Projects KIWI 1939 COUPE DU JOUR - Runnin from Johnny Law!

Gonna be Bitchen!

 

It looked like that. I was just thinking that sometimes you might want to do stuff where you wouldn't want to have to disconnect everything to access it.

 

Hope so!

 

I had a bit of a re-organize in the shop today. Lifted the chassis down from the bench and dropped it on its own wheels on the ground. Dragged the body out from the back of the shop and hung it on a hook. While it was on the hook I had a look underneath to see the condition of the body mount holes........couldn't see them any where except on the firewall! From this I worked out that the floor has in fact been replaced a while back and never been bolted to the chassis. That explains the condition of the floor.
Once the body was down on the chassis I stood back and took stock of how it will look when done.........very low springs to mind! I have since pushed the car back into the corner to make way for a few weeks of work on the house and property now that the weather seems to have settled somewhat.
Meanwhile I am still on the look-out for the engine and trans etc.

 

I spoke to the guy with the 327 short block I am hoping to get. He is due for an operation this week so will be laid up for some time, but he assures me that the engine is going nowhere and it has my name on it any way. In the mean time I will be looking for a block or complete engine to use for mock up and mounting.
I have made some progress on the jobs around the house in the last couple of weeks and even managed to put together a T bucket chassis today for my cousins boy. They had done a complete precut for it and even had boxes of fabricated parts recently imported. They left after about 5 hours with a complete basic frame to continue their father son project. I am disappointed that I didn't get any pictures, but I was a little busy on the end of a welder. Never mind I am sure they will power through the project and have it on the road in a flash.

 

Stole this shot off his FB page.

 

The brake booster arrived today. I found it on an auction site. Nice small diameter 6" of a Datsun 1600 or US 510 model. It will be easy to mount the brake master onto it then both onto the original pedal and under floor mount.

I also borrowed a reamer from a workmate to sort out the worn clutch pedal and fit some new bushes.

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I spent some time with my boy last week and machined a new shaft for the brake and clutch pedals. I blasted and painted the mount and pedals. Some new pads turned up in the post too.
I need to order a dual master cylinder for the brakes. I have a single left over from a bad decision on the last car for the clutch.


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Test

 

I am rebuilding my clutch and brake peddle assembly this week. I tried using my press to push the old shaft out with no luck. How did you get yours out? I noticed you machined your new shaft for grease zerks. Did your pedals not have grease fittings on them? Or did you just figure that it would be better gerase the bushings through the shaft?

 

It can be nerve wracking putting parts like these in the press. I made sure to support the forging carefully and go for gold on the jack handle with safety glasses on! There are no grease fittings on the pedals, so I drilled the ends of the shaft. Good luck on the press. I had the added difficulty of not having such a big pool of parts if I broke it....being right hand drive!

 

hmm ill stick this out ....

quite fond of these coupes....

 

Nice build, i'll be checking back. I was originally going to slide a jag clip under the front of my 40, for alot of good reasons, availability (i'm in the U.K) IFS, discs, could tuck the wheels in etc, but went dropped I beam, 40 drums, (been told that braking is bad at best) wheels too close to the fenders. Not sure I went the right way for a driver, guess time will tell.

 

Well... I think I will commit to replacing the shaft with the kit I bought; but maybe I will cut off most of the shaft first and drill most of the center out it before pressing. I had a spare pedal unit on my 39 chassis but traded it for some repairable 39 rear fenders. The original left hand pedal units are rare or popular enough that they are being reproduced now.

I am enjoying your build. I went with the dropped axle GM disc brake combo on mine and expect to have some pretty tight fender clearances. I am looking forward to watching you widen those front fenders.... The real 39 fenders are not all that easy to come by in my area. Lots of 40 ford fenders are available though.

 

I failed to mention that the shaft I pressed out had one side already cut off (the clutch side), so I pressed into a socket the appropriate size to start off with. After I had established that the shaft was going to move, it was pain sailing and it didn't take too much pressure at all.

I have since then cut some plates to mount the booster onto the factory mount. A little machining of components will happen this week (and updated pictures too.

Last shift break I had two whole days in the shop wielding a welder and grinder on the chassis, boxing plates, front suspension, rear suspension. By the end of that I was exhausted (its nearing 30C 85F in the shop daily) but happy with progress. Thank goodness for electric chain hoists and sturdy workbenches, lots of lifting and shifting over the last week. I am hoping to have Motor and box sorted before Xmas to mount etc.....finances providing! This week coming I have to make an AC mount for the house to cool upstairs for the family.

 

Today I machined some spacers and an actuator extension for the pedal to the booster. A friend of mine has an exhaust shop in town. I went and visited him to day for a piece of tube to join the two flanges I cut a couple of weeks back. We grabbed a bit of tube and then put it onto his expander machine and stretched one end to fit the inside of the booster flange. A little bit of jiggling and it fit perfectly. Once home I fitted it all, trimmed a bit and welded everything up.

 

Nicely done. JW

 

Santa Claus is coming to town, Santa Claus is coming to town............He turned up early this year and dropped off a prezzy for me!


A nice big carton all the way from Meheco...............




Full of shiney bits!.................

Now all I need is a bellhousing and a block to hang it all off, so I can build some mounts!

 

I put up a call on FB today for an engine block to set up with. I have a 327 organised but getting to it in the guys shed will take a while......in the mean time a friend has loaned me a 400 long block to use for mount location etc.
I am hoping to sort a bellhousing tomorrow to complete the ensemble.

 

Hey Wade...I am curious to know the process for Importing hard parts like your Tremec. In the old days you gave your hard-earned cash to a mate who was coming here, hoped he could find and pack said item in the container, and wait for ir to be shipped and delivered--or drive to the port to pick it up....Is that still the way things work?

 

Nowadays you simply order it online and get it sent freight free to an inland (USA) third party address and they load it into a container and send it over. These containers are constantly on the water now due to demand and all of the freight in the container shares the costs. I am not sure of the address to use, as I bought the gearbox locally from the Gearbox Factory in Auckland for less than I spent rebuilding the trans in my roadster!

 

A successful morning in town has landed me with all the fastenings for rear mount, trans to bell housing, bell housing to block and engine mounts. The mounts are on their way and will be here tomorrow. It turns out that the hole spacing on the trans will accept a standard GM trans mount.........that's handy! I should have the bell housing before Santa comes to visit too! I even grabbed a full bottle for the welder, so no excuses!

 

What are crush tubes? great build.

 

They are tubes to stop a hollow section from crushing when a bolt is done up that carries a load, the bolt passes through the tube. It gives a solid mount/ support. JW

 

Required by our certification scheme.

 

Thanks I am a bit smarter.

 

Thanks, Wade....Makes sense. I`m keeping an eye on this build....

 

So much for the planets all getting into alignment for a fabrication Christmas! I just got back from town picking up the engine mounts (trans mount was the wrong one) and was told that the bell housing wont be available till next week sometime! So I will have to find something else to do during the break. Bugger!

 

We set up the molasses bath last week and threw in some parts to try it all out. Today I had a look and found that it is working nicely, temps must be just right at the moment. The solution is bubbling away flat out!
Check out the clip........

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=822803294448965

 

When you can't find the bell housing you needed to set up the engine and trans. ........make a stand in to do the job until it turns up.
This means I can carry on with mounts etc.