Jerry Feather

When I made the center cut at the back of the roof I noticed that as soon as I cut thru the left side of the cut jumped back about an eighth of an inch. I thought, some more built in stress, and then didn't think much more about it. Now as I study the pictures of what I have so far it occurs to me that I still have not removed the driveline, transmission, rear running gear, and suspension, and that must be over 500 pounds hanging there. No wonder the cut jumped offset.

Now before I make any further cuts I am going to have to remove all of that and then take some careful measurements and maybe even block up the rear of the car to hold its position better. The body is pretty stiff, but not that stiff, I guess.

yrk928

Looking good sir

Jerry Feather

Today I'm going to work on getting the drive train and running gear out of the tub. Then I'll try to get to the cuts on the other side of the top chop.

One thing you should notice in all of these roof cuts there are three layers of metal to put back together. One way might be to simply weld two of them back together leaving ihe third member cut, but I think I'm going to figure out how to weld all three. That adds a certain level of complexity to the chop job. However the three layers of metal show clearly that there is a very sturdy built in roll cage in these cars. I think I need to retain that.

Another thing I just noticed in one of the pictures of the B-Post, "Lucas" has signed his name to the inside panel which I think is the top of the lock post. I'll bet he thought his signature would never be seen again.

SwayBar

+928!

Jerry Feather

Well, that didn't go too well. I had thought that I could remove several bolts and simply drop the drive train and running gear down with the Trans Jack and roll it all out from under the car. Not so. I loosened three of the large bolts holding the aluminum X-member and the trailing arm and then twisted two of them off trying to turn them out. Then I couldn't locate my large socket to try to take most of it all apart and remove it piece by piece, so that is where I left it.

I did refine some of my chop cuts to get a more exact fit; but now I think I'll simply put my trans jack under the trans and put enough pressure on it to hold it up rather than having the car body hold it up. That should take the pressure off that I think is distorting the body some when I am cutting the roof loose. I'll get to the broken bolts and removal of the drive train later when it is warmer and I might feel better about working on my back under the car.

Tom in Austin

Jerry, another amazing project ... we need to get you on Velocity alongside Chip Foose and those other guys :-)

Jerry Feather

Thanks, Tom. That is a wonderful thought, however unlikely.

A better idea is for you to get a group together and contact Chip Foose and explain to him and his producers how much I have done to benefit Humanity and to save the World. (We did survive December 21, 2012, didn't we!) Then they might take this over and finish it up in a couple of weeks, but only after I get it locked in to the direction I have in mind for it, since I have not seen them chop a car and certainly they have not sectioned one.

Jerry Feather

I find myself carefully refining my A-Post and B-Post cuts to get the C-Post gap to fall just where it needs to be. That doesn't appear to represent much progress, so no additional pictures of the roof cuts yet.

I also find myself thinking ahead to some of the additional cuts that will need to be made to move the tail of the car to help close the C-Post gaps and that leads me into further thinking about the wheel arches. Martin had suggested two years ago that the wheel arches are way too outdated, so in the process of thinking thru the cuts, both shortening and sectioning, I find myself thinking along the lines of doing the wheel arches like many more modern cars and that is in the shape of and concentric with the tires. Right now I am trying to figure out just how much larger than the tires the arches need to be to look right.

I have also laid out the cuts for the front of the quarter windows and for the 3 inch shortening of the tail of the car. See the pictures of those planned cuts.

M. Requin

I am really enjoying following your reasoning on the placement of the cuts. These details are rarely shown in descriptions of such radical body surgery, but they are really what it is all about. Excellent.

Jerry Feather

Thanks Martin.

I put a brace under the front of the car to take some of the weight of the overhang off the jack stands, but I think I have bit too much on it. I'm going to take it out and shorten it about an eighth of an inch and then put it back. Apparently there is not as much stress in the body from the overhanging weight in front as in the back. I put my trans jack under the rear previously and took a bunch of that overhanging weight off a couple of days ago.

Jerry Feather

Jerry Feather

For some reason the verbiage posted before I attached the picture, above.

Here is a picture of the set up for the tail of the C-Posts. I have put a 2 by 4 across in the window sills and blocked it and clamped it in place as a means of holding the tail where they need to be while I weld the A- and B-Posts together. With the tails fixed in place it will be easier to get the C-Post cuts aligned after I cut the tail of the car loose and then the rear corners of the C-Posts.

I am going to move the C-Post cut up the post about 2 inches because I find that there is an indentation under where the bottom cut will otherwise be and I think I need to preserve it. That's one thing about doing this one side at a time - - it helps to learn what to do correctly on the other side.

The two marks on the body at the rear of the quarter window opening is approximately where a section will be removed to move the C-Post rear corner outward and forward. That will be moving that corner up 2 inches and out 2 inches. The section to be cut out will be 2.8 inches wide.

hernanca

Careful with that slippery slope....

Would changing the arch shape detract too much from the original goal (ala your favorite '34 coupe) of it still looking like a 928 until closer inspection? I dont like the idea of the more rounded/concentric wheel arch going higher into what will be a sectioned belt line. Seems a double-whammy. Maybe consider subtley and slightly lowering the top fender lip over the tire? That could be the Latin in me fighting to expreas itself however

Imo000

Do you have a sketch of what you are trying to achieve here?

hernanca

Some info on his inspiration is in post 79.

Jerry said this was close but may change dynamically (from post 58):