sewlow
Bitchin' Stitchin'
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Excuse the quality of some of these pix. Crapple Iphone.
'41 Willy's. This was a racecar from the early/mid '60's. Lot's of local history.
When the current owner bought it, it was in boxes. Literally! A rolling frame, a body shell, and all the rest stuffed either inside of it, or on the shelves in the crumbling barn it was found in. It had been taken apart in the late '70's, then sat ever since.
But, it was ALL there! Including the BBC that it had when last campaigned. It's all steel except for the rear fenders.
In these pix the rear fenders look kinda weird, cause they've been shaped to fit the M/H slicks when on the track. The street tires don't fill them out as much.
I've done 5 interiors for Hot-Rods that the owner also has. This was the first one I did for him. He's in his late '70's. Said when I was finished that he would take me for a ride. He's a pretty cool old, old Hot-Rod guy. One of the founders of the BCHRA. (British Columbia Hot Rod Association) A 60 year old club, one of the oldest in North America, with over 4000 members, & his membership number is in the single digits!
We joke around a lot. When he said he'd take me for a ride, my response to that was, "At your age? With those decrepit reactions? I don't know about that, ya old fart! Hmmm. Can I drive?"
"Nope! Don't think so!"
Damn!
A few pix before I get to the interior.
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^^^ Yea, the whole front suspension has been chromed!
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^^^ This gives me goose bumps! 468BBC, 8-71 blower, 32% overdriven, T400 w/manual valve body, Dana 60 w/4.56's.
Bare shell. A blank canvas. The owner wanted a workman-like interior. Nice & clean, nothing fancy.
The roll bar was already installed when I started! Tied to the frame, it ain't coming out! Had to work around stuff like this before. Always a PITA!
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^^^ Already onto the carpet fab.
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^^^ You can see the quickie design in chalk for the seat.
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^^^ Power windows!
VVV Check out the stupidity/ignorance of the wiring. These wires come outa the floor & up to go through the firewall. Yea, I get why. A drag racing safety thing. But those wires are only able to move about a 1/2" either way! Way, way too tight. This is a 9.5 second car. Things move around (twist!) when launching 900hp! And Willy's were used as drag racers for a reason. For what they are, size-wise, they weigh nothing. The sheet metal is comparable to a new Honda! I could just see all those wires getting ripped out within a blink of an eye the first time it left the line.
Those wires are also a lot of bulk in the wrong area. How am I supposed to cover that B.S. up? If it had some slack, I could get them to lie flat, spread out, make them fit within the corners of the floor/trans. tunnel.
"Hey! Electrician guy! Fix this crap!"
Pffftt!!! His suggestion? "Just keep adding underlay until it's level."
That don't fix ! C'mon! Do it right. Do it once!
So that was an added 2 days of the owner & myself rewiring everything(!) from the firewall to the taillights.
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No pattern for the headliner. All made from scratch, including the suspension rods.
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^^^ No armrests. No room!
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VVV Wiring fixed. My chalk lines still need to be blown off.
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^^^The sides of the roll bar are hinged to swing out. Pinned when closed. NHRA approved.
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'50 Merc. Lotsa '49's around. '51's too. But the '50's are the rare ones. Especially converts.
This guy's owned this for over 40 years! Lots of different power under the hood over the years. From a blown Flathead (why?) to a BBC to a crazy SBC, & finally the one that's in it now, a relatively mild 383 stroker.
Needs a top, and a bunch of frame work. (Realignment) A geometric nightmare!
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Torn down, frame painted, & aligned.
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Pads on.
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Window in. Have to install that curtain before the hole for the window is cut into it. MUST BE STRAIGHT!!!
Measure lots! Can only cut it once!
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'54 Ford Conv. The guy that owns this has 43 collector vehicles. 42 are convertibles!
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With a factory conti. kit!
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Did the seats, door panels & carpets. Visors too. As per the factory style.
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To be continued... (I'm pooped out!)
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