Hello HAMB I have been working on my very first hot Rod A 28 Roadster for just over a year and figured it was time to do a build thread. I started with a 1928 Roadster the car looked good but as I found out 85 years takes it toll on any vehicle. I stripped it down and found the frame was twisted and cracked I decided that I loved the look of the 28/29 on pinched 32 rails so instead of trying to replace or repair the frame I would build a pinched 32 frame. Fist step was to to build a frame table lucked out and found some great steel at the local scrap dealer so I had my frame table for $.30 a LB I picked up a set of JW frame rails To get some curves into the rails I pie cut the rear section and cowl area to pinch them in to fit the 28 body as per the Wescott drawings. Tacked the rails into the frame jig after mesuring multiple times getting it within 1/6" square and level. I welded all the pie cuts back up and ground smooth Started on installing the boxing plates welded on little tabs to the outside of the plates so they could be clamped in position so the weld would not be ground off when finishing. Installed boxing plates I cut what was left of the sub rails out of the body and braced it the best I could to do a test fit on the frame Set in the engine and transmission to build motor mounts With the body back off and staring on the tube centre section of the frame that I got from welder series For the first time I was able to cut the tacks holding the frame into the table Lucky nothing moved when the tacks were cut (as planed) was able to flip the frame over finish the lower tube for the crossmember and finish the last few inches of boxing plate welds. Followed with a lot of grinding to smooth every thing out Picked up a 8" from a maverick and stripped it down and removed 40 years of rust from the housing. I installed the rear diff with a Welder Series 4 link kit. There was a lot of measuring and double checking to get every thing to sit square and level at ride height amazing how handy a string line and a tape measure is A set of wheels and I officially have a rolling frame Now it was time to start on the body. At first I thought there was only a few repairs needed but as I started to look closer I discovered rust had taken its toll on the lower half of the car. The sub rails were gone and this helped explain why the body was so out of square and the doors would not close So I was now faced with replacing the sub-rails decided to just take the body right apart I left as much as the sub-rail assembled as possible this came in very handy for reference as the new sub rails are not as an exact fit as I would have liked Next the body was off to be blasted. I had it done by a Local Dustles blaster and was very happy with the end results. sprayed some epoxy primer to prevent any flash rust Now it was time to rebuild. Note my frame jig has now become a great table to work on Time for some more rust repair. Im not sure why but my passage quarter panel is 1/4" longer and 5/8" taller than the drivers side so I had to do a little stretch to the patch. This has also cause a great deal of effort in getting my doors to line up Next was the wheel patches. More repairs on the cowl Then it was time to cut up my nice new sub-rails to fit over the 32 frame Moved the Body down to the 32 frame Next task was getting the body to sit down on the frame. i did not want to do the Wood shim on top of the frame so I Pie cut the from portion of cowl to lower the body down. It ended up being about 1/2" of materiel that needs to be removed I installed the Steadfast sub rails for the rear of the body With the body now bolted to the frame I figured it may be a good time to test fit the engine and set drive line angles. The engine is a 8BA 276" merc with an L100 cam. Offy 400 heads and a super dual intake. Engine was built By Flatcat Engine in Regia SK. And this is how far along I have come in the last year. My plan now is to keep mocking up the steering, pedals, and seat. After I'm happy with the fitment I will take it all back apart for final welding Stay tuned Rob
Just trying to fit my pitman arm onto my aftermarket Vega steering box. How much spline engagement do you normally get I'm only able to get about 1/2" dose this seem correct? Thanks
Thanks I figured it should go down a bit further. Looks like I will keep filling the splines open in the pitman arm. It seems that if you don't have to some how modify a part it doesn't belong on a hot rod
'Twas not so in the 60's! You bought the part, you took it home and installed it, and it worked as advertised. Then something strange happened. Manufacturing said we need more profit, and now our parts come from all over the world, and fit nothing!
