1930s Era Champ Car - new project

Suggestion for cowl script: M - m -m - my Carona

 

That's good Third DodgeBrother.
At the risk of veering wildly off topic rather than post the lyrics I'll just suggest HAMBers look up Knack's "Bye Corona" parody song on The Google Machine. Ya gotta laugh in times like this.

I have been doing some soul searching recently. I have decided to upgrade my TIG welding capabilities with a new state-of-the-art machine. I will soon be advertising my older Miller TIG machine to HAMBers looking for a good deal on a used machine. That way I can both help our struggling economy and improve my efficiency at all the welding tasks that lie ahead, as well as help another HAMBer get TIG capable.

 

I am selling my Miller Dialarc TIG welder. I posted an ad in the "Antiquated - For Sale" forum.

 

After selling my old Miller Dialarc I popped for a new state-of-the-art Miller Dynasty 210. It has all the whistles and bells I need to finish up this project. Plus it is the size of a suitcase vs the old one that was pert near the size of a refrigerator.

 

Let me know how it works, I have been looking at one Also. I have a older Lincoln 275 thats been good just thinking about upgrading.

 

Will do 1-SHOT. One thing the Miller rep said us car guys love is the remote wireless foot pedal. The little yellow gizmo plugged into the machine is the wireless receiver. You can take the pedal into or under a car and position it more easily. So far it has performed well welding some aluminum test coupons and some thin gauge metal sculpture.
However the torch head is much smaller than my old one so the cups, collets, and gas lenses I kept will not work with this machine.

 

I finished these tail mounting flanges by welding the joint, radiusing the corners and embossing the remaining faux rivet heads that could not be accessed in the DiAcro press, then cleaning with Metalprep. Now these are ready for attaching to the tail section, which still needs additional love before its ready.

 

I am useing a WP 20 torch usually with a # 6 cup. How big is your new torch? Frank

 

Yes, that is what I am using 1-SHOT, a Weldcraft W250 which is essentially the same as the WP 20, and on sheetmetal an #6 cup.

Now I have a couple of design situations to resolve. The first is where to put the fuel filler lid. The second is where to hide a battery.

I have a small plastic fuel cell - 8 gallons - to mount under the tail section. I will make a filler pipe to connect to the fuel cell. I've seen several locations for the filler cap - on top of the head rest, on the side of the tail near the head rest, or even hidden behind the rear seat. All of these locations have advantages and disadvantages.
Putting the filler cap on top of the head rest makes routing the filler pipe easy, but spoils the flowing lines of the head rest.
Putting the filler pipe on the side of the body tail section preserves the lines of the head rest but may interfere with the painted number on the tail.
Putting the filler pipe behind the seat gives the cleanest look to the body lines but it could be difficult to remove the seat back to access the fuel filler and the driver will have to get out and remove the seat back to safely fill up.

Additionally, I will need a way to check the fuel level, especially if I eventually want to drive it on the street. I'd rather not have a fuel gauge visible on the dash.

Once I decide on a fuel filler design and a way to measure fuel level, I need to package a battery back there in the remaining space available. If I have to use a compact hi-tech race battery I will.

Your thoughts on my dilemmas ?

 

Make a small head rest that is separate from the seat The only place i can come up with is in the headrest with a pad behind the drivers head.Or put it in the side of the headrest it should not get in the way of the numbers

 

I like the #4 on our car. We have used 1,77,6,4,2 and several others

 

That is a nice car. I like the number. I plan to ask Josh Shaw to paint the number (#6) on my car, either in gold leaf or engine turned.
I think there is enough room just below my headrest to place the filler and still leave enough room for a large numeral.

 

I dont have any thoughts on your dilemmas, actually working through having nowhere to fit anything makes my head hurt and I'm glad I am not up to that stage yet.
However I love your sheet work on the rear frame. Making nice use of the stretcher I see to bring that curve in.

Cheers,
Josh

 

Of all the sprint cars I painted I like this one the best. I see if I Can find a better picture.
Smiley and I have been running around together since high school and I have painted almost all the cars we have had.

 

1-SHOT, where's the airstrip?

 

Lima 20 in Laos

 

Looked like a crop duster field in the back country out here on the west coast.

 

Yea but you got any of 20 alternate?

 

Our Crop Dusting Field

 

Company office

 

1-SHOT and all you vets,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

 

Since my last post I have done literally tens of thousands of hammer tappa tappas on the tail. At first I did not think the basic shape was going to "come in" but after much hammering and some slapper and shrinking disc (thanks for the idea mgtstumpy!) I have it to the point where I will not need a hogshead of Bondo to get a smooth skin.

I do have a show-n-tell item for today. I made a dolly from an end cap for a welded stainless steel 3" pipe. It is schedule 40S - .216" wall thickness - so it will take a lot of abuse. I turned down a flanged wooden plug and pressed it into the back side for use on a bench top if need be. It is easy to hold with the wooden plug.
The other wedge dolly is one I fished out of the local community college dumpster at years end. It is a marvelous shape - useful for tipping flanges and other forming tasks. That one and this new end cap dome dolly are becoming my "go to" dollies for lots of jobs.

I need to get some weld-thru primer so I can join the mounting flanges to the tail section and minimize the risk of rust between the two.

 

I re-attached the tail mounting flanges in preparation for welding the tail to them. I placed the fuel cell within the confines of the flanges and it looks like it will fit up on top of the rear spring crossmember. That will give me enough room behind the fuel cell to mount a battery, as low as practical.. The cell measures 15" x 17" and if things are too tight I can turn it so the 15" side is aligned inside with the sump on the right hand side. It should be simple to make an extended filler tube.

 

Sump at the back should work fine. When you're all crossed up in the corner with the throttle on the floor and your tail pointed at the wall, I believe the gas will mostly be at the back of the tank.
An asphalt car would want the sump on the right.

 

Some pretty good examples here.

 

We always used helicopter pickup on ours , because it followed the fuel. Frank

 

Thanks. How I luv watching those sprinters.

 

Love the winged and non winged sprint cars. You need to drive both kinds to realize how much the wing settles them down. It’s the difference between running across a 2X6 on flat and then turn it up and running across it on edge. The school cars have no governors on them. They are full blown 410
W.O.W. Sprint cars. It is definitely a experience, most fun with your clothes on. Frank

 

From this in the late 50’s to the this in 2020
How is the new welder working?