Projects Building a Tube Chassis for my '36 Ford Sedan

Just out of morbid curiosity, what would you have done differently?

I always like to have another look at things after they're done, so if it can be done better next time, it will be.

I think for sure the next chassis like this I build, I will make the central core of the chassis all the same width, no taper like this one has.

Then I would hang "pods" off the side to contain the passenger area. Sort of make a stiff as hell "back bone" through the center, using the drive shaft tunnel as the basis, and then append the rest of the structure onto that.

Many things could have been done differently if I'd opted to use a full up cage that could have been integrated into the chassis structurally. That would be the stiffest and easiest route, but I didn't want to have a full cage in a "street" car.

I'm already mulling on Version 2.0, whose body has yet to be determined.

 

OK, I've got an aesthetic question for you all.

I'm going to be painting the outside of the car a gloss blue pearl/metallic color (a factory Viper color from some years back), and the suspension parts are going to be gloss black.

What color would you suggest for the chassis itself?

At the moment, I am torn between Green Zinc Chromate and Gloss Black to match the suspension parts.

I like the look of Zinc Chromate primer, 'cause it gives off this aviation vibe, and it's corrosion inhibitive. If I use that on the chassis, I will also prime the interior in the same color and leave it that way, so they will match.

The gloss Black is easy, but won't show stress cracks very well.

 

No progress to report.

I ended up spending almost the whole day on the road, so the painting got pushed back a day or two.

Supposed to snow and ice like all hell here tonight. We'll have to see if I can even get to the shop in the morning.

 

coolhand ,all i can say is wow !!! can't wait to see this car rippin' up the road !!

 

Thank you.

It's going to be a while though, still mulling the total drive train, and I've got a LOT of body work to do before then.

Once I get the roller done and off the chassis table, I'm going to bring the body down off the lift and trade places with the roller so I can get started on the body work.

You can read the Wall Street Journal through the floor pan, pretty much all over, so that ought to be fun.

 

WOW, that looks good...

Very impressive.

This is one of my Favorite HAMB Builds.

 

Nice...very nice. I feel the same way about hot rods that are only good for straight-lines. When people get the chance to look under my '35 sedan I always hear..."wow, looks like a race-car under here". Exactly...I wanted it to be able to go around corners also...quickly.

I admire your skill, beautiful stuff!!

 

This project is incredible. It's demoralized me, as well. You've got some skills, man.

 

Thank you, sir. Coming from you, that is high praise indeed.

Your 35 is a beautiful car. Very well executed.

Thank you, but don't be demoralized man, you gotta keep working. Always keep working. If you're doing the best work you can do at any given time, you've got nothing to be down about.

However, that said, now you know exactly how I feel when I read one of Bass' build threads.

If you've ever seen what that man can do with a TIG torch, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm still young though, perhaps some day I will eventually equal him (the him of today).

It is all the more impressive to think that he's just maybe a year or two older than me. By the time I catch up to the Bass of 2010, God only know what kind of stuff he'll be turning out.

It's a vicious cycle.

 

Love it! I remember this build from before. I´d wondered how it was coming along.
I vote for zinc chromate paint for the chassis.

 

Your work looks great top quality. Is this the 36 sedan and tube frame that you are selling?
If it is I hate to say it but...this looks like a off topic infomercial.

 

Thanks, Jackass.

I've been trying to sell the project for a long time, and it's been in my sig for a long time. Many months, I didn't just put this up here to try to sell it (since I'm relatively sure that nobody but me wants it).

I got it finished last week and wanted to do a build thread.

That's not allowed because it's been for sale for a while? Guys here never put up just finished stuff that's also for sale, right?

Since nobody has shown any interest in buying it for the last six or eight months, I doubt very seriously that anyone is going to be swayed by this thread.

I just wanted to show the caliber of work that this shop is capable of.

If that generates some paying work, bully for me. That's how this country works man.

If you don't like the pictures or the design, move on. Don't break my balls because you're afraid I might make a sale.

God forbid, right?

I've never hocked it for sale in this thread, or even mentioned it until you brought it up.

 

Yeah, I'm leaning toward the Green Chromate myself as well.

Just wondering what other folks thought.

Thanks for the input.

 

My vote is for the Zinc Chromate as well I think it will just give it a killer contrast between the black n blue that you are using

 

Light gray just looks right on Race Car chassis', to me.

Like you said, it was used a lot because it shows hairline cracks early...

I've seen an early Lotus once with a very light greenish turquoise ( almost white ), that looked cool too...

 

Wow!! This is some incredible tube work! I've been thinking about a WAY in the future project that would involve building a chassis like this. Very impressed and very motivational!

Looking forward to seeing it as a roller with the body on it...

 

nice to see a traditional hot rod build on a traditional hot rod site...

 

That's what I was thinking as well.

I'd originally planned to paint the chassis silver, but having seen the color I was going to use applied to other things, I'm not doing that. It ended up looking like crappy galvanize, which is not what I'm after at all.

Gray is another fall back, but I don't like whites and grays because they show dirt and hand prints so easily. But that's a minor nit to pick.

Do you still have that pic of the Lotus? That sounds like an interesting, if maybe a little bit light color.

