Projects Modified Lakester Build (THUNDERCASKET)

First big ugly tack on the kick up and in. Used plate and angle to jig it.

Also put in a temporary, adjustable transmission crossmember per my neighbors suggestion.

 

Looking good! If you have time before you final weld, it would be best to take a green or brown roloc disk on an angle die grinder & go over every mating surface you're going to weld. It will make for a stronger, prettier,& easier weld. To lay a bead, the electrode has to scratch through to base metal before it arc's. Then it metals all the primer, rust, dirt, and anythingelse into the bead. Keep on Truckin'

 

nice pat, looking good. you and i are neck and neck on our builds. see you sunday at candia

 

I don't think I can make Candia, but we'll see.

I prepped the overlapping surfaces with a sander and then two wire wheels. Then I sprayed them in weld through primer. I wire wheeled the edges where I tacked once I had it locked in again except for the exterior tacks but they burned in okay. I'll be doing finish welds withthe frame unhooked to I can get a better angle with the TIG.

I'm going to get the frame set up the rest of the way with bolts then probably have it blasted.

 

This is where I was at when the shadows got long yesterday:



The frame is holding just fine with the 5 tacks to each rail.

Next on the agenda is going to be bolting in the engine mounts through the boxing plates. I'm considering my options as far as that goes because I have an opportunity to basically run what is essentially bolt-in second frame. I doubt I'll ultimately decide to run it that way however but it does present some advantages for construction with what I've got right now.

My plan is to shim the bottom to make sure I'm snug against the top and drill the holes for the bolt-in flathead mounts I'm using (and then the bolt-on wishbone tabs). This will hold everything together but not really control horizontal location of the boxing channels. For that, I'm thinking I'm going to make some offset pegs or tubes and then drill down through the top and bolt them in place. That will lock in the XYZ location of the boxing channels to wherever I want them. Right now they sit a bit inside the rail; I can push them out a bit to potentially get a better weld.

 

Here are some more photos from the weekend including what I did and how as far as the frame kick up and in process.



Vertical location will happen next. I'll be coming up a couple inches, obviously:



I sanded, wire wheeled twice, and sanded again before cleaning and laying down some weld through primer on all the mating surfaces.



Here is my clamp jig. I used a 1/4" plate and a 2" piece of angle iron with a pair of clamps and vice clamps I just bought on each side. I went back and forth with my rubber mallet bumping it until it was as square as it was ever going to get and locked it down.

 

So this is the flipped 40 rear setup you were telling me about. What are you running for a forward crossmember ? Another A member or are you going to move the existing one forward and fab a new rear crossmember from square tube or channel ?

 

Or are you going to leave it where it is because it works with your wheelbase numbers earlier in the thread.

 

After looking at this more and a few of the earlier pics...i figured out if you moved the rear step forward the same length of the spring from the center of the axle you should end up with the wheel base in the exact length it should be in or the same as it would have been with a spring over set up.
I'm just thinking out loud so it makes sense in my head.
Just answering my own questions over here...I do that a lot.
Looks great Pat. I'm excited to see your progress on your car.

 

Not adding anything, just cut the frame, put the rear section on top of the rail and moved it forward until the torque Tube mated up to the transmission. In your case, you'd use math since you'd be going for locating the wheelbase to a specific number whereas I was just going for making it work with the TT I had.

That piece of box tube is just welded on there to brace the frame for cutting BTW.

 

Ya I kinda figure that was the case w your Tube being shortened.

 

looks good pat. i have been studying every av8 at all shows/cruises the past couple of years. i have learned quite a bit. there are countless ways to put these together and i have seen many different variations, but the one constant is the motor mount location. it is usually just aft of trailing edge of front x-member and flush to the top of framerail. now i know i will get crap for posting this because of this guy put his 3/8 in back and that guy put his 1/8 in forward etc. so i fit mine right there mostly out of necessity (fitment of dist. and oil breather) good luck ron

 

I got rained out yesterday so I didn't get anything done. It got too nasty and I had a friend up from down south visiting anyway.

The bolt-in mounts I've got on there now will put them down about a half inch or so and probably 3 inches or so offset from the non-stock 32 style crossmember (probably around where they'd land with a stock A crossmember). That puts my fan at just about the back of the crossmember, so I should be in a good relationship to the radiator.

 

correct-a-mundo looks just right

 

So, it took me all day yesterday to drill 8 holes essentially, but I nailed it. Today once I get going I'll hit the other side.

 

Keep on plugging! Or drilling as the case maybe.

 

Be interesting to see another Modified going together.
Following.

Dan

 

We'll see if this ends up a Modified, or something else soon enough hopefully. Once I get this all sorted out and actually mount the engine, I'll be able to play with the body some.

 

don't kid yourself pat, its already a modified

 

Might end up being a loooong bucket though.

 

I dub thee, THUNDERCASKET.

Looks like more of a car than it is but it is a milestone and ok for a sloppy mockup.

 

Here's a photodump of the rest of the pictures I took from my lawnchair.

There is obviously a ton more work to go but this is as close to a car as it's ever been.

I've got a bit of an apparent fitment issue with the motor mount pins that I've gotta sort out. They don't seem to want to line up and go through enough to reach the nut. I suspect that I didn't do things quite correct as far as mockup when I tacked the frame kick in.

I figure I'll let it sit and settle a bit this week and get a good look at it this weekend. I was thinking I might want to increase the kick anyway depending on where the rake settles. Right now those are 29" 6.00-16's up front and the 32" 7.60-16's in back but it's tough to tell a difference in these photos.



The body, well, that's just kinda sitting on top of everything. It's going to come down at least an inch and meet the frame when it's not sitting on clamps and tubing. Once I get a look at that, I may decide it HAS to be channeled, but we shall see. The rear quarters will need to be channeled down around the rear crossmember regardless, so it may work out better to go all the way.

 

I like the snow tires on all four corners. You may need them here in the north east.

 

Hah, thanks!
I just happened to have acquired them, and the machinist and old racer I consulted with suggested snow tires when I told him I was building with sand and dirt racing in mind.

 

Nothing wrong with a Model "A" 4X4!!!--- Lookin' good , Pat!

 

I've been trying to make sense of what I've got going with this build this week and since I've got some downtime as well as learning of new tools in Illustrator to do at work, I did a rendered illustration of the car. This is what I think I've got:

 

So, I'm thinking I am going to have to grind off the tack welds for the rear kick. I don't feel confident that my measurements aren't the culprit as far as the motor mounts not seeming to line up right. Re-Drilling the mount bolt holes is not an option so I'm going to have to pick up that quarter inch by coming in from the back. Not the end of the world and precisely the reason I only tacked the rear crossmember on (albeit rather firmly).

We'll see if I end up getting into that this weekend or not, I've got a lot of other things that need doing around the house, so, stay tuned I guess. In the meantime, I did a sketch version of my rendering:

 

And an alternate Channeled version:


For comparison:

 

Not much to report other than I dug the front half of the touring body back out of my shed. I think I'm going to have to replace the subframe.

It's there, but one side is REALLY bad. What I think I will do is strip the body panels off completely and use what's left of the subframe as a jig to build a new one out of flat stock and angle iron with a little box tubing mixed in. I think I can wrap and tack the flat stock around the perimeter and get the contour set. Then flip it over and build up with some angle, flat stock & tube to hold the shape. This method will slightly grow the size of it though, which isn't terrible if I want to channel this body.

Here's how she looked after I rolled her out of the shed (worse than I remember):



ROT:

 

Hell man I thought you would be driving it by now. looks like it is moving right along.

You are going to shorten these bolts up correct? You only need about 1.5 threads sticking past the nut.