62 bt6

[roy mawbey]

Neil,

That's some nice work there. Well done.

Roy

[John Pierce]

Fantastic work, Neil. That jig is going to assure that things are aligned nicely.

[neilb]

thank you jack, i did take note!

i finally got my front axle back which was holding up progress a little. it had a slight twist between the top and bottom tubes due to the accident it had many years ago. i sent it out to get the twist out but he had a little trouble. so i picked it up, bought some 250mm wide 10mm flat bar and made up these end plates with the grinder and the mill. i have some 2mm plate to finish the end plates with so it appears like factory boxed.






i had to make up some new jig brackets to make sure the axle stayed aligned during welding






the angle between the top and bottom tube was sett with the specs i had, so with that welded up i clamped the axle back in and started to sett up the battery box

[Jack Staggs]

Please be sure to weld these pieces completely parallel to the front axle. A canted trans can wreak havoc to rear camber.

[neilb]

they are the locators for the trans hoop in the x member, i made these on the little lathe i have so i can fit the gearbox in just to confirm the rear floor panel clears before welding it in. i can then make the other panel that fits between the gearbox and the rear floor

thanks again guys!

[Jonesy_356]

Neil,

sorry a bit late, got distracted.

So with the rule positioned thus (note, with about a 1 mm sound deadening panel included):




I get these measurements at the bottom:





Mine is a 1960 BT5, chassis no 111133. Hope this helps,

Jonesy

[neilb]

thank you jonesy

the rear x member is the part the gearbox hangs from, it joins the 2 rear chassis rails together.

Justin, thank you

the original panel is quite rusty, saveable but enough work to look for a better one. its gone down the door edge (as usual) also along the window ledge and quite thin around the wire edged arch.

the early panels are different around the engine lid and up to the rear window, i think while I'd be repairing all the bits and adding to it for the other parts i may as well make a new one. its good practice for when i do the front lol

[JTR70]

That fender is really taking a nice line, great job on those repair flanges too! This a dumb question but what is wrong with your original fender? Is there some collision damage or rust we can't see? Beautiful Neil!

[Jonesy_356]

Mate I can do that on Friday...can you confirm exactly which measurement? Not sure what you mean by the 'top of the rear x member'?

[neilb]

thank you guys, really do mean that!

could someone with an early model (t5 back) give me a measurement from the top of the rear x member to the top of the panel that sits below the rear screen? i have a feeling that there is a difference between the t6 and earlier cars.

thanks again guys really appreciate the kind words!

and a small update







this is that panel below the window

[neilb]

Sheesh! It would take me a year to do that. Could I borrow you for a week? You could finish any one of my cars in 7 days. Can I pay in beer?


umm now that's a tempting offer... lol, do i get to pick the beer?...

[JTR70]

......it was a struggle with me only having one good hand but i got it done and slightly quicker than the last attempt! turning out pretty good

Pretty AND good.
I am sensitive to the "one good hand" quote and grew up appreciating all my mother could do with one good hand. Her right hand was 'disconnected' in a 1918 birthing mistake and never recovered to be usable, never grew....but boy, could she overcompensate! She was a great driver (think Otto Mathe as "The little old lady from Pasadena") and taught me how to drive in a column-shift '49 Plymouth designed for righties and then mastered a '59 Mercedes with a 4-speed column shift. Played tennis, field hockey, etc, with good results. Where there is a will, there is a way. She's 96 and still asks this lefty what he wants to do when he grows up....other than play with cars.
Keep up the great work!

-Bruce

I missed that detail in Neil's original post. That just made what's being presented here all more impressive by a factor of at least 10! Both amazing and inspirational Neil!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

David, you are correct Neil has real talent and all mainly it seems with the full use of one hand. Bruce is right, his mum somehow just accepted she had to do everything with one hand, some people have so much more will power than others!

Just to see that wheeled panel Neil has produced made me realise just how skilled a panel beater has to be! To run from one radius into the transition of the larger one on that panel, makes mechanical repairs on cars almost straight forward if you have the correct spare parts

Great thread, but David your ' nose job ' is also looking really great too!

Roy

[DG58INNM]

fitting better now...

Sheesh! It would take me a year to do that. Could I borrow you for a week? You could finish any one of my cars in 7 days. Can I pay in beer?

[neilb]

thanks Phil

there are some very talented people on that forum, I'm not one of them!