1938 Cadillac build ! Not org

[Bb70charger500]

Ok guys a few og you showed interest in my Caddy when I bought it said you wanted to see a build thread , not sure how fast/ slow this will go since the baby I just had is my main priority but I was given a few hours yesterday,today ,and timotomo to work on it ,so I started the body mods !

So what we have is a 1938 Cadillac 4 door org flat head v8 3 on the tree . Kinda boring.
The flat head was frozen solid I tried sàving it with all my skill it just was to far so to save money as this is a budget build I bought a low milage chevy 305 and 700r4 . 60000 on set trany lost 2 nd gear ! So I sold it for $100 found another with 15000 miles on it since it was rebuilt for $250 , resealed motor checked motor out replaced timing chain and oil pump ,lost the tune port crap installed a carb setup. Bolted up new everything else water pump ,dist, so on ! Trans looks good but for my own piece of mind I put in input and output seals ,filter and gasket!

Ok on to the body so I took off front steel to gain access to the old motor tore it out and all the other non needed parts then gutted the interior as not to catch fire .

I gutted both driver side doors and cut the Piller post out .

 

[Bb70charger500]

So the name of the game is to chop the top about 2-3 " , extend the front door about 3-4" and weld up the rear doors .
Kinda like this picture

Yes I know car is shorter in picture it's staying normal length .
Fender mounted spares are staying also !

I also have a full air ride setup for the car to get it nice and low , and satin black paint for it !
I'll be shaving the key holes and handles adding door poppers and I tink I want suicide doors on it too!
So here's what I did today only had a few hours and my helper was asking alot of ?'s and causing alot of gref but he's 11 and wants to learn so if it takes me more time so be it !

 

[Bb70charger500]

So this is the car that got me on this
hot rod/rat rod /whatever rod kick

 

[Bb70charger500]

So we moved the Bottom of the center post back, cut 7.25 " out of pass door welded in post and just test fit the two halves in the hole need a tiny trim and I can weld them up !
Next step cut front door in half and weld in the 7 .25 I cut out of rear into the center ! I then need to brace up the rear door she'll a bit as I want to hang the front as a suicide so it needs some beef back there !

My helper was happy to get to cut the center post out with the cut off wheel and clean the metal up to prep for welding! He's very excited about this project.
He actually came with me to buy it and haggled the price down by $600 after I got done getting $1000 off ! Useful kid !!!

 

[Bb70charger500]

Well today's adventure not to much gutted pass doors took window frames off took out front glass ! Cut top of center post off and marked out my lines for the roof chop ! I'm taking 3" out of it as of now we will see how it looks ! No I didn't weld the driver's side x rear door up yet just in case I want to shorten it a bit more I'll see what it looks like after roof chop !
Again helper is thrilled to death ! He hammered the glass out ! Hopefully tomorrow I will get to the chop top ! And if time permits I will to pass rear door nip and tuck !

 

[Bb70charger500]

What do you guys think so far this is my first time doing this kind of thing usally it's just resto stuff never any major body modes ! I hope it turns out ok hate it if I ruined a perfectly good caddy for practice!

 

[RT68440]

Looking good! Sometimes you just have to start cutting and moving things to see what looks good. It's only metal, you can cut and weld it again if you don't like something!

 

[Bb70charger500]

Well got 3" cut out of the roof today! Everything seems to be exactly where I wanted it ! Now I need to trim 3" from the center of the body to get the a pillars to line back up . I decided this would be the easiest route instedi of adding 3" to the roof ! I will also take 3" more out of the rear door area to accommodate the new cuts witch was part of the org plan I was trying to skip the 3" out of the center ! I will then take 3" out of the frame to finish up the cutting! Then we're on to welding! Sadly I think I need to retire my weld PAC it's not getting the metal hot enough I need to pre heat to get good welds as of now !
I'm getting excited it's starting to look like the photo shopped version!!

