Projects How to win some beer... the roadster buildoff

you know that roadster thought its glory days were over and along came you to save it! huge kudos to you for that in itself.
Damn nice build, your cousin has a hell of a job ahead of him
hoping to see 'em both in Austin.

 

Like your work I'm in. Weird weather in Texas hmmmmmm. thats hard to imagine lol

 

Weird weather in Texas, is that an excuse? Or sub-70 and a very mild wind? Or did it get around 100 in February?

It's so wet around here you would't believe it and it freezes every third night.
Cars are so dirty after a work week that stuff grows on my tail gate, if I don't keep at it with a hose.

 

This past week we have seen over 3 inches of rain, 4 inches of snow, and the temp has gone from sub 10 degrees to almost 80 yesterday. Its weird weather, even by Texas standards!

 

Looking good brother.....

 

I guess it’s update time… as I said earlier, the steering box was next on the agenda. I carefully marked the frame where I needed to cut and then bent it out to where the box actually mounted flat to the frame. Then I just made some templates and welded her up. Nothing too special, but necessary none the less. Here are some pictures of what I just explained:








Then I heated the pitman arm to where it needed to be along with dropping the steering arms and adjusting the 40 ford brake pedals to work around the column. A little side note, I bent the pitman arm the wrong way so the taper for the tierod is the wrong direction. I haven’t figured out how im going to fix that yet….stupid me!





After that, I threw the spindles in the freezer overnight and put the adapters in the oven to expand them. They fit like a glove and should work to adapt the buick hubs to the ford spindles.



I also went to the junkyard and found a nice bench seat for the car. I was looking for a mazda mpv seat because I hear it has better lumbar support but settled on a caravan seat. Oh and a special delivery showed up all the way from Portugal….the filter king regulator that is going to look trick on my firewall.




I was also able to finish-weld the rest of the underside of the frame (no pictures) and I've started final assembly on the motor including freeze plugs, gaskets, flywheel, clutch, throw out bearing, etc. ill try to take some interesting photos but we are getting down to the monotonous detail work now...

 

Can you post some additional pictures or info on that filter king regulator setup? That looks pretty trick...

 

Unfortunately I cant read the instructions or anything on the box. It looks to be in Italian I think. From what I know it regulates fuel pressure from 7-2 pounds. Perfect for stromberg 97's. They are on fleabay and usually come from over seas. I found this one dirt cheap coming out of Portugal but most are buy it now from Great Britain for around 100 bucks. Ill try to remember to grab some more photos of it tomorrow when I go back out to the shop

 

Thanks! I'm mainly interested in what size the fittings are, if they are a pressed in nipple or if they are pipe thread, and I'm assuming the filter is a common part number for replacement when the time comes.?. a few extra pictures would be awesome. Thanks in advance.

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NM. I found what I was looking for on ebay. Thanks for the info. Pretty cool setup.

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Glad you found what you were looking for. Ill try to post up how well it actually works when I get her running. I've heard good things about them but we will see

 

Update?

 

@volvobrynk thanks for the interest. Here is an update just for you buddy!

Sorry for the lack of recent updates fellas….I had a trip to the Rockies planned a while back and it just happened to fall last week. Kind of inconvenient timing wise but much needed none the less.

Now back to the build; after looking at my options for the rear u-joint, I found that it would be much cheaper to find a bastard joint to go from the Olds rear end to a 1310 spicer joint than go have a custom driveshaft made for the Oldsmobile original joint. After searching and searching I found what I think is the last joint ever made that suits my application. I called countless places and made many orders just to be refunded because it was out of stock. Luckily someone had one posted on amazon that was exactly what I needed, and it was the last one. Needless to say, I’m pretty proud of this little part for some odd reason. If it ever fails, I’m screwed.



I also put the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and throw-out bearing on the motor and slapped that all back together.



That was all before my trip, when I got back, I still had Thursday and Friday off due to a vacation rule where I work. No complaints here, more hot rod time. I got a nice little package in from @Steadfast mfg to help me out with my subframe dilemma.



If you ever need the subframe parts for an A on a 32 frame, this kit is pretty awesome. It needed some cutting and fitting but that was expected. I still need to figure out how I'm going to tie the rear cross bar onto the kit. Any examples would be appreciated.





I began looking at the front brake situation again, which turned out to be a bust. I was trying to fit the backing plates, drums, and hubs on the ford spindle. I think it would all have worked fine except my hole for the backing plate was off a tiny bit. I mean it couldn't be more than a 32nd or so. But it meant that I would need to ditch the backing plate idea and just go with the hubs and drums on 40 ford plates. Oh well…if I ever get a hold of some more late 50’s Buick front backing plates ill have a go at it again or maybe ill fix these in the future since I have all the brake hardware for them already.





After that I got to work on the motor. I threw the intake, carbs, and radiator on to see what I was working with. Turns out these Offenhauser log intakes have a couple of bolts right smack dap inside the intake that is impossible to get any wrench or socket onto. Unless someone has a solution, they will just be left out on both sides. I also threw my water pump on and started looking at my alternator…another hurdle came up. Both of those pulleys don’t match the hemi crankshaft pulley. I’ll have to research that a little more unless someone has run into the same thing and figured it out.




I also made some support bars for the radiator out of 3/8 bar. Nothing a little time and effort couldn't make happen, and all for around 10 bucks too!



25 days left. It’s going to be a close one….

