good flattie first shot, play the lottery as you are on a roll... too bad you missed the tail end of the good ol' days, i just made it, started messing with model As in '82...
Upstate NY? A guy named Matt? Digging the build, I'm proud to be an east coast guy surrounded by all these cool hot rods being built traditionally.
Right about this time is when Smitty and I got into some horse trading. His friend David hooked me up with this F1 crossmember and pedals. Smitty got his parts delivered for free! .... Edit... I should add he offered to pay me for delivering the parts, but I was happy with the deal on the crossmember. Someday I may take him up on that Montreal Steak though.
GridIron rest / sportspub... let me know even if you are just cruising through, meet ya there... i'm good for a 10oz. Sirlion Montreal seasoning, taders ... $15.95. about 1/2 mile off I95, exit 80, east onto rt. 196... they just built a separate dining room so you don't have to share the air with the all afternoon drinkers... kinda the long way to LL BEAN'S but only by a few miles, if she needs any motivation...
I've got hotel points to burn and when the vacation state opens up to overnight guests, I'll take you up on that offer.
I found a good deal on this F1 box, column, and wheel. Before I did anything to it, I researched how others on here and the Barn had modified theirs to fit an AV8. There's a couple popular ways to do this. One way is to use the stock location and open up the existing hole. The other way is to move the box to wherever the builder likes it for their own personal taste. I wanted the stock location.
I fabricated my steering box, motor height, and headers almost simultaneously. I was also lucky enough to get some government help from some friends at work. They made up two flanges to mount the box to the frame.
And yes i will spring for a Montreal steak for the mrs. too ! wouldn't want her to have to watch us pound down the dead cow while her stomach growls...
I don't have any pics of the box before I did my modifications, but I can try explain it. I completely disassembled the steering box and cut off the original flange with a cut off wheel. Next I turned down the outer casting and flange in a lathe to 1.850" diameter. Basically I used the ideas from this thread and there's a pdf pattern on page 2. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/steering-av8-f1-box-model-a-flange-why.628257/
Before I decided on a permanent location to weld the flange, I did several mock ups with the headers, engine, and steering column. I made a quick 1.5" column drop out of aluminum to get steering wheel location.
As you can see here, no matter what I tried the economy headers interfered with the steering box. About 1/4" clearance after I modified the headers. I missed out on a nice set of Red's Headers here in parts section. But I may spring for a set later on in the build. These econo's will help me achieve my drive way burn out goal for August 2021.
With no interference between the engine, box and headers I tacked the flange in place and welded it on the bench.
Yes, they were all proud of themselves... The senior guy used my flange to help train a recent hire, he wanted to teach him the engraving function. Everyone got something out of it.
Montreal steak is like his Gold Standard.... Although I think he's been doing some quantitative easing because it was valued at $20.00 last fall. Just kidding Smitty!
When I bought my 30 coupe from Donnie up in Northern NH, he threw in an S10 5sp trans as part of the deal. I was hell bent on using that transmission because of the overdrive. But as time went on, I decided I liked the idea and simplicity of the 39 style trans. Plus it would have meant using an open drive line vs the torque tube. And finally the torque tube really determines where everything lines up. Basically if you work backwards, torque tube then 39 trans, then engine, then locate your front motor mounts. I stumbled onto this 99A locally - And yes, at the seller's request... I did wear a mask.
My transmission came without a rear bearing retainer, which kind of opened up the door for many possibilities. When I bought the F1 crossmember David gave me a good deal on this 37-40 retainer. I wanted this type because it can be inverted 180 degrees, and allows you to position it lower into the F1 crossmember. With a few modifications.
I'm still in the process of modifying the F1 crossmember, but this is what I started with. I'm not finished with it, but you can see that I lowered the center section so the transmission would sit lower. Then I fabricated mount locations for biscuit style mounts to the retainer. I plan on doing more trimming/modifying so it fits better in the 31 frame.
The pedals got pushed about 1.5 inches towards the transmission. You can see how I fabricated the crossmember to accept the 37 style retainer with the biscuit mounts.
Very cool story ! I feel the need to comment about the guys ragging on you for negotiating when the asking price was more than fair. Been wheeling & dealing cars my entire life and I've decided it's partly a regional thing. When I lived in New Hampshire and Western Mass (yes I hung out on Rock-a-Dundee rd) driving around and telling ghost stories when I was a teenager... But anyway. Up there it was expected to do a bit of back & forth. It's simply part of "playing the game" and everyone does it and enjoys it. The seller starts a little higher than he really wants with the expectation that the buyer will want to negotiate. In that area if you simply pay the asking price the seller will think he hooked a sucker. In the end if both parties are happy with where it ends up a deal is made. Since moving to Tennessee 10 years ago I've noticed that not everyone in the South enjoys "the game".. I've had sellers cop an attitude when I made what I thought was a fair offer on something and tell me if the price was up for discussion the ad would say "or best offer". Looking forward to how this project turns out.
The Jalopy Journal
