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Building what you cant afford My low dollar custom 59 Dodge convertible Jump to page : 1 2 Now viewing page 2 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9904 Location: Lower Mainland BC | 57burb - 2021-02-18 6:57 AM It kind of reminds me of the guy that built a '58 Plymouth conv out of a '60. Except he only did half the job! Need to start at the beginning of that one: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=45565&... | ||
mogge65 |
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Expert Posts: 1295 Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | Pure talent , i`m soo impressed. Taking it down to the normal guy level in a stroke of genious. Hatts of Scott, you are brilliant. | ||
Apollo 61 |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 769 | Wow! Impressive skills indeed. Now you have me looking at some of my parts cars in my backyard as to what I can rearrange into something else? | ||
hindsight inc |
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Regular Posts: 59 | You've sold yourself short my friend. Incredible to conceive of this to begin with - much less follow it through to fruition - and executed at a very high level. Leave that M3 at home next time you stop by!!! Wake | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | Got back to work on my 59 clone this summer. I wear hard contact lenses and the car was too dusty for me to comfortably drive as there was a constant cloud of crumbling burlap and dried foam dust blowing out from under the seats from the ancient original upholstery. I bought a used industrial sewing machine for $600 and ordered two yards of fabric from SMS. I had the fabric in hand four days after I ordered it! Started with the door panels trying to use as few sewn seams as possible as the originals are all heat seamed. My set of pictures is incomplete but hopefully you can get the idea. Making your own door panels is a good way to get a start at learning upholstery as they are not that difficult. I start with a paper pattern of the door card you wish to make and transfer that to 1/8 inch masonite. For the three mylar trims at the bottom for the doors I made some sheet metal in the shape I wanted and welded studs to the back with my stud gun. Covered them with chrome vinyl wrap and bent the studs over from the back side to hold them in place. Used the same method on the large fabric covered piece in the center of the door panel as well. For the transition from white to black under the chrome trim I masked off the white vinyl and sprayed the center part black with SEM vinyl coat. Chrome trim is 1/2 inch peel and stick vinyl body side trim from the auto parts store. I have used this on vinyl before and its bond to the vinyl actually seems to get better with age . After some time I dont think you could remove the trim with out destroying the door panel. I was well pleased with the way they turned out. Certainly faster than waiting for SMS to get the job done! (a.jpg) (b.jpg) (c.jpg) (d.jpg) (e.jpg) (f.jpg) (g.jpg) Attachments ---------------- a.jpg (155KB - 158 downloads) b.jpg (180KB - 156 downloads) c.jpg (174KB - 153 downloads) d.jpg (147KB - 150 downloads) e.jpg (91KB - 160 downloads) f.jpg (78KB - 148 downloads) g.jpg (139KB - 156 downloads) | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | I have a set of NOS seat covers for the swivel seats but unfortunately the were blue, but at least I could use them as a pattern. Foam was non existent so I went to the junk yard and got some seat cushions to cut up for the foam as the foam at the fabric store seemed to soft. This was the third car interior I have attempted to do and much like welding more than half of the art is in having the sewing machine set up correctly. I had never used a full on industrial sewing machine before so it took me quite a while to get hang of getting the needle size, stitch length, thread tension, bobbin tension ect all set up correctly. U tube videos were a great help. It took a while but I got it done. (Webp.net-resizeimage - 2021-11-07T105906.506.jpg) (Webp.net-resizeimage - 2021-11-07T110012.962 (1).jpg) Attachments ---------------- Webp.net-resizeimage - 2021-11-07T105906.506.jpg (129KB - 148 downloads) Webp.net-resizeimage - 2021-11-07T110012.962 (1).jpg (102KB - 145 downloads) | ||
56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9904 Location: Lower Mainland BC | . Congrats Scott. Everything looks great. Very professional looking (to me at least) What brand sewing machine did you buy? Juki? Again, congrats! Job well done. | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | Yes, a Juki 563 seems to be a very common workhorse machine. Lots of how to videos on U tube thankfully, I sure needed them! Came with an electronic speed controller but that was still to fast for me with my level of skill. I added a jackshaft gearing reducer and now it sews at a snails pace which makes a huge difference when you are just learning how to sew. (h.jpg) (i.jpg) Attachments ---------------- h.jpg (86KB - 156 downloads) i.jpg (96KB - 156 downloads) | ||
BUCKET |
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New User Posts: 3 | Brilliant. | ||
57burb |
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Expert Posts: 3967 Location: DFW, TX | You've done an amazing job on the interior, too! | ||
59Firedome |
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Member Posts: 46 Location: Gooding, ID | Incredible from start to finish! Always help to think outside the box when working on these projects, and on a budget | ||
GaryS |
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Expert Posts: 1207 Location: Ponder, TX | Very nice! | ||
60 dart |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8947 Location: WHEELING,WV.>>>HOME OF WWVA | there are a ton of variables that need to be overcome for the beginner upholsterer . people think ya just put thread on a machine and its done . i got one more seat back to do on my swivel seats in red and white leather with a sailrite machine its got a smaller operating throat but anything that will fit under the foot , it'll sew , even 5/16" leather ---------------------------------------later | ||
Windsor59 |
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Expert Posts: 2596 Location: Upplands Väsby, Sweden | I have to say, you've done an impressive job. Fulfilled your dream car. But little money and a lot of energy. | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | Put in a little more work on my 59 vert. The 1964 dash was maroon from the factory and because of its shape I would need to either remove the windshield or take the dash out to paint it. Heater control valve was leaking and I was having problems with the gauges. Voltage regulator in the fuel gauge went out and I never could get reliable readings from the electric oil pressure gauge despite changing the sending unit multiple times. I hate working under dashboards and these early 60's Dodge dashes are frustratingly hard to work on,lots of small hard to reach screws so I decided to replace the 64 dash with one I had kept from the 59 Dodge parts car. 1964 wiring harness was more modern with molded plastic push on connectors rather than studs and nuts. As I wanted to do as little work as possible I just removed the switches from the 64 dash leaving them attached to the wiring harness and moved them in to the 59 instrument panel after I had it installed. Had to drill 5 or 6 new mounting holes but it was all pretty straight forward. Wanted to use the 59 steering wheel and as the splines were a different size on the steering wheel shaft I cut out the center of the 64 wheel and welded it to the 59 wheel. Removed the transmission park selector from the push button shift unit and relocated it on the left side on the dash to mirror the sliding heat control lever on the right side. Still a few loose wires for the radio and interior lights but the interior now looks 100% correct and I guess that's the point of a clone after all... | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | trying again on pix (IMG_2346.jpg) Attachments ---------------- IMG_2346.jpg (138KB - 91 downloads) | ||
Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | Amazing Scott! Amazing! This is a great illustration of why we should not limit the website to 1955 - 1961. That cowl is the definitive element of ForwardLookers. | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | What makes it all worthwhile, Fall colors Denver Colorado (IMG_2361 (1).jpg) (IMG_2365.jpg) Attachments ---------------- IMG_2361 (1).jpg (231KB - 74 downloads) IMG_2365.jpg (233KB - 68 downloads) | ||
scottbit |
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Veteran Posts: 166 | oops (IMG_2365 (1).jpg) Attachments ---------------- IMG_2365 (1).jpg (238KB - 69 downloads) | ||
57burb |
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Expert Posts: 3967 Location: DFW, TX | Incredible!! I love this car and its story. Great job. | ||
Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | scottbit - 2022-10-17 4:28 PM What makes it all worthwhile, Fall colors Denver Colorado Fo shizzle! (07.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 07.jpg (234KB - 63 downloads) | ||
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