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Projects Adam's '30 Roadster Shed find! AV8 Build Thread

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Adam M., Oct 16, 2011.

  1. Since I'm planning ahead, and laying under the car trying to visualize where everything is going to go, this car keeps coming to mind. I love the through frame exhaust (actually the whole car) on Scott Sheehan's roadster. The hood can still fit, gets it outside the car quick, tucks up along the frame, etc. What's not to love! I'm trying to come up with my own idea...

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    heavydumper, biggeorge and Jeff34 like this.
  2. Aaron D.
    Joined: Oct 27, 2015
    Posts: 1,037

    Aaron D.
    Member

    I'm watching! and loving what your doing. You gots skillz (as the kids say) haha.
     
  3. Hopefully the last snowfall of the season, so I rolled the car out to get a better look and take some pictures. The strange thing is, some of the pictures I took with my iPhone are too big. Regular pictures are usually around 1.2-1.6mb but some of these are 2.4-3.1mb. These are the only 3 I can load. I guess I understand old cars better then new "phones"!

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    Last edited: Apr 3, 2017
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    I cleaned up the shop a bit and worked on the drivers door. I snapped on some Mercury 8 caps and I like the look. I planned to do it this morning when the car was outside, but I forgot.
     
    slv63, Nailhead A-V8, Mikel50 and 2 others like this.
  5. I remember when I bought this body, I thought it was great that the seat riser was still in the car...well out it came today!

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  6. I decided to tackle something I've been putting off...

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    The front subrail on the driver side was a bit rotten.

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    This area is double layered which causes rust. The bottom piece is nearly gone.

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    I use a hand air sander like this to remove the rivets. Sand the head off flush and you should see a circle, then punch it out.

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    This upright had two spot welds too.
     
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    Have you ever had a rivet that won't punch out from either direction? Maybe it looks like this!

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    If you have a problem with your body not sitting right with your new wood kit, look at this close. That pice should fit up in the front subrail. It won't take much to correct it.

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    Last edited: Apr 2, 2017
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    Donor cowl side I saved from being tossed out

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    It's solid but had been washed with phosphoric acid years ago by the look of it.

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    This is more what the bottom should look like.

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    Rivers and spot welds removed. I should be able to fix my car with these parts.
     
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    I found this small carbide burr works nice for grinding out these small spot welds. These cars don't have the same spot welds as newer cars, these are just small. I removed the rivets, then wiggle the part, then you will see the low spots where the spot welds are.
     
  10. sloppy jalopies
    Joined: Jun 29, 2015
    Posts: 5,256

    sloppy jalopies
    Member

    i dropped my '30 coupe body onto a chassis i built to go under a '33, it did...17 years.
    but i put the '33's upward arch in the frame rails... didn't jive with the A cowl's subfloor, so i trimmed out an arch from 0" to 3/4" from under the subfloor extentions to match it...
    now i will use '35 -'36 tudor door patch panel's forward 13 3/8" as my cowl patches... leaves enough to patch a 1930 coupe door...
    the curved panels will better match my cowl / frame...
    .
    .
    ...... this system says my file is too large for the server to prossess ? ?
    any tips, or do they want me to just shut up ?
     
  11. There are always a way with Hot Rods! I should have enough metal with this junk to put this area of the car back to shape.

    Some pictures I've been taking with my phone have been too big. It's very random too. Most of the pics in my last post said they were too big, so I emailed them to myself one size smaller, saved the pictures from the email, then posted them. I'm sure there is a better way!
     
    Hendee likes this.
  12. Hendee
    Joined: Sep 12, 2009
    Posts: 158

    Hendee
    Member

    Adam. Finally found your build thread. Just read it all. Will have to get back down home way and see it in person this spring.

    Tom


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  13. Halfdozen
    Joined: Mar 8, 2008
    Posts: 632

    Halfdozen
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Enjoying this thread.
    This is a good piece of freeware for resizing pics:
    http://www.irfanview.com/

    When removing rivets, grind the back side off flush, then drill into the shank without drilling through the head. Drill out most of the diameter, then your punch will stretch the hollow shank when you whack it with the BFH. It takes much less force this way, and you won't mushroom the rivet, which tightens it in the hole.
     
  14. Those front bones looked great after you performed surgery on them. Really liked the pics out in the snow, too. Nice build.
     
  15. Hey Tom,

    It must have been interesting enough to read the whole thing! When your down in the area, don't be shy, I'm always up for a visit to talk about cars!
     