 

Welp...im admitting defeat on these quarters. There is just no way I can fix them the way they need to be fixed in the amount of time I have left. Hopefully brookville will have a couple in stock they can get me asap or I run across some originals between now and tomorrow morning that are usable. I really wanted to keep the car with the most original metal as I could but these quarters are just too far gone for right now. Maybe I'll be able to fix them right in the future and reunite them back with the car...

 

Roundup is getting close and we havnt had an update in awhile!

 

Turns out these Offenhauser log intakes have a couple of bolts right smack dap inside the intake that is impossible to get any wrench or socket onto. Unless someone has a solution, they will just be left out on both sides.


You need allen head bolts for these. Don't leave em blank

 

You have my attention....

Rich

 

Alright alright alright, I guess I’ll give y’all an update. I have been super busy with detail work as the final days approach. I did manage to get some pictures of some of the big things. Some of the smaller stuff like fuel pump placement and clutch setup did not get photographed unfortunately. Most of that stuff is just normal build stuff anyways.

Now on to the good stuff everyone likes. I snapped a quick pic of the grill shell and insert. Real deal 32 ford from back in the day. I’m pretty sure the top hole is leaded in, just to give you an idea of its age. After getting some inspiration to keep going, I started on the front shocks too.




Then it was on to the steering drag link. I really like the look of the one I have but it was 900 thousandths too long, so out came the cutoff wheel and the TIG.






I also got in some major parts, the gas tank and the rear quarters. Pete over at Brookville really helped me out. They are super backed up on rear quarters so he sent me some “seconds” at a super discount. They don’t look all that bad and are definitely better than what my originals were like. So then I busted down the back sheet metal and realized just how much work I have left…





This is also a great time to mention someone who really pulled through for me when they had absolutely no obligation to do so. @BashingTin sells some awesome machined stuff for early hemi’s on ebay. I had ordered his water pump spacer a while back and got to where I needed an oil filter adapter so I placed an order. I also noticed he makes a spacer to run BBC crank pulleys on the early hemi’s and it lines the crank pulley up with the BBC short pump pulley. I grabbed one of those as well. Man they are really nice parts! I put the oil filter adapter on and it fit like a glove. I then started on the pulley adapter. There are two patterns for the bolts. One completely symmetrical and another with one bolt spaced different than the others. I originally ordered the symmetrical one but little did I know, I measured all the holes correctly except the one that I needed to measure. I contacted bachingtin, and let me tell you, his customer service CANNOT be beat. If he sells a part I need, you bet I will be buying from him. Great parts, great customer service, and a great guy. Seriously guys, go check him out if you need any small adapters for the early hemi!

So then I moved on to the fuel plumbing. @Lucky Burton sells some cool fuel logs and I bought number 44 and 45 from him last year at the lonestar roundup. He told me that I should tie them together and that’s just what I did. Man I think it looks great!



Then I see some of you post on my thread today and @Dreddybear mentions trying some allen head bolts for the intake. Dude, you have no idea what a pain it was to make it work that way. It definitely worked better than a regular bolt but man, it felt like hopping on one leg, bobbing for apples, and saying the alphabet backwards all together would have been easier than getting these bolts in. None the less, after dropping my first home made allen wrench into the intake and taking it all apart to retrieve it, I found a way to get the bolts driven in. I had to run to three different parts houses to find some wrenches with the rounded ends, then I heated it up and bent it about a 45 degree angle and that was enough for me to get clearance to barely turn the bolt and tighten her up.





And now y’all are caught up. I have 9 days left. Crap.

 

Looking good, keep going!

 

You'll get her done ! So the seconds are pretty good part over all? I have some damaged originals that need a lot of help. Roger

 

@Roger53 the seconds that I got were a whole lot better than what I started with. They aren't show quality by any means but they are very workable.


Well the roundup is the day after tomorrow. Let's just say, it's going to be a very long night after work tomorrow....but I am still keeping the faith that I make it, even if that means driving to austin at 5 in the morning in an untested car. Isn't that what hot rodding is all about? If y'all see me at the roundup be sure to say howdy. Ill be wearing a shirt with a wiener dog on the back that says Segura Speed Shop

 

Nothing like a deadline! I had a similar experience, worth it when you roll in!

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best of luck!

 

Thanks for the reply and good luck to ya. Roger

 

Just found your thread. Wish I had sooner so I could have cheered you on. Good luck!

 

I'll be looking for you tomorrow. Good luck.

 

Get after it!!

 

Well I guess y'all are all wondering who won....


I pulled an all nighter Thursday night working on her. Didn't sleep for a full two days. About 9 a.m. on Friday morning I stopped and took a good look at what I had. The haze was setting in, the sun was peeking through the trees, and I realized it just wasn't going to happen. @krkx93 admitted defeat a couple of weeks ago seeing that he had some major parts to buy and not enough time to make it happen. He decided to help me out and pulled an all nighter on the car too. We both didn't make it.... BUT we will continue work on them and see everyone at the new Bayou Roundup the kontinentals are starting down in Lafayette. We will also be at the hot rod revolution this year if they decide to bring it back. So continue following along!

 

I thought you guys were biting off more than you could chew, but I was rooting for both of you to prove me wrong.
I am impressed with how much you did get done and can't wait to see how it turns out. Keep up the good work.

 

If I would have had another 6 hours to work on the car out would have driven into the gate but I didn't want to start cutting corners just to win. We had fun and didn't let it ruin our weekend. Even had a celebratory defeat beer together.