Projects Shade tree Model A speedster kind of thing

I got access to an older GoPro camera and set it up to film a little road excursion. It's certainly not a very polished production, but I don't know how much longer non-essential travel is going to be allowed down here, so I thought I'd share it. My new radiator is still finding its preferred water level. As the weather warms, I still lose a little, and I keep forgetting to make a new gasket for the radiator cap, so I get some on my goggles and on the camera, but hopefully it just adds to the ambiance. Haha. It was backfiring a bit, I'm going to have to do some welding on my exhaust. I've rattled open an upstream exhaust leak, but still running pretty well, overall. Most of the video I'm cruising around 60. Just before I meet the log truck (!) I hit a little downgrade straight and get it up to 72, according to my speedometer app. Only held that for a few seconds, though. It's really happy at 60, and I'm feeling pretty confident around there. The shocks sure do help. Anyway, I hope everybody is safe and well.

 

Really cool ! It sure sounds good too. Love it........................THANKS 4 the ride !
mike

 

love it, thanks for taking us along for the ride.. we are on lockdown so I can't get out to play with the T, did some essential paddock maintenance at the farm with my old Nuffield to get the old shit hit

 

Very cool! Was enjoyable getting to share your run with you. It looks like a blast.
Cheers,
Josh

 

1. Thanks for the Ride!
2. That thing really Hauls!...72 Wow!!
3. Radiator pressure relief valve Works Great.
4. Hot Rodding is always Essential!
5. You Stay Safe Too!...(your Speedster is Totally Safe!).

Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Until the rad seepage is fixed

 

He also did beta testing for go pro.

 

That's actually pretty ingenious. Wind spins it, centrifugal force throws the water off?

 

Well, the new radiator is wonderful, but one thing has been bugging the hell out of me. We just got our statewide shelter in place order, so I decided to address my concerns. The issue is that Model A's have a tendency to find the coolant level that they are comfortable with, usually around the height of the top of the radiator core (hence the wet camera lens in my ride-along video, it was expelling the extra), but since it's settled on it's preferred level, I can't see the coolant in my radiator because of the baffle. I guess I could just have faith that it's got coolant, but I'd much rather be able to take off the radiator cap and actually see some. Call me shy, but...

Anyway, diligent internet research uncovered quite a few people who shared my concerns, and a number of solutions. The simplest was just to drill a hole in the baffle. I settled on an expansion tank hooked to the overflow tube. The advantage is that I can hopefully run a higher coolant level. It gets hot down here in the summer, and I want all the cooling potential I can get.

I had an old British Seagull outboard motor tank that I almost used for my reserve fuel set-up, but it just seemed too small, so I decided to try it for this. Right now it's just tied up to the radiator bracing rods with a hose running to the overflow tube. I also added a cork gasket to my cap. The idea is that, as the coolant expands with heat, it will flow into the bottom of the tank, then get sucked back as the engine cools. My cap still isn't completely air tight, but I'm not sure it needs to be, at least on the pressure side. The water will follow the path of least resistance, but I'm a little concerned that the cap will leak enough to keep the water from being sucked back in. It seems to work idling in the yard, but I can't really take it out on a run to fully test it. Anyway, here's a short video:

 

It will work as long as your radiator cap is designed for use with a coolant recovery system.
Some caps are not and will only draw air back into the system, not coolant. Theres different designs of valves in caps, apart from simply pressure ratings be aware.
If you dont want a recovery tank your other options is run your overflow hose to a catch tank and simply measure how much water/ coolant has been expelled . If not much you know your cooling systems pretty safe, even if you cant see coolant from the top.
I think your overflow tank suits the build though and is pretty nifty! Just be sure on that cap !
Cheers,
Josh

 

Not a great recommendation

 

Looks like fun.

 

Josh,
I wasn't aware there were different caps, don't know what I have. I'll look into it tomorrow. Thank you for the information.

 

I used a 1927 Dodge Brothers stock radiator in my DB hotrod roadster with 318 engine. I used a small aluminum tank out front between the frame horns for a coolant recovery tank. The stock DB radiator cap screws on so I just put good gaskets under the cap and screw it down snug. I hooked a hose from the stock overflow tube to the outlet on the bottom of the aluminum tank. The cap on the tank is vented. I fill the overflow tank about a 1/3 full and fill the radiator to the top. Pulling my camp trailer behind the roadster going to Bonneville several years ago If I ran 70 over the mountains it would warm up a bit more than I wanted and would push coolant into the tank. Down the other side of the mountain it would draw it right back into the radiator and cool right down. Ya just have to get a good seal on the radiator cap and the outlet or hose or whatever must stay submerged, otherwise it will suck....air.

If your new radiator has a modern neck, just get a coolant recovery cap. Just stay with a low pressure one.

Dave

 

Your plan should work well, I have a similar expansion tank system on my stock Chevy 4 banger.

The rad cap is the stock non pressurised type with a rubber casket, a pipe extends the rad overflow pipe to connect with the exp tank..

The exp tank is vented at the top, so no pressure anywhere in the system.

I works well, no water is spat out at any time, the rad stays full to the overflow pipe level.

The water expands into the tank when hot and draws back to the rad when cold.

 

I also had this problem. I used a small engine fuel tank mounted along the frame rail and connected to the overflow tube. Using a non pressure radiator cap with a gasket all worked well. Later I replaced the front pulley with a smaller dia. one to slow down the water pump and now I don't need the recovery tank but it is still hooked up.
Another way to address this is put a fitting in the steel tube between the lower radiator hose and the drain petcock and the connect a clear plastic line that runs up the side of the radiator. As long as the line runs to the top this will show the fluid level in the radiator

 

Good sidekick to the Covo mask...

