Cut it custom by Harko FC2dWag

[HARKO]

Hmmm ,Last posting on August 3rd    (scratching my head) Where did I go ? Well inbetween that update and this I repaired the floors and rails and totaly stripped and smoothed the FC sedan ,Bought a chev , finished off the 192 th700 conversion in the FB , Sold off an FC wagon and sprayed up some bits for the bommodore.

Whew still dont seem like much on paper huh but I sure have been busy.

Soooo ,I picked up the bat or should I say welder n grinder again 9 day's ago and started at it full time with no job to get in the way.

There's only 2 pic's here I know but more will follow over the next couple of week's.

This pic show's the height of the tailgate after raking it forward ,Unsure of how I'll deal with it but I think it realy detract's from the flow of lines on the car .
Also shows the pieces it took to build an extended fin.
And although the wrong angle it also shows the roof shortened.

Here's some final chop measurements for those interested.
Front chopped 2 1/2 inches
Rear 3 1/2
Roof shortened about 9 inches
Tailgate raked 7
Wheel arches extended 1 inch at this stage but may change.

And the B pillar will be moved back about 6 inches and raked forward at the window so doors will be extended and matched to suit.

The entire floor will be lopped out maybe early next week and the donor cars body lopped off then these two grafted together  

As i say I'll update pics when I have the room to take em ,Cheer's

[Shayne]

Good to hear from you Harko, and even better to hear that you are back on the chopped wagon project.  Keep at it.  Pull up for a drink over Christmas though.

[FC0058]

Hi Harko
Like you said it has been a while. I can help you with that time you seem to have lost.

As we all know here on the forum you are a family man with a relatively young son, so I would say you devoted some of that lost time to being a responsible husband and father.

It is good to see you back on the chopped wagon, keep up the good work and we all hope to see more photos in the coming weeks.

Cheers Jim

[zulu]

thats lookin pretty wild Harko, good luck with it.
Gary

[Ed]

Hi Harko,

Looking good, love the floor

it's hard to tell from the pics but the upper edge on the tailgate lines up with the pillar and this sits about 1.5 inches lower than the window line? so a taller sectioned tailgate is required to make up the extra length from the new angle?

anyway it's a mammoth job and great to see it still being cut up and re-done.

nice work

Cheers

Ed

PS how do u manage to do so much on your cars??

[HARKO]

I had to laugh at your closing comment ED because everyone who know's nothing about car's around here seem's to wonder when Im going to make some progress You know (I never seem to finish the thing I started .
BUT Im on a winner soon with so many projects all in the final stages I just cant wait untill the day I hop in all three car's at once and realise it cant be done  

As we all know here on the forum you are a family man with a relatively young son, so I would say you devoted some of that lost time to being a responsible husband and father

Yep thank's Jim your right on the buzzer ,He actually started walking on my birthday last sunday ,We were over the moon He still has trouble gripping and holding the grinder while its spinning though hehe
After nearly four years since becoming a Dad Ive realised time in the garage is great but time with the kid's is fantastic and looking at a finished welding job has nothing on watching the first step's of my boy.
Geesh feeling a little warm n fuzzy right now

Pull up for a drink over Christmas though

 Dont worry shayne Im enjoying that midday drink whilst in the midst of welding very much and a good drink with family and friends is definitely on the card's .

Thanks dudes.

[Emu]

I can relate Harko....

Having six of the blighters I have even limited my time on the computer!!  

I have been a little scarce around these parts but I am stoked to see the progress fotes. I can't wait to see the pics of all three projects being driven at once! The physics of that exercise intrigues me, but I'm sure it can be done.

[customFC]

Hey Harko.
Nice to see the project moving forward and not out the door. Still lots of little bits to sort out by the looks of things. Keep plug(weld)ing away.
Keep us updated on all 3 projects will ya.
Regards
Alex

[HARKO]

Thank's again guy's the comment's are awesome for motivation.

Alex I couldnt bare to see someone else driving it ...

Emu Im sure I could manage it on photoshop but my leg's arent that stretchy anymore.

Ive decided to sink the glass on the upper tailgate into the base and shorten the top gate ,Havent looked in detail yet so can only hope it's going to work at this stage.
Got a couple of hour's in today on the driver's side rear fin...
And a profile shot (sorry best I could do )

[HARKO]

[TorqueFC]

  harko man, looking good!!!, you said you done some work on it but dam you work fast  

[HARKO]

Here's a couple more updated pic's .
This second side ran a whole world smoother than the first as it would and the finished shape so far barely needs any corrective beating, pretty happy with that














And to all you guy's n gal's who make this site as fun and interesting and enjoyable and not to mention rewarding as it is ,Have a very merry Christmas and a kroozy holiday.
And get some more work done on that fe fc ,the national's arent far off.

[HARKO]

opp's hit the wrong button .
RET what's happened to the modify option ,Maybe it could be set up so that in case of making a mistake it can be corrected instantly / before someone veiw's the thread.

anywayz



Hmmmm undecided about this .



And these are what I am working toward's ,thank god I'm getting some metal skill's in shape cause the Chev need's a huge dose of TLC

[Chuck]

Harko

The progress photos are sensational although what’s with using my old car as a storage area for your tools?  The Chevy sure does look right at home next to the EK (or vice versa), whenever you find yourself lacking in motivation, you know that all you have to do is wander outside and take a glance.

So now that your metal skills are up to speed, I know of a certain EK ute that is crying out for a haircut.  You will be happy to know that my hiatus has ended and I have returned to the shed with newfound enthusiasm.

