Hot Rods Mart's three month 33 5W Survivor project

Awesome stuff Mart....I LOVE the stuff that comes out of your garage brother !!

Rat

 

Mart,
mate, you're fuckin incredible, if that was mine and I'd seen the condition of that motor for a start, I woulda been mightily pissed off, but you persisted and got it done.
Hats off to ya
cheers, Phil

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys. It was quite an intensive period, but I really enjoyed it.

Mart.

 

You did good AND you taught the rest of us a few things... just what this site does the best.
Thank you,
Al

 

Great stuff,definatly gave me some great ideas on my build,cheers Martin

 

That was a great read and well documented. Well done post like this make the hamb great cheers paul

 

Great tale... everyone seems to be having a great time. Congrats, Gary

 

i love it when a plan comes together! thanks.

 

Mart, captavating thread, your approach to this cool survivor is awesome. I love those G.M.C.'s and "Champ" is a sweet truck. Thanx for sharing this wonderful cars journey with us. The address book is way cool. ~sololobo~

 

Cheers Lads, here's a little update.

When I say "bonnet" you say "hood".


Ok, so I've been away for a couple of weeks, and still havn't completed the registration process. I have to take the car for inspection next Tues, so after that things should move along better.

A couple of things to update:

I finally managed to get a 2nd ignition set together. I had to keep borrowing the good ignition setup off Old Rusty. In the end I used the dizzy off the 59A, set up with a single set of NORS points, NOS genuine flatty wires and a crab cap. I did set it up with a really pretty red crab cap, but it wouldn't fire and run. It was popping and banging and trying to run backwards. Careful inspection of the cap showed a crack internally between the king lead input and the No.5 terminal. Substitution of another cap fixed it. Not driven it properly on the road yet, but it sounds all right in the garage.

Next job was to work out how to fill the hole in the roof.

At Chimay I inspected Simon's 34. He filled the roof with a vinyl covered steel insert, sikaflexed in. He said he used some instructions from Kev Elliot in Custom Car, which said use a mk1 Astra bonnet, turned front to back. He said he couldn't find a used one so bought a new replacement panel and it worked a treat.

So using that basic idea as a guide I thought I'd give it a go, but start from first principles.

Here's the roof opening with the wooden bows still intact. These are worth keeping because you tack the headlining to them.


I wanted to make a template to show the curvature of the roof. I had a brainwave -

That's it - use a piece of ply with screws screwed through until they just touch the metal surface, or the wooden bows. This worked really well, because each screw is finely adjustable, plus it was cheap and quick to make.

I took it to the local scrappy (Mick Merrill for anyone local) and tried it on various bonnets. Why bonnets, I hear you say, and not roofs?? Well, two reasons, if a bonnet will do it, it's easily removed and transported, plus the cars are stacked two high so the lower roofs are inaccessible and the upper level too high. Bonnets are easy.

So around I went, trying this and that, and there were only a few with an area big enough, without flutes or ridges, and only really one, that came close to the profile as dictated by my super accurate template.

Mondeo. Not the early one, the later one styled more like a focus. The bonnet was a bit damaged at the front so he let me have it for nothing. (top bloke Mick).

Here's the bonnet at home


And with the template in place, though it's hard to show how well it fits.

Like Kev found, it fits better back to front.

I cut through the outer skin and chopped out the inner panels. I had to carefully trim the inner panels so I could break the gluey blobs holding inner and outer together.

A few pics:









I then removed the gluey lumps with a chisel and reduced the residue with a scraper.

Then I slung the panel on for a test fit.

Not bad, not bad at all. Pretty good really.

I drew around the opening from the inside and then trimmed around with a generous allowance, leaving room for a final trim.


I then really studied the roof opening and worked out what I had. There is a hidem type metal band around the opening, with two screws and nuts at each corner. I removed the nuts and pried the banding out. It comes out in three parts. I removed the remnants of the canvas top material. The opening is in pretty good shape, the tacking strip seems to be ok.

This is as far as I have got, for now, I have to decide exactly how to attach the panel, whether to make it temporary or permanent, and I need some vinyl to cover it.

