Boss 9 Tribute

[Cantedvalve 128]

Our quarter panels are doing the same thing.  Very tight to the rockers, mostly towards the back.  Everything else lines up very well, save the passenger outer wheel well.  It wants to be 1/4" rearwards from flush vs the inner.  We arent that concerned with it unless someone tells us to be.  These cars werent hand built, and I dont expect them to go together the same way twice.  Quarter panels are the same height on both sides (as measured to a specific point that I cannot describe well) and match my other 1970.

I wouldnt mind rotating the quarter panel towards the front (lifting the rear), as it would help with the trunk drop off match, but even that is pretty good the way it is.  I can definitely weld it into place without having to force it though.

[Viperpete 39]

Wow it's been a while. I've finally finished my winter/spring projects and am back on the car. The roof panel needing those cuts and the drivers side quarter panel where it meets the rocker having that gap has been bugging me since I originally fitted the parts. On a hunch I went to NPD and bought another new roof panel. Plopped right on with an excellent fit! 

I have been told that I need to get my doors fitting very very well before welding and even go as far as putting all the window guts in and being able to lower and raise the window into the seal to make sure it has a good fit. So, the passenger side went really easily since the quarter panel fitted against the rocker tightly. I also realized through lots of cursing and wasted time that the door striker can be adjusted DOH! Wow that made a really huge difference in how quickly I could get the doors lined up. Once I figured it out, getting them aligned was a piece of cake. Now I am aware that once I assemble the door guts they will be heavier and I will have to re-adjust, but I am going to take this win because the gaps are great and the lines are straight. 

I also took the opportunity while the quarter panel was off to pull both quarter's together another 1/16th-1/8" inch to get them as close to the factory glass opening width as possible. Pretty much nailed it. 

I am hoping that the door interior assembly goes smoothly and that the door glass goes into the door seal tightly. Once that is done I'll fit the fenders and hood one last time to make sure everything is straight before I take it all apart again to start welding! 

[Viperpete 39]

Update!

 

Installed the power windows and the seals and got the windows adjusted pretty darn good. I went through 6 pairs of door runs to find some that made the window arc correctly. The aftermarket stuff just didn't work well. I ended up using a combination of original and aftermarket door runs. The windows move FAST. Unexpectedly fast. Still cool Got the doors aligned with the seals in too. 

 

 

 

Test fitted fenders and hood for the final time before welding. I ended up buying another pair of new fenders. It didn't make much sense to me to have original fenders that need work to look new, when everything else on the car was new. The new fenders did require some removal of material on the inside support and I had to shave some of the side cowl to get them to fit nicely. Overall i'm happy with them now. 

 

 

I've been doing a lot of welding. Hundreds of spot welds. Hundreds.... I unfortunately put too many holes in the outer rockers. I also don't really like how small the holes are. I would occasionally hear a POP when id move to another area to weld which means I didn't have great penetration on some of them. So, once I get the car on the rotisserie I will seam weld the rockers together for additional strength. I still have a lot of grinding to do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made sense to paint the inner side cowls while it's easy.

 

 

 

 

I also noticed that the outer cowls have these 2 overlapping seams from manufacturing. I welded them up. 

 

 

Passenger side torqued box was a pain. I had to slice the bottom of the inner torque box where it meets up with the frame rail because it was way too low. Could been a combination of a couple things. Poorly stamped firewall, or the torque box. Either way, I made it work. Welded it up and then painted.

 

 

 

Floor jack was very helpful to position the outer torque box and get it right against the firewall 

 

 

 

 

Driver's side went in great. Minimal cutting or shaving required. 

 

 

 

I also noticed that the front of the rocker had moved away from the frame rail and the outer torque box didn't butt up to the rocker. It was out by about 1/2". I used some tow straps (need 3 of them) to pull it back in, and then tacked in the torque box. 

 

 

Been working on the lower and upper cowl. Got the lower positioned. Drilled the holes, welded it in then seam sealed and painted. Paint, seam seal, paint, seam seal, paint. Lots of layers of protection around the hat and also where the lower cowl was welded to the side cowls incase there were any pinholes from the welds. 

 

 

 

 

I also seam sealed and painted the gaps/crevices inside the side cowls. There was no way I could weld them from the inside. At least now though water cannot pool in the crevices and is as protected as I could make it. 

