Projects '36DD - (My Double Duty 3-window build.)

Good grief, that looks amazing!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Thanks for that - you read my mind! The chrome has definitely gotta' go.

 

Thanks heaps for the encouragement, guys! It seems like the more I do, the more I've gotta' do, if that makes any sense.


I prepped up the seat to floor mounting plates ready for plug welding to the top of the risers...



Corresponding plates are shown here tacked to the seat sliders. I made up a cardboard template for the seat bases, then drew up a file in my signmaking program, and had them water jet cut and folded out of 1/8" steel plate. The slots in the top are intended for allowing the upholstery to wrap under the tubular frame, and the round holes are mainly there for lightening, 'tho the seat slider adjuster will come thru' one on the driver's side.




Seat is just mocked up on the base here, and the risers will get fully welded to make them an integral part of the floor.

Bear

 

Inspirational. Absolutely beautiful. Subscribed

 

Wow... watching

 

Thanks heaps for the encouraging comments - I need a bit of a push at the moment. Just don't seem to have the energy to get out in the shop at night as much as I would like.

I finished making all the modifications to the seat frame - it might have been easier to start from scratch!


By the time I was done, I had narrowed and shortened the base, along with shortening the springs, relieved the base for tunnel clearance, widened the backs, added extensions to the top and outer side of the backs to 'square off' the back so it will look more like an original bench, and relocated the back tilting mechanisms to the rear so they won't be visible. (Along with a whole bunch of other little stuff to make it all work!)

Once I had made all the modifications, I wire brushed the entire frame then sprayed it with rust neutralizer before painting it in black epoxy.




The threaded rods for the seat tilt knobs are just visible towards the top centre of the seat back.



And when tilted forward, the backs sit nice and level like this...



The idea is that I will be able to stash bulky luggage behind the seats, rather than reaching over the tail to get to the trunk opening. There will be no bulkhead between the passenger and trunk area. Now I just need to rework the slider mechanism and make up a valance to go around the sides, and it'll be ready for upholstery.

Bear

 

Your work is over the top amazing!

Question though, why no bulkhead between the trunk and the passenger compartment?

 

Thanks Voh.

From what I can see, it doesn't appear that they had a bulkhead in there anyway. I figure mainly that it will be easier to load some stuff in to the trunk area from behind the seats, and it will give me a bit more space, seeing as how I'm losing some with the rear frame kickup. There will be some kind of parcel tray behind the seats so you can't see in to that area from the outside.

Only downside I can see is that I can't hide my fuel filler inside the trunk.

Bear

 

WOW, your work is fantastic..I see in the background looks like a woodie project, could you tell us your plans and a couple of pictures would be great.
Keep up the good work.

mike

 

Yep, you guessed right. It's on the backburner for now. I started on it a few years back, but then I found my 3-window, and the priorities changed. I will eventually get back to it when the coupe is done.

It's probably not really Hamb friendly, so I won't go into too much detail on here. Everything is gonna' be pretty much scratch built, except for the fiberglass body panels which were pulled from a '34 coupe mould. So far, I've got to a rolling chassis stage, and was just beginning to build the inner steel frame for the body. The frame rails were fabricated from flat sheet with a more swoopy '32 style front rail, and a higher kick in the rear. It's running axles front and rear, a '57 wagon 9" in back and a dropped tube up front, along with a VW bus steering box, so it's kinda' traditional, but there's also lots of different hand fabricated stuff going on too. I was trying out a few of my own ideas to make it different to everything else out there.






The body will be built chopped, and have the rear wheelwells raised up 3" towards the beltline. I had made up a side template to work out the proportions which is what you saw in the background.





I got an American Ash tree off a buddy a few years back, and have had it milled and fillet stacked ready for when I get back onto this project.



Plan is to build an inner steel sub-structure which will be rebated into the back of the wood framing to be totally invisible. I'm going to introduce a small amount of curve into the woodwork through the b and c pillar areas to get rid of the boxiness of the early woodies, and it will have wind up windows.

