1955 Chrysler 300
 

I love the sheetmetal on this car. It's thick and appears to be of good quality, but there's rust and they don't make aftermarket sheetmetal so I had to fab up some parts with what little tools I have. I will continously update this til the car is done and should have a video of the metal work up soon.

RIGHT QUARTER

I've never traced a patch this way but in hindsight it wasn't a bad idea and it turned out pretty good, or ok for the time given and tools I have. It's pretty self explanitory.

YUK!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130010.jpg
I PLAN TO CUT THIS MUCH OUT CAUSE I WAS POKING AROUND THE BACKSIDE AND KNEW THE DROP OFF WAS ROTTED
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130016.jpg
LET'S TRACE IT BEFORE IT TEARS OR SOMETHING!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130017.jpg
NOW LET'S TRACE THE BEND.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130018.jpg
PLEASE DON'T BREAK MY CHEAP HF BRAKE!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130020.jpg
LET'S JUST SCREW IT IN ON TOP AND HAMMERFORM IT TO THE OLD PANEL! THANKS HPR1 FOR THIS TIP!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130037.jpg
NOW LET'S CUT OUT THE RUST AND FLANGE IT CAUSE THE EDGE OF THIS PATCH IS FLOPPING ALL OVER THE PLACE!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130050.jpg
LET'S MAKE UP SOME TIME HERE BY JUST SLAPPING ON SOME METAL BACK THERE AND CALL IT GOOD! STRENGTH IS THE ONLY GOAL HERE CAUSE THIS MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...P1130076-1.jpg
EVEN THOUGH THE PAINTER WILL PUT HIS MAGIC WAX WAND IN THERE LET'S ETCH IT AND THROW ON SOME WELD THRU PRIMER.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130077.jpg
WELD THE SEAM. NOTICE THE SPOT CUTTER BEING USED TO FILL THE BACK HOLE AND GIVE IT A PLUG WELD UP FRONT? INSTEAD OF A PLUG WELD I TACK IT TIL IT'S FILLED BUT SINCE IT WAS 4:45 WHEN I WAS DOING THAT I KIND OF HAMMERED THEM ON. UP UNTIL THAT POINT I WAS VERY PATIENT AND NO SHRINKAGE. IT'S NOT BAD THOUGH.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130087.jpg
NOW LET'S CLEAN IT UP AND MOVE ON!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130100.jpg
I HAMMERFORMED THIS PEACE BEFORE I EVEN CUT OUT THE NEW PATCH. NEXT TIME SOMEONE GRABS THE SHEETMETAL TO MAKE A PATCH THEY MIGHT GET MAD AT ME FOR THAT-DOH!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130158.jpg
14 HOURS LATER AND IT'S ALL DONE, ETCHED ON THE BACKSIDE, SEAM SEALED, AND UNDERCOATED!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130164.jpg
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...k/P1130163.jpg

I had to check out your thread, as I grew up riding in the back seat of a '55 New Yorker hardtop! Dad's car wasn't a 300... but I remember a number of vacations taken at 100 MPH! ...and I always loved the unusual styling this model.

Very nice metal work too! I've been in the custom paint biz for over 40 years. I use a couple very talented metal fabbers to help me with these issues... but this looks as good as any effort I have seen!

Off topic alert
 

Small world. For quite a while our family's dd was a '55 Windsor. Had the 301 w/the shifter in the dash.

It was that car being wrecked by my sister that led to us owning a junkyard. The deal was, my Dad bought a '56 New Yorker to use for parts to fix the Windsor (he built the Windsor into a sort of 300 clone, complete w/the Hemi from the NY'er). Before long people started stopping by asking if this or that was for sale from the NY'er. Then he broke his leg very badly (bone wouldn't knit) so he had to stop contracting. One more scrapped car led to another, and another... eventually the 'yard became the family business. By the end we had 5-1/2 acres and 550 cars.

Yep, looks good to me. I am real big on making templates, it is time well spent every time. That 3M welding shield paper works well.

Brian

love that stuff. Works great for moulding holes too before you cut out quarters. Another thing missing in these pics was the mini blaster I used all around. I was thrilled with it like a little kid with a candy cane. I got lucky here cause if you notice the only parts saved were the ones I would have needed a shrinker/stretcher for. They were in good shape after blasting them! Got really lucky in that aspect.

thanks man!It means a lot coming from you. I've seen some amazing stuff you have done. Awesome! Now I just need to get some more tools to further advance along with the fun metal stuff. I love it!

I think the thoughts of many Americans might change if there was more focus on success stories such as that. Thanks for sharing that.