Second Wind - a Packard Gasser

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Bent up some 1x1 tube and welded it into the trunk edge to replace the long gone wood.

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Melted out a big blob of lead from the roof - I guess lead and labour were cheap in 1937 - removed the brace from behind and some hammer and dolly work made it look better.

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Bracing up the body for the chop.
Marked for cutting...

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Are you going to slope the B pillars forward? I think that helps the look of this car. Looking forward to this part!

I assume you are using a tubing roller to fit the tubing to replace the rotten wood.
 
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Chopping day!!
Having done this same car before saves a lot of head scratching and time.
1 1/2" from the A pillars and 2 1/2" from the B pillar to bring down the 'crown' in the rear of the roof (1/2" more than the last car). This brings the B pillar forward, perfect opportunity to pull it back - now the B pillar leans forward, similar to the A pillar instead of straight up and down.
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Cruisin' right along, back window tacked in, pulled back about 1" at the bottom, and left side sail panel tacked in, started on the other one. Nice thing about this mild chop is that I don't have to add any new metal, just trimming and refitting what I cut out. :)

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I looked at your tape lines and my head blew up. Now this!!!

In all my years I haven't seen anyone better.
 
Killer work as usual!!! I have never chopped anything of this nature, I know it's a lot of work and you are making it look easy
 
Thanks guys, it's not job when you like what you are doing.... Got it all stitched back together today.
It's not all sunshine and baskets of puppies tho... lots of grinding and hammering to do yet plus plugging all those little pinholes..

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It is a lot of work, but if you like it, it's great work. And it's really satisfying when you get finished to say, "I did that!" Keep going!

I'm thinking seriously of Tig'ing mine when I do it to reduce the amount of grinding and pinholes. I bought fingertip controls for my Tig that I am going to practice with prior to starting. I will likely tack it with Mig and weld it with Tig.
 
It is a lot of work, but if you like it, it's great work. And it's really satisfying when you get finished to say, "I did that!" Keep going!

I'm thinking seriously of Tig'ing mine when I do it to reduce the amount of grinding and pinholes. I bought fingertip controls for my Tig that I am going to practice with prior to starting. I will likely tack it with Mig and weld it with Tig.

If you have a Tig and the know how, you can save tons of work. Thing about the Mig is that the weld is harder than the metal you're welding, so it is tougher to sand it down - plus you have better heat control with the Tig and it's less prone to cracking when hammering it out.
But I'm a cave man, always doing it the hard way....
 

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