Projects Modified Lakester Build (THUNDERCASKET)

@patmanta, I spent quite some time typing a response to you and the Login times out and I went to Login again to send and poof...All Gone...Grrrrrrrr...man that pisses me off...

What I was going to say was your Holey Grille wasn't perfect but nothing is...You really should not be so critical of your vision...your whole project is a challenge...walking a mile in a designer's shoes IS just that...

That said you are your own best critic and I am confident you'll nail it as there are an infinite number of visions up there...you just have to settle on the one that talks to you...I just wanted to give you a High Five on that lightning holed grille...my only concern with it was would it be able to flow enough air to keep Thunder cool enough...

If you were to use it now you would have to reshape it to the newer hood profile...

And as @wheeldog57 said the forward stance of the nose was part of its character...just opinions but worthy of being shared...

 

So, It has been a while and I have not been in the shop much due to birthdays and tending to my property in Maryland where my mom now lives. I spent a week and a half clearing scrub trees, fixing stuff, crawling around on the roof and eating seafood. Here is my satellite toolshed and my chigger infested woods down there. It is 2/3rds of the half acre lot.



But before all that I did get work done on the car. I am now approaching the point I was starting to get to like FIVE YEARS AGO when @madfish did this render:



Now:



I had a nice mentoring/brainstorming session the Saturday before I went down south with my neighbor, Paul, and we pulled the nose back like 4-6" (much as @Tim suggested) and suddenly it worked. We mostly played around figuring out ideas for mounting the gas tank after that.

This is where I was before he showed up and I was unhappy with it.


Earlier that day I finally settled on a method for covering the rear crossmember finally. I just cut up some angle and box tube to make a frame over it and screwed metal to it. I used some edge cover at the back where the wood or metal piece I will close the back up with will sit against. I will extend runners to tie things together there.

 

Looks good. I need you to come "tend" my property. It's kicking my butt! No seafood though, you'd have to eat ground squirrels.They are plentiful.

 

Hah! Awesome!

these things are so “simple” visually that something 4” in a different direction can look dramatically different.

@Austin kays sends me photos all the time of hotrods that aren’t quite right and I end up moving the head lights or put bigger tires on back. Just little proportion things and all of a sudden it’s totally bitchin! So I’ve got a lot of practice at messing with photos of cars screwing with the proportions.

stoked it worked in real life as well

 

What, did you run out of Rattlesnakes or something?

Me too man, me too! After spending most of the better part of the first like, 7ish years on this car RE-DOING stuff, a simple 4" push back fixing the #notquiteright on something was a HUGE relief.

We haven't gotten to the headlight yet though, LOL!

 

I haven't seen a rattler in a month and haven't had time to shoot ground squirrels.
Some people just don't have an eye for proportions especially tire and wheel size and placement.

 

Didn't have any road tripping or social energy this weekend & skipped all the car shows and races to work on getting my fuel tank mount made for the #thundercasket this weekend. It turned out a little snug but it isn't finish welded yet. The important thing is, it works and I like the look of it. I got a piece of wood rough cut to cover the back too but that will wait a bit until I'm done fiddling with the tank bracing.







Here is how used a Model A frame horn & a couple forged clamps to get the brackets curved to match the back of the tub.

 

Nice work.

 

So, I picked up another hole in the head (project) over the weekend. Though I did manage to get my fuel tank brackets welded up OK before that arrived.



Fortunately, this project isn't mine, it belongs to a friend of mine and I am helping out for a while with direction and a place to work on it. We will see how that works out, LOL.

It came on a half finished Z'd T frame with an odd quarter elliptic front end setup on an axle I can't ID and am not sure I trust (no shackles, it's on welded J bolts and the hairpins are welded up too) so we decided to throw a Speedway Tribute T chassis under it so we can focus on getting the body good enough to go down the road sooner than later.





Here is some detail on the front axle setup and spindles. Not sure what this came out of.

 

Wish you were closer I kinda' like the front suspension. I think it could be made to work and not need the hairpins at all.

 

I'm taking the frame and front end but I think I am going to punt the axle and its weird welded on J bolts, batwings, and hairpins. The spring setup frameside is a bit weird but I don't think that side is inherently unsafe. My neighbor Paul didn't see an issue with ANY of it but I just don't want to fool with that setup when I can just put some receivers through a Model A axle and run shackles to those springs. I've got some cast off 28/29 Tudor bits that I can cobble a bucket out of that would sit nice enough like that and make a good cheap project for someone and get the bee out of my bonnet.

If they hadn't ground off some of the mounting tabs on the axle, the Figure 10 setup might have been possible. But I'm not real sure why they went to all the trouble of using a QE front end setup to only go out 6" too.

 

Until '25, I think, Chevrolet had quarter elliptics all the way around. I plan on using them on the rear of my roadster and after seeing this maybe the front. That would allow it to be a bit lower and not go the Ford route.

 

Cool new project! I have nothing to add, but i've always liked seeing a suspension with quarter ellipticals on a car, but that configuration seems 'peculiar' with the leaves mounted to the side of the hairpins like that.

 

Well, Nothing terribly interesting to post as far as pictures go really. I have been working on MY car though. I finish welded a bunch of tacks inside the body structure and I can shake the whole car from any point in the tub now so it is about as rigid as I think it is going to get and the tank should hold full just fine.


AND I made the car a steering roller again too. I put the new round DD shaft in and mounted the firewall flange bearing so the only flop left is from the second mounting hole I still need to drill for the column drop!