  16. Thanks for the info! So far with these 3/16" ones, just sanding them off with that sander the part will come right off. They usually tap right out too unless they were squished in between because the pieces weren't tight when it was made like an earlier pic I posted.
     
  17. Thanks man. Having the car sitting together always gets me excited enough to take it apart again and improve stuff on it!
     
  18. Check out this Model A that burned in a garage fire. It sure must have been hot. Check out how warped the cowl side is, windshield header sagged and the glass melted in the amp gauge. It gave up its driver side "leg". Also note the Robertson screws in the gauge cluster....Canadian eh!

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    Last edited: Apr 3, 2017
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    The parts from the acid washed cowl sandblasted. The "leg" had a couple issues that I was going to fix (pictured), but the burnt cowl had a nice one so I grabbed that instead.

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    Progression of betterness (not really a word!). You can see how my spot weld removal improved by the third time. The third one will be used after the brazing is cleaned off (must have held the floor in) and I need to repair the upper rivet holes that were opened up for bolts.
     
    bct and biggeorge like this.
  20. One of these days it's going to look better each time I work on it, not worse....right?!!!

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    kidcampbell71 and 39 Aaron NZ like this.
  21. I picked up this super junky cowl today for the windshield mounting posts.

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    brEad and kidcampbell71 like this.
  22. I dragged this 1935 Ford Tudor slant back home today. It laid on its side for a very long time. I'm hoping it provides a few parts for the roadster.

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    Last edited: Apr 18, 2017
    FlatJan, slv63, brEad and 1 other person like this.
  23. Stripped the '35 Ford, lots of work to save a few parts. I saved what I could, then loaded the truck to drop off the waste.

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    I cut the side open on the donor cowl. This one had original rivets holding it together.

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    The post on my car was bolted together. I wondered how they had got the bolts facing that way when there was no sign the cowl side had been removed. I decided to cut the bolts off, then make a plate with tapped holes to slip in behind to reassemble it.

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    Outside in the sun I noticed there was holes put in the side then filled...that explained it. I hit it with a flap disk (after this picture) and it was shiny but I expected to see gold colour from brazing like other spots in the body. I somehow assumed it must have been welded.

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    I put a bit heat on the bolts and lead started to melt out! So I melted the rest out and also decided to mount the new one the same way.

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    Out with the old.

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    Replacement test fit.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2017
    slv63 and Aaron D. like this.
  25. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Hi, Adam. Quite a digging expedition up there in the windshield post area, but it looks like it's lining up nicely.
    Lots of good running gear parts in that '35, front axle & parts...rear wishbones and axle bells...I'd say a nice haul.
    Great luck in finding all the parts you did on this one!
    Many neat solutions to often-dismaying problems. I'm locked into this project. Thanks for all the closeup pics.
     
  26. Hey Mike I'm glad you are enjoying the thread! Sometimes I wonder if I could be spending my time a bit more wisely (for example when I'm trying to get rusty bolts out of a disaster of a 1935 Ford that I paid money for, that I drove an hour each way to get and an hour and a half to retrieve it from the bush, while making a huge mess with on and off rain showers!) but overall I'm really enjoying this project and posting the details of the build. I always like the feedback!
     
  27. CadMad
    Joined: Oct 20, 2012
    Posts: 876

    CadMad
    Member

    Gday Adam, enjoying your build from Brisbane. I've just started playing with a pile of parts. I'm enjoying your practical engineering solutions. Don't worry about those random rainy days as you scratch your head wondering "why am I doing this? holding a grinder in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
    That's the stuff you remember and laugh about. . . At the old folks home.
     
    Adam M. likes this.
  28. Wow world famous! My friend here at work lived in Brisbane for a year. He was in Robertson and worked in Capalaba. He really enjoyed his time there.

    I'm glad your enjoying my thread and good luck on your project!
     
    CadMad likes this.
  29. GREAT THREAD!! You have a knack for finding cool stuff and making nice from it. The pics and narrative are top shelf.

    I probably missed it, but are those Red's headers?
     
  30. Thanks for the compliments! Yes they are Reds headers. I bought them at a swap meet and they are for an AV8. It was a kit that was never used that came with some pipes and a length of flex tube. The drivers side is not going to fit due to interference with the steering box. That seems to be a common problem but I believe there is a totally different header available now to remedy that problem.
     

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