But here is a parting shot with the new lid resting in place.

I don't think I could have got a better profile if I had wheeled one up from scratch.

Mart.

 

Good job as usual Mart.

 

Great work! Like to see how this build turns out.

 

That looks like a perfect fit! Excellent.

 

You've done some amazing stuff with some bitchin cars over the years!

Thanks for taking the time to post it!

 

Great job Mart!

 

Mart, Great job man, I have always enjoyed following your builds and have been a fan of your website for years thanks for sharing!!!!
Chad

 

Great job,im at the same stage with mine.i was thinking of welding mine to the tacking strip and then sikaflexing it in as well as a couple of bolts just to make sure it doesnt fly off,and could be removable if needed.keep us updated with what you come up with,cheers Martin

 

The screw is brilliant, you sir are a genius.

 

Quick roundup as good news to report.

Last Tuesday got the old GMC fired up and pressed into towing duty again.





Took the 33 down to the local DVLA (UK DMV) for the requested inspection. I knew this was going to be a formality but it was a hoop I had to jump through to progress the registration. All was well and got back safe and sound, tucked everything away and started waiting for the letter. THE letter.

This morning, normal Saturday routine, took my Mum shopping and when I got back THE letter had arrived.

It contained the form I need to buy the number plates and a tax disc. I never unpacked the shopping so quick.

Straight to a local shop to get some plates - I just got what was available over the counter - something smart will have to wait.

And off for a road test.

I drove all around, first round the short block then round the longer block, then round the 8 mile block, and so on, going further afield each time.

Pleased to report no issues.

I waited what seemed like an eternity for today, and was so pleased to at last be able to drive it. So pleased, I didn't even snatch a video.

All I got was a couple of crappy pics in Tesco's car park.





But that's the whole point, they were taken in Tesco's car park. Not in my back garden. And that makes a big difference!

Mart.

 

neat project!
great writeup
my dad has a 33 5w rod
thanks for sharing

 

great to see it out and being driven and not hidden away in the shed,good work,im getting close with mine too.

 

Way to go Mart.

She's a beauty.

 

Awesome car!

 

congrats mart car looks great,bob

 

There's a ton of tips in this thread for me to "steal" when putting together one of mine... Thanks!!

 

Hey, I let this thread get a bit behind - I'll bring it up to date.

Ok, time to add a little bit to the thread. I have been away working in the states for nearly 3 weeks so that halted progress for a while but did allow me to pick up a few little nik naks like wiper arm and blade, radiator to grille brackets, window channels and other sundry bits.

I fitted the radiator brackets and that allowed me to refit the hood. It doesn't really align very well, but it'll do for now. I like a 33/34 with a hood. It looks classy. I had had some glass cut for the side windows. One was broken and one was really obscured in the plastic interlayer. Got the new glass fitted using the new lower channels and rubber I had bought. Didn't take any pics.

Finally got around to doing a proper job and decided to tackle the roof insert. I had the section of Mondeo bonnet and had slowly contrived a plan on how to fit it. Neals hammer formed panels had stuck in my mind and with 3 weeks thinking time, an idea formed in my mind.

Heres an overall pic of the task at hand.


Firstly I removed all the remnants of cloth and tacks from the roof surround tack strip. The strip was in quite good condition, pretty sure it had only had one insert ever fitted.


Here's a strip of b&q's finest 15mm by 5mm steel bar, chosen as the best size to go around the opening.


And using a Y-block pulley in the vice I proceeded to bend it to suit the shape of the roof opening.


Keep going, all the way around. It'n not as easy as the pics suggest, lots of tweaking and rebending.


I had to weld three pieces together.

The outer frame was then drilled in 20 places and the holes transferred to the tack strip and drilled through.


I then countersunk the holes, tapped them and after turning the heads down a bit, inserted 20 10-32 UNF screws into the holes.


I secured each one in place with weld and then ground the welds flat.

I was then able to lay the frame onto the upturned filler panel.


I then scribed a good clear line around it, and (after this pic) trimmed the panel to approx 6-7mm outside the line.


