Cant remember if I posted a thread on this one.

1958 plymouth, it's one of our active projects currently in the shop.

I'm currently uploading around 200 photos to photobucket and I'm going to try to make this work like a good old fashioned ND post fulla photos.

I don't find the time to get on here and post like I used to, maybe with the election cycle behind us this place will become once again tolerable.

I have to get to work on ole girl, but I'll slide a couple photos out here while the bulk is uploading and while I weld the last repair panel on the car.

Here she is.











These are from the beginning of the project, I'll post more and describe whats going on in the photos (If I can make photobucket work)

Laters.

Cool project, ND...

I am looking forward to seeing the progress on this one. "Fear on four wheels".

You should be keeping an unlocked door in sight while working on that one.

GTC

Wish i could weld like that. NICE.

LMAO!

terrible!

We had to cut that stuff off and start over.

Anytime my wife starts 'badmouthing' me or my ride while we are out, I gently pat the dash and say "it's ok Christine, she doesn't know any better"
That movie terrified her.

Had a HS friend that had a couple of Chryslers in those years range. Great party rides for teenagers in the day!

Chryslers terrify me.

So that was a prior repair? Guess you find all types of things like that..

tag

Yes, pretty old repair. Gas welded with filler rod, warped all to hell. Besides that it was an overlay style repair, lay a formed cap over the rust hole and burn it on, hammer the weld down (HARD) and fill with an inch and a half of body filler.

I'll post up pics of dissecting and correcting those old repairs.

Cutting near the old welds to see if anything under the cap can be salvaged



old repair cap removed, original rusted metal exposed.



other fender

Yeeesh,..they just capped it.!

That's one of those "hurry up so I can have the car ready for Friday date night" types of repairs..

I'm glad you're chronicling it. I learn stuff just about every time you post up a group of pics...

I started the repair by hand forming a new forward edge with 3/8" tubing



I cut out and rebuilt the inner portion first, then made a flat paper pattern for the outer.



front edges were shrunk to help them roll down, the rest was hand formed with hammer and dollies.



jumping ahead a little here.

Same for the other fender



photobucket is being a bitch, so I'm missing a bunch of my photos.

HOLY SHEIT Dave, you could fool Penn & Teller! What a metal magician!

BTW, I love that car.

One of the first cars we had was a 1957 Dodge ( like the real Christine!)

I would LOVE to have one of them refurbed by ND...or Chip Foose!

big girl up on the body cart to work on the rockers and lower quarters.

Gotta fix that stuff.

Old overlay rocker patches removed, exposing that the rockers are fulla dirt.

A floor brace end was are off where it joined the inner rocker, had to rebuild the area.

Everything shown is hand fabricated from flat steel.

Show off!!

Very nice work!

Insides of rockers cleaned and coated with epoxy before welding in new pieces to close them up.



Repaired.



I can't find all of my photos but they are boring anyways, i'll just jump around with what I do have photos of.

repair plate for a fender.



Some engine stuff

We cracked the splash shield loose on an old dual quad intake, cleaned it up and reinstalled.

You're an artist.

413?

Back to work.

Thanks.

Nope, she's a little 318. But she looks mean.

lol

Dave's better.

of course it is. lol.

I love how you have the talent to do that and are so nonchalant about it.

VERY cool project on a cool not so common car.

Your work is stunning, just beautiful. I love threads like this, keep the pics coming.

Are ya done yet?

If you're going to inhale through this ....

Why try to exhale through this?

I'm certainly impressed with this project, but was the Mustang ever finished? If so, I guess I missed out on the finished car. There was an enormous amount of restoration done last I saw, just never got to see the finished product.

Respects,
Richard

Push button shifting?

Tip of the hat to you Dave. Awesome skilz......

KEEP EM COMING! BRIGHTENS an old farts day immensely.

Kool,... does the radio continue to play if you take the battery out of it?
If it does, don't piss it off!

yes

What battery?

Dave is "Christine" a Savoy? had one in high school.
during the muncie floor shift days. put a 3 speed in it with a muncie shift. proposed to the wife in that car.

Belvedere



Here's some more of that fender stuff.

