Just caught myself ups on this. Awesome build and as said awesome craftsmanship. Love the injection! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Thanks for all of the nice comments. I'm going to use an old set of magnesium Halibrand Indy Roadster wheels on the back. These are 16X7 with only 2-1/2 backspace. I've only seen a few like these. They don't have bosses for the weight screws on them. The face looks like the common 16X6 Indy front wheels but offset like a back one. There was some rash on the outer rims and someone had drilled 5 holes and threaded 1/4 screws through from the tire side on both wheels to mount weights. They were also 6 pin on a 5" bolt circle but I want to use lug nuts so they'll be converted to 5 on 5. A light cut was taken on the front and back faces of the rim and centers true everything up and so when things were welded the opposite side could be used as a reference when remachining. 5 of the six pin holes were drilled and reamed 3/4" to remove the corroded metal in them make them round again. One six pin hole could be reused for the 5 lug pattern. Magnesium bar stock was turned for a good fit and chamfered on both ends to use as plugs. They were welded in on the front and back side. I had never welded magnesium but it did relatively well. The faces were then milled flat and the 4 new holes drilled and reamed. The rest of the damage was welded next and then cut on the mill. After that the wheels were bead blasted to get a uniform finish. I left all of the dings and marks on the unmachined part of the wheels. I want them to have some character and look real, not look like brand new. I hit them with scotch bright to get rid of the roughness from blasting them and sanded the machined parts to make them look natural. I NEED SOME 15x4-1/2 OR 16x5 KIDNEY BEANS FOR THE FRONT IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE SOME ARE AVAILABLE PLEASE CONTACT ME.
I have to echo Cliff. The injection work was great, but the resto on those wheels is superb. Do you hire out for fixing old Halibrands now?
"I had never welded magnesium but it did relatively well." Dude, you have big clanking brass cojones. Amazing work so far. Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Wow! You really do nice work! The wheel repair/fix was awesome. You made it seem very casual to weld and repair them. I would love to see a video if you do it again. Looking forward to more!
Love the work on the wheels, yes the ARE beautiful to look at. The pair I ran across was purchased through the classifieds here, and will be use on my 8ba '32 chassis. These were already drilled with 5.5 pattern and no wheel weight bosses were drilled.
Yes he wanted an LS in it and and ask me to try to make it old. It was a lot of work to try and hide it. Thanks for noticing. Big duece I've seen your wheels before in other post and are the only other one's I've seen with the same face and offset. For some reason mine don't and never did have the weight bosses like all the other roadster wheels. Someone had just ran screws through them where the bosses would normally be.
The front rails will be bobbed and pulled in about 4 inches. The crossmember will be in the stock location. An old Lucky 13 dropped axle will be mounted in front of a Posies rolled and tapered spring. The wheel base will be increased 3" to 109 and the shell will be moved 2" forward. The crossmember was made from a center that had been removed from another one when it was being modified. 3/16 was used to fabricate the rest of it to give the correct ride height. A spring clamp and tabs were made from 3/8.
I regards to front wheels, I used the circle racing 15x4.5. Its not a perfect match, but I dont care. I bought them as cast, and did my own treatment to make them look like aged magnesium. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gara...l-15X4-5-5-on-4-5-Inch-Raw-Finish,115640.html halibrand faux knock off covers, ordered unpolished, light media blast and same treatment to match magnesium appearance.
I'll try to catch up on the front suspension. The front frame rails were pie cut in 2 places on each rail and pulled in about 2" on each side. Doing it in two places gave the rail a curve instead of a noticeable bend. They were cut off just in front of where the crossmember would end up and notched for spring clearance. The crossmember made earlier was cut to final width and tacked. 39 wishbones were split and the spring perches were cut off. The ends were removed from the tubes so they could be turned over and remounted to put the weld seams on the tubes on the bottom.. They were mocked up and caster was set to 7 deg. at ride height before welding. The flat head allens holding the axle and bones together are temporary. The ends were cleaned up and ground to shape before holes were bored through them. Sleaves were welded in them for stainless shackle mounts to bolt through. When the wheels are turned the tie rod moved far enough foreward that it hit the back of the spring mount on the crossmember before turning all of the way. Since I'm using cowl steering I was able to move the tierod back by using the back hole on the right side that a cross steer drag link would normally go. I made the left side the same by adding a piece with a second tapered hole. Reinforcement plates weld over the unused holes and extend back to the new piece added on. MG shocks are being used. The arms were removed and the splined ends cut off. The ends had bosses welded on the them. The ends were milled, slotted and then drilled for a bolt to go through so they will clamp on the splines in any position. New curved arms were made and welded to the ends while they were clamped on a piece of turned round stock to prevent warpage. Threaded bosses for 3/8 rod ends were added to the ends of the arms. Threaded mounting plates made from 1/2 steel were milled at an angle that put the shock arms in line with the wishbones. Connecting links were made threading 2 female rodends together then welding them so they look like one piece.
Great work, thanks for all of the pictures and descriptions. Helps a lot, when I want to start a similar modification.
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