Projects Modified Lakester Build (THUNDERCASKET)

Long weekend with too many projects and distractions. All I got done was cutting on the rear quarters and some layout work. I'm going back and forth on how to locate and attach the runners that the panels will sit on. I'm trying to get the angle right and when I did some math on the original I can up with a strange number (like 6.54° fstrange).

Also debating using .125 tubing instead of the .065 to be easier to weld and make the subframe into a bit more of a cage. The weight though...

Anyway, Here's the body as it sits, clamped together loosely and sitting on the mocked up subframe. You can see the rear panel is going to take a little doing around the rear crossmember. I can go quick and dirty with just a couple brake bends or I can get creative and contour around it. IDK yet. If I run that little red tank or something like it I may want to recess it in too.

 

Also, the channel as it sits is only 1" as I'm accounting for half inch wood/spacers/bushings.

You really can't see it in the pic because the sun glare is so bad. I gotta start taking pictures in the morning or evening.

 

Ok, you can kinda see the cowl better in this glamour shot of my new welder:

 

I've been off the build for a few weeks due to other obligations, sickness, cleaning up the property, and other projects. Depending on the weather this weekend, I might be getting back on it however.

The last thing I need to get the mockup settled is a radiator. I'm going to fab a track/lakes nose, so Ineed something narrow. So I WTB 1933 to 1939 Ford Flathead Radiator, Cheap & Local. I need one to at least mock up with. One that holds water and flows would be a major plus though.

Anybody got one sitting around? The $50 ones I've chased on CL have ended up disappearing or flaking out on me.

 

I finally got back to work in the shop Saturday. I got the subframe shored up with a piece of tube and angle iron.




After doing this the body panels sat much better with very light clamping, so I must be on the right track.



I also unboxed the two sets of 36 headlights I scored a few weeks back and did a cockeyed, crooked-nosed mockup with those. This isn't where they're going to go but it's a starting point and the only way they'd hold themselves on to the frame on their own.

 

I think they just naturally found the best place to sit

 

Possibly! It's growing on me, but I'm going to try a couple things before I make a decision. I gotta see what the front shock situation ends up being and mock up the nose I want to build. That track nose is just for mockup and a visual reference.

Depending on how things go with the '17 DB paint project this weekend, I'm going to try to start a buck for the nose on this car or at least a first draft of one.

 

Things didn't go as planned over the weekend. The painting project ground to a near halt and I broke one of my 36 lenses.

I'm going to try to get back to this car Sunday. I'm working out a method for locating the body on to the fabricated subframe. The current plan, in a nutshell, is to make up some L brackets from leftover 1/8" flat stock and drill them to mate to existing holes on the remaining body structure.


FAIL.

 

All the Kings horses and all the Kings Men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again,,,,

 

No!
That stinks. Those days just seem to happen, hopefully rarely though.

What do you do for making sure no rust forms in the box tube? Linseed oil? Looking good. Hopefully I will be able to catch up to you one day with my build.

 

I've been laying self etch weld through primer on surfaces im welding together, never to be seen again. The tubes I will run a snake nozzle through with some sort of coating.

 

ah crap.....I was following my '57 chev home on a tow truck when suddenly my taillight housing flew off and almost bounced into my grille........$#*&! ironically the only good one I had....I feel your pain bro

 

Not a huge amount to report from the weekend since we went out to Candia on Sunday to get rained on a bit. Nice to see @ABONES @BenLeBlanc @pitman and get some 29 sheetmetal into @wheeldog57 's hands though. Opened my bins and discovered 2" of water in most of them, so, yeah, that was a bit of a... damper on the day

I got that Oddball Flathead Honeycomb Radiator on Friday and unboxed it. Looks promising but I didn't get to mess with it too much since my focus is on getting the body done right now.



I spent my time Saturday working on getting the doors on the body and the cowl straight. The cowl seems to be in a good spot and square as far as i can tell but without the doors on to magnify any misalignment, it's tough to know for sure.

I ended up having to drill out some hinges to get enough parts to put things together. The hinge on my "good" pas door are cut with the pin firmly set in them. no amount of heat, lubricant, or even air hammering did anything more than deform them, so I'll have to drill them out along with the partials from the bad door to make a set.

I put the bad door on thinking it looked close enough, HAH, yeah. When I started looking at the fit of the center section, it was WAY out of whack. I scratched my head for a few minutes, then stepped back and looked again. Beautiful sweeping line on the driver side, mangled twisted tree branch line on the passenger side... solved that one. I'll have to take some pictures tonight since I forgot to yesterday.

OOF! Yeah, why is the delicate stuff always the stuff that's hard to replace?

 

Is that a V8-60 midget radiator?

