Projects 1934 3 window HighBoy Build Begins

I spent my shop time today working on getting the oil pan installed , checking out my newly purchased alternator bracket and installing the double ended studs for my valve covers.

I had checked out the stud situation last week and ordered both 1 3/4 inch as well as 2 inch long studs from Dorman. I wasn't sure how long of studs I would need to utilize a washer and self locking acorn nut. Turned out that the 1 3/4 inch long stud was perfect when I put a washer underneath. What wasn't perfect? ...the self locking acorn nut was too strong and I couldn't get the nut off without pulling the stud out along with it. BOO! I ended up using two hex nuts jammed together on each stud to run the studs into the block with thread lock. I now have all 12 glued in and have ordered replacement acorn nuts that DO NOT SELF LOCK. I chose to order conical , ribbed, lock washers to go under the replacement acorns. This will give me a solid solution to my problem without causing me to change the studs out.


The alternator bracket from Hot Heads is a straight forward 2 bolt mount.
IE: ( 1 bolt to pivot on and 1 bolt to adjust the belt tension) All I need to do now is order up a high output GM style alternator to hang on the new bracket. Do any of you have a recommended brand?

Before starting the oil pan install , I rechecked all the main and rod torques. They were all good so I was ready to go.
I started the oil pan mounting process by pushing the front and rear seals into the slots without any sealant. I then ran every single bolt through the pan into the block for a trial fit as fooling with gasket adhesive is NASTY and I didn't want to have black Permatex all over the surfaces if there was going to be a fit issue. Note: I had already run a tap through all the holes when prepping the block a while back. Turns out I had the seals reversed. There are small recesses in the seals that mate with tabs in the pan and when reversed the seals will not seat properly. No biggie, and no mess either. I turned them around 180 degrees and set about the process of getting both seals glued in with both right and left pan gaskets as well. I ran all the bolts in a second time and cleaned of the excess Permatex. I have just about wrapped up the HEMI rebuild. I still need a thermostat and housing, PLUS a set of rear head block off plates for a heater return line and a temp sensor. I had pulled the water pump off to loan it to Rex and Josh for their mock up for engine mounts. I will drive up and get the pump back to reinstall as they are all finished on the engine mount milestone.

I will leave the EFI/ ram tube set up OFF the heads to enable safe transport up to Custom Auto when they are ready for the engine. Engine run in will have to wait until it's in the chassis.

Regards,
George

PS: while rotating the engine, I noticed the bottom right bolt had pulled out of block. I was pretty bummed out as I thought it was stripped and that a heli-coil was needed. Some friends dropped by and one of the guys laughed when I explained the issue. Turns out all of the bolts are 3/8 with the exception of this sole location. It is a 7/16. Go Figure??? swapped it out and ta da ...no more problem. I am surprised , but very happy! BTW...rotating a HEMI on the stand takes muscles!

 

Josh is laying in the floor today. He started with flat sheet and then used a marker to lay out where he wanted to roll the stiffening ribs in with a bead roller. The two hoops showing through the slots will have a blister formed for each and then added secondarily.

The second picture really shows how naked the jambs are without the wood, covers and hinges. PATIENCE...they too will come. smile

Regards,
George

 

Josh has made a lot of very good progress with the cowl extension replacements as well as the fabrication of the firewall and upper firewall shelf.

Please note the JOSH inspired reveal lines that pick up at the factory line on top, go around the perimeter of the new panel and then tie back in at the bottom. It Looks like it came that way! We have decided to fill the lower cowl hole even though some might complain about losing the original look. smile

Pic 1 is the card board mock up.
Pic 2 is the flat panel and bead lay out from Josh's inventive side
Pic 3 is beaded and tacked in place

regards,
George

 

Please find the following pictures of Josh's progress on the firewall and cowl extension replacement. We discussed leaning the firewall ,(new vertical panel) backwards to the original firewall that was left.(after cutting out for engine/ tranny installation) The decision was made to provide as much under dash room for a heater as possible and go completely 90 degrees with a return shelf. The mirrored beads on the new return shelf mimic as much as possible from the original design. The return shelf actually looks like it belongs and that is key to pulling off changes without destroying the car. Josh is at his best when he gets to create. smile . I am particularly pleased with the last picture as the hood covers up the top of the cowl extension and yields a nice clean profile. NICE JOB JOSH!
regards,
George

 

Very nice quality work. I really like your frame. and the whole car

 

Please find the attached pictures of the firewall install progress. There is an enormous amount of labor in running all the seams with the TIG and then finish grinding. Not quite there yet...but Josh has it looking good and moving forward.

I have been out of the shop for a week and looking forward to time working on the Hemi this weekend. I also plan on taking a drive up to Custom Auto Saturday morning to bring an EFI set up with Ram Tubes for the guys to have for setting up and cutting holes in the new hood. FUN.....very. smile.

Regards,
George

 

very nice work on the firewall!

 

Wow... beautiful work going on there. I've just sat and read the lot from the start. Really enjoyed it, thanks for posting. Subscribed for sure.

