I remember the accident pictures from IG but hadn’t seen the engine carnage, wow you did a great job killing that one!!! I’m excited about the prospect of a Caddy in there though. I’m always impressed with your attitude given the troubles you’ve had.
When you blow up a motor, you do it right! The damage to the Corolla that hit you is shocking when compared to the damage on the back of your roadster. Hopefully the body didn't shift or anything. Take it a step at a time, glad you've got it were it can be worked on.
Glad everyone is ok, and I hope you get that thing back on the road quickly. I'm sure you could use some more therapy...
WOW! Thank God you weren’t hurt or killed. That’s total carnage worthy of John Force. That’s a great roadster, hope you get things back to normal soon.
Thanks for the kind comments everyone! I'm excited about the Caddy too. Hopefully the previous owner will be too! This car was important to him. As for my attitude, it's not always easy, but I figure I have to deal with it either way, so I try to make it easy on myself. Getting upset about it only makes it harder on me, so just gotta move forward man. But, in any case thank you.
Now that GNRS is over and things have calmed down, I was able to get started on the repairs and upgrades for the car. Today I got the engine and trans out. So, next the plans are to get the trans adapter to hook up the 331 to the T5, and get the 331 mounted in the car. Once the engine is mounted, I’ll pull it back out and send it to the machine shop. While the block and heads are out, I’ll work on the frame and body repairs. This car wasn’t supposed to be a project, but I must admit I’m excited about the engine change. Im going to make a few other changes during the process, but nothing crazy so that I can get this thing back on the road quickly.
You guys knocked it out of the park this year and then you hit the ground running. Kudos.Don't forget to Breathe...
I've made some more progress on the roadster this weekend. I hadn't planned on working on it this weekend because my trans adapter doesn't come in till Monday, but the insurance adjuster wants to look at the frame on Wednesday. So I went in today to get the body off the frame, which went smoother and quicker than I expected, so that was nice. While I was at it I also pulled apart the old engine to keep the parts that were still good, and to grab a couple souvenirs. With everything out of the way, you can really see how damaged this block really is. Since I was removing the body, I had to remove the roll pan as well, I'm going to keep it as a wall hanger. It somehow looks more damaged when it's off of the car. So, I'll bring my new block to the shop on Tuesday, and hopefully this weekend, get it bolted to the trans and get the new engine mounted in the chassis.
A lesser person might be considering a different hobby, like sky diving or rock climbing, you must be made of good stuff. Roll on.
So, I have started mocking up the new engine to the car, so that I can start on new engine mounts. But, then I mocked this up and started thinking about this. This complicates things, but would be awesome! What are the HAMB's opinions? Blow or not to blow? I'm doing some serious contemplating.
Either way is awesome...the bay is sure utilized fully and then some with plan B...honestly, a tough decision...
Well, I haven't made as much progress on the car as I would like due to reasons I won't bore you with. I decided against the blower because it would have introduced alot of work in order to get things the way I wanted. Since this car was never intended to be a project, I decided it wasn't the right decision. I do still dream about it though. However, I have made some progress. I got the motor mount parts made and tacked together (unfortunately, they got a little wet and rusted a little already). Got the trans mount made and tacked in. Luckily just around the time of the accident, we were building a '32 roadster for a customer with pinched rails, and bobbed frame horns, so I saved the frame horns, and used one to repair my frame. I removed the bent ladder bar, and shackles. I had some of the So Cal ladder bars with the forged gussets, but they were shorter than the ones on the car. So, I lengthened them and got them installed. I sill need to do some sanding on the ladder bars, so I didn't take a photo of how I lengthened them yet. I'm going to finish the sanding once I blow the frame back apart for re-powdercoating. Then got the body set back on the frame. The next things on the agenda are to make a new trans tunnel for the raised up engine and trans, remount and maybe adjust steering column position, and fab headers and exhaust. Then I will blow apart the frame, and get it out to powdercoating. While it's at powdercoating, I'll work on the sheetmetal repair, and some slight changes. The engine that is in the car is an extra one I'm borrowing for mock-up. The real engine is at the machine shop, so hopefully I won't have to wait on it and when they are done I can assemble it, paint it, and drop it in. Also, that injection that's on there isn't going on this car. Just there for fun, but there are big future plans for it. Hopefully it won't be long till there is another update! (I have my front wheels bolted on the back so I could fit under the stand the body was on)
Glad things are moving along. Something timeless about projects in the back of this shop and the old shop 2022 or 1962? Bob
Sorry to see your bad run of luck, can you ascertain what started all of that engine carnage? Did I see a couple of very thin cylinder sleeves ...... what did the crankshaft look like.
