Hopefully things will be easy enough to get to, heart checkup on Monday wasn't so hot and ambulance ride from work on Wed. I was purging the garage last week and selling a few things and even sold the mockup block out of the J…lol The guy just had to have the block more than I did, he was even doing more than his share to get it, so I'll have to drop another block in for mockup to finish the firewall.
Phil, sorry to hear about your health problems. Take care of yourself first, the car will still be there. We're all praying for you !
Phil, we also hope that your health improves. Keep your chin up and take one day at a time. Please let us know how you are doing when you get a chance.
I caught a head cold and have a nuclear stress test this Thursday, but putzed around in the garage today a bit. I cut the firewall opening a bit wider, just to make things a bit roomier at 28 inches across. Then I came in the house and made up a cardboard pattern for the new firewall, it's a tight fit but looks like it will work. I was feeling a little to tired to go any further but need to trim it for the steering column and the arch around the trans. After that it should be able to slide down and then I can trace around it for final trimming.
This was the new tunnel ram which is a couple inches shorter so I put a one inch spacer under the carbs. Holley Dominator with two 750's by the way. Now they peek out of the hood just right, but of course the hood hole will need a little more trimming too.
Hi Phil. My only sugestion is to leave as much room as possible to acess the rear spark plugs. Probably limited on the drives side by the steering shaft, but the pass side should be ok. And you probably have already took that in to consideration when you made the template. Looking good. Easy does it.
I got my pet beaver with a half set of falsies to chew on my cardboard. It's rough but will work and Baron it looks good for plug clearance. I may need to make a tunnel for distributor but we'll check it another day.
Awesome !! This really changes the whole look and feel of the J. Not to mention the attitude. Stay healthy !
Looking good! Got any inside the car shots? Curious how or if this affects your pedal placement. Devin
Nothing on inside but I've been looking at it, tough to figure it all out without all the parts. I'm putting a new rectangular tube chassis under it with G.M. box so the column may not be where it is now. I'd love to use a big Moon type pedal but might have to stick with the spoon since it takes up less space.
Any progress? I was just thinking about this build last night and had to hunt it up again. can't seem to keep it in my watch list for some reason.... Devin
Sorry but not many updates, not being able to weld anymore has really slowed me down. I've actually felt better the last couple weeks but it sucks going into the garage because what I want to do is on the DO NOT DO list per the doc. I did transfer the cardboard over to metal and made the firewall I tried tach welding it in but that screws with the rhythm of the pacemaker which makes you not feel very good. That and the sight of some pretty shitty welds from having everything pushed as far away as possible and voltage turned down to avoid the electrical interference. I'm pretty sure I have a place to get the new frame built in Sept to withstand the extra power and replace the patched frame under the car. I did mockup an engine again just to make sure the cardboard pattern matched the metal one, this is how it sits right now collecting dust. one day I'd like to be doing this again
Looks good Phil, it sucks not being able to do the things you want but staying healthy is more important. Whats the deal with the severed hand on the cowl section?
That's my "helping hand" I can always count on him to be there, but sometimes he grabs the wrong wrenches for the job.
Hi Phil. Do you know how to gas weld ? Gas welding works just as good on sheetmetal( and neater welds), and that should not have any effect on your pacemaker. I still gas weld on a daily bassis. One of the best things I have learned in the past 40 years.
Baron I used to be pretty good at it 30 yrs ago...ha ha ha I do have a set out there buried in the corner and have thought about digging them out to learn all over again. It's been a long time that's for sure.
Like riding a bicyle, one of those things once you learn, you never forget. Getting the gas flow-flame correct in the key. You'll have that firwall welded up in no time.
How about some of those new super epoxy adhesives they are using on new cars? Or riveting which would be traditional.
Little update, I dropped the spare chassis off at the chassis shop last week. He'll be using it as a basic template for the new chassis with a few changes. It's going to be stock width at the rear from the kick up back then pinched from the ladder bar crossmember forward to match the width at the front kick up.
It seems like auto mfgs went through more trouble making complicated ugly frames than they had to. I sorta wish I'd fabbed up a new frame for my HJ.
Glad to see you're still making progress on the Henry J Phil, regardless of your restrictions! Hope you can get the welding done with gas, or help from a friend! I'm running that same Holey Pro Dominator on the 355 SBC in my Austin. It was a heck of a battle to get it working for normal street driving, but it always worked well for the strip. They're very short compared to street tunnel rams, and no large plenum under the carbs to allow for better mixture of fuel/air at lower rpm's. But they're a very cool intake, and I love it now that's it's tuned correctly.
Thanks guys, I've been plugging away on the truck a couple hrs a day and feeling ok, I'm hoping to fire that up by the weekend. Chassis guy is stopping by tomorrow to take some measurements off ol Bad Moon. It'll be nice to get it back in one piece and hitting the track, really be nice to start tuning that new engine with the short ram and maybe working these things.
Check it out, the new chassis was a pleasant surprise awaiting me at our once a week lunch get together. Stock width in rear to accommodate my fuel cell, front brought straight back from stock width front rails. It also has stock front and rear kick ups.
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