Canuck 1960B T5 Coupe Resto

[Jbrooks]

Scott

do you have acces to a Shriner/ Streacher? I run a beadroller down the drain strip to from the gutter, the shrink and stretch it into the nose. 18ga will bend right around comes out nice.

[Scott B]

Thanks for the intel. Not sure I understand the suggestion. I have a shrinker and stretcher which has come in handy a few times. I have some old bead rollers I picked up at a garage sale a few years back but never had the courage to pull them out. Do you have pictures of what you are suggesting?

[Scott B]

Started to put a number of brackets and supports in place to pin down the fender before I cut it away from the nose piece. I Want to make sure when I cut off the nose I can position the fender in the correct position while I merry it up to the nose and build up the side panels near the door. I recall reading a post on here that when you cut the nose off it can flop around and be a pain to put in position. I welded a bar from the rotisserie to Cleoco the top of the fender (suspend it down the road) and built a number of brackets underneath to pin the edges along the hood. I will need to cut along here to weld in a new rain gutter along the sides in the future.

[Jbrooks]

Scott

its not too hard, mostly practice. Save your scrap sheet metal and sun it through them. I did not have time to power the bead roller , but you either need to ditch the crank, and get a wheel or a helper. The shrinker and Streacher are also simple, but put a foot pedal on them

watch Lazzie. https://www.youtube.com/user/lazzemetalshaping

[Scott B]

I did get the standard Princess Auto or for our US members - Pep Boys or Eastwoods then welded them up to an old truck drum and frame. Also bought the $25 foot pedal and air arm - a real good investment to be able to hold the piece and tap with the foot - also installed a pressure valve to adjust pressure - see the small piece made using this below in thread).
.

[JTR70]

Really nice setup. You'll wonder why you didn't buy them years ago. I know I did...

[Scott B]

So - I'm now at the point - with the side fenders in a fixed position - to consider cutting off the old front nose. The green tape shows a rough proposed cut line - with lots of meat left to overlap the new nose so over time I can sneak up for the best fit - likely will be trim the new cut line a number of times in the coming weeks. Just need to get up the courage to actually make the cut of this major piece of the original car. Just still a chicken at the moment. Im sure I will find other jobs and excuses to hold off longer.
One job is the issue that the centre of the hood closest to the cowl is a little high - will likely need to remove the hood and apply a little pressure to reshape.



Started some work also on the upper left corner. A lot of rust here in the corner rain gutter. A small job but need to replace a gutter section - this is where the shrinker and strecher in previous thread came in handy.

[JTR70]

Don't forget to mock up a hood seal in there as it goes. The load pressure will change that height discrepancy your finding from the cowl to the hood and with the edges of the fenders too.

[Scott B]

Thanks Justin. I had not considered that.

[JTR70]

Yeah, the seal changes everything. Even a fully original car; if you pulled the seal out it would become a different animal. The latched hood would be a step lower than most of its surrounding bodywork.

[Scott B]

Well finally got up the courage to cut off the biggest single piece of metal from the car. Old nose is off and new nose in position. Initial alignment not bad on left side but lots of work to do on left side.

[Scott B]

Also took some time to remove the hood and with some gentle pushing with the hood suspended over some 2x4s I managed to get the centre crown down so it lines up flush with front cowl. Some before and after shots Gap is a little tight so also need to pull the hood forward a bit

[Scott B]

Had to backtrack and redo inner panel ledge - was not correct. Made a proper jig to know distance from under hood to ledge for where the new gutter will sit

[JTR70]

yeah, that's the typical heartbreak stuff when rebuilding from thin air. You have my sympathy but glad to know its not just happening to me. Keep up the great work, I know you'll get it knocked out in the end.

[Scott B]

Thanks Justin. The extra effort was - and is always-a good investment. All panels are fitting very well now.

[Scott B]

[Scott B]

Needed to resolve the end of the rocker panel before working on fender. The end of the rocker did not line up with fender by about 20mm. Got it off and m oved it forward.

[JTR70]

Quite the discrepancy but problem solved in the end. Nice work!

[roy mawbey]

Scott, that's a lot of work and none of it easy! It takes so much time thinking about every move but its a great feeling when your assumptions turn out correct. This work is not easy so its tiring and not surprised you took time to remove that nose. You are doing very well in my opinion and Justin is correct that front lid seal makes such a difference to the closure gaps and its like door gaps you have to consider paint thickness.

Well done indeed !

Roy

[Scott B]

Justin and Roy - thank you for your kind words, encouragement and advice. I took a page out of Justin's approach on a previous post and cut a slit in the left forward rocker. It was not out as much as the right side. This retained the nice lines. I filled in the lower rocker gap then removed the bad metal above in the fender and exposing the wire. This gave me a good template to confirm the shape of the new fender section. Pulled out an old bead roller i had never used - did a few practice attempts and was really happy with how it turned out. Spliced in the piece leaving enough space for the final section to fit beside the door.