Then using a mallet and a lump hammer as a dolley I knocked the overlapping piece up around the edge of the frame, the frame acting as a hammer form.
(no pic sorry)

Once the outer lip was formed, I trimmed off any excess and welded the skin to the frame in a 3 stage process.

1, grind a little notch.


2, Run a little bead of weld into the notch.

3, Grind the weld down flush with the surrounding metal, taking the outer skin down flush at the same time.


I trialled the frame in the roof and had to drill the holes along the side rails a little oversize, (7mm) as the frame had shrunk a bit with the hammering.

I got it in place with just a little bumping with the palm of my hand, and put the nuts on below. The screws need trimming down, but will do for now.


And here is a quick look at how it sits.

Right side:


Rear:


And left side:


Obviously it will need to come off again for painting and to paint the tack strip area and apply some sealant, but I'm pretty pleased with it as it stands.

Mart.

 

Did a bit more on the roof insert.

Took it off and ran a wire brush around the roof aperture.


Stripped all the old paint off.

Remember this was a Mondeo bonnet? Those two holes on the right of the pic are the windscreen washer jet holes, they are at the back of the bonnet but on the front of my insert.

Welded them up and just licked the welds down with the grinder. Didn't bother with any filler.


Two coats of screwfix red primer and one of hammerite satin black. Love the red primer, don't like the hammerite stuff.


Didn't take pics at this stage, but put another coat of black on the top and the next day flipped it over and after cleaning the remnants of the glue nobules off with the wire brush, put a coat of red oxide on the underside.

Cut a bicycle inner tube into long strips and made a rubber gasket to go around the perimeter. punched holes in it to fit over the studs and put little bits of tape on the corners to hold the gasket in position.

I plonked the roof insert back in place and tightened it down.


The rollered paint has a sort of mottled effect, and looks a little like stretched fabric.
I'm quite pleased with it. It looks well made in a rough and ready way, (if you know what I mean).


It looks ok from the inside too, with the coat of red paint.


I may still trim a little off the length of the screws. I intend to just put a bit of matt black paint on the screws, because when driving, I find the bright screws in my peripheral vision distracting.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

Mart.

 

Thanks Guys.

Ok, this must rank as the lamest update ever, but I now have some rudimentary instrumentation. I looked on ebay for some gauges and bought a water temp and oil pressure gauge from a marine place. I got em because they had old fashioned needles and curved glass. They were not too expensive and for a change were made in India, not China.

Both are electric rather than mechanical so I had to get adaptors for the senders 5/8" UNF to 1/8" NPT for the temp and 1/4" NPT to 1/8" NPT for the oil. I picked up a two gauge bracket from the autojumble at the NEC, which is a bit unusual in it's shape, but had a warning light built in, as well as one of those old fashioned plugs that people used in the 50's.

A session in the garage had it mounted and the gauges wired.



I fitted it without drilling any extra holes, the switch you can see is for the the indicators, the switch holds the bracket in place. I went the whole hog and even wired the illumination to the lights.

I might drill the corners for a couple more tell tales for main beam and the indicators.

Quite pleased with it, it fits in ok without looking too modern or over retro (like the magnolia Smiths stuff for instance).

The other thing I did was order some silver on black number plates, they should be here in a few days.

....................

The plates turned up so I put them on. They are the smaller plates used on older British bikes. They are borderline illegal here, but lots of people use them.



Here in the UK you have to provide a lot of paperwork to buy plates. These were made in Ireland, outside of the UK and were bought with no more than a few clicks of the mouse. Much easier.

Mart.

 

7008
I have been bouncing the idea of improving the steering around for quite a while, It was the one big thing that was spoiling the enjoyment of driving for me. There have been many helpful discussions leading to lots of good info gathered from many sources. So thanks to those that took part in the discussions.

I finally actually started cutting metal a couple of weeks ago and have been doing a bit as and when I can. I turned the place upside down trying to find an F100 box I'm sure I have somewhere. Anyway, can't find it so had to think of something else. I like the Hudson steering conversions for a few reasons.. Namely it's the improved type with the roller sector shaft, it's overslung like the original 33 box, and has the same spline for the pitman arm as the 33.

