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Projects BRIAN MADE ME DO IT: 34 Roadster Build

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Bandit Billy, Nov 6, 2017.

  1. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,459

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    A little bit of boost should clear the plugs ;):D

    Don’t be afraid to push the go pedal a little bit :D
     
  2. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I had my choice of surface streets or the freeway on my way in to work. I was tired of the traffic so I opted for a short blast down the freeway and opened up all 3 carbs on her way into 4th. It is exhilarating under boost with all the carbs sucking air!

    I'm going to try to leave early and do the same this afternoon. Right foot tune up!
     
  3. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Also better to be rich than poor. :cool:
     
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  4. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,144

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Direct alcohol injection, no not as in Crown Royal intravenously!:p
     
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  5. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  6. flatheadpete
    Joined: Oct 29, 2003
    Posts: 10,479

    flatheadpete
    Member
    from Burton, MI

    Good on you, Billy! Get out there and have fun!
     
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  7. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    ^^^^My wife said I could leave work if I write three more mortgages today. Any takers? :cool:
     
  8. flatheadpete
    Joined: Oct 29, 2003
    Posts: 10,479

    flatheadpete
    Member
    from Burton, MI

    Already have one mortgage and wifey and I just bought the salon she's worked at for the past 6 yrs...enough debt!
     
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  9. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    It has been just over a year since my last update on this thread. Driving the car has been a lot of fun but not without an issue or three to iron out. The most major of which is the fuel capacity of my nifty 32 fuel tank. To make it fit the 34 frame I widened the brackets, moved the filler lower on the tank to clear the body and of course I had to notch the tank for the QC. The result was about 8 gallons of gas, 5 if you didn't want it to leak when you took right hand corners or belted it off the light.

    The blue line represents maximum capacity., as you can see I lost half the tank
    upload_2021-3-21_10-28-30.png
    Even more when you consider the QC notch in the back.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-30-2.png
    So it was back to the drawing board. After weighing my options it was clear the tank was going to be going inside the trunk so I had Rock Valley Custom tanks build a SS 17 gallon tank. It used my old in tank pump i just had to have their pickup assembly and a tube style sending unit.

    Building a car is easy, working on a finished car is nerve racking. Disassembly was not hard and the new tank slid right in to place. The wiring was already in the trunk so i just had to build a longer harness, the fuel on the other hand required drilling. I chose this location, as close to the bulkhead as possible for both the pickup and return lines.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-36-59.png
    90 degree bulkhead fittings were installed
    upload_2021-3-21_10-38-19.png
    I removed and cut the existing -6AN lines, and put a couple of new 37 degree flares in them, ferrules and line nuts.
    They fit very well.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-40-48.png
    And I took a moment to refresh the polish job on them.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-42-14.png
    Back inside the trunk I made these lines to connect to the new tank.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-44-36.png
    This will all get re-upholstered but I kept it neat and tidy regardless.
    Both the pump and the sender got trailer plugs so they can be serviced easily in the future. Then the harness joins the rest of the rear end wiring in the left quarter panel.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-46-14.png
    I stuck the battery back in, added a few gallons of go juice and energized the pump for a leak check, I must have flared those ends well as no leaks were detected.
    I replaced the side panels and it will be ready for a trip back to the upholstery shop but for now it looks ok.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-49-38.png
    Oh, and for those of you that were worried about my golf clubs not fitting...
    fear not, plenty of room for sticks below the rag top behind the seat.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-51-35.png
    Now we have three times the fuel capacity for three times the fun. My buddies were getting tired of gas station stops! Bring on summer!
    But there are still a few things to do first.
     