Still real keen to get this thing done one day, but with the current rate of progress on the 3-window, that day could be a very long way off....


Bear

 

Thanks Bear
That Ash tree must have weight a ton ?. Yea I always wanted a woodie car, The wife and I went to Encinitas Cal. last September to the woodie show for some ideas on how to build one, It was a very good show and very friendly people and loved to talk about there ride. But now I'm retired and don't know if I can afford to build one.
Anyway,s keep up the good work.
Mike

 

Still making progress, although it's slow progress

I've got the driveshaft done and test fitted. Bought the ends and u-joints from Inland Empire Driveline when I was over for LARS last year, and got the tubing locally.





Then I got on to fabricating a driveshaft loop. I had a local engineering shop roll up a piece of flat bar for me, but it was so ugly I made up my own low tech bender and bent a piece up myself.
Bender pictured in vice...



I had to split the steel in the centre to get a tight enough radius - it kept fouling up on the jaws - then I welded it all back together and cleaned up the outside surface.

Test fit in the tunnel...


Then fitted in to place on the frame.





Not too much left to do on the frame now, then I can blow it all apart for final welding!

Bear

 

Nothing spectacular happening here at the moment. Just a couple more fiddly bits on the seat that will never be seen! I made up a couple of triangular gussets to strengthen the seat against any side to side movement (or impact.)



Then I fabricated a bracket to mount the seat slider cable to on the driver's side, 'cos I had to rehash all the pivot points to clear the raised section of my floor.





Now I just need to get a longer cable made up to reach across to the passenger side adjuster, and I should have a fully functioning seat.
Really starting to wonder why I didn't just get one of those 1-800 SEAT kinda' deals!

Bear

 

^^^^Because of the challenge, pride, and sense of accomplishment that comes with doing it yourself.
(And if you believe all this, I have some ocean-front real estate I would like to sell you...)

 

Your pushing the envelope on clearances "everywhere" on this build, if it all proves out to work this thread needs to be made into a Book! Hope you don't mind but I will be stealing so many of your chassis ideas for my own build...........................

 

I know what you mean about the clearances. It seems like every time I modify something it sets off a big chain of events that requires work on everything in the vicinity.
The thing is, I know exactly how I want this thing to sit, and there is no easy way to make it all work. Any compromises, I know I'll regret later.
It's gotta' work, I'm in too deep now for it not to! I'm just a bit pissed about how long it's taking.

It's at the point where the only thing limiting travel now is the body, and I ain't gonna' start carving that up to go any lower (apart from whacking the lid, of course!)

Oh, and you're more than welcome to use any ideas you've seen on my frame, in fact I would be honored! Just please don't beat me to the finish line!

Bear

 

Happy birthday Wayne.

Just be thankful you arent trying to fit everything into a Fiat Topolino type space, and that you arent 6ft 1 and close to 250 pounds. Then it gets real hard to fit it all in.

Planning is the key

 

I'd say in that case diet may be the key!

Thanks for the birthday wishes Todd, and don't forget I've already built one of the world's shortest wheelbase buckets so I know about tight packaging!

 

I had been stalled for a bit on the exhaust, trying to figure out a tidy way of mounting the exhaust without going too high tech. In the past I have often used Morry 1100 type 'cotton reel' mounts, but they seem to come apart under load. I looked around at other options, but couldn't find anything else that was neat and compact. The other problem I've got is that everything fits pretty tight under there, so I couldn't have anything that allows too much movement.

I did find a slightly beefed up version, and after a bit of experimentation, I figured out a way where I could mount them in compression, rather than tension or shear, so hopefully I have got the delamination problem beat.

I made up some compact brackets to mount to the frame



along with some tabs to weld to the pipe. I figured the side gussets will help spread the load across the pipe, to resist the tab tearing the thinner wall of the exhaust tube.





