'55 International Metal/Body/Paint Work

[duallyjams]

That's going to look so good when color on it.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

That's going to look so good when color on it.

I can't wait!! I'm getting the front header panel welded in tomorrow then I can start the panel straightening since all the metal replacement will be done and it'll hold it's own shape. The inside of the bed and the top rails will be shot with color matched Line-X so there will only be minimal bodywork to do there- that stuff hides minor waves/ripples. There won't be much area to block sand that way so bodywork won't take all that long. Still not sure what we'll do about a tailgate. Can't find one so I may end up making it.


When this one is finished I get to start body/paint on a '58 VW Bug Ragtop. Supposed to be rust free and straight, stored in a dry garage for years... I won't know how to act with no rust to fix!!

[theastronaut]

Here's the process of making the header panel. I used 18g and made it in three sections since it wouldn't fit in our bead roller in one piece. Making it in three pieces also allowed me to work out any distortion around the rolled bead in the shrinker/stretcher.


The bottom part of the original header was completely rusted off and stayed with the lower cross brace, that's why its much shorter than the new pieces.




Laid out the stamping pattern for rolling using 1/4" offset dies.




First of three panels rolled. I only rolled the depth of the bead 1/8" to minimize warping. The bead roller has a 20 gauge limit so I also didn't want to push the roller to do something it wasn't designed to do.






Aligned for welding.