Projects '33 5w Build Thread

That is so bitchin’!
Are you gonna put vinyl on it to simulate a factory insert? Yet be sealed from the water getting in with the Metal insert? I always loved the factory drip rails, especially chromed.
The after market kits make a nice hotrod, seem so fiberglass to me.

 

Rocky - the next time I have the dash out, I'll take some good photos. It was a lot of work to rearrange everything, and keep it functioning properly!

The handle was as simple as moving to the left a bit but I had to redesign the detent arm, moving it upward to clear the center mounted speedometer.

 

I'm going to wrap this in the stock type vinyl, so to the casual observer, it will look like a stock insert.

 

With the body mostly stripped, I got to work gapping the doors. '33-34 cars are pretty inconsistent for door gaps, and this car fell right into that group. I had to add some material in some areas, and cut open gaps in other areas, but I was able to arrive at consistent gaps around the perimeter of the doors.



While I had the welder going, I also filled the cowl light holes, and wiper holes.

 

The decklid was another challenge that needed to be tackled. The gaps were very tight on the sides, and it sat low in the opening. I spent a good day adjusting the hinge mounts, and elongating the body mount holes a bit to get the decklid fitting much better to the body. All of that work actually produced nice gaps around the top, bottom, and right side, meaning only the left side needed work.

I cut off the left return flange, which included the pinch weld for the outer and inner metal. Then, I reinstalled the decklid, and ran a scribe down the outer skin to layout a line that would produce the proper gap. With that piece cut out of the way, I simply welded the return flange back on, ending up at a nice gap around the opening.

 

Have you picked a color yet? If you paint it shiny black, those perfect door gaps will completely disappear.

Nice work as always -Abone.

 

Thanks! I’m not entirely sure on the color yet, but it won’t be black....

 

Will the vinyl be wrapped over the insert and then attached to the roof? Would you show some pictures of the panel under the tack strip? Is the roof channel still there filled with a nail strip or ? attached to the new panel? What are the 3-48 threads into for the attaching screws? I'm planning to do something similar on my sedan, I have good tack strips for it.

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The sheet metal panel fits just under the inboard edges of the moldings. The panel lays on top of the tack strip channel. The moldings themselves clamp the panel in place, but I did add some tabs underneath that allow the panel to be bolted into the car, taking some of the work off of the tack strip moldings.

My tack strip channel still has the tack material, but I didn’t feel like I would get a positive attachment using very short screws. I did not want to use tack nails, like stock, either.

I chose to use about 5/8” long 3-48 machine screws to hold the tack strip moldings down. I drilled down through the tack strip material, the tack strip channel, and the roof of the car, and tapped it 3-48. I can now securely pull the moldings down, and not worry that something will pull free from the tack strip material.

I’ll glue a piece of stock like vinyl to the sheet metal panel to finish it off.

 

That explains it very well, thank you. Not needing welded in is a big plus.

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When you do all that, please take lots of pictures, there are so many guys who want an alternative to the same old Julianos type-plasticy look.
Thanks

 

I had the fenders, side aprons, gas tank cover, and hood blasted recently. Fortunately there weren't any big surprises, but there are dings and a few wrinkles that need to be worked.

One of the first things I tackled was repairing the side aprons. Both had a window cut in the blister for something, then were crudely repaired. I cut out the repair, and made new filler pieces for them


The right hood top had some repair work in its past life. It looks like something fell on it, and it was repaired. The repair overstretched the metal, but I was able to significantly improve it after some time with a shrinking disc. Otherwise, the other three panels were perfect!

 

One of the other things I had going on in the background was some custom lug nuts! I figured after all the effort making custom magnesium wheels, fastening them with some cheap shank lug nuts didn't seem right.

I modeled a simple closed end design, but rather than an acorn end, I kept the profile short and used a concave feature to finish it off. The nuts have a flange that helps hide a separate washer, which blends in with everything together.

Everything was machined from 316, then polished.

 

Doesn't that alloy worry you about galling?

 

300 series stainless is one of the better alloys to for reducing galling. Being that the metals are dissimilar between the stud and nut, it further reduces the opportunities for galling.

Obviously paying careful attention to making sure the threads are clean on the studs, and some anti-seize are key though too!

 

Those lug nuts are such a cool little item

 

I got the column bell the other day from the machine shop, and I spent some time night building up the pieces.

The bell is stainless, and has an interference fit into the 1.5" stainless tube. There's a needle bearing in there to take the radial loads on the column shaft. At the end of the column tube, I have an aluminum piece that fits into the tube. There's also another needle bearing down there, but that piece is also sandwiched between two torrington bearings to take the axial load of the column shaft. I packaged a wave washer in there as well to take any slop out of the column.

I made up the wire harness the other night, and made sure it fit in the window that's machined into the column bell. I just need to mark the column tube, and drill the hole where the wires need to exit. I'll make a lower mount when I build the toe boards too.

I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out! It'll be nice to have turn signals and high/low beams at easy reach without standing out.

 

Cool! Just don’t chop your hands off trying to reach those tiny toggles!

 

Nice touch with the steering wheel nuts that match the lug nuts @CTaulbert.

 

This Hot Rod is already a MASTERPIECE and it's not even finished yet.

 

I got a little carried away with them on the lathe. I hadn't even thought of them looking like the lug nuts!

 

Waiting patiently to see what you're turning for front hub grease caps.
The quality of this build is outstanding... from concept throughout execution.

 

AMAZING!!

 

Very nice work on all of your modifications. New ideas are always welcome for all of us.

 

Is your hidden lug nut washer hardened steel or also stainless? If the latter do you have any concern about galvanic corrosion between the 316 and magnesium since they're pretty far apart on the scale? I've noticed how you're not afraid to drive your cars through the winter weather and its associated road treatments.

 

I have experienced things along those lines...walking a mile in another's shoes...think about the professions a builder such as yourself tap into...We all do it to some extent...but amongst the incredible here are even more so...I am so honored to witness greatness here...

 

It’s also stainless. If it were something daily driven, and rarely apart, I’d be concerned. With the frequency of maintenance on a hot rod, I think it will be manageable.

At the very least, the frequency of maintenance will give me a chance to see it before it becomes a problem.

 

Looks amazing man. So much detailed thought and perfect execution!

 

I had the fenders and hood blasted recently so I could see what sins the paint was hiding. Fortunately, there weren’t any big surprises. I had a couple repairs to make, and a lot of dings to work out.

I'm happy with the hood gaps at the cowl, but it's a bit tight and inconsistent at the grille, so that's one of my next projects to improve.

 

Very nice build..looks great!