Merry Christmas

Chuck

P.S. FWIW, I actually prefer the taillights right way up, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the concept, it’s just that I think that they got it right first time.  IMHO it would interrupt the rounded flow of the rear quarter.

[Burnsy]

Harko

P.S. FWIW, I actually prefer the taillights right way up, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the concept, it’s just that I think that they got it right first time.  IMHO it would interrupt the rounded flow of the rear quarter.

Harko, I'm with Chuck on that one, the lights just don't look right upside down.  However,maybe if you graft in another rounded section from the top of the lights into the bottom you could have three frenched rocket lights or somthing like that in beween?  

Cheers,
Burnsy

[HARKO]

True , I'm keen on sticking with the original theme of the car and changing grille headlights or tail lights would take away the original I suppose.But I am going to invert the bumperette's
Caddy bullet's are killer and I love em but I've seen them used on everything sooo .........
I reckon they would look cool though not an original idea anymore.
Good stuff chuck ,You can make your first blast down to the south coast and blend the beautiful vehicle with the beautiful scenerie and let your virgin EK look at all the monsters and realise how lucky it was

[HARKO]

Today's input is predominately just to remind me sometime in the future of what a bastard of a day can actually seem like.
I finished off yesterday with not much direction as to where I would take it today but I headed back out after breaky and pondered how it was all going to tie together.
Iv e been working on attaching the roof permanently so I can lift the body without twisting it and am at the point of attaching the rear pillar's.
I have finished the inner fin and side window work to stabilize the tailgate pillars and help the rear pillars support the roof, The rear pillars had to be twisted and squeezed with straps and clamps to get them to line up properly ,whilst setting the roof at the right height and in the correct horizontal and vertical positions.
Read through that slowly again Harko (later reference of how much you earned this car) and you will realize how almost impossible this task is ,With all the curves and poor quality control in their day,  Acurate measurements were almost impossible to achieve

OK lets start the technical stuff now .
The tailgate is now situated in a slightly opened position compared to the standard rake ,The raking tailgate has caused the top door to sit ajar and fouled the curves over the top of the top gate and has caused the side pillars and top gate to miss align as they flow down to the lower tailgate and a lot of the factory gaps to change especially around the upper gate.
after 8 Hours "8 HOURS" I achieved absolutely nothing .
In the ninth hour I cut the hinges with a 3 mm cutting disk and bolted the plate I had cut off to the tailgate ,I was trying to clamp the upper gate into alignment so it could be tacked but it was like fighting an octopus and when I finally got it tacked the heat had moved one edge of one hinge and thus putting the whole lot out of alignment and meaning the tacks had to be cut back off ,I know that sounds easy but the drama it took to get it all into position meant that  breaking the tacks allowed it to all drop way out of alignment again.
End of the ninth hour I poured a schooner of bourbon and coke and simmered.............and simmered ..............and simmered.
I poured another and simmered ,I noticed i was I firing when I was walking around the shed tapping the tape measure then smacking ,then punching ,Then looking for something to damage hehe.
If you know me well I just dont loose my cool when working on a car ,How would I get this far if I did ? .
I walked away ,Took a breather ,went over the street to see the neighbors efforts for the day on the FC wagon he bought off me  and he is absolutely kicking butt on it , So I didn't want to be there either considering he made it an open competition for me to finish the van before he finishes the wagon.
I went back home and watched.....and simmered....
Until I thought Im not going to finish for the day and allow this to beat me. A lateral approach is what I needed so I used a few planks of hardwood to gain better measurements over the tops of the quarters ,and set a 6 of the 8 clamps on different angles .
Ground some of the top tailgate frame down ,curved it to clear the gutter rail because of the new position and tacked in the hinges.
The roof position was looking good and I tacked it too.
After browsing and measuring and thinking of every possible scenario (I think)
"I had beaten it" and within half an hour just by using a different approach and some lateral thinking .
So I sat back and poured a schooner of bourbon ........... and grinned.
Tomorrow will be slow going as well ,Then I will hit some big "photo worthy" stuff.
and possibly tomorrow I will look a bit further into flush mounting the tailgate glass
10 - 4 ,over

[TorqueFC]

harko,

        seems as though you are making awesome progress on the van, gives me motorvation to keep working hard at finishing this ute of ours. it sounds like its going to be one mean looking fc van!!. what motor are you going to drop into this beast? was this the one that was headed for the 427? cant wait for a few update shots, am really keen as to how it will turn out.

anyay dude keep Cruzin :8

[HARKO]

Thank's Torque ,Your watching this thread like a Hawk hehe .
Your ute is looking pretty awesome too mate ,If Im giving you motorvation then its reciprocating (hang on thats a big word)  
Yeah legaly I can run a 427  , 429.9 to be precise but I have been looking for a healthy runner for over two years with no luck ,Imagine if I wanted the Canadian block   So it might possibly end up with a 400 small block yet ,I would love to run the big block purely for the torque (pardon the pun) and the throaty note but I guess if there aint none ,There aint none.

Today Ive just secured all the corner areas and final welded everything that attatches to the roof so with a bit of luck tomorrow will be a big day....

[HARKO]

No comments today ,will explain tomorrow ,46'C rolling around on a black driveway looking into the sun while I cut through steel and  sealant flicking it and causing blisters .
Ah well ,take the good with the bad.

The donor



The carcas



The happy camper



The interupted profile..