Projects 1930 Sportster, shortened cockpit, tilted post cowl, door caps.

Your making good progress, keep at it !

 

Progress is easy because I like doing the "dirty work",
welding rusty / dented panels together shows progress everyday...
want to improve the thing enough for another rodder to say I can finish that body...
but I don't have the same enthusiasm for all the little things that need doing later on...
back at it on Friday…
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Cheap home made interior door opener...
Got up just after midnight with an idea, scratched out a print, revised it this AM...
I was going to have the door opener be where today's lock would be... back of the door.
but it is where my elbow rests...
so I am going to run a rotating interior handle at 1/3 the way back from the front.

big flat washer as a bezel...
I used a 6" long 1/4"-20 bolt, cut off 1" from the head...
heated and bent the shank to a "Z", making the inside handle...
threaded 3/8" on the short end of the "Z" to 1/4"-20, had a threaded brass cap for the knob...
welded a 1/4" bead lengthwise along the shank next to the threads...
ground it down to a keyway [wizzer], filed a matching slot inside a 5/16" nut [they slide over a 1/4"-20 bolt].
welded a 1.5" long 1/4" rod to the slotted nut, a flat washer welded to the other end....
3 flat washers and a 3/8" nut as shank spacers...
linkage from the latch to the rod will bolt through the flat washer...
with this the inside the door rod will rotate with the interior handle tripping the latch...
will weld a flat washer to the linkage and add a weak return spring when I install it...
After looking at it I realized that if I had started with threaded rod I could have used lock nuts and eliminated most of the spacers... maybe next time...
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the flat washer between the 3/8" nuts duplicates the thickness and location of the door's inner skin...

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made another opener this afternoon,
cut, fit, marked and drilled the holes for a pair of upper quarter to tulip panel flanges.. [3 bolts each side] will weld them to the top of the vertical supports when all is lined up and level...

 

Smitty you are very clever. I am going to get up tonight at midnight and see what my brain tells me...….oh the heck with that, I know it will say go back to bed
(nice job on the latch mechanism)

 

Glad to see youre still bangin away, Smitty!
Stay warm! Merry Christmas!


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Thanks boys,
My sister is having Montreal steak tips for 17 at Christmas dinner instead of the baked ham standard,
i'll do my best to make 'em disappear !
….. Merry Christmas and happy new year to all...

 

The reason I got up after midnight is the chances of remembering the idea till morning gets slimmer every year older I get...

 

I also had the idea of buying some 1" long 1/4"ID steel tubes at the hardware store, will try and find what size steel tube lets the 1/4" slide or press into it...
this could make the pin [male] end of the '30-'31 cowl hinge...
the flat steel end is easy, we could make our own male half of the hinges...
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knowing that a set of [6] repop steel hinges are $647.00 and donor cowls are getting scarce maybe this might work... if you guys beat me to it let us know if it is feasible ?
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yes sir,
the 1/4" ID tube [$1.20 ea.] slides, well some press into a 3/8" ID tube...
the 3/8" tube [$1.45 ea.] is .500" outside diameter...
the stock male hinge tube is .565"...
trimmed to length the new tubes will fit into the stock female hinge half...
the flat steel is .210" thick...
and is 1 5/8" tall... total... notched down where the pin tube slides into the female half...
the 1/4" tubes were only 1" long, will take 1.5 ...
the 3/8" tubes were 1 1/2" long. 1 per hinge should do it...
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going to use "mike150's" idea and weld tabs to the cowl touching the hinges, when the doors are right, tack the tabs to the hinges...
will hold them there while I pull the pins and gently slide the doors out...
this will secure them so I can center punch the screw holes, remove the tack welds, drill and tap the holes to 5/16"-24...
when installed I will ream the holes to 1/4" and use the oversize pins that are made to fit the 1/4" reamed holes...
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not going to weld anything till I need them, will need 4...

 

Couldn't you just drill a hole through some 9/16 round bar

 

Not having the round bar or a lathe the labor outweighs the cost...
and at $2.65 per hinge why would you fight to drill [4] centered 1.5" deep holes with a 1/4" bit in a hand drill...?