This way, all the load goes down on to the mount, pushing it together, rather than trying to tear it apart.



Now I guess only time will tell if I got it sorted....

Bear

 

I'm liking what I see! Nice work!

Sent via carrier pidgeon & smoke signals with the HAMB App

 

Check out Land Rover exhaust rubbers.....I think they are a bit stronger than the ones in your pic......I love this build

 

Thanks guys for the encouragement!
Haven't had a chance to check out the Land Rover rubbers yet but I will look in to it.

Just a little bit more progress to report. I've decided to run panhard bars front and rear - some may not agree with the logic of them in conjunction with a transverse spring, and I agree that there will be a slight conflict in the geometry with this setup, but I feel they are necessary in this case.
There is definitely a sideways push with the cross steer setup in the front, and with how low this car is gonna' sit, I need some lateral control in the rear to stop the tires rubbing the rear fenders.

I cut out all the pieces for each bracket on the bandsaw, and made some thick 'spacers' with a hole saw and drill, to allow some 'wobble' movement in the rod ends.




Of course, each mount was a different shape,
the front bar frame mount, (other end will fix to the axle)...



rear bar frame mount...


and the rear suspension mount which will attach to the radius rod.


I got the rear mounts tacked into place, and mocked up a temporary bar to check the clearances thru' full suspension travel...



And the best thing is that like most of my more time consuming work so far, it is all completely hidden from behind!



Bear

 

Gawd' I wish that was my car. Hidden work ? Not with a mechanic's creeper .... I would sleep under that car. Teddy bear, blanket and all. Beautiful.

 

Yowza; it's magic I tell ya!
While your metal sculptures may be hidden in the end, you have a great pictorial
for all to see, due to your great photos. Hopefully, you are saving them in some kind
of file for future display. And whatever you do, don't finish that gorgeous chassis in
BLACK, or they WILL be hidden! (Maybe a light/medium shade of grey, or even
clear? And don't forget to pack plenty of show mirrors for any events...lol..)

 

Hey bear, Is that a Kiwi QC in the diff? I had issues with mine. The studs supplied to hold the rear cover on were too short. When I decided to nip them up a little on final checks, one of them snapped off, right at the base of the hex hole used to insert them. I replaced them all with some that were longer to move the stress point. Other than that I love my QC!

 

No, mine's a Rodsville, which I got off of the guys at Hot Rod Works.
It would have been cool to run the Kiwi one, but the thing that appealed to me was that these guys could supply the late model axles and housing ends to run the 9 inch type axles and brakes, and also the Rodsville casting seems to be the most similar in appearance to the early Halibrand.

Maybe a Kiwi QC in the next car....

Bear

 

Man.. That is pretty. Keep up the good work.

 

I've been in tear down mode lately, getting the frame stripped down bare so I can complete all the welding on it. Once I had the body off, I took the opportunity to test fit my new Drake gas tank to make sure it was gonna' clear all my modifications. The fit looks good - I just need to trim the flange slightly at the front corners where the frame is kicked up over the rear end.



The tank was a helluva' deal. I got the '37 tank that was on special for 99 bucks, figuring I was gonna' be modifying the filler neck anyways.



While the body was out of the way, I did a bit more work on running the muffler and tailpipe. I'll finish it off when it's back up on the jig with the gas tank in place. Things are getting real tight for space about now....



I kinda' new that the quick change was gonna' be lost under the back, but the gas tank really makes it disappear altogether.



I'm hoping its gonna' be real noisy, otherwise I may as well have just slid a 9 inch under there...

Bear

 

Ya know, it's going to be a real shame to cover up your chassis! Gary

 

.... can always cut that $99 tank in half. Make a nice port window to see your quickchange jewels a danglin'. I dunno'. It's pretty damned awesome to have these sort of problems. Nice, nice build. This thing is gonna' be great.