This is a great start for a build! And that mill is so cool!! Please tell more on that stuff (engine), and what is your plan power- and transmission-wise?
Deconstruction continues in my open air garage... If you're up in Michigan you count a shovel as an automotive tool this time of year. Pulled out the rest of the engine and front sheet metal. Buick was kind and used a heavy tube for the front frame cross member/engine mount. It'll be an easy mod to weld some mounts for the Nash 8 on top of it. The rear mounts are gonna be the fun ones... they're a good 2' behind the original Buick mounts and will end up near the cross member with all the brake rod actuators... gonna be tight! Currently tracking down a gas tank and seat so I can get an idea what can go where and how much space i'll have for me!
There is something special about working on old stuff out in the snow. Reminds me of my first Model T New Years Day 1967. Have a Merry Christmas! Bob
Currently tracking down a gas tank and seat so I can get an idea what can go where and how much space i'll have for me! Unless you are planning on z'ing the frame, or are 8 ft tall, I think you have plenty of space. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
What a great choice for an engine for the car. You are carrying the open air automotive to the extreme though.
Hmmm....dual plug Nash 8 in a 27 Buick... this is sounding very familiar! LOL...you'll notice I don't change my nic around much either. I like where your design is headed. The frame I'm eyeing up (Whippet) has parallel rear leaves as well. I'm looking for options for covering up the rear spring hangers without losing the narrowing of the boat tail. One version on the other site locates them with a tube outside of the body, but I'm seriously looking at what Delahaye did with their racing designs. I also like the low slung enclosed look. I admire your tenacity though...mine is waiting for a heated shop when temps hit minus 30's.
You've found me! I like those Whippets, sounds like a great project! I'm still working on what to do with the rear of my frame... I was going to slice it off or narrow it but I think I may just leave it as is. For now i'll just leave it as is until I get the engine/seat/gastank installed and can get a cardboard mock up body on it. No minus 30's here... more like low 20's + wind. The wrench was freezing to my hand though when I took my glove off. I used to work for the cable company climbing poles in the winter in windy open fields. It sucked but since then anything over 20 and sunny feels ok!
Yea... that early pic you posted in #2 just leaves the rails exposed and it's not a big deal... just a personal peave of mine I guess. If you stick with the single seater version, most of the frame will be outside of the body anyway. I have a couple grandsons that would be very disappointed in me if they couldn't come for a ride though... gotta train the next generation of gearheads early! Have you heard that straight 8 run, or is there still more work to do on it?
The guy I bought it from last weekend started it up for me before I bought it. It ran rough but for sitting 7 years and starting on the second try its looking good. The car it came out of was a low mile survivor and he drove the car around before pulling it. The rocker assembly looked very clean, no sludge. All the wiring needs replacement and i'll rebuild the carb, then we'll go from there. Absolutely give those grandsons a place to sit! I used to love it when my grandfather drove me around in his oldies... good times!
Sweet project, looking forward to seeing some sheetmetal on it. Also nice to know that the unused original parts found a good home.
Pretty quiet due to work for the last month or so but i've been snagging little bits for later... Switches, gauges, 20's chevy crossmember for the new tranny mounts and more. Got a nice seat off epay, not sure what its out of but it came with some paper stubs from boxes of blasting caps... thats a new one on me. Also scored this early 30's oil cooler out of a Douglas army plane... still has the army air corps service tag on it dated 1932. I doubt i'll need it but its just too cool to not put on the car somewhere! I'll just plumb it up so I can have the option to use it or not.
The Zombie rises! After a two year break for school and moving remodeling I'm back at it... Major departure from the original plan is to scrap the Buick frame... converting that closed driveline to open was just going to be to costly for this cowboy. I hated to see those rear springs go but it was for the best. Instead we're going with the age old "big engine in a little car" theme. I picked up this A frame last weekend and will be using it as the basis for the car. Boxing will be a must for the weight of the engine at minimum. The frame itself is in great condition, near zero pitting with straight rails.
Photo didn't load! After all these years, all the wait.... please upload it again - another way if possible. Gary
I think I had the album on user view only... fixed now. Inspiration for the new design... Thanks Stefan for the great idea!
More than likely the illustration isn't taking in consideration the length of the engine. (And it is a nice illustration) So, I thought I'd take a crack at what it would look like with the lengthened hood and adding a rear section that is somewhat reminiscent of your original endeavor.
You are correct Madfish... no way an 8 was fitting under that hood... thanks for the pics, never ceases to amaze me what you photoshop guys can do!
So I've had the last few days off for vacation and things are moving along... I got the front axle taken apart, man what a fight... one of the perches was stuck big time but I won in the end. Removed the engine, trans and mounts also. Pulled the middle cross member, split the wishbone and removed the frame brake parts. The new cross member sitting on top is out of a 20's-early 30's something and fits the Nash trans great. Its also the same height as the A frame so less work there.
I managed to get my hands on 16 NOS plugs for the engine... no small task! Snagged a neat counter clockwise tach that has the perfect RPM range... Found a fuel tank also, its of off some sort of vintage Minneapolis Moline equipment. Its got a few dents but I'll pop those out. Looks like it holds about 7 gallons. I won't be driving this thing anywhere but local so that will do.
I'm going to skinny up the butt on this frame by relieving the top and bottom rails at the location of the old center cross member, bending them in and running them parallel from there to the rear cross member. Rear cross member will cut down accordingly to give me about 31.5" on the inside for me and the gas tank.
The Jalopy Journal