 

[Bb70charger500]

Well I'm retiring my old Lincoln welder I bought this guy does mig,Tig ,

and stick

 

[YY1]

from HF?

I noticed they are re-branding most of their stuff.

...and raising their prices.

 

[Bb70charger500]

Yeah it had very good revews a friend of mine bought one a while back and uses it every day all day and it's geeag he says

 

[Bb70charger500]

So I took the roof off to get it out of the way. I now need to cut 3" out of the floor to get the roof to fit again so now I started that .
Also at my swap meet I found this dagger I'm turning it into my new hood ornament !

 

[YY1]

she looks cold

 

[Bb70charger500]

So I cut 3" out of the floor pan and the driver's rear door. Got it pushed back together to test fit the roof ! All looks good so far !

Also had a guy on the hamb.com fix up my rendering.
So here's what we should look like when were done!

He did this too I like the fender skirts

 

[Bb70charger500]

Roughed in the roof welds got the b pillar moved back and the rear door welded in it's looking good I think I need to split the front door and weld in the 7" I took out of the rear . I'm waiting on the suicide door kit (with poppers) to show up to get all that welded in place why I have the door shell opened up !

 

[YY1]

progress is good

 

[Bb70charger500]

My suicide door kit showed up I got the top in place and attached to the door

 

[Bb70charger500]

Now I got a bit more time to type .
So I cut the back 7" off the driver door so I can add in the other 7 1/4 " part I had from the rear door! And to give me access to the inside edge of door so I can secure the suicide hinge parts to the old door structure! I will add the kits were $100-$600 I got a cheaper one $150 (this came with door poppers ) I am quite pleased with this kit ! Of course no instructions but then again when you cut a car up this much there's no instructions to help put it back together!!!
So like always I'm winging it ! I will get the lower hinge mounted and solid up then beef up the b pillar area to support that monster of a door . Then stich it back together !

 

[Bb70charger500]

Ok so driver side is tac ed in some things sured up first few pics foot is able to open suicide ! Last two I has a latch mech in it now and shuts and locks!
I also scored a split bench seat today for $100 5 mins from my house out of a 50 Chevy it fits nicely !

 

[Bb70charger500]

Ok boys (and girls)
I have started messing with my caddy again.
I decided to start with the frame first getting back into this !
So there was alot of ???????? On this so i
Had the org frame. I want to put air ride on this car and the rear leafs caused issue as did the knee auction shocks up front! So what do I do ?
I hear Camaro / trans am sub frames fit very good !
Well there about $500 and that only accommodated the front. So I hunted for a g body with rear coils to just do a frame swap !
Well I came up with a 1979 el co (for free)
Perfect so I thought!
Frame ended up being wider in the center!
So I cut front and rear off of that frame. The rear section measure out almost perfect! The front well not so much , I wasn't happy and went back to the search . I was in search for the elusive f body front sub frame I've been told fits perfectly!
Well I came up with a 79 Camaro in a junk yard 30 mins away . Made a deal on this car and it's parts guy wanted $1700 I got it for $700 (figured I'd part out car)
Then the good news it had two sub frames so I kept one and gave the car to my helper kid as his first car(different thread)
So I have been measuring cutting and welding for 3 days (sat sun and today)
I got the front frame spliced in fairly easily!
The rear was a bit harder (I used the el co rear section) but after hours of scratching my head I finally saw an end game!
And decided well I've looked at it long enough and went to town !

I've never done this kinda thing before I've always done nut and bolt resto work with slight mods like brakes or motor mods .

So here's some pictures
The rear isn't set 100% yet but I've pulled the tape a few times and my numbers are coming back perfect!!!!!
So I had to stop as I ran out of gas at 6:35 and the gas shop closes at 6:30
So Sat I will get it welded up and plated!
I'll get the frame finished up set motor trans in plumb out brakes and fuel system !
Obviously get the air ride in place then get the body back in main shop and frame stuck out in the back garage.