    Stogy, flatheadpete, 40LUV and 15 others like this.
  10. Very nice! (As usual)
     
    Stogy, kidcampbell71 and loudbang like this.
  11. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I started a new thread asking for pictures of 34 highboys so i could see what people did with bobbing frames, adding a plate and hanging the pipes. That is where we are now in the process. One thing at a time, i started with the number plate.
    I used the old spreader bar since I had already modified the plate brackets to fit it. I cut it off at 13" and bolted it to the left rail where the boxing plate started.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-57-59.png
    I ordered a 1.75" pipe plug on line the other day that will finish that cutoff.
    You can see from the rear the backing plate i made to hold the Lucas plate lamp/reverse light and the plate brackets.
    The engine turning is a nice add if you happen to be under my car looking about. The wiring leaves the backing plate and enters the trunk through the hole where the sending unit used to run.
    upload_2021-3-21_10-59-17.png
    And the "end" result
    upload_2021-3-21_11-2-31.png
    I like the plate mount as it appears to float below the trunk floor, plus it was a no cost add since it was all repurposed.
    I am thinking the frame bob will happen right at that spot where the boxing plate begins. I am thinking about building a couple of fill plates to paint and finish the bobbed ends.

    Now, what to do with the exhaust. If you have ideas, feel free. Below the axle? It is a tight squeeze above but i kind of like the idea of them being on the same plane as the tail lights, just below the body.

    Definitely has a bit more attitude now and a hell of lot more drivable! I need to wrap this up and get back to my PU's paint job!
    upload_2021-3-21_11-7-35.png
     
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  12. The exhaust pipes below the axle would seem too low to my minds eye.
     
  13. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 17,098

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    Haha yeah I immediately thought “where does the golf bag go?”

    That plate mount is genius, very clean and over all clever. Float is just the right word.

    it does look way more aggressive, love it. I agree the pipes should go up high. Time to mock some pipe up and stand back?
     
  14. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Amazon brought me a piece I was waiting for today A 1/4" barbed bulkhead fitting, chrome of course. I drilled the trunk jamb and plumbed it to the roll over valve that came with the tank.
    upload_2021-3-21_21-49-24.png
    It fits nicely in the rain gutter
    Venting to the atmosphere easily
    upload_2021-3-21_21-51-28.png
    Need some leather back here, but check this off the list.
     
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  15. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Remember that scene from Field of Dreams when the voice says "go the distance"? Well I had my buddy @Pist-n-Broke over today to lay eyes on the roadster and all I head was shoeless Joe Jackson telling me what I already knew but was trying to avoid...Go the distance! Ergo...
    upload_2021-3-28_17-42-32.png
    Out comes the rear suspension
    upload_2021-3-28_17-41-49.png
    and some frame surgery is in store. The Wizzard is right, to make the rear end look like this was not an afterthought the rear frame rails need to be cut off and welded back on parallel with the body after the C notch. Not bobbed off like an appendage in a Civil War field hospital. So I removed the rear suspension and prepared to start cutting, welding and painting in the rear frame area.

    This project will include removing the shock cross member, adding ample area for the exhaust. Reusing the spreader bar as a rear bumper. Changing the exhaust pipes as they exit over the rear axle. Moving the license plate yet again and a bit of repainting.

    Beware the Ides of March! Let's hope I have better fortune than Julius Caesar!
     

    Attached Files:

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  16. Waaaaait just a minute! What happened to the pickup? I needed that to keep me going. You trying for a twofer?
     
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  17. Stogy
    Joined: Feb 10, 2007
    Posts: 26,345

    Stogy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    They're never done...:oops:...but can't wait to see the new look...interesting changes some that might even make for better handling...:)
     
  18. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I dread the thought of having my toys all torn down but that is the reality at the moment. I have to stop work on the truck to get the 34 back together. Never fear, I am on the job! [cape billowing in the breeze]
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2021
  19. Johnboy34
    Joined: Jul 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,588

    Johnboy34
    Member
    from Seattle,Wa

  20. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Yes, and thank you for the reminder. It is easy to just lob off the frame rails and call it done and perhaps that is the correct answer for many. Not so much for this car. I'll make it the best I possibly can with my talent set.
     