 

That, or a Bugatti!

 

@Robert J. Palmer I think you hit the nail on the head. Though not identical in every detail, the overall layout and proportions are spot-on!

I put up a thread on it a little while ago trying to figure out what it was:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/oddball-flathead-honeycomb-radiator.995354/

 

Here's that picture of the whacked up door and how it screws the body up.

 

I saw your radiator thread, but I didn't put it together until I saw it next to the frame and engine.

 

Sooo, not much to report other than some tinkering with my doors. That led me to the conclusion that, yes, I really should just try to get some NICE doors to set this body up with.

Last night I dropped some pretty big money on a set that are supposedly almost perfect. WE SHALL SEE. They are lightyears better than what I've got even if they're not as minty as I hope they are. Mine have a lot of time and metal to go before they'd be close to nice enough and I'm running out of decent weekends.

 

Ye of little faith.

 

Nice doors . Just keeps getting better. A testament to your gumption.

 

And my willingness to barf money all over stuff I don't want to fix

 

OK, so, we left off with me stepping up and throwing some money at a set of nice doors. Last night I finally got them on the body and overall, I'm very happy. I can actually line the body up now.

Doors themselves have a couple minor issues I can deal with, but other than that, they're nice and have old paint on them, so, they're mint compared to my other stuff. I haven't taken any of it out yet to check for dates, but they are packed with newspaper for some reason. I guess these may be late 27 doors (?) because there are actually holes and reliefs to access the door hinge nuts as well as a bead along the inside top panels.

 

SO, plan is to clean up what's left of the bottoms of the original mounting feets between body and subframe and tack the seat frame in place once I completely obsess over getting it just right for a couple hours until my neighbor hopefully comes over and tells me to cut the shit and just tack the thing because it looks fine.



Once I've got that done, I can actually do some work to the body and make templates to beef up the mounting without it moving all over the place and having to guess. I'll also be able to cut the seat riser out if I manage to figure out a good way to brace things up. That will allow me to see if my delivery truck seats will fit or not, which would be great, because I have them and the pas side tilts while the driver side is adjustable... and I already have them.

The plan is to take the original seat back out and either put it in the pile or move it back to where the top rail edge ends on the back panels. It's got some cracking at the top so I may be better off using something else but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

Made some visibile/invisible progress this weekend. Tacked the body down on the subframe. Hopefully I don't need to revise the position but it looks good so far as my eyes are telling me. @BOSTONCAMARO swung by and said it looked more like a car than it did the last time he saw it so I guess I'm making progress.

I've reached a point now though, where I am asking the question, "How mice do I want to make this body? How far does it need to go? of myself. Do I tap, hammer, and fill every imperfection, small and large? Or do I go about this one in broad strokes, function and expediency held high over form.

One feature stands out perhaps more than any other is the rear quarter to center panel transition. I could bolt them on and be done with it, or I could cut both sections and weld them together for a clean, uninterrupted blend.





I put one of the truck seats in and discovered quickly that two of them won't fit and I'll need to move the seat back rearward quite a bit or remove it entirely.


I could do a big seat / little seat combo:




Knees are a bit tight.



Laid some tape to start getting ideas:




This is with the radiator ON the crossmember:



Had the wife take a pic so I could check roll bar height. I think it's about as low as it can go:

 

Lookin good! That second to last pic would be a good profile picture!
So what are you thinking hood wise? Steel or aluminum? Definitely taking shape. You have trog in your sights!

 

Oh there are better pictures from the set, my wife took a bunch as I was trying to get out of the car, which was a bit challenging as the seat is just resting on a single subframe crossmember and teetering around. I made some faces. I did not post them.



I'm considering Stainless for the hood and nose. Right now it's not a whole lot more expensive than aluminum and doesn't weigh a whole lot more because I should be able to use thinner material.

I have a piece that I'm going to experiment with to see how it takes a shape.

 

Looking good, Pat.

Can't wait to see it at Fitchburg in April.

 

Hey patmanta,
1) Make it safe
2) Make it work
3) Make it legal
4) make it pretty

 

We'll see, I should be done with at least the body before then, but IDK if I'll be streetable or running by then. The flathead is only stripped part of the way down and somewhat de-sludged at this point. Once I get the body on there and the pedals, radiator, headers, etc located, I'll be able to pull it and start gasket matching (provided I don't run short of time and scrap that plan). Then I'm planning to take it to the machinist for a hot tank and whatever cleanup milling and honing it may need as well as an EAB cam install.

1) Sorta
2) Trying
3) Sorta
4) Maybe

I think whatever I end up fabbing for the nose and hood will drive me to the correct decision as far as how meticulous I get on the finish work on the body, be that rough racer or slick & showy.