I'm looking forward to that day! Thank you. I'm not real sure, as it was just flathead soup in there. Yes, you did see a couple og thin sleeves. The engine was bored .125 over, and the cylinder that let go was one of the 2 sleeved cylinders. The thin sleeves did lead to a theory that a cylinder wall let go, but I'm not sure. The crankshaft looked fine, although I did not save it. One main cap broke free from its bolts, and another one was cracked, so I thought there was a good chance it got bent.
I got a little more roadster time in after work last night. The photos aren't that exciting because there really is no visual change. When I initially placed the engine, I bolted the engine and trans together, and put the trans mount back in the original location. After moving forward, and considering a few other things, I decided it would be beneficial to move my engine forward an inch. It's not that fun of a job to do when you already have a fully assembled engine and trans sitting in place, but it helped me out a bit in multiple ways, so I bit the bullet and pulled out the cherry picker. I just had the mounts tacked on, so it wasn't a huge deal to do, just felt a bit like going backwards. Anyway, I got the mounts cut off the frame, and tacked in their new location, and then placed the engine in its new location. I then got the body situated back into place. With the engine swap, I had to raise the engine and trans a bit from where the flathead sat, so now the trans output shaft housing hits the floor a little bit. Trimmed around that, and got the body sitting properly. Then I mocked up the radiator and checked that I was happy with the engine position, which I am. At about this time I had been in a 95 degree shop for 12 and a half hours and was getting a little tired of it. So, I decided to call it a day, but I had to do one more thing. For some reason this car has always wanted a hood to me, I'm not sure why, I just always felt that way about it. Plus, I got a hood for free. I don't want to run a hood all the time, but I want the option. So I decided I would mock up the hood and see what clearance from the front exhaust ports to the head looked like. It's a little close, but I think I can fit a header in there. And, don't worry, the hood sides will get louvered. It looks pretty street roddy with the smooth sides. I also dropped by the machine shop, and they have started on my engine machine work. Heads have been surfaced, and they are about to put in hardened valve seats. Here are a couple photos after moving the engine and mocking up the hood. These photos also show the actual intake I will be using, Edlebrock 4x2.
Sure didn't want too see that bad luck. But I am loving the 4x2 Cady a lot. Really looking forward to seeing it running again. My own likes go to shinny paint also,but love the car in any case. I have a 28A bob tailed roadster my self,w/4x2 on a Ford Thunderbird V8.
Looks good! That front exhaust port gets very tight! I’ve seen some creative hood solutions though. I’ll find some pix
Ok only one car but lots of photos lol. Neat solution and a shot or two to get an idea of where the engine sits comparative to yours
Some junk 1934 Ford Truck hoods could be parts doners, or a life time on the Pullmax making new panels.
@cretin those Streetroddy side panels were on those Streetrods in the 40s at the drylakes...I'm sure a few lines of Louvers eventually graced them but I've seen them...thats why the vintage pics are so valuable...Purpose built comes to mind as well, warmed engines perform and streamlining played a part in the ideology possibly...Glad to see the dream coming back to life again... Credit to Photographers, Owners
Stogy, I could have articulated my thoughts a little better. I'm not against smooth hood sides, and I don't think it automatically looks street roddy. I'm aware they have been used traditionally. I think the smooth sides make my car look more street rod then I would like. Maybe it's because I have a vision of the car in my head, and seeing it with the smooth sides disrupts that vision.
I’m also curious how many of those cars actually ran the hood sides solid on the street. Most of the time those cars were pulling double if not triple duty. I’ve read stories from the original builders of some of the smooth side cars when asked how they kept it cool they said “we didn’t, it puked all over “ lol
I remember the fire. So glad you're keeping your chin up. So glad the accident wasn't worse. Gotta hand it to you for continuing on. They say nothing good comes easy... ... but jeezo pizzas! Lots of respect and encouragement from me to you. We must like this stuff an awful lot. LOL
The Jalopy Journal