With the hoops formed and located, I started with reproducing the wrap over portion of the headlight "eyebrow"



paper patern



transferred pattern to steel, cut and now shaping the curve with a shrinker.



meanwhile, thisshitiscutout.

now for the piece that would have originally laid in here.





OK, that's what I couldn't show earlier because photobucket is terrible.

The cap or the "Moby patch" is next.

There's flat Moby, some forming required.

Fitting Moby







Tacking.

Like Lay's potato chips, your pics are irresistible.

You sir, are an artist.

Ed

It's a puzzle piece butt weld, no overlay bullshit this time around.

Tack and move, tack and move to avoid panel warp.



The front is trimmed, dollied over the 3/8" tube hoop and joined to the wrap over portion with weld.

Polly motor, 318?

small block, looks a polly 318

poly 318 yes

that's a lot of hours in that car

lower quarter repair, dogleg area drivers side.

Starting with a flat piece of metal





Just squish it around with my fingers a little and....



CUTTING!



ohhh, I'm gonna be sick.

I needed to make the bottom edge of the outer wheel house.

welded in, coated with epoxy inside and back side of repair panel.

Do thatshit all over.

Cut the other side of the car open.



Make some stuff.



out with the old, in with the new.

Make more stuff.

Need to replace this area.



Make a pattern, transfer to steel, cut the shape, mark for roll tipping... wait, what's roll tipping?

Oh this.



Helps a guy make radiused bends.



The only problem is when you make radiused bends, the panel curves.

So you stretch that edge.



Because this panel needs to be straight.

Of course I'm skipping hours of tweaking these little panels with a variety of dollies and special tools, most of which are made for certain shapes as I go.

This is definitely doing it the hard way. But, what are you going to do? If and when you can find little repair panels for these cars, the quality and fit is no good. So, might as well make it as needed.

Nothing beats having the right tools for the job, except the skills to use them! That's lookin good.

Last of the metal work on this body is the most difficult piece.

I'm cutting at that black line and taking off everything below it

I made a flat paper pattern from the other side of the car, luckily the drivers lower rear quarter is perfect.



This piece here, was not easy for me. But I'm happy with it.

I'm impressed how you keep the original body "radius" on all the new parts compared to the old. You eyeball that stuff or are there ways to take measurements?

The whole bottom of that piece was rotted and filled with fiberglass and bondo some time in the car's past.

And the customer ends up with a car better than new!

The "trunk extension" is that inner piece you see, it joins to the lower quarter with a pinch weld at the bottom. This extension needs a little work before the outer repair can go on.



back corner



mid panel

forward corner

You sir are a Freakin' Artist!

Alright, time to switch over to my top secret night shift project for a couple hours.

Later dudes, thanks for the nice words.

No doubt!!

Dang ND, was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen a post from you in a while, but I guess I haven't been on here much myself, was tickled to see this. Loved that book, love the car, and I am blown away by your work. You are not only one hell of a talented artist, I think you must be somewhat of a magician, I see something clever there. Keep up the excellent work, and keep the photos and details coming.

Very very cool that you would take the time to post this for us ND. THANK YOU!

At least she will only need to be restored once....

And people wonder why restorations (at least those done right) cost so much....soooo much hand work and man hours (much like custom double rifles/shotguns, etc).

Nice work, Arnie.....er, Dave.


(Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting the '68 Charger rebuild someday!)

Amazing work bud. Does your secret after hours project involve light gauge aluminum?

It does now!

Unreal Skillz Dave. I feel as though there are not a lot of people left that can do what you are doing as far as taking flat steel and forming curved and radiused body panels. Keep up the good work.

Man, I love these threads.

The work you do blows my mind, ND.

Totally amazing and something I could never do, ever.

Cool chit!

Couple of thoughts.
1)damn you know your stuff!
2)Kind of reminds me of why I dread any kind of work on my 100 year old home. It's never easy or nice after peeling off a layer.
3)Have you considered having a bunch of teenage thugs taking hammers to it, maybe put a spite S*&t on the windshield and lighting it on fire? Don't know why but I think that might actually aid in the overall longevity of the resto. I think I saw that in some kind of documentary I watched some time ago about a car like that.