 

 

 

Prepping upper cowl. Drilled holes, deburred the holes, and also gave the inside a couple more coats of paint.

 

 

 

Lower cowl prepped for welding

 

[Viperpete 39]

Couple video updates. Basically summarizing the pics etc.

https://youtu.be/O3bN7jsS_us

and

https://youtu.be/5M4nBLu_bvw

Also,

My wife and I were in Michigan for a Bob Lutz celebration which was held in a couple of the Yankee Air Museums hangers. I bumped into a B17 pilot and before we knew it, we were in the plane Taxing to the hanger and I got an opportunity to take some incredible photos.

https://youtu.be/lHjJGgK33N8

We also stopped by Mustangs to Fear on the way home and met Ken and the MTF crew. Great shop. Was well worth the visit :) 

We also stopped by Jon Kasse Racing Engines in Georiga. We discussed the engine build for next year. What an amazing facility. 

[Viperpete 39]

Been working on the car a bunch.

Here's 2 videos that sum up what I've been up to.

https://youtu.be/c7xi6lAeIog?si=7piREKf66bLOQOgO

 and

https://youtu.be/2JQDAicumKE?si=vPEpMBB9NPo-oz-W

Began dynamatting inside of rear quarters and rear structure to quiet down the car

 

Prepped for welding!

 

Not thrilled with how this panel goes together. Will have to rework it later

Ready to come off table

 

Thankfully my lift had one more lift left in it before the seals blew lol

 

Mounting the rotisserie

Mounted!

 

Still SO MUCH welding to go. But i'm having a great time. 

[Viperpete 39]

Couple update videos and a how-to remove spot welds and brackets 

https://youtu.be/wgC8H-A39Ws?si=dSXYmbRmWhUD6Qeo

 

https://youtu.be/cEKcho8l3xo?si=SMVFAfh27e2N6z-K

[Viperpete 39]

Time for an Update!!!

 

ok so a lot has gone on with the car since the last update. Roof is on, Minitubs are in, back seat brackets are in, doors are lined up, drip rails are welded in.... probably other stuff. Watch the vid!

 

 

https://youtu.be/tvYvJukCYxo

 

 

My obsessiveness with symmetry is really paying off. 

 

Here are some pics of the progress:

 

 

 

 

I am ecstatic with how well the rear of the car came together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doors are finally properly aligned. This was a lot of work figuring out why the dr side would not mate with the quarter. Explanation in the video. (had to cut out some metal to make it fit property)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike65 504]

Nice work Pete, it is looking good.

[Viperpete 39]

Quick update. 

 

Car is back on the rotisserie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underside of chassis has been stripped of the weld through primer. What a colossal task that was. Looks good! Filled in a lot of small holes, did a lot of grinding. Roll bar is in, backseat brackets are welded. Exhaust hanger reinforcement plates are in. 

 

 

Found a neat way to mount the rotisserie to the rear frame using some spare 2005 Dodge Ram urethane upper control arm bushings. Fit in the holes perfectly. Had to cut down the metal sleave a little bit but I am very happy with the result. 

 

 

 

Next up is cleaning underside with prep-sol type stuff and painting with primer. 

 

 

Watch the vids for a lot more details

 

https://youtu.be/w6DxflYxwmw

 

https://youtu.be/xsFQVcGD6-0

[Viperpete 39]

August update!

 

Haven't done much because its miserable to work in the shop in the summer. Had a coolish day last weekend and did some work on the car!!

 

Got the fenders/cowl/hood/headlight buckets fitted. I'm pretty happy with how they are fitting. Nice straight lines. Except the door gaps. I have decided that I am going to let the body man do the gaps. I honestly don't want to deal with it. If I get the gaps perfect, and then the body man decides that something needs to be adjusted or whatever, then those gaps will have to be redone anyway. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not thrilled with how the hoodscoop fits. I might try making one out of metal...

 

 

 

 

And the video update!!!

 

https://youtu.be/WKP0ds7rQns

 

 

[RPM 1,247]

Other than the find craftsmanship on the scoop, she's looking real nice.

[Vicfreg 791]

Nice work!   Yeah, that head scoop is not right, the front edge corners should not be rounded up they should be flat. I would send it back to where you got it from and look for another one.