Projects Project Mattitude: the Beginning

looking great Matt- Keep going----->

 

In response to your modification on that steering box...

Can you just use a regular welder to put a new flange on that?

I thought the case might be cast?

Could be wrong...

 

Thanks, Tuck!

Good question.. I think the cases are cast, yes. I actually need to ask Neil about that or someone who's done this before if welding the flange to the case is possible with a MIG. In Neil's thread, he mentions heating up the case before welding to prevent cracking the case. I can't tell in the pictures if they're MIG or TIG welds however.

Here's Neil's thread for reference..

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=764115

 

Go Matt, go! Looking good!

 

They are cast- you can weld it. You heat it up red hot and use mig wire- let it cool slow- then come back and heat it up red hot again to remove the tension and then let it cool... then you're good.

I cut my flange off but I used a flat U bolt and a C-notch to hold the box in place in the frame rail. It just so happened that it placed the box at a mid point in the frame to clear the starter/pedals/clutch so that was my solution.


(you can see this one I didnt remove as much of the flange and brought it down to match a flathead engine mount washer that I drilled with some acrylic behind it-

The first one went with the fire- the second one I'm actually working on today- and came back to look at Matts box because I was debating weather to take off that extra casting on the end of the box that used to support the flange. Its not needed but maybe ascetically?



I was looking at it like visually- you have the U bolt band that has a thickness- then the extra lip at the end of the box that has a thickness... and then the Pitman arm- so its grouped in "3" which I'm afraid if I grind it smooth like Matts it'll lose that relationship-

But looking at the way Matt pruned it I LIKE IT... so I'm torn.


The idea with the U-bolt is that when its torqued down you have 360 degrees of contact- like a bicycle post- once its tight it wont move... ever.... and its adjustable! ;-)

 

Tuck - Great stuff! I wish I had thought of that. I like the look of the stepped area on the end of the shaft, but since I want it to bolt through the frame, it had to come down. Not to mention, the flanges I got from Neil will need to be able to slide over it so I can weld it on there.

Will I need to heat the box for tack welds? Or can I tack weld it cold maybe three times to get it in position so it doesn't move around while final welding?

 

Your 28 is killer man!!!!

 

Always replace the water pump on an engine you don't know the of before installing the engine and getting down the road. It is cheap insurance to avoid a roadside replacement.
Always a good idea to pull the pan on a "rebuilt" engine pop a rod cap or two and a main and check bearing wear. Maybe even replace the oil pump too. All cheap insurance.

 

you should heat for tack welds...
-because you'll tack weld it... it'll hold until you bump it and the tacks will break right when you're ready to weld... my experience anyway.

 

Thanks! I wish I worked as fast as you and your friends.

When I get a running engine, I'll be doing all of these.. Until then, I'll be checking the classifieds often for one.

Duly noted. Thanks!


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Great project!

I really like what you did to the cowl.

 

Thanks, man! Still a long ways to go with the cowl..

 

Well, now that I've gotten a lot of schoolwork done for the semester and only have a few projects left which I can finish in time for finals next week.. I had some free time in between here and there and I spent some time getting ready to tackle the steering box placement. Here are some shots from doing that.

Oh, and I finally figured out how to take good pictures in low-light situations and at night. Had I known that, my mini-bike shots from LSRU would have turned out much better! No biggie, it only took me about 2 years to figure that out.. Haha.

First off, Neil (Candy Man) was gracious enough to make me the flanges I need to get my box mounted out of 3/8" steel. It took some reshaping of one to get it to bolt on the inside of the frame but it worked out great. Thanks Neil!





I'm going to have to ground out the inside of the large hole at an angle to get the F1 box to slide in and be straight in relation to the steering arm as well as center the steering column in the cockpit.

Then I assembled the F1 box with the early Ford mast jacket I picked up at Antique Auto Supply in Arlington at the start of this month. The column drop is a 1936 Ford that I picked off here. It's been shortened a little and the welds aren't ground down but I'll get to that once everything has been sorted out.






I'll be using the stock F1 steering wheel to mock it up as the F1 wheel is the same diameter of the '52 Packard wheel I picked up off here as well.

 

I really admire the way you can button down and stick to one project....

