1936 Packard

I too am repeating myself, but thanks again ZZ for being such an inspiration to the rest of us! Your talent and perseverance are both admired!

Can you post up some pics of how you did the split tubing? I think it looks perfect and I'd like to try doing that to finish off the wheel wells.

Dirtyrat said:

Can you post up some pics of how you did the split tubing? I think it looks perfect and I'd like to try doing that to finish off the wheel wells.

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By 'splitting' the 3/4" tube, I just meant I cut it lengthwise on the bandsaw. It's a little tough to keep the tube centered on the blade so when I cut a 5' length, one half came out a little less than half round - that goes on the discard pile and in the pics here the curved piece is a discard piece. To make the curve to match the new wheelwell outline, I just bent it over one of the front tires. The tube is about 16ga. so it holds its shape pretty good when welding to the sheetmetal.
BTW, this cheap Chinese bandsaw is one my most used and useful tools, for $300 bucks, it saves countless hours, I cut everything on it.

Something I have often thought of getting is a vertical bandsaw. I have a cheap portaband and I use it for EVERYTHING. Thought about maybe making a table for that and a mount but have never got around to it.

Nice work on the fenders!

I understand now, so bending it to match the contour of the fender after cutting, I wonder if I could make this work, you have made nice work of it!

Dirtyrat said:

I understand now, so bending it to match the contour of the fender after cutting, I wonder if I could make this work, you have made nice work of it!

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I'd say bend it first then slice it. 2 boards/angle iron etc clamped to the band saw will help guide the tube through and make it easier to get it centered.

I like it I am thinking about doing the same thing on my 50 Chevy... as soon as I get up the nerve... LOL

How did you accomplish this, I'm thinking a standard roller for fenders might not work on the harder/thicker metal???

jfg455 said:

I'd say bend it first then slice it. 2 boards/angle iron etc clamped to the band saw will help guide the tube through and make it easier to get it centered.

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It was actually much easier to bend it after cutting - I think it would be tougher to cut it accurately feeding a curved piece thru the bandsaw. The problem with keeping it centered is that while you can watch the topside of the cut and keep it straight, the thin bandsaw blade flexes a lot and the bottom side of the cut can wander. At any rate, it was really easy to bend it over a tire.

Feeding a curved piece is extreme tough. I rolled my fender lips in 1" round and cut in half. I was able to clean it up and make it work, it still was frustrating

Another idea is to mount a cut off wheel under a board with only a bit of it sticking through. Then you can slice one side at a time. SLower by far but more accurate in the end.

Went to the boneyard yesterday and got a couple driveshafts - front half of a 81 Suburban to fit the truck yoke on my T400 trans and one from an S10 that has the same U-joint as my 9" Ford rearend, both having the same 2 3/4" diameter tube.
Using Smallfoots idea for a jig to spin it on to check trueness I made one for 0 dollars from scrap, rollers are dies for my bead roller, worked like a charm.

Great ! The little stand comes in handy to check true and working on the clean up and welding too doesn't it? Looking good.

Mounted the bumper today. First I hammered out the dents then trimmed off a couple inches from each end. Welded up the bolt holes and welded bolts to the backside, made new mounting brackets from 1/4" plate and 3/4 SCH 40 pipe (old gas pipe) that I ran through the my tube roller to get the shape I wanted. I filled the original bumper holes in the fenders, the new mounts hang just below the fenders.
While the car is up on stands, I've been finishing up a bunch of things underneath, driveshaft, E brake cables, mount tabs for the brake flex hoses, etc.

To add to the resto-custom look, I added a pair of King Bee headlights to the bumper brackets, much like you would see on a lot of the senior Packards of the 30's. Original Trippe lights would be cool but decent ones are way expensive.... These lights also have the turn signals built in, I'm going to keep the buckets painted to match the Packard light buckets.

Thanks ZZ, I have been thinking of how to mount the '41 ford bumper to the '46 dodge on the '85 ford. You gave me some good ideas. [cl

Got it outside to look at the bumper and driving light additions, also took the plastic off the tires for the best appearance. This is the first outside look at the new larger rear wheel openings, I think it gives it a more balanced look with the front fenders.

Oh yeah!!!!!!

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A true inspiration to all of us.

Personal opinion -- the lower lights would look good moved in an inch or two on each side. I also think a filler piece between the front bumper and fenders/grill would tie everything together better.