Manky's Pop.

[PD]

sounds good 2 me!!
u should always listen 2 your big bro Andy!!

[Manky Monkey]

I always do -eventually.

[lunatic]

 

[Manky Monkey]

Loony's still plugging away at the sheet metalwork on the cab back. Getting there. 

[Manky Monkey]

The two cab back corners are now in place, with filler strips added. The right-hand bottom corner was rotten so that's also been replaced with fresh metal.

[Manky Monkey]

On either side, towards the front of the roof, are what look like factory made roof joints. These were filled with lead, (the fore runner of modern body filler). We can't weld to that so it all had to come out. Easiest way was to melt it out with the oxy-acetelane torch. That's my car you're setting fire to Loony! 

[Manky Monkey]

Pops were originally fitted with a vinyl roof insert. This is a 1953 car & steel was in short supply after the war, so Ford used a vinyl panel, stretched over wooden spars as a steel-saver. The first thing modern Pop customisers do is replace that with fresh steel, usually taken from the roof or bonnet of a newer car. We thought my roof had been very nicely filled, but once we started digging into the thick layer of filler around the gutter line, we discovered the new panel had been laid over the original roof edge & the resulting step smoothed out with filler.
After some discussion, we've decided to take a deep breath & cut it back out, set it in flush with the roof & weld it back in. It needs a bit of bashing anyway cos it's a completely flat panel, whereas the roof curves across it's width. We'll probably add some curved steel strips under it to help keep it's shape & add extra strength.  

[Manky Monkey]

At that point we thought, bugger it, might as well sand all the paint off so we can see just what we're dealing with.
Cue Taz the crazy lady. Give her an angle grinder & a sanding disc & she'll sand anything that stands still long enough.    The workshop was soon filled with billowing clouds of filler dust.

[Manky Monkey]

Cough, cough, splutter.
Where'd everybody go?

[Manky Monkey]

The sensible ones had all buggered off outside.
Long nights working in the garage on yer hotrod. I love it.

[Manky Monkey]

By the time we've finished, there'll be very little original Pop tin left! The doors both need lower repair panels & the firewall will be cut out & rebuilt to accomodate the Rover V8 powerplant. Only standard area left is the windscreen surround -& even that's been lowered by 3 inches.

[Manky Monkey]

Loony usually works on VWs & had a couple of camper van repair panels in the workshop.
Hmm. I really like these. I don't want just a plain home-made looking box on the back. It deserves something with a little more shape & style. How about a pair of these, set back in about 6 inches narrower than the cab back to show off it's curvy rear? Add a tube frame along the top edge, so the panel curves inwards at the top to mimic the roof line. I'd like a flat ledge maybe 2 inches wide around it with an inner skin, rather than just a single panel thickness. The pick-up bed doesn't have to extend down to the bottom of the panel, just sit onto the rear chassis rails, with outriggers holding the bottom edge of the panels.
The wheel's a spare for the boys' trike, sat in an old tyre from Loony Senior's Pontiac. Not what I'm fitting but looks kinda cool anyway. I'm going for 50s style tall n skinny truck tyres on painted 16 inch steel rims.
I reckon I can use these camper van rear arch panels with the wheels sat outboard of them, covered with black powder-coated ally cycle guards.

[Manky Monkey]

Of course, we could go pro-street instead?

[Manky Monkey]

Can't wait to fire this up & go cruising!

[VALLEYSBOY]

looks fcking brill so far and them van panels look kewl as