Yankee Express RestoMod Project

[5.7 hemi]

It doesn’t slide up/down. I’m having trouble trying to explain how it works. To me, your bushing doesn’t seem as though it’s pressed together all the way.
What year is your car?

 

[Brandy]

67
It goes on just like a tie rod end or ball joint with the tapered shaft and castle nut with cotter pin.

 

[Brandy]

Have the back end on the ground and lowered the front down to ride height.

 

[Brandy]

So, a fella shows up today to buy the truck seat. I pushed the garage remote and when the door went up he and his 15 yar old son both said, " Holy cow! What IS that?" Talking about the Express. lol. They drooled all over it. Wanted the whole story. They were very impressed. He said, about the rear lights and bumper, " Man, THAT is pure genius. Very cool." They were totally floored. He is the president of a car chapter that mainly deals with old Chevy's from the 50's. He owns several 55/56/57's. His son though....lol...I think he's a convert to MOPAR now. He went to the fence to see the donkeys and his Dad told me that he has never seen that much of a reaction from him about any car.

 

[Brandy]

 

[5.7 hemi]

I like what I see. Just not to sure if those block huggers are gonna fit.

 

[Brandy]

I like what I see. Just not to sure if those block huggers are gonna fit.

They don't. They both rub against the block and I doubt they will clear once it's in place.

 

[Budnicks]

So, a fella shows up today to buy the truck seat. I pushed the garage remote and when the door went up he and his 15 yar old son both said, " Holy cow! What IS that?" Talking about the Express. lol. They drooled all over it. Wanted the whole story. They were very impressed. He said, about the rear lights and bumper, " Man, THAT is pure genius. Very cool." They were totally floored. He is the president of a car chapter that mainly deals with old Chevy's from the 50's. He owns several 55/56/57's. His son though....lol...I think he's a convert to MOPAR now. He went to the fence to see the donkeys and his Dad told me that he has never seen that much of a reaction from him about any car.

That's a cool story

kids a Mopar man for life now

 

[Brandy]

 

[bearman]

ghost rider what a great job you are doing can't wait to see it complete. with all the mods your doing just wondering why you are keeping the shock towers. i see that you have cut out and replaced with flat metal. i want to do that also but was going to take the towers out and build my own. i see that the upper control arm is part of the tower and was going to leave that in place. i'm asking if i cut out the tower part and then replace with flat sheet metal. do you think i will hurt the strength.any idea's on that don't want to change front end from stock i do want to look at tubed control arms and make my own shock mounts. thanks for any input you may have.

 

[Brandy]

ghost rider what a great job you are doing can't wait to see it complete. with all the mods your doing just wondering why you are keeping the shock towers. i see that you have cut out and replaced with flat metal. i want to do that also but was going to take the towers out and build my own. i see that the upper control arm is part of the tower and was going to leave that in place. i'm asking if i cut out the tower part and then replace with flat sheet metal. do you think i will hurt the strength.any idea's on that don't want to change front end from stock i do want to look at tubed control arms and make my own shock mounts. thanks for any input you may have.

Thanks for the kind words, and yes I am keeping them. I cannot afford to change anything. I just fabbed up the two panels to see how it would look, and I think I will keep them. I don't know enough about the suspension changes to be the one to ask. I would go on over to that dept/thread and ask the pros about it. As a guess I think you should be able to lose the towers and flatten that portion above the UCA mounts. Those bends and contours of the tower add strength and rigidity to the inners so any mods would need to be bead rolled at the least.

 

[bearman]

that's what i thought. i am going forward with removing them i'll add structure under the new panel. thank you for your help and keep up the good work on your project.

 

[Brandy]

that's what i thought. i am going forward with removing them i'll add structure under the new panel. thank you for your help and keep up the good work on your project.

Your welcome. I am currently cleaning up the starter, about to disassemble the front end and paint everything and put it together again. I'm also studiously avoiding doing the bodywork.....lol.

 

[Budnicks]

. I'm also studiously avoiding doing the bodywork.....lol.

I can relate...

I'm not a big fan of
sand, prime, block sand, prime, block sand, prime
& a shitload more sanding, rinse & repeat over & over...
then paint, block sand,
paint base some more {3-4-5 or more times more},
block sand some more {3-4-5 or more times},
then paint clear {3-4-5 or more coats} rinse & repeat over & over again...
AND It's still not perfect...
Then cut the clear at-least 3 steps of grit, enough of the damn sanding
then maybe, just maybe final cut & buff...

I think I've done my last paint job

 

[RT K_line]

View attachment 623303

Nailed it, I love it ghost. Looks like paint in the near future,can’t wait to see it finished.

 

[Habib]

This looks damn good. Done with taste.

 

[Brandy]

Thanks fellas! Bodywork right now, sloowww and agonizing but getting there. Fortunately I don't have much to do, just a few small places. I hate it though. Yes, I do need to get paint on it so I can put it all back together cause i'm itching to drive it now...

 

[Brandy]

So, I had a bright idea for the hood. I was staring at the truck hood and wondering what to do with it since it wont sell. I then got out the tape measure and checked it for size. Yup, will fit with a little cutting down. So I separated the skin from frame and trimmed the curved down edges and front edge so it will lay fairly flat on the 67 frame. After some positioning and trimming I have it centered and cut to fit. Next is slicing the 67 skin out of the way and after placing 3M foaming adhesive in between the skin and 67 frame and letting it dry, I will weld it up and apply filler as needed to smooth out the welds. Plan to place a hemi scoop over that center spine.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Pics!

 

[Brandy]

I will have to form a nose piece to continue the spine onto the front 8 inch section and close it out as it goes forward. The panels have a built in curve across from left to right and the foam will cushion that curvature and keep it smooth, right now there's a 1/2 inch gap between the hood frame and the new skin in the middle. Cutting it into the original skin will lower that to 3/8ths or less, just right. The outer edges are closer as you go from the center out.