  21. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I got off work early to have some stiches removed from my finger so i figured i would head home and spend some quality time with my cut off wheel.
    Gone are the rear frame rails and the upper shock crossmember.
    upload_2021-4-1_8-51-36.png
    It would be pretty easy to put exhaust on it now!
    I peeled back the boxing plate a bit where i need to weld the frame back together
    upload_2021-4-1_8-54-10.png
    I still need to strip all of the boxing plates from the rear frame horns but that is a project for tonight. I skinned up the floor a little but i have to repaint a bit anyway and hope to have the color back on by the end of the weekend. I want the tan painted before i replace the frame.
    Next up was to raise her skirt! The frame will be parallel to the trunk floor when I am finished so those inner fenders need trimming or they would be lower than the frame. And I needed to get to the frame for cutting, welding and painting.
    upload_2021-4-1_8-58-1.png
    So I marked it up and cut it off
    upload_2021-4-1_8-59-10.png
    Repeat when necessary
    upload_2021-4-1_8-59-52.png
    They came off pretty clean, very little paint work required here, basically just the exposed edge needs color and clear. It will test your metal (pun intended) to take a wheel to a well painted car.
    Tonight i get to strip the boxing plates off the frame horns and begin the task of cutting them to fit. I will need to flatten the tops a bit. I took them off right at the C notch so that will remain although hardly necessary now.
    The upper shock mounts will be independent so no crosstube to make things cleaner and more room for pipes over the axle. @Pist-n-Broke (aka the Wizzard (a nick name I fully understand after watching him work) came up with a 4X2 box steel that will make pretty cool shock mounts. I will weld them in prior to replacing the frame sections.

    Paint and clear the frame rails, a bit of polishing and clean up and I can stick the rear end back in and build the tail pipes. I am still unclear of how far back the frame rails will come, the car has a say in all of this and I have to listen to her. The plan is to re-use the spreader bar as a rear bumper like before so it has a traditional look. Of course I already cut that damn thing in half to make the plate mount I am not going to use...so now I get to weld it back up!!
     

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  22. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 17,098

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    Man testing your metal is right! Dang!
     
  23. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Thanks @Tim it can be nerve racking but the end result...right?
    Last night I strippd the boxing plates, these are more fun to add rather then subtract BTW.
    upload_2021-4-2_9-8-47.png
    That's the ever growing pile of steel (granular and larger pieces).
    Don't need gas tank mounting holes any longer since the tank is inside the trunk so...
    upload_2021-4-2_9-10-53.png
    Gone
    upload_2021-4-2_9-11-27.png
    Then it was on to flattening the tops of the rails so they can go back on. That is a lot more wedge than I expected.
    I will have to trim the bottom up about a quarter or 3/8ths of an inch to meet the rail under the car.
    upload_2021-4-2_9-18-0.png
    You can see there is quite a hump on them. I cut them off at the apex in the top of the frame so the rest of the curve has to go away. I used the sacrificial steel from the box plating to fill the gap. I didnt fill it to the end since i have to trim a lot of that off to fit the rails back on.
    upload_2021-4-2_9-15-24.png
    I was tired of cutting and welding for one after work session so that means I still have the other side to do. Then on to cutting the rails to fit and making those upper shock brackets.
    upload_2021-4-2_9-17-8.png
     

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  24. GordonC
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,141

    GordonC
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Billy I finally figured out why I can't carry my golf clubs! I built the wrong year hot rod! A rumble lid on a 31 A leaves NO room for my sticks. That's it I am just going to have to build another "larger" hot rod! Sure is one thing to build a car from scratch entirely something else to do some rework on a car finished as nice as yours. Doing a good job!
     
  25. A lot of work..but well worth the effort, will "look" right.
    I can't imagine you being satisfied with anything less.
     
  26. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    One of the guys i used to golf with drove a purple prowler and he bought the matching teardrop trailer to carry his sticks. That just wasn't right, sorry Bubba. If I were you I'd send the clubs with an Uber driver and hot rod it to the course.

    You got me there. I learned it from my father who never did anything "just okay". My mom never understood the time and money I spent on cars. My dad though, I believe is watching and proud.
     
