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The Elephant In The Room: unloading the load from a B-body.

fullmetaljacket said:
A fiend at making all things perfect and straight, "The Palm Reader" as I call him, applied little of the body filler to hide the numerous pot marks from curious knuckles and a lot of patient sanding over and over again.

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Lightweight apron ready for its closeup.

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fullmetaljacket said:
All aboard.
Photo credit: John Machaqueiro

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fullmetaljacket said:
All aboard.
Photo credit: John Machaqueiro

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fourgearsavoy said:
I remember when you were going to get those fenders what 10 years ago?

Gus
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Yes. It was about that, 10 years or so.
When a friend of mine found the fenders on the net and told me about their availability, I was on the horn with the guy like tomorrow. The fenders were located in New Mexico and I in Brooklyn. We settled on a price and after all the excitement of having my first pair of Chrysler historical relics, reality hit me over the head, How can I get such delicate items shipped to Zoo York.

I tried finding a reputable and affordable crating and shipping company. $$$$$$$$$$ plus time.

I tried arranging a fly in and drive back scenario with me renting a one way drop off Van. Lots of red tape and $$$$.

What option was to be left??????? I'm driving out there..........but with what?

Long story short, Thinking that I might have to take a tarnished but reliable 80's Police package Diplomat that still runs like a top to this day and fetch them myself, I went into a now or never mode. I changed and topped off the oil, checked all other fluids, changed hoses and belts. Thereafter, I borrowed a single plastic Recarro bucket racing seat from a friend and proceeded to strip both the front bench and rear seats out of the Diplomat you see below gassing up somewhere on Route #66.
I left on a Friday morning at 12:AM and arrived in New Mexico that same weekend on Sunday afternoon. Thinking I would probably be strapping them to the roof, I brought a few sound blankets and come along straps. Low and behold, the two tender fenders which I wrapped up in sound blankets and packing tape slipped comfortably right into the interior of the Dippy.
I paid the stunned man, shook his hand and the Dippy and I dipped into the sunset to arrive back in New York sometime on Tuesday.
Safe to say I was wonderstruck and feeling the wafer thin edges all the way home. I'm surprised I didn't get pulled over by any LEO's for distracted driving.

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Dan64 said:
Sometimes you just got to "Make it happen".
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You've got that right. Sometimes "it's gotta happen" even against pushback from friends, family, the elements and even self doubt.
Not to say that I wasn't grilled by the seller as to "Why is this young man interested in these items that belong to our exclusive NO MEMBERS ALLOWED club" I promised him that I wasn't a flipper or a hoarder which could be worse.
Several rare historical pieces that are on the car I had to take several "May Day Dives" over the years. Lots of prohibition and laughter thrown at me.
In most cases, I would have had better luck getting past the velvet ropes at Studio 54 back in the day than trying to persuade these gents to part with their rare parts. I realized early on that these rare parts being traded, bought or salivated amongst certain individuals are not allowed to go outside the wire, so I broke out the wire cutters.

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fullmetaljacket said:
You've got that right. Sometimes "it's gotta happen" even against pushback from friends, family, self doubt and the elements.
Not to say that I wasn't grilled by the seller as to "Why is this young man interested in these items that belong to our exclusive NO MEMBERS ALLOWED club" I promised him that I wasn't a flipper or a hoarder which could be worse.
Several rare historical pieces that are on the car I had to take several "May Day Dives" over the years. Lots of prohibition and laughter thrown at me.
In most cases, I would have had better luck getting past the velvet ropes at Studio 54 back in the day than trying to persuade these gents to part with their rare parts. I realized early on that these rare parts being traded, bought or salivated amongst certain individuals are not allowed to go outside the wire, so I broke out the wire cutters.

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Up top and front. 4.40 ounces removed. Plastic headlights with their relays and all didn't warrant the switch over especially since now there were only two lights instead of four aka on the A-990 menu, so Tungsten glass units got the nod.

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Just want to say I highly appreciate the obsession/attention to detail here.

Makes me feel like I'm not alone :luvplace:
 
INTMD8 said:
Just want to say I highly appreciate the obsession/attention to detail here.

Makes me feel like I'm not alone :luvplace:
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I'm curious to see/read of the tricks you are applying.
You don't happen to be the owner of that black Charger that competes in RoadKill?
 
fullmetaljacket said:
Up top and front. 4.40 ounces removed.

