Lakster or Dirt Track ???

The first time around Carey fabricated a simlpe master cylinder cover / foot rest... basic sheet metal 90 degree bends off the frame rails... worked great and felt comfortable...



Sometimes "me thinks too much" and I just had a problem visualizing how to finish it... paints not going to look right for long when you are scooting your foot on it all the time... Carey suggested a vintage mat on the contact areas... I guess that is when my thoughts went sideways - floor mats in a race car??? No way, so I came up with the brain fart of crafting it out of stainless and giving it a mat finish to kinda look like aluminum... Carey was quick to inform me that wasn't going to be an easy solution because I wanted a softer radius on the edges too... so the solution became a tube frame and panels welded and finished off to appear to be nice radius bends...



and, while we had the benifit of studing the first cover for improvements... we changed the angles to be 90 degrees off the drivetrain instead of the frame...

 

Just a few construction shots (one side hasn't been completed yet)

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm majoring in the minors... but, details that don't distract from the overall vintage build should reflect a standard of craftmanship of that era...

 

Looks great!

 

WOW. love the little details.

 

As Paul Harvey would say... and now, the rest of the story...

Not sure how but I came across a WWII bomber cushion but I had to have it knowing the chances of it fitting were slim to none... I got real lucky in the fact that the width was perfect... and I happened to have another deck lid... so it was narrowed to add/replace a section of my deck lid seating area... which worked out better than expected - it extended leg support and since it is a curved surface it provided a better seating angle...







The extended pan is not welded in yet so the gap in the picture is gone...



Bad news is that I will only be able to use the Original one for show and I'll have to make a duplicate for driving since the 65 year old leather wouldn't last long...

 

Those pedals look so great. I'm kind of jealous of your skill level.

 

That seat cushion is the one you bought from me on ebay awhile back...I've researched it and came up empty...it's a mystery to me which aircraft or country it came from.

 

Small world! It has a good home now & will add to the mystery of the car since no leads have turned up on the body either...

 

This is the finished seat pan (35/6 Ford decklid inverted) with the extention added to the drivers side (2nd decklid narrowed)

 

Carey just finished the seatbelt brackets which I'll post soon and now we are back on the delima of the exhaust... I wanted a long section of a 36 drive shaft down low... but routing to a low exit as shown in the last picture would be difficult at best... so I'm leaning to a shorter version up high... I know if would have been done in the day it would have swept back the full body length (I still have the hole for the mount in the original body) but I'm not trilled on having hot exhaust that high...

Give me some ideas!

 

I like the longer styled ones...

Or even follow the frame line and keep it down low!

 

I like the longer style too... But... I don't have room for front ports without doing a raised panel in the hood... or exiting and dropping 12" to be below the side bars which would look 60's instead of 40's... we have thought of building a exhaust manifold out of sheet and then dropping down and exiting low with a single tube... any exit up high would be short (cowl steering)... Difficult to baffle... I'm going to draw up some options tomorrow so if anyone has ideas I could incorporate - it would be appreciated

 

I think the longer low version looms better, but the scale is off. Need to see it with correct proportion to confirm.

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

I like them down low as well.. Of course, with better proportions like Kona says.

 

High and all the way back. Maybe go past the rear wheel if there is enough room between it and the body.
It'll sound good in the car and look like they did in the old days.

BTW, this is one of my favorite cars on the HAMB.

 

We exhausted all the options for the headers... the path and location have been dictated by the hood and motor/center steer position... parts were ordered and will be starting on them this weekend... I would rather run them differantly but it isn't an option... in going back thru all my books there were common practices but the overall varience was keep it simple and the application dictated the simplest method... they didn't do renderings and study it as an art and I've come to the realization I can't either... so, it will be based on a logical choice - thats the way it was done...

Anyways... Here is the series of shots on the seat belts

The goal through out this build was to have the body removable... so, we attached the brackets to existing tube that supports the gas tank... first the mock up...



then the placement center brackets will be shorter because a relief was set in the body





The ends of the belt will go through the body

 

The detail on this is making my brain hurt. I need to take a break WOW

 

The individual plates were welded on both sides as they were added... then a tube was welded in to maintain the proper space shown above (replacing washers used in the jig)...



Overview shows belts attached... slots were made in the rear body panels for the belts to fit through

 

Your attention to detail is second to none. Seriously.

 

Dang that's sweeeeeet!!!!!

 

My youngest was over to see the roadster and do an imaginary drive test... I've been work'n at providing ergonomics for my 6' 225 lb ass... his first reaction was "this is comfortable but my arms and legs are fully extended, are you planning on a back cushion to get you a little closer"... Not the normal reaction from sitting in a T even if he is 5'8"

 

With the new year approaching I'm getting the seven year itch... doesn't seem that long compared to the thirty year part collection... but, I'm really looking forward to finishing it... progress is slow but sure on the headers - not happy with the choices but if the car was being built to race back in the day they would have taken the performance path of least resistance and I just haven't got my head wrapped around that yet...

Anyways... I want to post completed stuff instead of bits and pieces... so, here are the shots of the upper motor mounts...



The ultimate madate on this build was "three point suspension system - period" whatever comprimises... well things kept shifting a little here, a little there, and final location settled into were it would work best within the given space... wishbone and motor/trans conflict being the dominate decision maker... final result - funtional, not pretty, slightly off center motor mounts...



Hidden from view... but overkill with no comprimises approach call for new ones!



I'll show the patterns when I post the lower mounts



Simple, clean, and stronger!



Slotted functional lower lighting hole allows easy access to the block bolts

 

Nice progress! Love this little car!

 

Nice looking mounts. I did something similar although I never thought of having the bolts inside the mount like that.

I have the bolts off to the side and my mounts base plate is 3/8" thick steel.

I hope I will not be setting myself up for problems building them the way I did.

Still not too late to change them however

 

Thanks for the comments... I like seeing other ways of skinning a cat... thats why I enjoy the HAMB...

Pre-fab parts...

 

Outstanding build, the details are incredible.
This shot could of been taken 50 years ago.

 

Hopefully we will be able to continue to pull off that image throughout the build... If the body could talk we would have a better chance of building it the way it was instead of my version... by the way the Cromwell helmit was ordered from across the pond in 47 by Bugs so he could start his racing career after the war (currently living in North Olmstead, OH)

 

OK... now on to the good, the bad, & the ugly made pretty by Carey... I keep sketching options on the uncluttered side... reality check... the port and center steer locations won't let it happen... I gone over my collection of books on vintage racers and to no avail -I've not found any solution... so, since I want to stay way from the 60's long pipes... I have no other alternative than late 30's four banger styles I've found - dropping down after the first port... not what I wanted... but, its time build a race car...

Here is my problem



Header flange and stubs were ordered from a fellow HAMB member - Tanson out of Sacramento CA... can't say enough about to quality and service...



Carey wanted 10" stubs (actually the standard ones would have been fine) except I wouldn't have had this photo that made me almost say - done!