  27. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Saturday. I didn't get it all in because:
    A. I got tired
    B. I had to watch Gonzaga beat UCLA.
    Both are factual but here is a recap of what I got done prior to game time...
    I started by cutting the frame rails to fit
    upload_2021-4-3_21-56-41.png
    They are tight and very right
    upload_2021-4-3_21-57-40.png
    And inside
    upload_2021-4-3_21-58-40.png
    I have yet to v the joint in anticipation of welding the seam up. But it is tight. You can see the C notch remains and you can see the flat upper rail from previous posts. I welded in studs at the rear to mount the body to the frame.
    This helps with both body/frame rigidity and the task of re-assembling all of this. I will add a frame pad between the body and frame on that new rear mount.
    upload_2021-4-3_22-0-0.png
    These are the upper shock mounts I cut out of a piece of steel 2X4 as previously mentioned
    upload_2021-4-3_21-47-32.png
    This is them welded into the frame, right side
    upload_2021-4-3_21-50-21.png
    and left
    upload_2021-4-3_21-51-35.png
    and from the rear. Looking tidy with no crossmember and ample exhaust room.
    upload_2021-4-3_21-52-48.png
    So far so good.
    The last thing before tip off was to shorten the frame horns a bit. I tried the spreader bar in the original holes and it was too long visually. The shortest holes were a no go as I didn't have room to mount the license plate. Like Goldilocks', the middle hole was the money shot. So I used one rail as a pattern to plasma cut the other.
    upload_2021-4-3_22-6-48.png
    Picture perfect cuts just a bit shorter and matched side to side
    upload_2021-4-3_22-8-55.png
    Now the rear hole used to be the center hole, it was a bit larger to allow for wire passage when the tail lights used to be frame mounted. They are well covered by the outer ribbed plates that will once again adorn the frame rails.
    upload_2021-4-3_22-12-41.png
    Next up, other than the Championship game Monday night featuring Gonzaga and Baylor, is to paint the floor in the morning both base and clear and then work on welding in the rails. Then finish painting of the frame and reinstallation of the rear end.
    This is going to look like it was planned from the start. Only my hairdresser (and the HAMB) will know for sure.
     
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  28. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Looks like a giant shake and bake bag. But that should keep he clean during the painting.
    upload_2021-4-5_13-42-58.png
    Floor tan color is on and clear coated.
    upload_2021-4-5_13-44-12.png
    I stripped what was left of the paint form the frame horns in preparation of painting them. I have to paint the top of the rail because once on the car I won't be able to do so. I will leave the weld area bare on top and airbrush that spot back in. The inside, faces and bottoms will get paint after they are welded back on.

    I didn't get a photo but i did add a fish tail to the end of the boxing plate so it wasnt so abrupt. Looks nicer.
    Go Zags! Game time is 6:20 locally. No car work tonight.
     
  29. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    A little color, clear and frame webbing where I cannot reach once reattached then onto the car for welding . .
    upload_2021-4-7_23-40-59.png
    Gaps as tight as as I am able, beveled and clean
    upload_2021-4-7_23-42-21.png
    And stitched back in place.. Note new cuts to the boxing plates, an improvement over just a straight cut.
    upload_2021-4-7_23-44-5.png k
    Welded both back and front
    upload_2021-4-7_23-45-57.png
    Now, doesn't that look better?
    upload_2021-4-7_23-47-26.png
    Frame bobbed and tucked, now to finish and paint then reassemble. Looks like it was meant to me like this all along, right?
     
    Tim_with_a_T, pprather, X38 and 12 others like this.
  30. flynbrian48
    Joined: Mar 10, 2008
    Posts: 8,220

    flynbrian48
    Member

    Great solution, and as always, meticulous work. As it happens, and by coincidence, I'm using the tank that was originally in the trunk of the '34 in it's original incarnation in the trunk of my Model A. I think it's a late '40's Ford tank. The frame horns on my '32 style frame were bobbed already, so my job was much easier than yours! The exhaust is Duesenberg inspired. I’ve always liked duals that are tucked tight together, asymmetrical placement.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021

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