Modified Murray- Stripping and Steering

Minor interjection: If you are going to use any kind of aircraft stripper, be sure to only use a natural bristle chip brush for the job. Aircraft stripper eats plastic, so if you use a nylon bristle brush, you'll have a mess.

 

I always appreciate your posts. Not too much verbage at all. Write a lot more if you like.


Hey, a question... I thought that the Murray sedans had a one piece cowl and the gas tank under the cowl. This looks more like one of the others where the gas tank IS the top of the cowl. Did I miss a mod somewhere here?

 

You can remove the red anodizing by soaking it in ez-off oven cleaner. It will be bare aluminum when you are done.
Jimmy White

 

Thanks man!

The cowl top and gas tank were all one piece, but I cut the tank away and kept the top. I'm even going to retain the cap. This definitely was a multi-piece cowl. Two sides, a firewall and the gas tank. Not sure about earlier Murray models. I've never heard that before. Does yours have a combined cowl??

 

Yeah! Got a can sittin' right here!! It's amazing how various household cleaning products come into play in this hobby! HAHA!

Thanks Jimmy!

 

I have heard that you can use Easy Off to remove 1-Shot, too. Haven't tried it yet.

- Joe

 

Scooter- sorry for the idiotic question...

I'll be sure to read ALL the way through your posts next time!

 

Scooter, What size are those rear tires and are they on standard size 4" wheels? Thanks, Mike

 

it looks amazing man!!! great work!!!!! soooooooo inspiring!!!

right on! can't wait to go in the garage tomorow!!!

 

Great update! I almost missed this one as it got on the back pages quick and I never saw it.

 

HAHA!! No worries man! No stupid questions. Just glad to help anyone out with whatever!!

Thanks Ranchero and Fiat!

IRISH MIKE! The rear tires are 750x16 and YEP! They're crammed on those stock rims! I believe they are indeed 4" wide rims. Maybe 4-1/2". Can't remember exactly. So far so good. We'll see what happens when it's actually on the road.

 

Great update...

 

still can't believe that clearance you had with the steering wheel, talk about a tight fit. Your doing a wonderful job and yes that jasco stuff burns. I wore old bedroom slippers in the garage when doing the stripping and some of it splattered on my toes, wasn't fun. I'm learning so much with your thread!

 

EZ-Off cleans the finish off of just about anything - but be careful & make sure you fully clean it before repainting - or else the new paint will come right off too.

Looking good!

 

im trying to think... its either Dupont or Martin Senour that sells a brand called XXX (stripper) and that stuff is pretty darn nasty... i found a little bit and put it on one of my models to remove some paint... i blinked and it was a pool of plastic almost...

 

You think that's bad! The clearance for my legs is a whole nother story! HAHA! Getting in and out will be... well... entertaining. I figured worse case scenario, I'll switch to a smaller wheel if it really becomes an issue. I want to start with this one first.

The mental image of you in your slippers stripping with JASCO is HILARIOUS! Was Willie in flip flops??!!

 

Druss... still haven't tried stripping the header panel yet. I'm confident the JASCO will take off the red oxide though. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll dig around under my kitchen sink for something else... HAHA!!

 

You ROCK! Thanks man!!!!!

I can't wait to start getting on to more of the fun stuff like that! Getting the floor done, finishing up the frame and small suspension stuff, etc...

OH!! I forgot to mention that I'm probably going replace the front spring with a spring that sits just an inch higher to give me a little more ground clearance up front. I also think I might raise the rear up a 1/2" as well. And while I'm at it, I ALSO need to raise the front of the engine up 1/2" to give the lower crank pulley a hair more clearance over the spring. It clears now, but in the event of a huge bump (I.E. huge engine rebound) then it could hit the spring mounting hardware. This will give me a just a bit more angle on the engine as well, which it needs. I would like to pick up a full degree in the engine center-line.

 

Yeah, i had goves, respirator and blue bedroom slippers. I know, i know... Oh and Willie's too smart for that shit. ha ha ha. He was always warning me I'll drop something on my foot. (I assumed he meant something heavy)

 

BWWAHAHAHAA!!!

 

Yes, my '29 Murray cowl is all one piece, and at first glance looks like a '30/'31 cowl. But, unlile a normal '30, if you removed the fuel tank, which looks like any other '29 A tank, you wouldn't know it from the outside -- only if you looked under the dash space would you notice it was out. It's bolted underneath with a few funky brackets.

 

Since this discussion, I saw a couple more and saw what you're talking about. I never noticed it until now. Seems like that would have been sort of a bitch to construct. Maybe that's why it went away eventually.

 

In other news... The body will go out for media blasting on Monday. I've been trying to get a few of the welds done on the chop in the mean time so it's a little stronger when I take it off the frame. I've been welding, bumping and hand filing everything, but my file selection sucks, so I'm going to stop until I can pick up some more good body files and holders. I have no plans of just welding it up, grinding it smooth and filling the inperfections. The least amount of filler (if any) the better. Getting better at this as I go. Still quite a few pin holes to tack up and smooth out though...

Trying to get the verticle cuts finished up first. Almost done with those...





I forgot how theroputic filing it is. SLOOOOOWWWW process, but WELL worth the end result!

Here's a before shot just so you can see where the cut was.

 

I really enjoy reading about your build, it is so thorough. I was wondering what you had planned for the area where it is open in front of the rear spring.

Great build!

Rob

 

I always look forward to updates on your car. It shows great vision and workmanship.........Mike

 

Thanks Mike and Rob!

Do you mean inside the kickup area that will be sorta' behind the seats?

In the kickup area there will be a tiny bit of storage room. On the passenger side, between the frame rail kickup and the driveshaft I will mount the battery. It will be an enclosed box and I'll run a sealed/gel cell battery. Probably a red top Optima. There will be an access panel from the rear to remove the battery (below and in front of the spring, essentially) and also an access panel that will be removable from the top of the kickup subfloor.

In the kickup area on the driver's side it will be pure storage, but realisitically that will be enough room for some tools, a box with another set of quick change gears and probably whatever fluids or "just in case" spares I need. There might be enough room after all that to put... ummm... a pair of socks or something. HAHA! All will be covered with a panel that will be hinged or held in place with quick release fasteners of some kind.

 

Wow thanks for the response, you hit the nail on the head. I am always scratchin' my head on how to cover stuff up make it functional AND look good...

Thanks!
ROb

 

I love the updates on this beast....when do i get another one? Im still collecting parts for mine.

 

The next one is going to be a ways off I think. Once I get the body back, I'll be working on the wheel well stuff. Once the wheel wells are done then I can finish up the subfloor! Getting really excited!! Can't wait to see what it looks like with wheel wells! Looking like it will be a few weeks before another update.