Problem is, they are like rocking horse manure. So what's the next best thing? 37-48 passenger car. I had a couple of lhd boxes and a very crusty rhd box. To get the overslung arrangement, I needed a lhd box, turned 90 degrees and poked out through the rail. People have done this before, but it does have a drawback. It reverses the steering. You have to unreverse it by fitting the pitman arm sticking up instead of down.

That's a bit rubbish in my view and a job stopper for me. I need the arm sticking down like stock. Triggered by a variety of conversations, it dawned on me that fitting the guts from the rhd box in the lhd casing would make a lhd box that steers correctly when fitted as push and pull rather than cross steer.

Great, I have the lhd and rhd bits so the idea is a goer.

So along with some sporadic photo's to help tell the story, follow along as I upgrade the steering on my 33 to the vastly improved 37 style.

Here's a very grungy 37-48 style lhd box.


Note all the lugs that attach it to the steering bracket on the frame rail. These have to be cut off for this conversion.

And here is the sad remnants of a rhd 37 box. The innards were still usable (just).

It is a direct mirror image of the lhd box.

Heres the lhd box after cutting off the mounting lugs..

Note the selection of angle grinders - surely one of the most handy devices available to today's car nut.

The box was chucked up in the hundred year old Hendey and the snout skimmed down to just big enough to keep the oil seal in place.

The sector shaft was kept in place so the end could be supported by the rotating centre.

Having cut off the cross steer mounting lugs I needed a 33 style flange to bolt to the frame. This was cut from a piece of 10mm steel plate. I trimmed the end, cut the hole and then cut the flange from the plate. Easier to hold when still attached to the rest of the plate.




At this point I needed to trial fit the box in the car. The 33 steering was removed, I learned form the fordbarn that the engine did not need to be removed, as long as the exhaust manifold is removed, the steering will come out.

I had to clean out the threads in the 40 wheel (5/16" UNF) and improvised a puller to get the wheel off. It was very tight.


To even get the box in place you have to enlarge the hole in the frame. Only the 1-1/8" shaft sticks through on the 33, so to get the casing and oil seal through needs a bigger hole.

Here's the original hole.


It's hard to enlarge the hole especially when the fenders are still in place so this is how I did it.

This is the slug out of the flange when the hole saw was used to cut the hole. I skimmed it down so it was a light tap fit in the hole in the frame.


Here it is in place.


And here is the same hole saw being used to cut the hole in the frame.


And the hole almost cut through. The frame is double thickness here, the x-member doubles the frame on a 33.


Once the hole was cut I could trial fit the box in the frame.


The column was attached and checked for alignment at top and bottom.




When all was looking good, it was assembled up with the flange in place (after lots of filing and grinding to take account of the angularity of the frame).

The flange was tacked in place and then welded fully after pre heating with the gas axe. The 130 amp mig copes well as long as it's pre heated.

Continued below.

Mart.

 

The shaft was cut, bevelled, welded and ground down, but only to take off the high spots.


(no pics bevelled, sorry)





And the locking ring was refitted in the correct place.


Make sure you have fitted the shaft to the box before fitting the lock ring. Ahem. Dont ask me how I know this.

Here's the box assembled up ready for a quick coat of paint and refitting. In my experience it was easier to fit the mast after the box and shaft were fitted to the car.


And the final trial fit. Note the filler plug. I drilled and tapped for a 1/4NPT taper plug.


And the finished job in place.


The sector shaft was fitted with a new seal.


And a shot showing the flange from the inside.




The box just fits and clears the exhaust. There was enough clearance to refit the manifold with the steering in place.


Last thing I did was fit a slightly smaller steering wheel. I think this was from a Ford Pop, not exactly sure, but it does have a nicely worn old cover on it.


I Havn't done a proper road test, but I have reversed it up and down the drive and tried manouevring around a bit and I can tell straight away that it is much lighter and more direct, even with the borderline rhd parts I had to hand and the smaller steering wheel.

Mart.