Dave keep this up and before you know it more folks will be knocking at your door.

Looking good.

that's some crazy good work!

I wonder how many really appreciate Northern Dave's skills to their full potential.....unless they are familiar with Minnesota Rust.... especially on those old old rigs...

Dave, you're an Automotive Magician's, Magician...

lower quarter is tacked on, the fit is nice.



I ran out of shielding gas for the welder so I'm going to have to skip over to some body work. I'll get shielding gas on our lunch break.

And the fact that, that is all self taught is freaking AMAZING!

"oh i need this body panel. I think I'll just make it." lol. Freakin amazing!

Everything in this box has been cut out and replaced in Christine, none of it was available as reproduction items.



Old girl has been testing me, so far we are still friends, thank god.

I'd guess you enjoy the work, although it is clearly work. At least you get to see what you've accomplished.

Ever since you've been posting your work on here I've been wondering where you learned to do that.

You taught yourself?

That's very impressive,...no kiddin'.

What I enjoy is working with people on projects that they are passionate about. Cars happen to be my thing, performing restorations for people is how I get that fun involvement in peoples hopes and dreams.

Nobody is excited to work with a collision shop on a fender bender or a deer hit. They didn't plan that chit, they didn't want it to happen and they are burdened by at least a deductible amount, plus you have their daily driver, they want it back. Same with general auto repair, nobody is excited about going to see the mechanic for a slipping transmission or a check engine light.

But people do like to talk to me about "Tri power or EFI? What do you think?" or "Should I do the disc brake conversion now or should we focus on the body and paint, basic mechanicals and maybe do disc brakes next year?"

I'm like a fugging wedding planner, for gear heads!

That's the fun part.

Gutting these cars, cutting, welding, grinding, blocking.... That stuff isn't necessarily fun but it's appreciated by the customers.

It's not a bad gig.

But I need to get a couple long term gear head employees to train to do the more technical side of these jobs. The metal work, body work, the paint and finishing.

I'd like to be freed up to hunt for projects, plan builds, orchestrate the work within the shop.

That's what I'm working towards.

I forgot to post these

Well, they'll have a good teacher......

just to cold up there lol.

Not in the shop Roger. I bet Dave would even donate a back seat out of a parts car for you to sleep on. You would never have to go outside!

Is Eener still kicking, hope so. We haven't had any Eener updates in a while..

It will be a very lucky man that receives your teaching. That kind of skill set is learned through the school of hard knocks. You will greatly shorten the learning curve for a lucky young man. These skills will always be in high demand at your extremely high level. Kudos sir, you are one talented individual.

This should be on your company sign!

What a beautiful engine. I had a '57 Dodge Coronet 2-door with the 325 V-8, a slightly stroked 318. With the push button TorqueFlite and dual exhausts, it was a runnin' machine. If I had known you'd be along with your many talents, I'd have held on to it for another 45yrs, just to have you refurbish it. Of course, all that would have been left was the engine, tranny, and rear end. The body was dissolving then. Would have been hard put to separate it from dirt by now.

ND,
You have more talent & skill than 15 men should have. I always enjoy looking at your posts. Hard to say what is more enjoyable, your car work posts, or your hunting & fishing experiences with your boy with that big grin. Anyway, thank you for your service to our country. You are a true patriot, and a wonderful family man. God Bless You.

Thank you, that's quite the compliment. Very nice of you.

Whooeeee! A new thread by Northern Dave with lots of pictures...

This is cooler than the other side of the pillow!

John

check this one out Dave.

Looks practical.

Average "grocery getter" in my youth!

So talented and skilled, truly amazing what you can do Dave.
Thank you for sharing it will us all.

love

Agreed

eener is good, he's about 5 years old now and in his weeny dog prime.

And a good, honest, friend and neighbor. I'm glad we crossed paths 10+ years ago.

Now get back to work so we can see more pictures.

You won't find harder working, more honest, kind hearted guys than either Northern_dave or White Bear. I know them both, have met their families, call them friends, would do anything for either...