 

Capped the right upper cowl post, both header ends and both B pillar tops...
filled both wheelwell to lower quarter holes...

prepped sport coupe quarter to upper B pillar triangular gussets as B pillar to subfloor braces...
not many weld in panels to go...

 

Taking a "challenged" friend to a Christmas dinner...
he doesn't drive and never gets out so it is a big deal to him...
and I am not afraid of an extra Montreal steak this week...
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but this AM before steak I ground both W/S post tops, both forward quarter caps, lt. rear quarter patch, lt. cowl patch, lt. wheelwell, both B pillar to door ends…

my wrists are on fire ………..
may have to settle for the already cut to size Montreal Tips !
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not much to see, no pix.

 

Trimmed the B pillars, made up some caps / covers for them...
[stuff the lower B pillars with foam so if you drop the bear paw latch pin's washer or nut you can reach it, stuff some in the A pillars too]...
cut the access holes for the latch pins left side, right side to come...

welded the left cover on... ran out of welding wire... they closed at 12... won't need any Christmas day...
will use the triangular upper B pillar braces from a '29 sport coupe as gussets from the B pillar to the subfloor...
also used the triangle shaped 90* braces from B pillar to under the quarter window wood on '30 coupes as gussets from the leading edge of the wheelwell's flat skin to the subfloor...

not going to weld these in till I have all the gaps right...
11lbs. of wire this … "Returns Thursday" ...

 

You sure are making alot of progress Smitty!
Merry Christmas to you. See you soon for the door tops.

 

Don't put it off, the door to the shed they are in will freeze to the ground...
… frozen in as of Christmas morning...

 

Nice time with friends at Christmas dinner last night...
now killing time before today's Christmas dinner...
note the Charlie brown Christmas tree in the background of the lower pic... for the car guys I made it from 2 ford truck bottle jack handles welded to a ford 300 six flywheel...
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sometimes I see things man.... like a section of unrelated Sheetmetal that might work or at least help me fix the rust hole in doubt...
need the 1/2" or so next to the upper tulip panel... and a couple inches across the top...
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shazam ! … a '36 ish truck under roof brace...
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when trimmed it should be a good start,
longer curved section goes next to the tulip...
the short one will run across the top...
i'll tweek them from there...
the quarter and the patch both have a soft 90* and a fairly tight radius in them...
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trial fit... I cut a poster board template of the braces radius... cut it out... went down to the garage and laid it on the quarter's edge... wow... very, very close... may be able to use them as is …
...… I think this could also fix a coupe up to the beltline...
heck this could fix many a coupe and roadster quarter... and now that I think of it it could also fix a bunch of tulip panels....
must have been my Christmas gift to myself...
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pix Thursday...

 

Geez more steak tips today! Better get out your expando waist pants Smitty
Neat idea on the tulip fix...how you remember all this stuff is amazing to me. Anyhow, Merry Christmas fella.

 

thanks vtw,
as for multi big dinners I stick to the meat n taters leave the sweets table to the kids
this tulip/quarter patch thing was about 2 hours ago... not much memory there...

 

Cut the patches out of the truck roof support, they fit pretty good, slightly steeper rise than stock but so close...
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got another idea, folding support rod for the trunk... may never mess with it...
broken hockey sticks will cut to fit...
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the low spot was so thin I welded in another piece of the '36 roof support...

got a couple vertical flanges to patch and some grinding to do...

 

Another after midnight idea on paper...
weld anchor tabs to [2] 2" long pieces of 1/2" conduit to be welded to the under side of the tulip panel...
the inside diameter of the conduit fits nicely over the hinge bolt bosses...
adding the 2" tubes and longer studs will move the stud and nut low enough to be reached/seen below the upper trunk gutter...
I will also tack weld a strap connecting the [2] tubes and tack the [2] flat washers on the tube ends... then I will use 1/4"-20 studs [loc-tite] threaded into the hinge...
to install the hinge a couple ny-locs and a 7/16" nut driver should get the job done...
should result in a profanity reduction...
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Smitty, I got up at midnight and sat in my recliner with paper and pen in hand but I did not come up with any new ideas...…….I am going to have to talk with my therapist Monday

I used the above idea on my project and confess that it definitely reduces the profanity content!