Well I have been playing with pedal placement and steering column lengths think I settled on a 29" column and a pedal position that gives me room to put my left foot stretched out beside the clutch Next thing was to modify the wheel wells for the 32 frame C notch. I just matched up the curve of the C notch on the frame and moved the centre rib up an inch Now to do the same to the drivers side
Super job. Want to see you get it going! Building the same body and frame, but not as hands on as you.
A few updates I have been working on getting the body braced up. I have been installing some 3/4 square tubbing cut and bent to fit around the opening of the cockpit and installed a X brace that has really strengthened up my body. I had to open up trunk with a porta-power it still needs some tweaking but the trunk lid now fits Finally decided on wheels and went with Cooker American Classic bias looking radials 8.20/15 in the back and 5.60/15 in the fronts Also ordered my steering column went with a 29" 40 Ford column and wheel from Limeworks extremely nice products and they did a custom length with out any problems Next is to continue with body bracing and move onto the trunk area. I planning on converting to a rumble seat so I'm on the look out for rumble seat cushions
I have continued on with bracing the the top edge of the cockpit. And I built a drop down to tie in the door post I found the panel behind the seat needed about 1/16" of material added to line up with the quarter panel on the passenger side I added a filler pice and built up the area with weld. I'm happy with the end result. All the finishing work was done by hand with a file and sand paper as my 1.5yr old will no longer stay napping if I run my compressor ( bad planning on my part to mount my compressor directly under his room) Next problem I have to deal with is my passenger door alignment. I have been fighting this problem since the start. The quarter panel is not square to the cowl if I adjust the cowl it throws out my drivers door. If I lifted the back of the quarter my trunk lid did not fit. For some reasons the passenger quarter is 1/4 longer and 1/2" taller than the drivers side. When bolting down the body this was the best I could get I have found the door opening is 1/2" bigger at the top only on the passenger side. This bigger gap was the same before I took the body apart for the sub frame replacement My plan so far is to cut the quarter vertically just behind the door post and weld it back on square to the door
After a week of thinking of how to deal with my door gap I figured it was time to start cutting Good by door post Ended up moving the bottom in 1/4" and the top out 1/8" to get the door to fit better now the opening matches the drivers side measurements Next up is welding thing back into place
A little side project this weekend. I found a really neat old metal bullet shaped tach this weekend at the Lethbridge swap meet. Got it home and tested it, no luck it dose not work. But I did have a working but ugly Eques tach I figured I would combine the two. I installed the modern electronics reassembled and I'm quite happy with the end result vintage look's , modern electronics, and a swap meet price
Progress has been a little slow having a 2 year old takes up a lot of your spare time and i have been working on my OT car getting it ready for a summer road trip with the family driving to Deuce Days. Some progress has been made I disassembled the front cowl to paint the mounting surfaces and fill all the holes in the fire wall. Reassembling and welding the cowl to the sub frames. Next was working on the floors i built frames out of 3/4 square tubbing. This is my first attempt at making floor pans and beed rolling a little wavy but it will be covered by a seat and carpet. I have a lot to learn but it has been fun.
Beed rolling is coming along I have learned the trick to pre stretch where I will be rolling in a beed. Front pans built just working on the tunnel and a access to the brake fluid. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Transmission tunnel and brake access cover done I built a mount for the seat to locate it as far back as I could. I'm 6 2" and I can just stretch my legs out in it I filled all the unused holes in the rear crossmember and fitted it to the body Next onto building the trunk floor. Just installing the rear panel from the Steadfast subrail kit Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Floor is assembled turned out not to need any extra clearance for the rear dif by building the floor on a 3/4 tube gives me a nice flat floor Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Next on my to do list was start on the headers for the car. I started on the passenger side because it seemed easier and a good place to learn. I used 1"5/8 primary U bends and welded them to 1"3/4 that tapered to 1"5/8. All the visible weld has been filled and blended into each other The drivers side was a bit more work with a few more pieces to weld together to get the clearance to go around my steering. Just need to finish the welding on the drivers side and make up some exit flanges when I build the rest of the exhaust system
The Jalopy Journal