 

Looking good brutha! That Packard wheel is the business!

 

Is that Packard wheel splined or tapered with a keyway?

 

Splined, unfortunately. The splined hole is larger than the F1 shaft too, so I'll have to look into what it will take to make it work.

 

You are the guy who can take a hunk of a Ford steering wheel and build an adapter for the Packard wheel. Great choice by the way.

 

Eh.. When you're stuck without something cool to drive to car shows, you're motivated to do that.

Thanks! As soon as I saw the wheel, I knew it was the one for the roadster. I wanted something different from the normal '40 wheel.

I thought about that. I'm thinking I could smooth out the inside of the Packard wheel then take the splined section of the F1 wheel, turn it down to where it's small enough to fit in there, and make a key for between the Packard wheel, the "F1 adapter", and the F1 steering shaft and use a big thick washer with the nut off the F1 shaft to hold it all down on there.

I'll have to be extremely careful to make sure it's all perfectly round so that my steering wheel doesn't move side-to-side when I turn it. I'll probably try to find a guy with a lathe so I can do all of this.

Is that how any of you guys would do it? Any ideas or input on this?

I'll also have to make a bigger "collar" for between the mast jacket and the Packard wheel. It's a good inch or so larger than the center of a '40 wheel.

 

Great progress on your coupster project. Like to follow along and see how it's progressing. Thanks for sharing.

 

Good lookin wheel. And your pictures are always really nice to look at.

 

Matt, love your project. Keep it up Mate.

 

Is a 52 packard steering column something obtainable? I bet you can find one on here pretty easily. That seems like it would be the easiest route if I were to adapt that wheel to fit. Remove the splined shaft from the packard column and weld it to the column you're using.

 

dig the steering wheel- looking great man!

 

I think you are actually getting a lot done for a person in school.
All these great details are going to make for an epic car.

 

That's something that I could do. The rubber bushing at the top of the mast jacket would have to get "bored" out for the Packard shaft to fit through it but it's definitely all doable.

 

What this guy said^

This is exactly how I did one of mine. Willys Jeep Ross steering box flipped upside down, '46 Ford truck mast, and 1953 Nash Ambassador steering wheel. Cut the Willys shaft, cut the shaft out of the Nash when I stole the wheel, butt welded the two pieces together, done.

 

Some of you may have seen the thread my friend, JJK, started for me.. If you missed it, I'm officially a graduate of West Texas A&M University. Which can only mean one thing..

No more homework to infere with my hot rod build.

Unfortunately, I had to spend the better part of my day working on my daily driver performing routine maintenance.. On the bright side, I finally taught myself how to change pads on disc brakes. I can change drum brakes like a champ thanks to driving a beater C10 daily growing up, but I never got around to disc brakes until today. Modern junk. By the time I was done, sunset was less than a hour away.

Then I decided, the hell with it, the neighbors can call the cops if they want.. I busted out the grinder and went to town. As a result, my steering box now fits into the frame. After finally getting the box to slide through and fit where the end of the pitman shaft is straight, I sat in the roadster and made sure the wheel was not too high, too low, or off to the side too much. There's enough room to turn the wheel without skinning my fingers on the door. I still need to shorten the jacket a little more which will move the wheel forward a little more which will let me put the nut on the end of the shaft to hold the wheel in place.

(yes.. I am aware the C-clamp fell off in the second picture)





I left everything tacked in for a reason.. I suspected I might have to rethink my wishbone mounting. It doesn't look like the arm will be able to clear the wishbone so I may have to mount the wishbones off a bracket on the bottom of the frame. But doing that will solve my caster issue as well. The top of both kingpins sit at 4.5 degrees but I want a little more just to be safe and I think moving the 'bones down underneath the frame will resolve that.



But I'm glad I got to squeeze in a few hours of garage time before taking off for my "stay-cation" at my brother's in Fort Worth in a couple days.

 

Congratulations on your graduation. Several of my family members have graduated from that school under it's many historic names but none of them built a cool rod while they did it. The steering looks good. Are you going to use the switch on the column? I always liked those. They were so Ford!

 

Thanks!

Yes, I'll be putting the switch on the column drop to good use.. That is precisely why I bought it. I think anything else would look out of place.