Both are talented beyond anything I could ever do and they're both great at thier craft.

But we need more damn pictures!

WB, you should start a thread on your little project!

Glad to hear this!

I've come to know a number of dachshunds here in Sweden where they are a popular hunting dog for deer -- they can't chase deer too fast, and the deer are not really afraid of them. Hunters get shots at nice slow-moving deer!

All of these dogs seem to have great personalities, way out of proportion to their size.

These dogs are small enough to travel with the passenger in the plane, so it isn't unusual to see a hunter walking about an airport with a weenie dog peeking out of the top of his backpack.

John

I love this thread Dave, even though I'm a Chevy guy. Thanks for posting. It's great to see real craftsmanship. Keep'em coming.

Are ya done yet?

Good to hear. I think [color:#3333FF][b]about this[/b][/color] every once in a while, still makes me laugh. He must have been just a pup back then..

How long is Wiener dog's prime?

Freakin great Dave

Love seeing your work

Dude that's pretty personal.

LOL That's awesome

Amazing cars

My brothers weiner is 11 and still tracking deer.

A few pics of my top secret side project.



A friend of mine gave me this bashed 55 Chev front clip last summer.

This year at around Thanksgiving time his wife had a stroke. She is doing very well currently, but they both missed a chunk of work, besides the obvious terrifying experience.

I was on my way to the deer camp when I learned of this, I had the hunting weekend to run through all the normal thoughts, wanting to help, wondering what I can do to help etc.

The deer stand is an excellent place to think. I had my buddy's front clip from this 55 Chev, and I also knew of a local business owner that sort of had a request to me, to keep my eyes open for a mid 50's wall decor... "Light-Bulb!"

I approached the business owner with my plan, explaining that the sale funds from the item would be donated to my friends to help through the holidays. He was in, and I started thrashing.

I had to bash out a bunch of dents, cut it, build a steel frame to hold it all square and provide mounting points. Also had to tap into another friend's good nature as I needed a few parts donated, such as bumper, hood ornament, upper grille bar.

There it is, hanging on the wall at a local 50's themed café.



A successful project completed a week before Christmas.

PERFECT!!!

This was a huge Christmas gift to myself you could say, if that makes any sense? The opportunity to help my friends, made me feel good, it was fulfilling. It made my Christmas season a little more important. It was cool.

Speaking of which, Merry Christmas to all my campfire friends.

Well Done and Merry Christmas

That's awesome in many ways! Well done!

That is too cool Dave, well done.

Like I said, the opportunity itself was something important to me, the hardest part of the whole project was trying to figure out how to deliver the funds without it being all wierd. Lol

We figured it out though. They are such good people, great friends.


Everybody knows someone they would like to help. It's not very often that the perfect plan and the means, time etc falls into place that allows you to help in the way you would like to. That was my own little Christmas miracle, I'm very lucky and thankful for the opportunity.

A Merry Christmas to you and your family, Dave. You're a Good Man.

Very cool my friend!

Very nice!

Memorabilia like is hanging on the wall brings a small fortune. Good thing you did!

Givin r hell boys. I haven't posted for a while on this project but we're firing on all cylinders. Getting close to primer on the body.

its a great pleasure to read these posts, much appreciated.

There are some neat projects on the waiting list. A JFK convertible Lincoln is coming soon, an early Mopar Street rod sedan (30's). A restomod formula firebird...

There's no end in sight, they keep coming and I'm thankful for it.

Praise the Lord and keep the cars coming!

Always great to see one of your posts Dave.

AND the pictures, please.

Great to hear the projects keep coming!!

Just keep the photos and posts coming so we can all enjoy.....

Good people always find a way. Outstanding for all involved.

hey dave,i've been helping a friend do a secret project for some time. he's building a sleeper street rod. 68 vw beetle with a 350 small block under the hood.should be a fun toy.

tube frame
mustang frontend
373 truck rear narrowed

There is a reason for that my friend!

sounds squirly, lol!

Good to see you back, Dave. Hope your holidays were happy.

Holidays were very nice, thank you.

Christine is still progressing forward, we do have another car in the shop that I have been putting a bunch of time into though.