Over to Ruben's T project, We decided to trade out the chassis (to me) for some of the parts out of my collection and punt the front end entirely (still no idea what the axle/spindles are, the welded J bolts seem unsafe, the welded hairpins seem too rigid and underbuilt, etc. not something I would drive fast on). We ordered the Tribute T chassis from Speedway along with their repop Buick style drum kit which is all still backordered. Once we get it though, ideally we will be able to just assemble and build the car. I sent him home with 36 Ford headlights and the repop rear brakes to paint and build as his homework. We got a new rear spring too since the odd spring mount setup and T spring will NOT work in a driving car (see pic).

We did some work to the body and grafted in the rear of the subframe I removed from my car years ago. I had to weld in a new rear cross for it but it wasn't too bad. The subframe was cut up a lot more than I had hoped; I really don't understand why people do some of the things they do to the structure of these bodies but the liberal use of bondo leads me to think this car wasn't being built to last. The door tops were made of cardboard, duct tape and bondo, for example (good thing I can make new ones on my bead roller).

 

Anybody still tuned in here, I need some suggestions for hood making tech articles.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-building-a-simple-hot-rod-hood.993894/

 

I'm here but can not help with that, I'm learning from you.

 

I think if i was going to start to make a hood for a car like that, Stogy's link and Louis B's car would probably where i would start https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-brooks-special-louisb’s-29-lakes-roadster-build.1107348/page-8#post-12918886...thru

And ive used 2.5" exhaust tubing a bunch of times to make big round bends in sheetmetal, where a length of tubing gets clamped to the sheet metal, maybe a few small tacks to keep things from moving and hammer on it with spoon hammers/ dollies, etc. Thats what i used to get the shape started for the tail panel on my Buick, (18ga, i think 52inches wide?)



I made a sort of 'slip roll' on a piece of plywood with some tubing and straps to keep the tubing in place, and slip the sheet metal underneath tubing and pull up on it/against it. Maybe a torch to warm it up and get it a little easier to move

Can you believe i got into several art schools??

 

LOL, I DROPPED OUT OF MASS ART!!!

Yeah man, I have a 4' pipe that I put something under on the ends then clamp down to a table and more often, the wood bed I made for my AAV8 pickup (that's usually used for a table or a party deck depending on the day and number of beers).

Planishing against tubing sounds like a good way to lock the bend in too. I do that with a curved face hammer on the T top rail pieces I've been making for my car (and will be making for the Touring car in the driveway).

 

Crap I graduated from college with a major in fine art painting, sculpture & print making and I don't even know what you guys are talking about. Shows how worthless college is. Oh well it got me a teaching job, too bad for all those kids.

 

Wow what a bunch of Artsy Fartsies...add me to the group...why aren't you fellas sharing your works on the Friday Art Shows...Come on Down!!!...Get those Hotrod masterpieces out of the dusty drawers and giver...so many are so hard on themselves when they are so darn talented with their hand and a pencil...

 

@patmanta there is a plethora of Hambers that have made hoods, Marty Strode, FiftyV8, Paul, there are many more...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/i-keep-wrecking-sheet-metal-to-make-a-hood-trick.830447/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/saturday-project-34-pu-hood-fab.590224/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-building-a-simple-hot-rod-hood.993894/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/polished-aluminum-hood-on-29-roadster.297329/

 

Art & Hoods

...I made a fantasy hood in this Stogyism...and the Plane and and...

Mine would be Aluminum for continuity...

Pat, fiftyv8 went one step further and made Custom hinges that enabled it to be opened like a 40 hood...quite a challenging feat indeed...

I believe he used a utility pole for his roll...
​

 

Lol, i got into Mass Art and even took a weekend visit tour and decided it wasnt for me, but i was a real rowdy kid and was doing alot of 'partying' at the time, so im sure any time spent there would have been short lived! . i do still draw and paint pretty regularly, and sometimes even "sell" some stuff here and there, usually in exchange for people making donations to animal sanctuaries. I've posted in the Friday art threads a few times, but i dont do much hot rod related art, mostly just goofy cartoon stuff

I have a whole bunch of odds and ends i've acquired that i use to hammer sheet metal, some of it is probably even meant for that. one of the handy tools i have for this type of work though is a Martin 1056 "Wing- Ding" dolly, pretty heavy and is shaped to get into the fins on late '50s cars, but the weight, face shape and handle, make it great for not leaving hammer marks. i have a few more heavy metal dollies and spoons as well that work well too, but i dont remember the part numbers. the head is thinner than it looks, but is plenty stout and good for "slapping". A few cheap HF orange deadblow hammers are handy to have around too for making round edges, and they dont leave hammer marks that you need to massage out later.

 

@Stooge I actually now recall seeing your work in the show, screaming 60s...maybe even Pat's...dig out that Hotrod art fellas...

We all have our unique gift to share...look out Pablo!!...

 

I'll never forget the first drawing classes where there were nude models. Just following those lines my hands got so hard I still can't draw.

 

Just your hands eh...he hee heee...

 

oh no fine art over here, just varying degrees of cartoons on old scrap, this one was on what i think was a piece of an end table or cabinet or something
(thumbnail since its off topic )


And another example of exhaust tubing metal shaping in the form of some rockers/ lower body panels. i made a set for myself and ended up making another set for someone over in a pre war Buick group as well. Also how i get door bottoms started if applicable




A few beadrolls for the body line above the rear fender and the door sill steps


This was over the original metal before it was cut out so the sill doesnt line up yet





There was alot of hammering after the tubing was used, to get the center crown, but its helpful to get the general shape and a nice round edge started.

 

Patmanta really enjoying your build! I appreciate the old shop tricks and ideas you utilize instead of spending 5 figures on tools to do the build. Well played!

 

That looks just "fine" to me! It's all art.