment brackets on the bumper and then get the bumper on the car. Going to try to do that this weekend.

[jaransonT3]

Got a little bit more done over the last couple of days. Added the "doghouse" brackets to the rear bumper...



Got the slotted holes in the bumper brackets for the attachment to the body...



and cleared the body for the brackets and bolted them on...



I also have been getting the dash welded in. Started out by making and welding on some brackets on the bodyside for the ends of the dash to mate up to...



cleared some of the body for the dash...



Tacked on the dash...







and started filing in the top of the a-pillar and the dash to a-pillar joint....



Small steps, but they need to be done.

[jaransonT3]

Spent a couple of hours on the Sled this afternoon and evening getting the dash fully welded in...







Got one side all filled in...



Still have a "rat hole" on the driver's side to finish, but just about there on the dash...



Lots of grinding and finish work to do obviously.

[jaransonT3]

Worked on the rear end of the Sled tonight. Got the decklid frame and the new air intake pieces tacked in...







You can see one of the "teeth" I am thinking about using in the pictures. Problem is that I have no idea what they are from. They are too heavy to be grill teeth. They feel like a bumperette. Heavy gage stamping and heavy gage mounting tabs. Any one recognize them?



Only markings on them are "L" and "R" for which side of the car they go on. There is also a "50" written on each with a marker.



I would need to find at least 5 or 7 more of them.

This...



...is the one area of the car (on both sides) that I haven't quite worked out how I am going deal with. Bolt on the fenders? Weld them on permanently? How do all the different surfaces come together?

It will be interesting to figure out. I am sure it will be lots of before I am done.

[jaransonT3]

Oh yeah....some pictures might help.

The other day I started working on the c-pillar to body joint....





This is where I ended up at the end of the day...



oh yeah....I started to paint the car too.....but I hate the green so it will be getting repainted before the Invasion....satin black, baby!

So today, Brian and I started getting the stance right. We lowered the rear end first....



Never mind about indexing the torsion bars... we just pulled them out completely. She is sitting on the bumpstops.





Nice and low.....

Then we moved on to the front. Can't just remove the torsion bars since they hold the trailing arms on side to side, so Brian ground off the inner splines of the torsion bars...



So now the front is also sitting on the bumpstops...







Roof is only 49" high!

Of course we had to throw a seat in it and make VROOM VROOM noises....



Actually, the seating position and visibility looks to be real good....even with the stock Type 3 lowback seats.

Got her put away for the night. Big difference to Sophy....



Oh yeah, Brian and I gave Sophy a good tune-up so she wouldn't be jealous. We also got the windshield for the Sled all taped up and tried the sandblaster. Looks like it will be slow, but will work. Going to try to get it cut down and installed before the Invasion on Saturday!

Going to start hanging the bumpers tomorrow also.

Good progress. Helps a lot to have knowledgeable and willing help.