69 ford ranchero, We've been rebuilding the forward structure. Torque boxes up front, frame rails, rockers, it had a whole lot of rot up front. Basically the inner fender aprons were holding the front of the car on.

where are we at on this project?

I don't know. Is this ghost Dave talking or reincarnated Dave because combining those with Christine could rend a tear in the space time continuum. As we all know you died recently on another thread we need to be cautious.

I'm dead?



Wow, I feel fine though...

Had us a bad rear window tray

Lots of skim coating, multiple primes starting with epoxy, a couple sessions or spray poly, reblock, 2k, reblock, working our way to 500 grit hand blocked.

Everybody's favorite... the color.



the clear

I don't know how you do all that Dave. Hard work, and skilled labor for sure.

Not a bad shine/reflection pre buff.

Nice to see you salvaged a piece of the 'Runner and have it displayed overlooking all the new projects.

Woo! Christine is almost ready to roll eh?

Did the customer pick up the Mach 1 yet?

Wow!

Mach 1 still has transmission issues. It's been back to the trans shop twice now, enough is enough, I'm tearing into it myself this weekend.

Amazing. Really special watching a true artist at work.

Some guys are good at what they do, some are a cut above them, and then some are in a whole 'nother realm. I get that. But what I don't get is how you know all this stuff without any formal training and produce these works of art - the first Mustang, the Roadrunner, Nate's truck, the pearly Mustang, I think there was a Fairlane in there too - my apologies if I missed any.

I'm happy when I break down my Glock and can put it together again without having to watch youtube. I may branch out to my Win 100, you branch out to a Ranchero. Truly awe inspiring.

I'm liking the base /2k clear dance...in red no less. Before that stuff came along there was Centari with 792 or 793 sloshed in it or Imron but as pretty as you could make that stuff flow out the results with base-clear is so much easier to achieve perfection! Love it Dave

So, Dave, or anyone, (scratchin' head for the right words), does the refinish effect "value", I'm trying to ask if a different type of paint, more modern than the original, make it not "pure"? I'd do the best I could with the best.
Year back Fords were enamel, and GMs lacquer, would using different paint be bad?

Very nice work Dave. If my Father in law was still around he would very much enjoy looking at your work........looking at what you do reminds me of him. Old school body man that had tools I didn't have the first clue how to use, or use properly, and he fashioned a lot of hand built pieces like you. Fussy to a point of being frustrating for me to work with him, but a wealth of knowledge. Seemed to be able to build or make anything.

It can't hurt if you walk around the car when it's done and you say to yourself "Man, they gave it everything they had. They swung for the fences and they connected, left no skill or resource untapped."

It's called "Over restored".

It's a balls out, hold nothing back, tribute effort.

If you fall short of hanging it all out there, you cut corners... Yeah that might hurt value I guess.

^^^that's the hood^^^

Not work.

Art.

^^^ *That* is damn good advertising, not to mention work. ^^^

That's a lot of hood. But it looks amazing.

No doubt, I've had trucks with smaller beds. Does look amazing.

iceberg white.





never seen an iceberg before, gonna take their word for it.

Where do you buy the paints, and other finishing products Dave?

What a cool car! I love those big old cars.

I order all my primers and clear online. I get my colors locally. I have an online reference for looking up original manufacturer color codes and old paint formulas for various paint manufacturers. I have found a way to have old formulas produced in modern paint chemistry, I'm using axalta (formerly dupont) chroma base on this project and probably most others that will use original colors from here forward.

Looking forward to the day you resurrect a 72 Cutlass Supreme Dave…


painted in "72 Cadillac Gold"

Another nice ride.
\
Have not even thought about paint yet.

I'm lovin this thread

Thanks for taking the time to post it

Dave

Beautiful work!! Wish I was close enough to have you do some patch panels on my '68 camaro.

Aren't you concerned about mixing paint systems??

I spent 10 years in the automotive paint business (Sherwin Williams) and have seen mixed paint systems result in paint failure down the road........I have helped handle a few claims on paint failures and my company wouldn't even consider paying a claim if the painter mixed systems.

Not worried in the slightest with the combination I use.