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Starting to work on the drivers rear corner and rear roll pan. Removed all the rusted/damaged metal. I have replacement panels for the wheel opening and the rear corner. The roll pan I will custom make from scratch. As with most panels- these don't fit very well, and will need plenty of massaging. You can see the gas filler was way higher than the original so I had to cut the top of it off just to lay the panel on the body. Luckily, I am not using the original gas filler location. So this will be cut out and patched over, once I weld the replacement panels on.
Laying out the replacement panels before I do a final trim for butt welding everything. Notice the space in the wheel well- this is where I am stretching the wheel opening for the bigger wheels.
After trying/welding in 3 other custom taillights, I am finally thrilled with my 4th pick. I wish I had thought of this to begin with. 1970 Camaro RS back up lights. They fit perfect after cutting out right to the edge of the opening. They also are recessed more on one side than the other, so they are parallel with the back of the van.
there is a guy on here that chopped down a crown vic front in to go in a mid 80s chevy c10 he narrowed it to fit his frame .with your skills I bet you could do the same for your bad azz van this thing is so cool
Anyone else not seeing any of the pictures on the first couple pages of the thread? Basically, I can't see anything until the artist renderings posted in Nov '14.
I've been known to jump around on what I'm working on, just to keep the creative juices flowing. So here is a start of a custom door panel that I am doing. This is a process I came up with, that is similar to how the car audio guys do custom panels. Where they use wood, I make a wire frame out of tubing. Then wrap it in fleece, coat with resin and then do bodywork to it. It is then wrapped with 1/8" foam/fabric/leather. It may be hard to visualize without it being wrapped in fleece yet. But basically just the leading edges make up the lines of the door panel, all the other tubes are just bracing for when you wrap it in fleece, so the panel keeps it's shape. I bought a Cadillac CTS door panel off Ebay, which I will use the armrest/speaker grille/and upper carbon fiber insert.
Wire frame fiberglass door panel speaker car audio
This build is amazing, love the look of those old vans slammed to the ground. You have some wicked fab skills, can't wait to see picks of when it is done.
Finished boxing in the gas tank area. All seam sealed and painted. All that's left is to make the rear seat pan and i'll be ready to put the floor pans in.