Whip those mini buggy mines off into la la land...

 

Hambers, Does the recovery cap actually specify it as such one the top of the cap?

 

Another way to address this is put a fitting in the steel tube between the lower radiator hose and the drain petcock and the connect a clear plastic line that runs up the side of the radiator. As long as the line runs to the top this will show the fluid level in the radiator[/QUOTE]

That's a good idea, @62pan. Kind of like the old sight glass they used in fuel tanks. I'm going to stick with my set up for now, because of how it lets me run a little extra coolant. Like I said, we get pretty hot down here in the summer. I'm still playing around with the radiator cap, not getting all of the coolant back into the radiator yet. Work in progress.

In my usual ADD way, I'm working on more than on aspect of this thing at the same time. I found an old aluminum steering wheel center on EBay. Once belonged to someone named Wilfred Beane.



I'm going to leave that signature. It speaks to me. Anyway, I need to make a rim for it. Started by roughing out 16 pieces of 1/2" Tulip Poplar (plus a couple of extra, because you're never so dumb you can't outsmart yourself):



Next I sanded the back of each one to give me a straight reference surface, then clamped up a temporary jig to get the angles right. The index mark sets the length. There was a lot of figuring and fiddling I'm not going into, here. Took a while to get it right.







Fit check:




Then glue up. I have two of these assemblies clamped on either side of a plywood circle that I covered with plastic wrap. Epoxy glue thickened with sawdust.



End grain gluing isn't very strong, but it should hold well enough for me to cut them into nice rings. The plan is to chisel out pockets for the spokes, round them roughly with a router, then sandwich the two rings together with the joints staggered, glue, smooth, and finish. Got to wait overnight for the epoxy to dry, though. Again, sorry for the variable quality of the pictures.

 

"Speaks to me"......we are on the same page...grumble mumble...

@rwrj my artistic geometric eye can't see round it the Octagon or whatever it is but you know your wood and will astonish Stogy when you do...

Stay safe...

 

Hahaha @Stogy, there's a circle in there, I hope. I don't like fat rims, so I didn't leave a whole lot of room. Shooting for a 1" diameter cross-section. That way, if and when I decide to cover it or wrap it, it won't end up too big.

 

Got a little more done on the steering wheel this morning. I'm really missing my weekend drives, but progress on the car is therapeutic. This wil be kind of picture heavy, so if you're not interested in wood-working...

First, I un-clamped the two rims and temporarily clamped them back together with the joints staggered, then marked them so I could cut the points off. Made them roughly 16 sided.




Then, I temporarily screwed them together and slapped together a little jig so I could find the center and mark the outside rim:



Took that to the edge sander and carefully sanded down to the line:



Marked the inner edge from the outside using a shop-made adjustable doohickey:



Broke out the jigsaw and cut carefully (The trash can was just the right size to let me prop up the wheel and still have space under the blade):




Then I was here:



That cut was pretty imprecise, despite my care, so I made this rig to smooth out the inner edge:





I got on a roll and forgot to take pictures of the next few steps, but they were pretty straightforward. I clamped my router upside down with a 1/4 round bit in it, one of those jobs with the roller bearing on the tip, and took off all four edges. Then clamped the wheel in the vise and smoothed all the router woopties out with a long strip of sandpaper, kind of the same action as those butt-wiggling strap machines they used to sell back in the 60's. (Skip to 1:15 on this video for the action shot. Hahaha)



Anyway, I eventually ended up with this:




Next I had to mark and cut little mortises for the ears of the wheel hub:

 

Looking good. Wood working can be fun.

 

Dammit. Hit "post reply" instead of "upload a file". Where were we? Cutting the mortise:




Did that 7 more times (4 on each rim, each half as deep as the spokes are thick), then glued, screwed, and clamped it up:



Of course, me being me, there was a little drama involved, but I'll go into that when I post how I fixed it. Hahaha. Everybody be safe.

 

I'm enjoying the ride.

 

Very cool! Your wood wheel tutorial makes it look easy, but I know what a pile of crap I'd end up with were I to try it.

 

Brilliant...In the Spirit of Wilfred, I am wowed again...simple things with Big inspiration...as alluded wood is good, thanks @rwrj

 

Like Stogy Said - Good Wood!

Beautiful Work & Strong!
What kind of aluminum center section is that?

 

1912 Dort...just kidding but bet it has been through way more than we'll ever know...there was so many Companies in the mix back then...but someone here probably knows and Wilber of course...

 

Thank you, all. I don't have any idea where it came from. I got it cheap because the really thick original wooden rim was broken. I had to cut it off, and discovered that whatever trauma broke it had bent one of the spokes a bit. "No problem" I said to myself. "I'll just ease it back into line cold". Didn't work. I had it just about there, decided to tweak it one more time and "pop", the ear broke. That's the drama I alluded to a couple of posts ago. I've just had it glued together temporarily while I made the new rim. I have some of those miracle aluminum welding rods, but I haven't fooled with them much and don't trust myself not to ruin the whole rim. Plus, they didn't have those things back then, anyway. This morning I set out to repair it in a way that fits in with the spirit of this whole deal. Here's the break:



So I bent this little piece of bronze and drilled it:



Then held it up to the wheel and drilled the arm, then just riveted it on. Again, I would never used dissimilar metals like this in a boat, but I'm not too worried about electrolysis on this project.









Obviously, I put the bulky stuff on the back. All you see from the front is a hairline crack and those little dots, which will lose their shine pretty soon. I think it's strong enough, and I'm happy with it. I have some more sanding to do, then I'll paint the rim black and see about putting it on the car. My little bronze shaft extension will have to be shortened and have a bigger tapered nose. All in good time. Stay well.