This one was cut for the front half of the limo body. My $4 grinder has done well throughout and even proved to be able to cut deep enough to get through the heater channels.
This body is for the rear half. It was even more challenging for my grinder to cut through the dash and defroster vents. That's "Jill", my '71 SB in the background.
So after I put this body on, I felt like I was working on a new hot rod prototype for the Addams Family.
Putting on the front body half was a lot more difficult since there was no available balance point after cutting the rear end of it off.
All of the visions and daydreams began to take shape on this day. Can you feel the excitement?
Back to the tedious small work after moving big bodies around. The roof was cut away on the rear to make headroom. I plan on custom fitting a straight roofline as my goal is to avoid the caterpillar look. Part of the roof on the front half will also be removed after I fill in the moon roof on it and have exact measurements for the new roof.
Also in my efforts to smooth out the body lines, I had to widen the rear body to match the width of the front body. Each side was opened 2 3/4". I cut a slit down the floor pan and notched the internal framing of the body to do this. You can now see where I will fill the rest of the rear floorpans in Chassis Phase II.
This is a detail shot of where I cut the internal body framing. I cut behind the door pillar all the way to the outer skin so that the alignment of the door would not be messed up when the sides were pulled out.
I welded a piece of angle iron across the joint, underneath the bodies to hold the spacing; then I welded in this framing to prevent sagging between the two halves.
After welding all of that sturdy cross bracing, I changed my mind. I couldn't decide how I wanted the line of the car to go in regards to the rear doors. I considered making the window square, but found no symetry in the existing doors from which I could cut and weld in other door pieces. After almost a month of torturous thought, I decided to completely cut the door frames out and turn them around to be welded onto the other side of the car. Suicide doors. Here is the body without the rear doors. (That cross bracing was welded in too good)
I cut away the roof of the front car once it started to slope down in the back. This is to make the roof line straight across the entire car.
This is where I joined the rocker panels of the two bodies. I had to cut the added section from a junkyard car. The hole is from the heater channel and was filled with sheet metal.
I put this 11 gauge square tubing in to serve several purposes. It acts as a spacer between the two bodies, a straight line to align the door and for structural support across the door. I also put in a similar piece below the mid window after the door was welded in.
Here is the door tacked into place. The framing of what was the rear quarter window lines up with the same to the left of it. After welding the door securely in, it opened and shut perfectly without any sagging. I jumped for joy at that.
Here is the mid window all framed in. The bottom piece I added was from the same car. I just didn't know I'd need it when I started and didn't cut it out. The top piece is actually the same as the bottom piece, from a donor car and pounded into shape. A little body filler in the shallow places and it will look factory.
Here is the new body panel under the mid window. All of the old panel underneath was removed to within 3/4" of the door posts. New 20 gauge sheet metal was then bent to fit the bottom and slowly stiched up the sides and across the top.
I'm particularly proud of this one. I used the small curve off of the quarter window from the front car, from the same side of the car and turned it upside down. A little cutting and some hammering and then a great looking window. It definitely gives the car a modern look when compared to what the current design of today's (2001) compact SUV's and station wagons are doing; especially the Ford Taurus Wagon and the Lexus RX300.
This shot is after the doors and windows were all welded up on this side of the car.
Here is a view from the front. Now to do the other side of the car.
This is a shot of the finished door pillar on the inside of the car. Since this pillar will not be covered by the upholstery, it had to be nicely smoothed out for paint.
Finally the roof is completed. Many hours of slow stitch welding went into this effort. Despite the care taken, the raw metal still warped from the heat and left behind some sunken warpage.
Here is a shot from the driver side after all of the body welding was finished.
And here is the passenger side.
