The 'Stuff I Build' thread. Or...the 'Why I don't have a build thread', thread.

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sewlow

Bitchin' Stitchin'
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Found the pix of the '35 Ford. Flat Head w/blower. Makes a whole 275hp. Wooo!
Still looking for the O/H console pix.

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Rear panel for under the window. That's me that drew the Hemi. A doodle in ink.

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Installed. Fabricated parcel shelf. These cars didn't come with that.

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Dash installed. Waiting on the radio from the electronics guy that rebuilt it.

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Crappy Iphone pic! Radio in. Carpets & seats in.

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Window garnish mouldings. Vinyl covered. 2 pieces each. The seams are butted @ 10:00 & 2:00. Good luck finding them! Hehe!

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Yes. There was beer involved!

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sewlow

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'39 Ford Standard. Often referred to as 'The Ugly Duckling' of this body style. 468 BBC/T400/3.55/200 shot of N2O! Fries the tires at will!

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Painted in the owner's backyard shop!

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Beginning the seat.

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This shows the foam density progression.

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The owner wanted an original style V8 logo in the seat.
"Small or big?"
"Big."

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So...after it was done, the owner decided that he didn't like the logo. (!!!) Had to take that section out & re-do that panel. Grrr!!!

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The owner has a toddler, so he asked for a rear seat. A full bench style. Originally these cars came with jump seats. Figured that the seat would be useable till the kid was 6 or 7. At least as a place for him to snooze during road trips & rod runs.

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V8 emblem from a Ford Explorer. The stainless is from a '60's Ford Galaxie, along with the arm rests.

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This is how I build panels for a vehicle that has never had them before. I get one piece of cardboard to roughly fit, then start glueing more cardboard to fill in the gaps. Once the panels are at the proper shape, I'll pull them out, use my mini angle grinder to taper the overlapping edges smooth, & then build up the panels with as many as 10 laminations of more cardboard to give it some rigidity. With this method, I've made intricate convoluted shaped panels for things such as under dash panels, & complete headliner panels for no-seam one piece H/L's covered in leather. Very time consuming, but results in one-of-a-kind interiors.

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The switch in the bottom left of the pic is for the trunk lights. You'll see those in some of the next pix.

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The braided hose sticking outa the carpet is for the Nitrous!

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Access door for the battery, (in a marine box vented to the exterior) & some jumper cables, plus tools etc.

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Somewhere in these pix, there's a pic of a '40 Ford on the wall. I had to cover this panel in a pre-bent shape to match the trunk's curvature, but, the car was 40 miles away. So, I had to hold the panel up to that pic of the '40 to guesstimate the shape! It was a 'fingers crossed' moment!

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That worked! (Phew!!!)

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deej-79

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Do you have a special machine to keep the stitches straight or is that free hand?
 

sewlow

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Do you have a special machine to keep the stitches straight or is that free hand?

Lol! I draw the lines with chalk then stitch 'em with my machine. So it's kinda freehand.
I don't use what is called a 'gate'. An attachment for the machine to ensure straight lines. To me, that's a crutch. A cheater. Like using a 'capo' when playing guitar.
An excuse for inability.
I take pride in my straight lines. I've worked at that. Besides, a machine only sews in a straight line. It's up to me to feed the material through it evenly.
The faster I sew a line, the straighter it appears. Any deviation from the chalk line will be spread out over a greater distance.
I also draw very narrow lines.
In the past, when I applied for jobs, I've had some potential employers ask me to sit down & sew some straight lines, as a test.
Well, that's what the machine does! Straight lines! I'm usually laughing to myself as I do 'the test'!
Want to really give me a test? Ask me to sew a perfect circle, or an oval, squared & centered in a large piece of material! I'll be cursing ya!
Straight lines are not the hard part of doing this. Just a learned technique which gets better with the confidence of practice.
The real work is in doing the curves & corners. Getting the various parts & pieces to fit according to the line up marks.
Pattern making is crucial. Doesn't matter if my sewing is perfect if the pattern is poop.
Knew a guy that worked in a plant making campers & motorhomes. Said he did upholstery too. Pretty proud & cocky about it, too! So I asked what he sewed. Cushions (straight lines) & carpet binding. (again, straight lines)
Said he wanted to do the seat in his truck. First question he asked was, "How do you go around corners?"
I asked, "I thought you did upholstery?"
"Yea, I do."
"Well asking me that is like telling me you can drive, but only in a straight line!"
He didn't like that!
 

sewlow

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