Nick, Here are a couple shots I grabbed off the Board for reference a while back - not super close up but i think you will get the Idea... Spence.
Cheers Spence. I'll leave the cowl patching for a while, but it looks like it would be pretty easy to fix. I'll wait till i can get some real close ups or look at Dicks car for a better idea.
Cheers Rod! I'd love to see your '32 sometime when you've got some free time. I'm making a crossmember at work one day this week so i'll be able to tack that in and start welding up the boxing plates on the weekend, if all goes to plan.
That certianly does help Tony! Cheers for that mate, its pretty much exactly how i thought it would look. Looks like you might have some cool stuff over your way too eh? Now that makes two stashes i'm extremely jealous of (wait till you see what Spence has got..).
Ok.. heres another fairly big update. This post is all about how i made my middle X-member. Firstly, started with something i drew up on cardboard and then folded at work last monday.. You'll notice its got a cutout on the end of it, thats because i made it so that one end actually tapers up to match up to the framerails. Next, i pie cut the rails so that i had a nice 45 degree bend on each end, and chamfered and welded up the rails. I also added in the filler strip for the peice that was previously missing, due to not being able to fold on a line where it tapers upwards. I then cut a 45 degree angle on the ends, so that it'd meet up to the frame rails just like i'd drawn out. I still had to do a little extra cutting and modifying at the end of it, but it worked out good in the end. Here is where i filled the little gaps after where each side had been pie cut. You can also see the weld penetration from where i stitch welded the filler peice in. Its fully welded, but was stitched as to keep heat and distortion to a minimum. Next i started making the gussets and the joining plate. I cut up the gussets at work, and then oxy'd and shaped them at home. A good tip for anyone who makes stuff by oxy or plasma, when you draw your line make sure you center punch it so even after its cut, you'd get the punch marks to follow when you clean up the slag and metal finish them. I still might drill this plate, or do something to it. Its a little bland for my liking.. I then drilled them. I think it was a 5 or 6mm hole, can't remember. I just picked up what i had laying next to the drill press. I then tacked in the middle plate to the rails and got it into the chassis, but found that the middle plate wassn't wide enough. I musta stuffed up my measurements in my cardboard drawing somewhere. Oh well, easy fix. Had to cut it and weld some strips onto each side. Pretty simple. I then heated up the gussets to match the curve of the middle plate. I first bent them around a peice of gal pipe we had lying around, and then put them in the vice and made the last bend to fit up to the rails. Turned out real nice i think. Frame upside down in the jig with just the middle plate in. Had to tack the crossmember rails to the chassis on the underside. Heres the finished crossmember tacked up. And heres the last one, the frame with the cowl in the background. I quite like this picture actually.
Great work Nick.Keep it up! That's a great tip using the centre punch marks.Use that method a lot myself.One of the little things that can make life so much easier!
Agreed. I never even thought of it until i left where i was working and started working for a mate (who i met from the previous shop, he started his own shop) and he showed me it. After that i thought "Duh! How did i not think of that one!". The thing i'm not really looking forward to is doing pedal mounts. I hope they don't interfere with the crossmember, although i can always notch it and put a plate in if i have to, but it should be fine. I need to get an aussie bellhousing (original one from my frame only has the square part, not the bit that the pedals attach to) and my motor and box i'm using is from a US car, so the pedals are on the wrong side. I need to find a seat as well so i can work out steering wheel height and the pedals. Better start makin trips to the local wreckers and find a suitable bench seat..
I'm not looking forward to the pedal mounts either!Due to lack of space,I'm considering hanging pedals with the early Ford master cyl mounted on the bulkhead. With regard to your seat,there was a thread on that subject in the last day or so.Might be some usefull info there?
I know a mate of mine has an early 80s Hilux seat in his Roadster, just narrowed a couple inches with the headrests wacked off and upholstered to look like an early seat, and you'd definately think it was.
Hi Nick, Nice meeting you this afternoon. I just checked out the entire build post. You are doing a great job. I particularly like the cross-member gussets, nice detail. Re: The clutch & brake pivot shaft & bracket. Mounting it of the RH chassis rail is probably the best solution. (just like a Zillion Chryslers had). Depending on how far you extend it, the LHD pedals may actually be bent the 'right' way for that position. Good luck, I'll be watching the build closely from now on. Cheers, Daryl
Hey Daryl, Nice to meet you too mate. Interesting point on the LHD pedals. I'll have to pull both sets off, make up a plate and a shaft and see which pedals suit. I never thought of using the LHD on the right side, i'll have to check the angles at which their bent at, along with how much floor room i'll have. I'll keep you posted. If you need your bellhousing back, just give me a shout mate. Cheers for that, i really appreciate it.
My only comment at this stage would be that you've made a big commitment with that x-member, but have you mocked the drivetrain and pedals in there yet? It's a chicken and egg thing, but sometimes the drivetrain and your pedal locations help dictate the x-member configuration so they work better together. Also factor in things like exhaust, handbrake cables etc too. Better to allow for things now that have to hack up a x-member later when you go 'ahh,shit' when a component just won't go where you want/need it. Keep at it.
Hey Tony, The X-member is just tacked up at the moment, and i can take it back out in a few minutes if i need to. I haven't mocked up yet, but i've positioned it behind where the banger bellhousing mounts go into the rails, and i know that it won't have any problems with the engine itself. I want to get the adapter bit off the motor so i can mount the gearbox in though. I've got a 28 bellhousing off Daryl which is a RHD one, although i don't know if it'll work with my 29 box, but if i need to i can make a small plate with a shaft on it and mount the pedals off that, and it could go either onto the rails or the X-member. Getting the box and pedals mounted is my next thing on the list. As far as handbrake cables and exhaust go, i have thought about those as well. The radius rods have a tab for the handbrake cables to run through, so i can just as easily weld small tabs just like those onto the xmember for the cables. Exhaust will be only on one side because i'm using a banger, but i haven't decided how i want to do the exhaust just yet either. I can just as easily oxy a hole into the xmember and clean it up with a grinder and then die grinder though. Thanks for the concerns mate. Its always good because sometimes someone brings up something i haddn't thought of.
Hey Rod, Nah, no updates at the moment. I did get the bellhousing mounts and the adapter bit in the frame, and ready to mount the bellhousing and gearbox.. but its been too hot and i've been busy with other shit. I'll put pics up when i get some more stuff done.
I know this has been a long time coming, so heres an update. Finally got to move it down into the carport and got heaps more room now so i'm back into it. Heres the cowl / chassis / jig in the carport. Heres the 3spd 1929 Model A crashbox, mostly cleaned up before getting a good wash with the gurny. About 2" of shit scraped off it in a ice cream tub. 81 year old stuff is so much fun! Clean gearbox. It looks dirty, but its very much clean. Inside my 81 year old gearbox. The gears are perfect, no chipped teeth and it all works perfectly. Could not be better. Gearbox mounted into the frame. I did have to take out and modify my middle X member though. I still have to take the pedals off the box and make my own pedal mounts for the right hand side. Shouldn't be too hard at all though. Heres my 1941 - '48 Ford steering wheel, with super awesome trim ring which i've actually never seen before on another car. Should have more pics tomorrow when i get my X member back into the frame rails..
The Jalopy Journal
