The IGOR

[Igor]

here is the deck after i glassed it together. 2 inch wider the deck lid was cut out by the old owner and it was not good at all. so i glassed in the entire thing so i could re make a lid. also have to make it taller and add the body lines back on where the old lid had removed them

its beat up and needs love!
side note. i did another layer of glass on top of this one and it is solid !

 

[Youngster]

Just as a point of reference the lower part you want to add was accually the sub-frame for the whole body. It was 3 " tall. The "fin'' that was on the bodylines up with the bottom of the sub frame. The top of your turtle deck should come within 1/2" of the revel or bead on the back panel of you bucket.

Ron

 

[Igor]

the deck had a much deeper homemade addition that i had to remove. it was around 5 1/2 inches added in all. from the original deck bottom to the new deck bottom. i am guessing this was the subframe they had added. the revel or bead on the back panel of the bucket is gone. what was left of it when i removed the old foam was almost just a sliver. and after i reglassed it and body worked it that went away all together . i will be adding the lower half back in so that the deck and bucket are flush at the bottom.

the biggest issue i am having with it now is making things look like they are proportionate. since i did add 2 inch of height to the back panel of the bucket and need the deck to be flush with the bottom . i need to find the rite height so that it doesnt look ODD lol

 

[Youngster]

Ok ... With the body sitting on the floor, the bottom of the deck should be 3" off the floor. This is where I would start to make adjustments till you find the "look" you want.

Ron

 

[Igor]

new custom bat wings .the old ones will be chopped off as well as the upper perch and the new ones will be welded into place.

 

[Igor]

mock up stages ....will weld on tabs for friction shocks as well as set the shocks into the frame. also have custom bat wings in place and working on the radius rod set up.......and yes we all work in flip flops lol or as we call em rubbah sleepahs aloha

 

[Dino]

LOL What one of you guys paint your toenails ? Builder or helper

 

[Igor]

oh lol i didnt notice that ! that is the photographer / my old lady i guess i could say she is my all around helper

 

[retired49]

looks good , you have a lot of good parts to work with

 

[Igor]

thank you Retired49 i have new parts as well like new spring and shocks n things but no need get em dirty yet so mock up with all my old stuff it will be a rolling by next week . then its body mock up and paint i am excited !

 

[Igor]

Update TIME!
so here we have a mock up stage trying to find a good hight for the turtle deck. .....we found a good hight but ....now i have to chop it in half and make it even wider !!! by 4 inches. so that the gap between the side of the deck and the tire is not HUGE!

 

[Igor]

the 3 amigos My bucket ....then another one for a client....then in yellow is Pats Bucket

 

[Igor]

My custom rods. i wanted a more custom feel to the whole car , the design in my head changes with every part we add lol. but so far i have not seen another set up like this on a T so ill keep going

 

[Igor]

And now the fun stuff......sort of. if you noticed that my turtle deck has all the body lines shaved off due to having to redo the whole deck ! So in order to get them back i made this little contraption this is my new steam wood bender. what i have done is take the pipe make a T so that the bottom of the hose goes into the steam pot so steam travels up and into the chamber to cook the wood.

when the wood is done i take it out and slap it on the part and bend it to fit. clamp it in place and let it set.
once its dry i have new ready to go body lines that i can glass in and have it look like new

 

[Igor]

This is a horrible picture at 3AM in a cluttered section of the garage due to moving everything around.
Any way this is about 3 hours after the wood was bent to shape . i took most the clamps off and set a little weight on it just in case. when its fully dried i will take em off and trim the wood to fit ,then glass them onto the deck ,sand off the excess and it will look just like new

 

[Keeper]

Pretty cool. Always nice seeing progress.

 

[Igor]

Thank you Keeper ...did you ever pick up one of those Jag covers?

 

[Igor]

And the epic battle continues !!!!

So after getting my body on the frame after all the chop work and modifications .......we have an issue. after looking at the rear deck in relation to where the tires are going to sit we still have a gap issue. my original 2 1/2 inch stretch wasnt enough . and the mock up of what would be a good size to close the gap is wider than the rear of the body . so i met in the middle of my 2 choices and came up with a 4 1/2 inch stretch. that makes the total width of the turtle deck 37 1/4 inches. so the gap is smaller and it looks good ......but dam i sure wish this came up before i did the chop the fist time lol not sure y i didnt think about it but hey "it" happens

 

[Keeper]

No I never did.

I have been keeping an eye out for one though. I will track one down eventually.

Anyway you could change the backspacing on your rear wheels? or do you already have them?

 

[Igor]

i have wheels but i think i want to sell em and get tall tires for the rear but the deck was just to small for the overall look of the car. but its ok i think i am getting the hang of fiberglassing now lol