Now that I am armed with my new rolls its time to put them to use Ruffed out the worst of it I shrunk the flange to get the right curve and then tweaked the metal over my English Knee to make the rest fit the panel properly. Getting closer After more fitting it was ready to weld in, this was when I discovered I was out of Argon for TIG so I was forced to use the mig to tack it in. I will finish welding when I have more gas as I want to be able to work the seams more than you can with the mig welds.
Now both cowl panels were rusted badly where the cowl band sits. As this is the only spots I will need this line I didn't want to spend the time to make a special set of rolls. so I figured a way to just get by. I tacked a couple of pieces of 3/16 x 1 to my welding table. Then tacked down my 18ga Next I made a punch with the correct profile from some of the 3/16 and installed a high tech handle. Slowly working in the bead with a pendulum press. The first one was too tall, the second one was too wide but the third attempt after adjustment was just right(at least close enough) Now I could have spent some time forming the end of the bead but instead I just welded in the back side and formed the end of the bead with the wizz wheel. Fitting the patch Welded in, I will wait to metal finish until after the lower patch is Tig'd in as it will effect this area also. One done one to go. Both done
Next up was the huge task of merging the subfloor and the body. I really don't have a clear plan at this point just going into it a piece at a time and the knowledge that some things will need to be done and redone until it all flows like I want. Started by mounting the cowl panels making sure everything matches side to side. once I had them square I sort of mocked up the rest of the body and figured out one door is 3/8" longer than the other..... probably normal for 30's high production cars. Next I wanted to attach the front of the quarter panels so after I felt pretty good about the locations i drew up these brackets that sort of origami into a pretty stiff mount.
The brackets weld on threw the holes in the flag as well as a nice fillet on the door end. Bolted in now will be plug welded eventually I want the doors to close with a thud, therefor I plan to spend a bit of time making the body as ridged as I can. I made up this bulkhead behind the seat that bolts into the upper trunk panel, once it is sheeted it should be very ridged side to side, and should help out some in the case of a side impact. I will cut some curved pieces to die into the door jam after the latching is figured out. Next up was squaring up the cowl, and starting to figure out the firewall. these pieces are merely for mockup and adjustment of the shape. The final piece will be made on a hammerform to curve in and attach in the original locations much like a reversed firewall. In order to figure out cowl bracing I needed to know where the pedals and steering were going to be so I drew up an modified Ansen style pedal assy. and mocked it up out of scrap aluminum. Then I mounted the pedal assembly so the center of the pads would be at 8" from the floor and have good floor clearance. This is where stretching the width of the cowl will pay off as there is room for the pedals and even room to rest your left foot next to them when driving. I also knocked a big hole threw the mockup panel to fit the column. After a bit of fussing with seat height This is where I ended up. Steering shaft should clear easily. Then I went ahead and burned out a couple more test panels to make sure, these ones allowed me to mount the master cyl. A few more fine adjustments and I think I will be ready to make the wood buck and form the real firewall.
I have been using disks made from 3/8" conveyer belt, It is nylon reinforced and very dense. Probably somewhere in between the hardwood used originally and nylon.
Killer! Great ideas! It is nice to see somebody think a little out of the box and really planning things out.
Hate to see hard work hit the trash can but I really prefer the saddle mount that you fabricated. Also think you are going the right way with the spring and I really like your mocking up adjustable rear spring hangers.
Yea I think I kind of hung onto the old crossmember because of the work I had into it but if it doesn't look good it doesn't look good and I think I am happy with the choice. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I think in the beginning of your build thread you said that stock roadster body needed a lot of work and you were considering a Brookville replacement.The latest pictures seem to show a change of heart ( or lack of $7,000.) and the patching has begun. GOOD FOR YOU! It looks great, and the chassis work is right on. Now this gem needs a lot of work- parts are being gathered. Good luck with it. Mike from Mass.
awesome craftsmanship! dig seeing quality work in this world of "good enough" builds. craftsmanship stands out big time.
Thanks guys! I will post some updates early in the week I think it helps to make yourself post it all here as then it's there to be criticized, kind of motivates you to put in the effort.
