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| Ever heard of a Whippet? Bet not. Our next project for our friend Chris Palmer is his recently purchased 1927 Whippet. It is a beautiful steel body that the previous owner already chopped the top 3 inches.
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| This is how it was delivered, kind of a Beverly Hillbillies look with extra parts tied everywhere.
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| Here is the proud owner, Chris Palmer while several Rod Fathers check out the new purchase.
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| Ever see a stock Whippet frame? Me neither! We have a great one for sale if you are interested. We also have 2 engines and transmissions and front axles!
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| If you look closely in the upper right corner of this photo you will see the new frame we plan to use. It is a frame we built that utilizes a Horton independent front suspension with a cross leaf rear spring. A 350 Chevy and automatic are planned.
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| The owner was a little anxious to take his first test drive!
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In this photo
we have reversed the stock firewall to give us an extra 8 inches
to install our 350 Chevy engine. We have also added steel to the
bottom of the firewall to replace the original wood that was
used. The small pipe protruding from the firewall in the middle
right of the picture, is a support bearing mount for the shaft
to the rack and pinion steering. |
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| Steel bracing was added to the inside of the body to help support itself while new steel is added to replace the missing wood. |
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| Some of the huge amount of welding required on this project is evident here. The bare steel at the top is where the original roof was joined to the body. The line in the middle of the window is where 3 inches was taken out for the top chop. The line in the middle of the body is where we joined the 2 halves of the body. All this welding was required to rejoin the body pieces as the metal was originally nailed to the wooden inner structure. |
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| We decided to replace the fabric top insert with steel. An early 90's Windstar van donated its roof. |
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| Here we are trial fitting the new skin to see what needs to be trimmed. To get the proper donor roof a full size template was made of the Whippet body and several hours spent in wrecking yards to find a compatible vehicle. |
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| Several full length cuts were made to get to this stage. A proper fit now is critical to save body work later. This is still a huge undertaking as yards and yards of welding are needed to finish the installation and warping the roof is easily done.
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| Here we are all trimmed and ready to weld. A couple of days were spent trimming to get to this point. All cuts are made by hand as no power tools are accurate enough.
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| The donor roof has stiffening ribs that had to be blended in to the original metal.
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| New steel tubing was added to the body to replace the missing wood supports. Only the roof bows are visible in this photo as we painted the inside with Por 15 rust preventing paint.
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| When roof welding was complete, we decided to test fit the body to the frame.
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| Clamps, nuts and bolts, even duct tape were used to hold it all together so we could see what a 27 Whippet really looked like. Neat Huh?
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| We rolled the car outside to get a better prospective. Some adjustments were made until we were happy with the lines. Now it's back in the shop, build the body mounts and then take it apart AGAIN! We will probably only do that 2 or 3 hundred more times.
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| Final body work is being done here on the main tub. All other parts remain to be finished yet.
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| The main part of the body is in finish primer and only needs block sanding to finish, but that is a way off yet.
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| This is a close up view of the finished work where the new and old roof were blended together. At this point [late October/04] the body is back on the chassis [again] and we are mocking up steering, seats, firewall and shortly will be installing the front fenders and rad. Stay tuned for updates as they become available.
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In this photo
we have reversed the stock firewall to give us an extra 8 inches
to install our 350 Chevy engine. We have also added steel to the
bottom of the firewall to replace the original wood that was
used. The small pipe protruding from the firewall in the middle
right of the picture, is a support bearing mount for the shaft
to the rack and pinion steering. |
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| Here we
have installed the fenders, front and rear. The rears are
widened 4 inches to cover the 255/70/15 tires we are using. The
front fenders were modified to lower them on the chassis and
also to clear the independent front suspension. The original
front tires would have been 20 to 23 inches in diameter but only
4 inches wide.
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fabricated new running boards from 16 gauge steel to replace the
original wood planks used. The apron or filler panel between
the lower body and running boards was lengthened also as the
fenders were moved forward to compensate for the smaller
diameter tires. |
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| Here the
firewall is complete with paint. It is a 2001 PT Cruiser color
called deep cranberry. We added clear coat to the firewall for
ease of cleaning, but the rest of the body will be flat, no
clear. Kind of an upscale rat rod look. |
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| The
balance of the bodywork is basically finished here. Some areas
are painted to allow the instillation of other parts and save us
having to remove them again when the final paint is applied. |
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| A
close-up look at the Horton Street Rod Parts, independent,
Mustang 2 style suspension we installed on our shop built frame.
Koni style shocks, Granada disc brakes and a Mustang rack should
make for an excellent handling and ride. The frame, engine and
underside of the body are painted a brilliant chrome yellow to
contrast the cranberry body. |
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| Is that
a bright color, or what! Very little is visible once the body is
installed, so you would have to lie on the ground to see
anything. Some nice contrast was achieved by painting some parts
cranberry and a small amount of chrome. |
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| To keep
the firewall as clean as possible, we moved as much as we could
to under the body. The brake booster and master cylinder are out
of an early 80’s T bird, the rear axle is a late 70’s Monte
Carlo mounted on a reproduction model T spring. Access for
servicing is through a small hatch in the floor between the
seats. |
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| We are
trying to use as much of the original Whippet parts as we can.
This is the steering wheel and brake pedal pad and even the gas
pedal [not visible] from 1927. The gear shift is an aftermarket
part from B+M as not too many automatics were available back
then. |
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| The body
is back on the frame for the final time. The alternator mount
was custom built by us to move it from the side of the engine to
the top so the hood sides will fit. Wiring and a million other
details are all that is left. |
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| More of
the final assembly is finished here. The air cleaner is an
aftermarket reproduction of a very popular Cadillac piece. It is
about 2/3 size of the original and made of cast aluminum and
detailed by us. Sharp eyed viewers may notice we had to widen
the grill shell by 2 ½ inches to allow the rad to clear the
water pump. This was done to keep the stock hood and still get
everything underneath. |
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| Here is
the car as it looks in late August 05. We are taking it to a BBQ
to surprise the owner with an Overhaulin type of reveal as he
saw it he day before in a million pieces. I must say thanks to
all the Rodfathers who helped assemble the car on a Saturday
morning to allow us to surprise the owner. Thanks guys, couldn’t
have done it with out you. |
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| One more
shot of the almost finished car. |
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Here is
the Whippet owner, Chris, with some of the Rodfathers and
other BBQ attendees in the background. In case you didn’t
figure it out, Chris is the guy in the orange shirt with the
look on his face like a kid who just got the pony he wanted
for Christmas. GOTCH Ya. |
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| This is
a drawing of a character we plan to paint on the Whippet cowl.
This car is named after a dog and we thought this would be a
neat mascot. |
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