Thanks


Its funny you say that. Just the other day I had a conversation with a customer about how much work we actually forget we did after the car is done. You don't realize 4 guys worked full time on 1 project for a 1 calendar year to do all the many things we forget about once its all done.

I'm just glad to have customers who understand enough to pay the bills and stand in line to build one car after the other. Both of these cars are going under the knife very soon for repeat customers. If I had the man power we would be starting on them now. That blows my mind more then anything.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...12-2014031.jpg

1st coat of primer.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20004.jpg

Amazing work as always Roger,love these cars:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Rodger would it be possible to detail the welding? the heat setting , pulse or no pulse , foot controller , tungsten size , hey thanks Darrin

I'm gonna guess your meaning sheetmetal.

I find as a starting point you set you welder for every .001 material thickness with steel you run one amp. So .065 steel is set at 65 amps or .125 steel is 125 amps. This is just a base line for the amperage you can adjust with your with your pedal. So guys foot pulse the weld, so they will do 7 pumps and weld about 3/4 to 1 inch and cool it off with water or compressed air. Tungsten size really doesn't matter a bunch on thinner stuff but a small tungsten will carry a lower voltage a bit more stable and a big tungsten will carry a larger amp load for thicker material.

All of the settings and tungsten doesn't mean a thing if you can't cut and fit the sheetmetal tightly. If the gap is bigger it will require you to adjust everything and put alot more heat into the panel which will mean that it is more distorted then it should or could be. You have to do everything to minimize your heat. Put the least amount of heat into the panel means the less your gonna have to fix with a hammer and dolly or shrinking wheel or a rose bud.

When I bring a new guy in only let the guy tack parts together for a few weeks until I know he can control his heat. If he has to do these big ass tacks that have huge heat affected zones he is not going to be welding just yet.

Tig welding is all about fit up for all material thickness's. Fit up, Fit up, Fit up.

The way you chopped the body blows me away.The car looks sinister all slimmed-down.One of the best 55 builds I've ever seen...fantastic work by you and your crue...

Thanks I have wanted to do this to a 55 Chevy for years. Its a huge task and has to be done with in reason. Too much and it looks funny and to little and its a waste of time. We have done this to 4 or 5 cars over the years. If done right it give it a killer stance but most people will have no idea what was really done to the car. The front bumper on this car is physically 3 inch lower then stock in relation to the rocker.

This is why you guys are some of the best in the business. As I said way back at the beginning of this thread, I'd have no idea what was done to the car if you hadn't shown it to us. I think in so many instances, the best built cars are the ones you almost don't realize are heavily modified when looking at them.

I got to say Raga, you are really out doing yourself on this one.....

Thanks guys. Like I always say, we can only be as good as the customer will let us. Greg is a great friend and customer. And he is hooked on cars real bad.

Some engine progress.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20002.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20003.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20007.jpg

Bad ass!!

This has become one of my all time favorite tri fives- I dig the show car versus gasser vibe you guys injected into this build. Engine looks bitchin dipped in orange.

Thanks Guys. I'm not sure these pictures convey how bright this orange is. I love it.

the orange looks great, any idea on an interior color?:popcorn2:

There is only one option for this car. Black with MAYBE white stitching.

Rodger thankyou on your reply re-welding , went straight out and got a foot control , will make a difference for sure also the actual technique the foot pumps cool the weld hey thanks again ohh the 55 what hasn't been said if I could grind up a weld like you guys id be happy

Well it appears the 55 has already made it's first cover. I'm pretty stoked to see this long time vision I have had be so well received.

Cool stuff. Next months Street Rodder Magazine.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...ne%20Cover.jpg

Congrats... That's Awesome news. Good job.

I was just looking at this months and thought it would be cool if they had something different besides a 30's street rod on the cover.

That car deserves it. It's different and has imagination infused in every part.

Now I just need to know what the "underline deck" means.

"THE UNDERLINE DECK DESCRIBING THESE REALLY REALLY REALLY COOL CARS"

Reminds me of a famous quote from Derek Zoolander -

"I don't know, lately sometimes I think that maybe there's more to life than just being really, really, really good looking"

That orange block and heads is killer.

Looks like GW's 40 is getting close also....

Car looks great Rodger, that Orange is something else! This is one 55 that needs to be seen in person.

Rodger
The amount of custom work you did to make it look stock is unbelievable!
Love it, great job, can't wait to see what's next.

Mike

:lol: now that is funny...

Thanks, I kinda drawn to orange.



Thanks Guys. My crew is really doing a great job with this project. I joke that we spend a lot of money making things look like there not there. It seems crazy to take some Billet machined do-dad and powder coat of paint it semi gloss black to make it look old.

We are fine tuning the bodywork and trim fit up. The car is coming together nicely.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20005.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20006.jpg

We are trying to fix a few issues like these. This crap makes me loose sleep at night.
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20002.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20001.jpg

Are you talking about the consistency of the gap or am I missing the obvious? I thought you had gap spray on hand to get your perfect gaps dialed in? :D

Don

The gap on the trim is at a different angle then the hood line. Its a factory issue. But it still bugs me to no end.

The consistency also bugs me.

I think the angle on the trim is determined by the draft angles of the casting. Not too much that can be done to avoid that sort of thing unless you modify and replate it.

Don

There is nothing a welder and some talent cant fix.

I've got the welder but come up short on the other ingredient. :D No shortage of that on your team for sure.

Don

THEY NEVER EVER FIT - as in EVER.... from the factory.... or from the aftermarket. Cut to cure. End of story. Big dollar cars make that in brass.... slim it down a bit - and make it fit like it's supposed to. '56 and '57 are even worse because they use a bigger piece there.

"Cut Modify Replate".... sounds like a TV show Dan Woods would host??

Time to let this girl dry for the weekend.


http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20001.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20003.jpg
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20005.jpg

I have had a few inquiries as to how we went about painting the engine and the aluminum parts like the radiator.

With the radiator and aluminum parts we typically send out the part to be powder coated with some kind of primer. This way they blast the tanks or aluminum parts and then coat the aluminum parts with a primer that is baked on. We have found this to work the best. The obviously don't blast the fins of those come back still clean. But you can do the surround and the tanks on things like radiators, and AC condensors. We also do it on anything smooth that is aluminum as we feel the "BITE" of the primer is better with the blasting and heat for the part with primer. We then stack any needed body work on top. Here are some parts we had blasted and primed that I have pictures of.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20009.jpg

Here it is with body work on a 2nd coat of epoxy primer. We are letting the body fill dry before sanding.
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...uction-01l.jpg

You can see the top billet aluminum piece in primer. We really shouldn't have any body work on a billet part.
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20006.jpg

Now the unpainted fins of the Condensor or Radiator in this project will get sprayed with Krylon to keep the cooling capacity to the highest level with the thickest paint. I had a guy at a radiator shop once tell me they cool better in black spray paint, not sure I believe him. But there is nothing worse then seeing aluminum fins through the grille opening of a car.

Now the engine and manifold parts go through the long deburring process. They are then shot in epoxy primer. The primer is given a good couple days to fully dry and since we are not body working the engine we shoot a minimum coat of sealer and the regular base coat clear. And really just enough to cover the engine.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...2015%20001.jpg


I help that answers your questions.

It came out really nice. Roger is there a clear that can be used over the aluminum by its self just to make the engine easier to keep clean?

If you mean over the polish aluminum, I'm sure there is. But we wont have much polished or exposed aluminum on this car.

They have some clear powder coat for polished wheels

It's awesome that it's finally getting some color but damn what a shame it looked sweet bare metal.

🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊 can't wait to see some ORANGE paint on Gregs fiddy five