Thank you. I'll have it rolling shortly. I still need to paint the suspension parts before assembly, and it snowed like all hell last night.

I didn't even go into town today. Yes, I'm a lazy bastard sometimes.

Sarcasm Duly Noted.

I told you before, not modern hot rod, vintage formula one.

 

Refreshing! Keep it coming!!!

 

No... Sorry.

I dont have a pic of that Lotus.

I saw it in person, but didn't shoot a pic.

If I remember right, it was a 15 ( the bigger brother of the Eleven ).

And that chassis color looked great against the BRG bodywork and polished alumunum panels.

 

I am a little disappointed, what ever happened to this?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294564

I read this a hundred times over and it actually helped me a bunch with the setup of my car. (which ironically is on the table again getting a three link and a horsepower transfusion.)

I have been hoping for years that there would be another clown like me out there trying to turn fast with an axle car....finish it up and bring it to a GG autocross, I want a ride!

Donny

 

You punk kids coming on here with your new fangled 1930ies style tube frames! Bah!

 

its a bit space age for my old style tastes , but no one can knock your fabrication skills very nice work probably handle real nice to

 

"Sarcasm Duly Noted.

I told you before, not modern hot rod, vintage formula one. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now thats funny! I like you now.

Please continue...

 

Honestly, I sold the car I originally intended to do the straight axle with, because once I had the body shell here, I realized that there was simply no way that my Dad and I would ever be able to shoehorn our asses into it at the same time.

The Model A is just too damned narrow for two round bodied fellows such as us to get inside, so it had to go.

When I bought this '36, I had intended to use the same build style, but it became readily apparent that it just wasn't going to look good done in the style that I'd intended for that Model A.

I had to go back and rethink.

This is what I came up with, for better or for worse. Full fenders, nice paint, etc.

I'm glad that you found the solid axle camber/caster tech useful though.

Having one guy get something out of it makes all that typing worthwhile.

 

We never would have guessed............hehehe.

Excellent design and workmanship by the way, there is far too much apallingly bad engineering in hot rodding (unfortunately), and your project is like breath of fresh air.

This is certainly not "traditional" hot rodding, so expect to be flamed by the beam axle and leaf spring Nazis. But trad rodding is what we are supposed to do here.
But as the bare bones basis a very roadworthy street rod, it is a shining example of what can be achieved.

Well done! I doffs my hat to you.

 

Thank you.

Yes, some of the "engineering" I see on hot rods scares the crap out of me, but then other times, well thought out and well fabricated designs get poo-poo'ed as crazy and dangerous on here because folks don't understand what they're seeing.

Do a search on "underslung frames" sometime to see what I'm talking about.

I think the traditional folks will come around once I get the body hung and start working through all the sheetmetal and interior mods.

There's nothing really high tech here, save the shocks, and all of it (even very similar shocks) could have been found from about 1950 onwards.

I've been trying to think about how a guy who used to be a fighter plane mechanic in the Army Air Corps and went on to build Indy cars in the late 50's and early 60's might have approached a build like this.

If I can hit an aviation and early 60's Indy or F1 vibe with the technology, and keep the body and interior styling congruent with that same time period, I think it'll go over fine with the traditional crowd.

I've seen wilder stuff than this meet with their approval.

I promise there will be no polished or bling encrusted billet involved.

 

I believe you will be proved right about that.
Right now, it looks like anything but any kind of street rod most of us here are familiar with.

My own ideas of frame design involve keeping the entire frame shorter than the wheelbase, and mounting the suspension right at the very ends.
This is not really that radical, the rear of a model A frame stops at the rear axle centre line, and many guys bob the front frame horns, and this is still considered "traditional".

That is my solution to getting plenty of suspension travel at both ends without the frame rails getting in the way. The way some guys C notch the frame so there is almost nothing left at the point of notching is a crime against nature.

 

Tube framing? Doesn't seem to be a problem when talking about FED's or early laksters. Many WWII Airforce mechanics came home with all kind of "wild ideas" they'd incorporate into their rides.
Help me out here: are there any deficiencies in using a Mumford Link instead of a Watts link or Panhard link? (other than having 8 pivot points as opposed to the Watt's 5 pivots and the Panhard's 2 pivots)
Thanks for taking the time to document this build for those who desire to raise their own personal bar.

 

Mumford link can provide very low roll centres, even below ground level if desired.
And it is the only possible way of having a roll centre that low with a rigid beam axle.

A watts linkage always places the roll centre right where the central toggle is located, and that can be attached either to the body or to the beam axle.
So the roll centre can be at a fixed height above ground if attached to the beam axle. Or a fixed height below the centre of gravity, if attached to the chassis.
Either can work, depending what you do at the other end of the vehicle.
Quite obviously you cannot build a watts linkage or panhard bar below road level, so that limits how low you can make the roll centre. But that limitation does not apply to the Mumford.

A panhard bar always places the roll centre at the centre of the bar, and the roll centre height moves up when cornering one way, and down when cornering the opposite direction. Not exactly a good characteristic to have, if the body rolls a lot on soft springs.

The Mumford looks a bit strange, but it means you can have a really low roll centre without having to worry about ground clearance.