 

Thanks for posting..Subscribed...Rex Sure does some fantastic work!!It looks Great.
Gerry

 

Thank you all for the nice comments. Much appreciated by Josh , Rex and Myself. Josh spent the day wrapping up most of the firewall and is darn close to being done with it. There are a few holes in the upper section as well as some brazing that needs to be cleaned out in order to finish up. Here are 8 pics of the near completed effort. Can you say very happy? I sure am! Please note that the factory holes in the lower cowl sections have been filled in to clean up the lower cowl. We lost a little of the original "look" , but chose to do so in favor of "clean". I hope you will take the time to also note the "hem" that Josh added on the cowl extension to give it a factory assembled finish. One last comment...I sure am going to hate it when we have to add a few holes to this artwork. sigh.
Regards,
George

 

looks awesome, great workmanship, and functional, without comprimising the principal factory 'look'. Certainly a credit to all involved. Appologies if I jumped in too early previously, or 'over anticipated' what was previously planned, certainly happy to eat humble pie when the result is as shown.

Looking forward to seeing more...

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

No offense was taken and certainly no apologies needed... your points were well made and appreciated. The vertical line up the front cowl extension is in fact different , but we wanted to tuck it in up under the hood line. The project is continuing forward with an effort to "sort it out" as we go. In all honesty, most of it is determined one day at a time with an effort to maintain a desired theme of clean lines, minimalistic goodies and hopefully a little wow factor when we are all said and done. The thing I lose sleep over is the paint color decision. Still a couple of months out....but all the effort can easliy be screwed up at the end if I mess up the color choice. yikes!

warm regards,
George

 

One last picture of the COMPLETED firewall. Way to go Josh. Great work!
regards,
George

 

firewall results are truly amazing,great fab work, and thanks for sharing

 

Saturday was a fun play day with regards to "Let's see?" Pete , Bob , Nick and I met for breakfast before driving up to Loveland to visit Custom Auto's Rex and Josh.

Let's see how the ram tubes will work with the hood? Way too tall, but the plan was always make them long and cut them down to the desired height later. Definitely going to keep all of the tubes the same length for cylinder to cylinder tuning. We are going to start with a desired height at either end of the row, front or back and then keep all tubes the same height in order to keep them parallel to the heads and NOT the hood. The pictures are for getting an idea of how the two planes compare. ( ie: hood vs breathers). Note: we only used one EFI side to enable putting half of the hood on to see the profile and also discuss cutting holes through the hood that will allow the breathers to protrude.


Let's see if the pretend knock off's will mount? Well they wouldn't go flush as the lug nuts were too long with the acorn tops. We cut one lug down on a grinder until we got an acceptable height and then I took the sample one home and turned the rest down to the correct length on my lathe. We also played with a little art to have engraved on the wheel centers. See the crown drawing stuck to the rear wheel center.

Let's see how the rear roll pan might look louvered with a standard single sided louver vs a double punched louver? The double punched louver shown in the picture below is DEFINITELY the decision for the roll pan under the rear spreader bar. You can see through the louvered sample just enough to be visually nice while letting the air come on through the pan. The single sided louver just blocked the air flow without doing a thing.
If you have never seen a double punched louver, just imagine one louver punched and then turning the panel over and punching another louver on the opposite side of same center line as the first louver. The result is twice the air opening. In the case below ,..it is perfect for both the function required as well as the aesthetics gained. This idea is from Bob Padilla in Pueblo, Thanks Bob!



Regards,
George

 

Some more progress pictures to share from Josh....

Left floor board with access cover to the brake master cylinder

Right floor board

Shifter installed to enable center sheet metal fabrication with shift indicator. I bought the knob from OTB and painted the inner fins.

New hood,...sitting pretty and is going to get 8 big holes cut in it for the ram tube/ filters I shared above.

Things are moving forward very nicely with the louvering of the roof and deck lid somewhere on the horizon before installation. I am worried about the TV cable install and spent a lot of effort ordering a pile of "MAYBE" needed items to get started on fabricating SOMETHING to work. This is very important as the cable isn't just for kick down. It also controls line pressure and if not adjusted properly can really screw up your tranny!

Regards,
George

 

Amazing work as usual, WOW!

 

I know you guys will not get too excited....BUT just the same...here is today's start by Josh on a tranny cover. IT HAS TO BE REMOVABLE TO SERVICE THE TRANNY and that makes the effort a little harder.
The cover will have a Lokar shift pattern/ gear selector indicator mounted on it. It's time to start thinking about a gas pedal and the foot well is very narrow because we moved the engine up for ground clearance when dropping the front end to get more rake. rhut rhro....LOL, sometimes it's hard to get want you want, without giving up a little something elsewhere.
Regards,
George

 

Great metal work you guys! looks really nice.

 

George picked a fuel cap fro Crafty B.


Josh has been working on getting the Trans tunnel worked out.
the car is looking good Josh has been making great progress on the car and it is still keeping the stock 34 style just tweaking a few items and giving the car an attitude.

