Trunk came out perfect. Wished mine looked as good. Mine being a Northeastern car had structure issues. Probably not the best one to start with as a beginner but it will do fine for a daily driver.
Your back wheels fit the wheel well perfectly. It looks goofy when the wheels are higher than the trunk
Great looking works. Where did you find the dimensions to locate bottom edges of panels? I'll do this job soon and need to know where to locate with reference to the beltline or other reference.
I have not installed my patch panels yet. While the bottom edges of my existing sheet metal are rusted out in my case there is enough there to determine where the bottom of the new patches should be placed.
OK. It would be great if you could pull those dims when you get a chance! Sent from my HTC One_M8 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Got some more work done on the floors. I had sleeved the bolt holes through the new subrail sections with dom tubing but added a welded washer plate to the top as the subrail is just gauge metal. Tacked the cowl subrail sections back in that I had cut and flattened out per a previous post after welding up the existing bolt holes and drilling new holes to work with the frame. I will finish welding these up when the body comes back off the frame. Started to mock up the F1 pedals and seat to see how things are going to fit.
In looking at the pedals again it is going to be a tight fit. I wanted to be 100% positive the engine was as forward as possible so decided that it was time to mock up the grill shell and get a radiator and not just depend on my calculations. I mocked up the grill shell and ran some tape back to the cowl and it was too high as I expected it would be. I ended up cutting two inches off the bottom sides of the grill shell to get it where I thought it looked correct with the tape back on. Tomorrow I will get my radiator ordered to fit what I got.
like the tape, shoulda thought of that... I cut a notch in a section of hardwood moulding to clear the front hinge retainer letting it set at hood level, cut it to a length at the cowl/ hood line... sat an angle finder on the door's armrest / window bottom then on top of the moulding... wanted about 2* more drop with the hood center than the body... you can see the cowl end of the moulding...
While waiting for my radiator to arrive I have been working on my front motor mounts. Made these parts out of 2x3 TS. Then made a cardboard template. Then transferred the template to a piece of plywood and bent up some 1/4" x 1" bar stock. The bar stock will be on the bottom and part of the top along with some dom tubing where the bolt goes. Currently am working on cutting out the plate section.
like the cardboard template.... my folks retired and moved to the side of a mountain, no electricity... they gave me an electric knife [turkey, bread] that they couldn't use. well that is one of the handiest tools in the cabinet.... foam rubber, hard rubber, but the best is cutting cardboard templates... or making boxes to ship parts... HIH...
Finished cutting out all of the motor mount parts. The cross plate is run long for now. Once my radiator arrives I will install it and verify the engine location then cut the cross plate and weld up the parts. Got my cowl top/tank taken out. The tank had not had fuel in it for decades and had no odor. I washed it out several times with dish soap then filled it up with as much water as I could and started cutting with a 3" cut off disk. I was surprised how clean the inside of the tank was. I will be installing a new 32 cowl vent. I used to have a 40 Ford pickup and loved having the air from the cowl vent blowing on my legs on the hot days so had to have one on this car as well.
I have a Hurst takeoff on my Olds that is a bit different design than yours. It is bent toward the rear most likely to allow it to be secured to the block on the side for additional strength. Yours may be too far away from the boss to take any benefit from it. Here is a pic of it for reference fwiw. The arrow points to the boss where it is tied to the block on each side.
Thanks for the photo of your mounts. I have seen those before and did consider adding something back to those holes and still might. I am going to have mid/rear motor mounts as well as I don't feel comfortable with just the front mount at the very front of the motor and then just a trans mount at the very back of T5. I have talked to guys that don't have the mid/rear motor mounts on their Olds and using a T5 and have had many trouble free miles but I am still installing them.
I have had a 51 Plymouth Cranbrook gauge cluster for a number of years that I was planning on using in the center of the dash of this project. I more recently thought it would be nice to have a glove box and decided that finding a 51 Cranbrook dash would be the best way to make it happen. Luckly I found one close by a couple weeks ago. I have gotten it cut down width wise and have added some material to the top. Next I need to soften/round the top outside corner areas. The clock hole area above the ashtray will get filled in and I will come up with a trim piece to fit the vertical area to the right of the cluster hole.
Just found your thread. I really like the direction you are taking your build. I found several great tips and tricks already like the wheel stands and your method to fit the cowl feet to the 32 frame. Dash is going to look great, too!
Glad you are enjoying it. I have learned so much out of reading other build posts over the years that I figured I should do one.
The radiator I special ordered from a local radiator shop got in so I mocked it up to final check my engine location. Ended up moving the engine forward another 3/8" or so. Still have 1" plus clearance from the fan blade to the radiator. The bottom of the 32 radiator sits on the top of the after market modal a front cross member so I will have to shim under the radiators side mounting tabs. I also had to trim about 3/8" off the end of fan blades because they were hitting the lower radiator hose outlet. I also wanted to double check the grill shell height so mocked it up with a cardboard hood. I am happy with the way it looks so will get back to finishing up the front motor mount.
Hey you stole my seat!! Good looking build sir. Like your dash as well. Nice small “different” touches that are making your car a great build. Saw your comment about going with a mid mount for the tranny. I am running a home built hurst style front mount on my 409 in my coupe and after doing a lot of reading decided on a mid mount as well. Picked up these mid mounts from speedway then built the frame tabs for them to mount to. Had to cut back the speedway mounts as they were too long and hit the frame. Feel better about having them for extra strength. Keep up the good work! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
when I cut the top from my A tank I left $0.25 piece size tabs of the tank sides... drilled a 1/4" hole through the tabs.... they are now hanger supports for wiring harness and the back side of my glovebox... pix if needed.
The Jalopy Journal
