Colorado Melons

Knowing that at some point I would have to cut the glass for the ’51 I determined that some glass cutting practice would be a good thing. 

I have cut laminated safety glass in the past using the traditional method of scoring and snapping each side and then burning the laminate with alcohol or lighter fluid.  This method worked out so well for me that I have been looking for some time into an alternate method of cutting automotive glass. 

A number of years ago I attempted to cut some old flat safety glass that came out of a school bus.  I used a four inch angle grinder, the same one that I am still using to grind weld beads.  I did manage to cut the glass but the abrasive heated the glass up to the point that the abrasive wheel was throwing off fiberglass strands.  At least I learned how to make fiberglass!  The heat also made what I call “herring bone” cracks all along the cut.  None of the cracks went into the usable glass area because they arced along the cut line.  My plan was to try to sand them off.   Continue Reading »

 I have made progress on various parts of the ’51 and have lost track of what parts have been documented and what parts haven’t.  The top chop and door opening job was done on a fill in basis between other things that were happening.  Life is like that sometimes.

When I decided to widen the cowl I also needed to widen the windshield opening.  The chopped windshield posts remained where they were and needed no changes.  I put the driver’s side windshield post in place with my normal inside reinforcing plates.  After it was all welded in I stood back and discovered that the post was not straight.   No matter how I turned my head the post still was not straight.  The only way that it looked right was if I turned the lights off.  Figuring that at some point the truck would be outside in the day time I cut the post loose and took a second stab at it.  Look twice and weld once. 

In the middle of all this confusion Continue Reading »

After widening the cowl and windshield area on the truck I realized that the ’85 Nissin Z car windshield that was slated to be installed in the truck was too narrow by about four inches.  This realization resulted in returning to the junkyard (my favorite shopping place) with a note pad, tape liar and camera. 

 I knew that I needed Continue Reading »

I had a long weekend and so actually got most of the “gotta do” things done.  This resulted in time to go parts hunting at the old car junkyard. 

Parts hunting is interesting because you don’t need a license and the bag limit depends on the size of the truck that you brought with you.  I have been known to take the Miata when going to the junkyard, thus limiting the amount of “gotta have it” stuff that follows me home.

I was specifically looking for trim pieces for the ’63 Mercury dash that I am intending to install in the truck.  I got the instrument cluster a year ago at the big Denver swap meet.  It has some serious wow factor.  I like it because of the ‘50s art deco look with lots of chrome.  It also has a lot of “shape”. Continue Reading »

After getting the lucky special wheels for the ’51 I determined that the truck was too narrow.  Clearly the problem was not with the wheel width.

 The proper course of action at that point was to make the truck wider.  The problem was that I had already welded the cowl to the frame.  I got to use my plasma cutter to remove the beautiful cowl mounts that I had recently fabricated and installed.  The plasma cutter is quick but not neat. 

After I got the cowl cut loose I noticed Continue Reading »

Somewhere along the way I decided that the ’51 needed a cool steering wheel.  The stock one was good at pointing the truck but it was big and ugly. Did I mention that it was ugly?

I was thinking about a wheel like the one that was in my first car a ’57 Lincoln Premier.  It had lots of chrome, black and white two tone and a really neat emblem in the center.  After a brief internet search I found a picture of one and discovered that the years had improved the look of the wheel in my memory.  Sometimes you don’t want to look at cherished memories too closely. The Lincoln wheel did have lots of chrome and a neato emblem but it was almost as big as the truck wheel. Continue Reading »

It seems that I went to the big swap meet in Denver a couple weeks ago.  You know that it’s going to be really interesting when a story starts like that.  None of my boys could make it.  Something about sorting socks in the sock drawer or something of equal importance.  My wife wanted to go to a sewing and fabric show that was just up the street from the swap meet.  The result was that I was turned loose in the biggest swap meet of the year with no adult supervision.  And I had a pocket full of cash, a really bad combination. Continue Reading »