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In essence, what has been done here isn't high tech at all. The repurposing or modifying of existing PARTS has been in PART a huge PART of hot rodding for over 100 years now. If everything was store bought, then only the wealthy could play and boredom would soon set in. Heck! even the factory coulda/shoulda done this kind of stuff back in their day with much more recourses at hand. Perhaps Dick Landy got close, but it seems like most folk were hurrying and scurrying to get their respective race cars out on the playing fields.
Heck! heck! if I was of age and in the running back then, I would have had most of those boyz covered while being undercover.......but I guess I might be California Dreamin' LOL.
 
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What I truly appreciate and love about your method here is the detail and care you put into each item. Those headlight buckets are simply beautiful. It isn't just a bunch of holes hacked into the metal, (which may accomplish the same thing), but the symmetry and cleanness of the overall results. It's a shame that these are hidden from view when mounted on the car. Amazing.
 
The hiding in plain sight is just perfect. Stock look but yet hungry for more. The setail as mentioned above is what makes the hobby great at so many levels. Thinking outside the standard box is what makes this interesting. Like headlight buckets come on how ingenious is that.
 
Badvert65 said:
What I truly appreciate and love about your method here is the detail and care you put into each item. Those headlight buckets are simply beautiful. It isn't just a bunch of holes hacked into the metal, (which may accomplish the same thing), but the symmetry and cleanness of the overall results. It's a shame that these are hidden from view when mounted on the car. Amazing.
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Thank you.
Yeah, the objective is to not hack at something but to make it a questionable sight seen or unseen. By getting symmetrical and neat, it could be questionable if it is factory or not. Speaking of factory parts, there's a guy on here, I believe his handle is Mopar John who has a fast mostly all steel '70 GTX made up of mostly the lightest (regular production) parts available. It's called "Bitter Lime" IIRC. I'll try and find an example and post up. This guy is really out of his mind. Makes the tricks on here look small mind you.
When it comes to questioning, I myself question why so much work goes into this just to hide it?....... Oh I forgot, this is racing. LOL.
 
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fullmetaljacket said:
Thank you.
Yeah, the objective is to not hack at something but to make it a questionable sight seen or unseen. By getting symmetrical and neat, it could be questionable if it is factory or not. Speaking of factory parts, there's a guy on here, I believe his handle is GTX John who has a fast '70 GTX made up of mostly cultivated lightest (regular production) parts available. I'll try and find an example and post up. This guy is really out of his mind. Makes the tricks on here look small mind you.
When it comes to questioning, I myself question why so much work goes into this just to hide it?....... Oh I forgot, this is racing. LOL.
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GTX must have worked in or lived by a storage/stock warehouse to be able to go through these grueling evaluations. Talk about having time........... or even access to parts. Maddening.
Attached below is what I call "The Devil Is In The Details". Enough of this practice can convince the theory of 1600 places to remove an ounce removes a 100 pounds. When I saw this, I dropped my mic.
In the process what was learned is that different farmed out manufacturers make the same part either with different materials and sizes or less of the same material.
Case in point, the tiny traditional and original lower passenger fender pentastar emblems were made out of some kind of tin metal, the new repros are lightweight plastic. LOL.
Later on I'll post the difference of attire between different camps. It will bring it all together along with some laughter.

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POMONAMISSEL said:
did they put thin glass in the cars , as the darts n barracudas did in the hemi cars ?
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Yes they did.
Bubble plexiglas for the windshield and thin plexiglas for the sides on the (8 total) 2% FX'rs and no side door vent windows.
The (12 total) '65 AFX hardtops including one sedan also had plexiglas windshields and side glass with no vents.
2% cars might have had thin rear light window glass.
Regular production windshields on the '64 A-864 and '65 A-990 Hemi cars along with thin corning glass for the sides. Rear window was stock on some and thin corning on others.
 
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fullmetaljacket said:
Yes they did.
Bubble plexiglas for the windshield and thin plexiglas for the sides on the (8 total) 2% FX'rs and no side door vent windows.
The (12 total) '65 AFX'rs hardtops including one sedan also had plexiglas windshields and side glass with no vents.
2% cars might have had thin rear light window glass.
Regular production windshields on the '64 A-864 and '65 A-990 Hemi cars along with thin corning glass for the sides. Rear window was stock on some and thin corning on others.
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Hidden and functional.
Stockers were 3 lbs for the pair. Tricked ones were 1 pound total.
Lots of careful cutting, trimming and measuring. T-6061 alloy break formed and welded shut. Both bolted and glued with special body panel glue. Wood Jig made out of found 2X4 and flat plains positioned the bumper in the exact original location plus with a little set back to be a tad flush with the body to make it slippery in the wind.

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