49 ford gasser

[Rotorbolt73]

Haven't posted much here in a while. Figured I share a build currently on my desk. Most , if not all, of my builds are built from gluebombs , parts box and castoff " junk" . This one is no exception..Started out with a collection of various 49 / 50 Ford kit parts in a box just missing a body .Recently found a really rough 49 sedan body shell in a box of freebies at a club meeting. The roof was cut off and had a lot of body detail sanded off..but..I had a 49 roof in my parts along with interior bucket and chassis to get the build going. Since I'm not one to waste parts, I started working on salvaging this " junk". Not shown is the partial hood sides and reversed 57 roof that was glued on this body. Those came off pretty easy.

 

[Rotorbolt73]

Got the nice parts roof fitted and glued back on. Had a stock hood with a hole already rough cut in it. This body already had the rear wheel openings cut out ..Soo made sense to build it as a gasser. Mocked up the basic parts to check the stance .

 

[Rotorbolt73]

Since the molded in taillights had been sanded off, I needed something in the back since it looked soo blank..I decided to add in the custom taillight housings from the 50 convertible kit..they are a little too long , so I cut the solid ends off to shorten them down closer to the body. The taillights will be fitted into the now hollowed openings..it was at this point I decided to stay with as many 49/50 kit specific parts as possible. I set the build in my garage Dio for fun showing my mini crew hard at work on it..

 

[Rotorbolt73]

Sanded off the black paint and had to rescribe the door lines. Member rodent sent me the red glass and hood scoupe. Thanks! Mocked up the optional roll cage and bucket seats inside.

 

[Rotorbolt73]

Note that the optional custom grille cove/ rolled bumper section was already glued into the body. But the uppersection was broke off.. I had a stock hood that leaves the center notch to deal with..after looking at reference pics of the real cars , I noticed guys were removing the center grille bar/ bullet. So I did the same to make things work between the stock and custom parts. The moon tank fits in the middle to complete the look.

 

[Rotorbolt73]

Using the optional Cadillac engine. Stripped the chrome off the optional blower setup and opened up the injector holes since there is no blower hat in this kit. Also found a pair of 49 stock steelie rims for up front to replace the 40 Ford rims I was using in the mock-up.

[Rotorbolt73]

Decided to raise the front suspension a little for the desired gasser rake. Drilled holes on the very bottom of the lower A arms and through the bottom of the engine oil pan..I like using the old style metal axels when I can since they give a lot of strength to the wheels. Don't like wheels breaking off..I also added some "spacers" to the wheel backs, cut from a long post wheel back,  to bring the wheels out and for added strength. Filled in the unused axel holes in the frame with evergreen rod.

 

[Dave G.]

Interesting build !

[vintageford]

Looking good. Got a color picked out yet?

[Rotorbolt73]

Not sure on color yet. But I did get it primered. Then I took a break to let the primer surfacer dry real good and scratch built a painter figure for my shop crew mainly just for this shot.

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by Rotorbolt73

[shoopdog]

Coming along nicely.

[DumpyDan]

Looking good

 

[slusher]

Looking awesome Matt!