Projects Introducing the Roofus Special

Damn, I've exceeded my monthly bandwidth allowance for my free photobucket account.

That is the first time it has happened.

 

Pictures are back. I upgraded my photobucket account.

 

thats looking like itll be real comfortable. great watching it come together.

 

JD, Thanks for another great post, always enjoy the info you share. That Granatelli MILLER/FORD was a $5,000. used race car at one time. Andy had two that he wanted to sell as a package in the December 1948 CT News. If the owner would like a good quality copy send me a PM. Bob

 

I've been thinking about what I am going to do to it this weekend....

I think I made it too big. I may narrow and shorten the cowl. It looks really big in some of those pics.

I think I am also going to play with the size of the passenger compartment opening. I think the dash may need to come back...or move the seat up just a little.

Oh, and I think I am going three link on the rear suspension.

 

I´d say that a lot depends on what size wheels you´re going to run. Needs to be kept in proportion to the car. The ones on that Pikes Peak racer look huge!

 

What about something different like a triangulated four bar setup with quarter eliptices as two of the bars?? Perhaps the upper two bars could be the springs mounted wide on the unibody angled slightly back in toward the centre of the diff?? That way they would be hidden within the boat tail body. the slight angle of the springs inward as they go back would control the lateral motion of the diff while hiding them so only the lower bars are visible?? I dont know how well it would work but this is an out there sort of project anyway and would certainly cause some more head scratching!

 

Quite right, im fitting 29" tall tires on the front of my T which sounds mad, but with 130" wheel base and 31" tall rears it balances out. Proportion is everything!

 

It is going to start out with the jag wheels in thier stock 15" configuration. If the car turns out cool enough to justify the money, I'm gonna get the wheels reworked into bigger wheels (new rims and spokes).

 

I guess you can try it out like that with some tall tyres. Should give you a pretty good idea.

 

Great vision and talent! I know a lot of guys with a lot of tools and equipment (tubing benders that they don't know how to use, etc.), but it seems that the most talented guys always do more with less.... You've definitely got the talent, thanks for sharing the build.

 

You´ve got a very cool project there! Nice score on the Jag parts!

 

That is pretty cool man, It seems you and i are on the same page.
I'm going with a little less U.S. influence but it's still essentially the same concept.
What part are you in, i'm just east of Louisville.
I've been pondering the boat tail myself.
you and i are at opposite ends though, i started on the chassis first you've started on the body. You'r seems to be a little wider than mine. Mine might seat myself and my daughter (8) I think my seat is going to be less than 40" wide.

Oh love the jag motor,very nice choice for I6.

 

Yep, mine is wider than the early racecars. But I am building it to be street driven. That is one of the reasons I started with the body. I want to make sure I fit ok. It bothers me when seat, steering wheel, and pedals don't line up. Other details can be worked into the puzzle.


I'm south of Bowling Green in Franklin.

 

Great score on the Jag. Hard to beat the looks.

I originally started with a 318 in my art deco roadster but decided it needed an inline. Besides, I didn't want to deal with the electronics. I UNDERSTAND points and carbs.

Considered the Jag but had to pass because of the cost issues. Your runner for that price was a STEAL!

Ended up using a hopped up 250 chevy with a T5. Where in Ky are you?

Regarding your boat tail, a friend made his boat tail out of two early 50 Chevy Pickup rear fenders. Really came out great.

http://imperialwheelingmachines.com/roadster/Index.htm

 

I decided to try and see how the stock jag rear suspension fit. It fits better than I thought it would. I don't think the springs would have cleared the last set of verticle pieces.

Not really sure how the springs are supposed to be mounted. Dad pulled the rear suspension out of the jag. At the time, I had no plans to use anything except the axle. Anybody got any good ideas?

Also, not sure of the jag spring rates. They seem pretty firm. Don't know if they are too firm.

 

We're in the process of restoring a 29 A speedster. The rear portion of the body is two pancaked hoods. Just a another idea for building a speedster body.

 

A friend has a 20 something Buick Herse in his shop. The rear ed is very similar to what you are proposing in your pictures. In the Buick the centers are mounted to a fixture in the frame that is on a pivoting pad, then the forward end is located in a fixture riveted to the frame.

Also If you look in tractor supply places they have hitch top links in varying lenghts and are adjustable. You could use them for your links and since they adjust, you can vary the pinion angle as well as adjust the suspension. Probably wan tot chage the end for something cushioned as they are just heim joints deals.

 

You wouldn't happen to have pictures would you?

Does anybody have any guesses as to how to hold a spring tight enough in the middle so that it acts like a quarter eliptic, but loose enough that the other quarter of the spring still works?

 

I can get some if you'd like. Perhaps as early as tomorrow.

 

How about incorporating some mahogany into the build?

Just an idea but would go with the theme...

 

pics for JAG-T post above:










Finally figured out how the stock jag suspension worked....I think.

It pivoted on the lower half of the spring pin. The upper half was mounted in rubber such that the pin couldn't catch anything. as the spring cycled, the top portion of the spring pack could move front to back.

Here is my attempt to immitate the function.



more almost free material was used for my spring boxes. ....cop car roll bars that dad bought at an auction. I used the 1/8" panel at the bottom.





I overlapped the tops so I'd have double thickness on top.



The insert captures the spring pin. It is secured by four 3/8" bolts and really beefs up the spring box when it is all bolted tight.

 

Here's how the box fits into the overall car. The box I just made made will be behind the seat. The front bucket (upside down box) will be under the seat.








Here is a view that shows the eurothane bushing inside the box. It sits over the spring pin.



Still have a lot of figuring out to do. the nuts will be welded to the side of the box to make it easier to re-assemble in a finished car. Need to remeber to keep the bolts accesible when I build more of the rear bulkhead.

 

If you haven't guessed, these boxes are going to be tied into the frame/sides/floor and heavily supported.

These boxes to way longer to figure out than I would have ever figured.

 

From what I remember you seem to have captured the essence of the system used by the Old Buick. Will the front of the spring interfere with your seating arrangements?? A cross member at the spring front location and a piece of stub frame running backward under you mount boxes should fix things pretty solidly.

 

It should be fine. Most of the spring pocket that I made is behind the seat. The forward part will be a little lower and easily go under the seat. When I did the mock-up for the seating position I was sitting on a piece of 6x6 or 8x8 with a cushion on top of that!

 

Due to the automotive slowdown while chrysler re-organizes (I work for a supplier), my job has said we are going to a 4 day workweek. That means I have a months worth of 3 day weekends to work on my car.

 

Its interesting that the poll has pretty much held the same ratio of votes for the Miller front suspension vs. the straight axle.

 

I got my other spring box put together and started looking at how to anchor the top links and came to the conclusion that I needed more beef in my framework. I am adding some 1.5 x 1.5 front to back in a more conventional frame like position. I am also installing a 1.5 x 1.5 crossmember ahead of the forward spring support to provide additional support.

 

Here are the pics. This about where I thought I was going to get to last weekend.

I feel a lot more comfortable with the extra beef.







Since I am not sure exactly what spring rate I have, I built some adjustability in for the top links.