 

Rex,
Thank you for posting the pictures. Looking great. I just can't be any happier. THANK YOU VERY MUCH to both Josh and yourself!
I am still working to get you guys a completed engine/tranny soon.
I was bead blasting a 1955 thermostat housing off an industrial HEMI hiding out in the shop corner and couldn't get the black residue off of it. The more I focused on it,... the bigger the black spot got. I pulled it out of the blaster and know it's time to change the frosty glass out. The metal was so thin that I was just cutting a hole bigger and bigger. LOL. Not an issue as a similar housing with the SAME FOOTPRINT was used by Chrysler on many models from 1964 to 1978 and NAPA had one locally. I got it and the water cross over installed in about ten minutes. I moved on to adding the pinch clamps for the other bank of Ram Tubes and decided to tap the water passage on the aluminum block off plate at the rear of the head for a 5/8 hose. ( uses a 1/2-14 NPT) Well , that was a quick disaster as I galled the tap and pulled a few threads out. Can you say STUPID? I did this without lubricant because I didn't want to have to wash the lube out. IE: Short cut gone gone bad! The shortest way isn't always the best way.

I was excited to add the powder coated black 100 amp alternator I had ordered from Summit. I opened up the box to find a shiny chome unit that was covered in scratches and badly beat up. Well Phooey. The box was marked properly so someone must have made a mistake somewhere. Not a big deal as I have plenty of time and just called Summit up for a replacement. THEY WERE COOL AND IT IS ON THE WAY. I bought a Tuff Stuff model in order to get the black I wanted but was less than happy with the bullet nosed pulley. It is just a little to modern for my project. Rather than buy another alternator with a pulley that suited me, I called Tuff Stuff and they are soooooo verrrrrry nice! A different pulley and fan is on the way.

Next ,...I decided to get a project off the shelf that I am planning for the coupes AUDIO. A small blue tooth receiver, a 12 volt to 5 volt converter and a small amp. I hooked everything up with 4 speakers and the volume simply is not going to work with my plan for loud exhaust. I took two of the speakers out and the little amp could drive a pair...hmmmm, OK.

I am driving the blue tooth with my I Phone and the signal does not get amplified enough. I am going to have to find a better solution. The whole idea is to use the Pandora App for tunes in the car. I do this in the shop with a big amplifier and it is AWESOME. It's like having a jukebox with limitless choices at your finger tips. I really enjoyed the exercise and know that it will work. I will just have to try a bigger amp.

All in all , a great day in the shop.

Regards,
George

 

one damn good looking coupe,have you said what color your painting it?

 

No color choice as of yet! I will say that I sure have lost a lot of sleep agonizing over it. I know it will be a solid color and that it will not be yellow. GRIN.

Grey, Red, Black ...Blue? gosh ..such a struggle.

Maybe Maroon with gold pin striping?

Regards,
George

 

Candy apple red with gold pinstriping!


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Josh has been busy with the tranny tunnel, shifter installation with Lokar indicator and emergency brake handle. ON top of that he has been removing all the lead from the original vintage chop and re welding seams and metal finishing. AND ON TOP OF THAT, Josh has made the rear lower valence panel that will be louvered to match the deck lid and roof louvers. ( still to come!)

This work doesn't have dramatic 'line" changing impact ,BUT the quality of the work makes a HUGE STATEMENT.

I was speaking to Rex this morning and the tail lights are the ONLY item other than paint color we haven't decided on. The rear lines are so clean that I hate to think about what will work for the tail lights and not screw it up!
Regards,
George

 

More roof progress...almost ready for the louvered insert. The right quarter roof was 1/4 inch lower than the left and the rear window opening had a resulting off set. Josh cut the quarter roof off and raised it up by inserting a new wider piece of steel where he cut out the leaded original chopped seam.

The attached pictures are of the ALMOST final repairs... The drivers side still needs more work in the reveal.


NICE JOB JOSH!

Thank you,
George

 

I hope you guys aren't tired of "pretty pictures" . Josh has cleaned up both A Pillars as well as the windshield opening. I think he was dreading the Drivers side reveal and has been putting it off as it will be a bit slow and tedious. smile.
But, such is life. He has a personal goal of getting both roof sides finished by tomorrow evening. Josh is doing excellent work and I appreciate the results. I will be driving up to Loveland Saturday morning with Pete to pick up my left over Ford 8 inch and my waterpump with adapters. I will bring home the pump and put it on the 392 to get a belt size measured up and have one more little thing completed. Pete is going to take the 8 inch and keep it as a spare for two of his rides.
Saturday evening is movie night. I have invited a bunch of friends over to watch the "Boys of Bonneville". I am looking forward to shop time Sunday.
Thank you,
George

 

Love the metal work performed, very nice!! I'm impressed.

 

I'll let josh know he received a nice comment. Thanks.
Please find the attached photos of a 37 Ford tail lamp and "thinking out loud" on the possible ways to mount it???? I really prefer a 34-35 Dodge tail lamp as it is shorter and a larger diameter. But, I dont have a clue on where to pick up a set? If you have them, please contact me off line.

Any feedback on the pictures will be most appreciated. If we went with the under the spreader bar, the housing would need to be sunk back into the tail pan to make the lens be further set back about an inch.

Regards,
George

 

I think it would look killer under the spreader bar. Always loved that look.