 

When I post something and someone tries it and it works is kind of rewarding …
today I cut, fit, welded and ground both quarter to tulip flange patches...
View attachment 4524633

 

Wrestled with the tulip then quarter panel today...added, subtracted, twisted, bent, bolted and un-bolted it at least 20 times...
better stock up on bondo…
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What a feeling finally seeing that things are going to jive after the major surgery shortening the cockpit...

 

Shortened the tulip just a tadd… lets the decklid's radius fit the quarters a little better...
may tack in the under tulip panel 1/2" conduit "x" braces while the decklid gaps are good...
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May reconsider the hinge choice... got a handful of '37 flatback trunk hinges [they will spread the load over a larger section of the decklid]...they will let me pull the hinge a little further from the gutter...
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coupe had '37 hinges...

 

Figures the bolt spacing on the '35 and '37 trunk hinges to the tulip panel are different...
re-plotted the holes in the tulip...
rear vertical flange of the upper rain gutter was right in the way...
With the wizzer I ground off some of the meat from the outside edge of both the hinge halves to help align the pins..['30 has less trunk arch than the '37]
Trimmed the gutter around the hinge's mounting bosses and ran a couple bolts through them...
…. so far so good...
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Like the '37 hinge better than the '35...

 

Bolted both of the tulip to quarter panel "flanges" to the inside of the edges of the tulip panel...
when right i welded the vertical uprights to the flanges, will help keep the upper edges level...
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the upper trunk gutter was tweeked, repaired, had to trim it a little for the decklid hinge bolts to clear...
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Welded up the right B pillar to subfloor section, capped the right B pillar …
tacked the rt. side's triangular gussets to the subfloor...
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Gapped the decklid, plotted and drilled the '37 hinge holes in the '30 decklid...
bent and welded a couple 3"L x 3/8"D x 1.5"W channels into the decklid's inner skin... more rigid... forgot to take pic.
sat the decklid on with the hinge's bolt bosses fitting nicely into the decklid...
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called it a day...snowing hard ... pix after snow plowing... 12" + Tuesday.

 

Tacked the shortened toe boards and cowl braces to the reversed firewall, plotted, cut and tacked the 3/4" x 2" "X" crossbrace to the under tulip flanges and subrails…


ran out of both oxygen and shielding gas this week...
course they were closed for the holiday...
pix when I get back Thursday...

 

Made up a channel in the door for the upper dovetail, and tacked the lower dovetail to the B pillar...
not fancy, but absorbs the weight of us fat guys leaning on it or just my arm resting on it...
Plotted, drilled, step drilled, filed, latch housing filed bingo !

opening and latching left door... took a couple hours... right side Saturday...

 

Got the right side latch pin drilled and installed in the B pillar...
both doors open and close with the latch... finally !
welded the 2 cowl braces and both of the toeboards to the firewall…
finish welding in the firewall Sunday,
rain to snow today.

 

No firewall welding, but ground the right cowl patch....
made 3 "L" shaped tabs that I welded to the underside of the tulip panel while clamped to the trunk gutter's rear upright strip...
I had drilled a 1/4" hole in each vertical, when all is set I will drill through them and the trunk's upper gutter so I can bolt the tulip to the gutter but still remove the tulip if needed...
I put them an inch from the hinge bolts and in the center...

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Sanded the '30 / '32 cowl top...
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Just given a set of 15" adjustable spoke wires, 5 on 5.5" bolt circle...
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The front 2 are skinny 4 7/8", and the rear 2 are fat, real fat 8"...
From the 90s when 2 piece aluminum wheels were the hot set up, buddy mike had these mount the same tires they did but kept the earlier look he wanted under his '34 five window...
go Mike go !
pix when I remember the camera...