Wow, busy week, my magazine ad rep got a hold of me wanting to know if I had anything new for the "Parts with Appeal" section in Hot Rod Deluxe, I had been planning on selling these pedal assemblies but that only left me a week to finish designing it and build a prototype to send to him. I did manage a few pictures along the way, the pedals had to be plasma cut due to time restraints vs water jet as the production ones will be. And I did not have time to get some of the pieces to powder coat and plating as will be with the finished product. Here i s the pedals off the plasma bed, they are made from 3/8 Stainless, one has had some work done to round over the edges and polish out. Here are the pads I am using as well as the metal backs for them. Should give the pedals an early sports car feel Here is the pedal box cut out of 3/16 and bent to shape, I made the upper portion a little larger so it can be tied back into the "A pillars" The pedals will pivot on 5/8" CR, and lock in place with shaft collars and E-retainers for a little safety redundancy. Next up I wanted this to be an all in one unit that includes all three pedals, This was the first go at the throttle cable arm, The throttle pedal will have a 1.25-1 pedal ratio, After bending up I found a slight flaw in the plan.... the clamp portion was protruding into the space of the pivot tube. While I was in for a mid course correction anyhow I decided to make the clamp portion a double wrap. Should work... Next I cut out the gas pedal arm from 1/4" stainless
Then rounded the edges and polished Up next was joining the pad backers and the pedals, Then trial fitting Then blew it apart for finish welding and a quicky paint job, Now its of to So-Cal to meet the Twins
Not yet, I will sit down at the beginning of next week and work that out. It will be Very well priced for what it is compared to all the Ansen style pedals I see out there, with more features. I am planning on offering them in mild steel, As cut Stainless and dressed and polished stainless like this set(with a much nicer polish job as I did these myself and I'm not really equipped for that.) There is also quite a bit of refinements to take care of as these were rushed for the magazine deadline.
Spent some time on the roadster this week. I felt pretty good about the shape of the firewall so I traced it out on plywood and cut it out to make a hammer form. After a little smoothing with the belt sander I rounded over the middle piece with a router. Then I realized that the top piece needed to be cut back in order to form the sheet, So out came the jigsaw for a little mid course correction. Next I screwed the bottom two pieces of the form together. I added the flange material in my cad program and cut out the blank on my plasma cam. Next I sandwiched it all together. And started forming the metal. the large radius went ok but I had trouble with the corners, I'm sure there are some shapers on here that would have known a better way to deal with this. On the right side I tried a little heat, it worked but kept setting my buck on fire... So on the other side I just shortened the flange and will weld in a patch later Next I flipped the buck around to form the lip for the trans tunnel The firewall came out so good I figured I would make me a new medallion for the heavy gold chain around my neck. Test piece Now pressed into the firewall. I still need to do some fitting but had to see what it looked like. I like it a lot. I had drawn up a bead similar to a stock model A but it just didn't do anything for me. This I think adds a little, And once the fuel block for the 3 2's is mounted on the passenger side I think it will have good balance. I also got the pedals back from the photo shoot, and threw them in for fun, they are way out of adjustment but I sure like how they are going to look.
some bitchin' stuff going on with this... dig the firewall! (and i've done the same, catching the buck on fire )
Lucker than a two peckered goat. Many years ago we built a fuel tank on a aa/fa just like this. We welded the edges ground it down and polished it. People were amazed. You did a very fine job that will seperate your 32 from all others. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Been getting a little behind on the build thread so I'm gonna work on catching you up. I wasn't happy with how the bottom of the body flowed from front to back, I had sort of just picked a spot and mounted it figuring that I needed a spot to start from and was not able to hold all of the pieces into position while measuring at the same time. So I cut the mounts off of the subframe one one side to where I could move the mounting points into a better alignment. after a little fussing I came up with a much better flow. This of course left a nasty gap between the body and subfloor To fix this I did two things, I went into my cad drawing and reshaped the design so the subfloor would fit perfectly on the next one and after a few flip flops between scrapping this floor and just modifying it I came up with a simple fix. I picked up some 1" X 3" box tube and then cut off one side as needed to fill the gaps, Probably adds a few pounds to the car but really some sprung weight is a good thing on a light car like this. Here they are installed, Just tacked in until I can mock the body back up. While the body was apart again I started fixing some of the rustout, this was a brookville patch, I only had to split it full length 3 times to get the beads to line up.......... It still needs a little touch up but it will get there. Somewhere along the line both quarter panels had cracked along the end of the upper bead, The left quarter looked good until the bondo came off...... I decided if my time was worth anything it was Time for a new LH quarter so it is on it's way from brookville. if anyone wants to give it a go this one will be for sale.
What is a DXF file ? I would like to take something to the guy here in town that has a water jet table and have some cut for my JW rod garage rails.
In a previous life this body was apparently a 90's smoothed over mud rod. Under the bondo the windshield pillars hed been hacked up and welded on. What was left was pretty sketchy, so a new plan was hatched. The top of the mount was removed That removed most of the strength of the brace so a stiffener was added. Welded in.. and ground smooth. This should make it as strong as it ever was. Here is where I'm going with this, I have it drawn as a Duvall style but it will actually be a Hallock style frame with the top of the glass exposed.
Made up a center bar that will get molded in later. End caps Getting a better look at it. Muds your bud I covered the cowl with masking tape and smeared it with mineral oil for a release agent. Then gooped it up with mud and pressed the wood down onto it to get a good fir to the cowl. The ends after a little blending. I still have some finish work to do and cut out the window area.
The Jalopy Journal
