Projects Giant speedster project

Any pictures from the weekend show?????

 

The headlight loom routing, wrapping around the frame like that, does not look up to standards.

Can you run the loom inside or along the back of the uprights - modifying escutcheons accordingly (there, I said it too)?

 

I couldn't bring myself to drill holes in the paintwork, and the uprights aren't hollow so running the cable down the frame was a compromise. I did make up those nifty little clamps. That show is this weekend. I just piddled this weekend, but today I got out the generator--I've been running on the battery--and started cleaning it up. It's got three brushes which is kind of interesting. The third brush is adjustable, and the manual says you can adjust the charging rate by moving it. The actual brushes are shot as well as the little springs. I can replace one bearing with modern but the other might have to stay.

Jerry

 

With the third brush regulator the charging rate is set at some compromise. It's why back in the day if you were taking a long drive on the highway you would run with your headlights on - to keep from overcharging the battery.

You will probably be good to go with the recommended setting, or hide an external regulator somewhere.

 

Jerry,

Have you thought about bringing the speedster to the car show at Brad's Gear Jam on the 27th, and/or the Cruise in at Commerce the night before?

 

Gear Jam sounds cool! I need to nail down my transport. The rollback doesn't cut it and my car hauler truck is too small. I'm working on it.

 

3 brush generators are interesting. A very good discussion on these can be found here: http://forums.aaca.org/f120/three-brush-generators-170498.html

There is a voltage regulator made that can be added to most 3 brush generators. It is discussed here: http://www.ply33.com/Repair/voltreg
and here: http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/generator.htm

 

Hey, I need to read those. Thanks.

I cleaned some more on the generator which wasn't too exciting so I went over to Don's and asked him to cut some wood for a little luggage rack I had planned over the right rear inner fender. He also cut me some wood for the two corners back by the boattail. I took the wood back to the shop and ran it through the router to round over the tops. Getting the spacing down on the pieces in the back is a little dicey since it involves aesthetics. I also made up two pieces of trim wood for the rear corner of the running boards. What else? Oh yeah. I took the ID plates over to Michael at the sign shop to make cutouts so I can electro-etch them. And--I got insurance on the speedster. With an ID plate I can get a tag and then it's out on the open road--legally!

Jerry

 

Very good add on, but I think the front ends of the wood strips by the boattail should be contoured to match the boatail, to make them flow and actually look like they belong there.

 

I forgot that I also worked on the clamp that holds down the exhaust pipe. I'd been puzzling over this for a while but it finally came together. I started by doing a little bandsaw work on a chain link. The I bent up a piece of steel to hook into the link and go overtop of the pipe. I fastened the steel to the pipe bracket with a bolt. Next I drilled a hole in the steel and welded a nut to it. After that I made up a tee bolt. So as not to mar the exhaust pipe I bent a piece of flat stop to go between the bolt and the pipe. A square of "asbestos" made it look pretty. Everything was cleaned up and painted. I thought it looked weird and neat.

Jerry

 

You mean make the leading edge match the curve of the "hull/body"?

 

yes

 

Well muffler changes will go a lot faster now.
What's with the bearing you can't change?

 

I could change it but it's not worth the trouble since the original bearing is in pretty good shape and there's little stress on it. In fact since the generator is gear driven through a coupling, and there's no side load on the bearings, they will virtually last forever. Most old generators only have a bearing on the pulley end anyway because of the side load. The rear gets by with a bushing. I've been reading up on three brush generators. I think I'm going to do away with the third brush and install a voltage regulator. The third brush was just a simple way to do without a voltage regulator--a system that apparently didn't work too well.

Jerry

 

I agree that the 3-brush setup is not as good as a regulator, and I already suggested a regulator. However, there is a way you can run the 3-brush if you wish.

3-brush setups worked real well for constant load/constant rpm. Set it and forget it. As electrical loads and motor rpm vary more widely, the 3-brush setup starts to fall apart since the best you can do is set for the best compromise.

Your Seagrave does not have a very wide rpm band and your electrical loads are pretty straightforward. Ignition, lights and replace the extra you used to crank her up.

If you set the 3-brush to, say 3 to 5 amps charging at cruise rpm and with the lights on, you will be good to go. Perhaps a Battery Tender between drive sessions - you'll probably be using one anyway - and a decent battery.

 

I need to fix the bearings on my old Evinrude starter, and the top appears to be poured babbitt.
I thought maybe your generator might have a poured bearing in it.

Hmmm, come to think of it, did you have to pour babbitt for the Seagrave bearings? I'll have to go look. I still haven't found the time to read this whole thread yet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
OK...I looked back 120 pages and saw you have shell inserts, and they were all OK too. What luck!

 

we hope the luggage bars and t handle cross wise will not effect aerodynamics

 

I guess I'll try to get the generator humming and see how the 3 brush system works. Poured babbitt is not the big mystery it appears to be. You can probably handle it. Or maybe you could solder in a bronze bushing. You'd have to rig a dummy shaft through and through to align the bushing. I'm going to test the luggage rack and exhaust handle in my wind tunnel before the final fitting. Hey, tomorrow is Caffeine and Octane. I washed the speedster and the rollback is positioned just outside the garage door. Despite a really trying day, if I can get up early enough I'm going.

Jerry

 

Caffeine

Got up early and Neil and I loaded the speedster and drove down to Caffeine and Octane. We got there about 7:30 and the place was already packed. Luckily we found a parking spot for the rollback and unloaded the speedster. There was no room to park in the parking lot so I just parked in the middle of one of the rows. The crowds loved the Seagrave. I got all the usual questions, the most often being: What kind of engine is it? Not sure how to answer that since it's so broad. We stayed until about 11:30. Mike Thies of Global Wheels Events said he was going to do a blog about the car so I sent him a bunch of info. Another guy said he was going to get it invited to Amelia Island. Ha, ha. That costs big money! We were having so much fun I forgot to take any pictures until the crowds started to dissipate. Anyway we had fun.

 

...and that was the whole idea! It's working!!!

 

not too late to go underslung...

 

Really like that exhaust clamp you made. Details like that are what draw me to the really old stuff.
I agree with the comment about matching the wood strip front ends to match the boat tail body lines.
Keep up the great work!

 

Interesting to see it with people next to it. That thing is huge!

 

I cleaned up a few more loose ends. The ice box now opens and the gas gauge works. Long time ago I bought some special paint for the knock offs. It's supposed to bake on and become like porcelain. I painted some on a hubcap. Tomorrow I'll put it in the oven at 300 degrees and see what it looks like. A real oven, not the yak jerky maker.

Jerry

 

nice touch

 

Loving the hubcaps!

 

Engraved hubcaps are soooo cool!

 

You find the strangest things on the internet. Like strangely animated 60s cartoon character Clutch Cargo. Seems that Clutch also had a red speedster that he drove from one adventure to the next. Only it wasn't a GIANT speedster. You can see it about 1 min 40 sec into this video, if you can stay awake that long.



Apparently though, Clutch Cargo did have The Biggest Yak In TV.

 

OMG...Clutch Cargo was the worst "animated" show ever!
Somehow even worse than Roger Ramjet.

 

A red speedster and the biggest Yak in TV...Coincidence? I think not! Probably has a running board pizza oven too.