Digz's 65 panel

LOL. A patch, a couple ribs, an engine, transmission,, radiator,, hahha the 66 has a long list !! Thanks again for the rear cover. Heck yeah on the engine ,, we just gotta lose a half mile of vacumn lines and that baby is good to go !! Give me the word and I'll give ya a hand.

Messed with the PT Cruiser seats today. Comfy enuff but gained about an 1- 1/2 " on hieght and have to work out some hinges again or make the top lid access better or both.

cool seats. Bill

Put a hinge on the small top and a cut ina hole for the motor oil access.

put a spring in it and a storm window clamp to help hold it down.

I love the PT Cruiser seats, but I'm going to have to cut the DH to get them in lower. Will have to lower the radiator a bit to clear the Pass. Side okay, alot tighter over there, my edge is okay but that taper I put in was ill thought thru.
Live and learn.

Did some disassembly today.



All this is for a more body friendly and rain-resistant trip to the Nats next year if anyone is wondering why I am going thru the trouble.

Joe I have always like your doghouse design, sounds like it will be only better than it was

If nothing else, it's letting me see what I am going to want to do when I put that THUMPER in the 66.

SOME disassembly??? Going to be even better than before Joe

Just some "in the process" pics. Slid the rad mainframe down 2 inches and tacked it for now

Set the entire cover on the bench and made some cuts.







My goal is to still have the seats able to flip forward using the hinge setup from an A100 and drop them 1-1/2" about.
About as far as I got today , Had to get the Christmas tree and need to swipe some small iron from my buddy with the fab shop

Digz ,So you are going to put the big stove in there.You know all that talk is driving me nuts! I really want to in the near future replace my fresh small block with a big inch thumper small block!. hehehe Bill

Bill, I have been agonizing over what van to put the BB in. Made the decision to stuff it in the 66 I picked up this fall. It is going to have a lot of different things going on and Like you I want to get more drive time in my 65. So instead of taking myself off the road for an extended period of time, I'm going with a new build with the 66. The body is way good compared to mine in the beginning. and it is a blank slate that I would have no regrets in changing anything.

The floor is already hacked up and the interior ,including the dash is stripped out, it's begging for something radical to push it.

Digz,Good call my van is turn key and go and was down this summer for 2 months on the dual master,diisc brake ,cable throttle conversion and while I am happy it's all done Not this summer when spring hits there will be some major road time. Bill

Got the radiator lowered, 3.5 Inches.

If I had done this in the beginning it would have altered my DH plan alot I think. Will be needing a pan or guard of somekind on the front now I think to be safe from road debris. This shows how unlevel my trans cooler really is ,,LOL

The DH is gonna need some cosmetics after this ,,its gettin all kinds of ugly at this stage !

Working with 18 ga sheetmetal for the mounts to set on.

Looks nasty doesn't it ? LOL

Dont forget those seats gotta mount on there 'somewhere'.

Still workin on the seat re-do.

This is the idea with the A100 hinges

The passenger side was the severe notch.



Have to make the top and lower hinges for the driver side. I ran out of Dodges !

Did a test sit and flip up , I think I am going to get what I was after with the seats. The radiator being lower is looking like I can do some sheet metal work inside the tunnel to help with directing the air flow better, so thats on the list to.

Duraglass and filler in progress now

A few mods to the tunnel, gettin' rid of the bolts and going to latches.

Needed to move the overflow tank mount back abit

And a floor vent for the passenger side.

I'm gaining.



Had time to try out some spraycan bed liner while stuff was setting up.

Great work Digs!

Front tunnel is painted, I had 4 spray cans of the orange flame made up. It looks like a good match to the dash. The dash and this are Martin Senyour paint codes, It is a bit darker than the Omni paint I used on the outside, both are the same paint code#. The cost for 4 cans (minimum order) was 60$. I may check into getting some of the Omni color done up the same way to get the color right on some of the hinges I redid and blend in some scratches some dummy made putting in the back windows.

Niceeeee! Great work!
B.W.

Thanks BW, This was part of my goal.



The vent is a lil clunky but it wont get used much anyway,



Its going back together now at least. Waiting on some insulation mat for the back of the DH before I can wrap up this do-over.

Now that's a "WHOLE LOT" of creative thinking!!!!! Came out nice Joe! And functional too!

Looks Great Joe!!!!

Thanks again guys ! That was as low as I can go without cutting down the wheel wells. The 1-1/2" I gained did the trick I think, Not looking straight through the top of the windshield now. and doesnt feel like im driving a lawn tractor.

Still waiting on the matting but this is about it for awhile. Seats in and operational and all the stuff hooked back up.