Started this about a year ago so this is going to be more of a recap than a day by day build. Original 1931 chassis with a new Brookville roadster body, 1937 21 stud flathead, 1935 ford transmission. Trying to keep it as "pre-war" as possible, and change as little as possible to make the AV8 swap. Started with a disassembled chassis and had to remove "patina:" 17904113_10158544923085273_8217101279230608005_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM 18010227_10158544922630273_1225505430839714162_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM Brakes rebuilt 18118579_10158583592655273_3559506573462484281_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM Restored rolling chassis with Kelsey Hayes wheels and new reversed eye Posie front and rear springs 18118508_10158583592795273_7180369044483868327_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM Got the Snyder transmission adapter kit, allowing stock mounting of Model A pedals, e-brake, and unsplit wishbone to my stock 35 trans: 22008487_10159384921915273_4762785752827137949_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM 21150263_10159242513755273_4843674390468519128_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM Using rebuilt, tight Gemmer box. Instead of shortening the sector housing I opted to make "the box" to move steering outboard up to 1" to clear the engine head/header. 23517642_10159583777645273_8759943035446356128_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM IMG_4569 by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 11:06 PM 1937 Flathead sourced and rebuilt by Flathead City in Oregon. Pistons 0.30 over, stock iron heads (7.5 :1 compression), Thickstun manifold (post-war, I know, I know), two 9 super 7's, and an Isky 77b 3/4 cam. Headers are from Reds. Boxed the forward frame area where the mounts go; bolted engine up to the stock closed drive shaft (stock rear end) and welded the front motor mounts where they landed. 21706185_10159335291585273_260068956_o by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:24 PM 3 by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 8:38 PM ] 23434825_10159583777785273_7433770958687421439_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:54 PM No K member for the trans, simply added two heavy pieces of bar bolted to the stock cross member (you can make them out in the pic below) Electrical will be 12v, ignition is also a new electric 3 bolt from speedway. 1 by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 8:38 PM 23518820_10159583777535273_842583591499513177_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM Motor/fan clearance was perfect, stock fan clearing the radiator installed in the stock location. Radiator is from Walker. 24131176_10159652073895273_4200657124799950525_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM 23561823_10159583777520273_4976372528171285827_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 5:34 PM Hard to see above, but I am running brand new stock Houdaille type shocks from Stipe Machine Running: Body was ordered from Brookville and shipped for free to the L.A. Roadster show: 2 by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 8:38 PM 21078579_10159242513630273_5836261982991919974_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM SPI epoxy primer sanded, some dents removed, some filler added: 21192344_10159242513730273_3194167223801143142_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:06 PM First try at paint did not go well, sanded down and re-prepped: 24294254_10159652073890273_5679860821142073333_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM 24174699_10159652073785273_6385772103430909558_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM Painted last weekend! 24294318_10159652073795273_5253821505838331350_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM Color is Brewster Green from TCP Global. Totally different color in the sunlight: 24059236_10159652073770273_4833126048593502447_n by mit311 posted Nov 29, 2017 at 4:23 PM Putting the body on this weekend, so things should go pretty quickly from here.
Nice car! Should be a great driver.Hope the body install goes well. BTW I had an old friend who was in the Colt collectors association,he told me "if you are selling its patina,if you are buying its rust"
I'm expecting to have to do some fitting in regards to the steering column / fuel pump in relation to the firewall.
Thanks! What I enjoyed the most, was the fine people I met via craigslist to get the trans, gas tank, and Kelsey Hayes wheels... and at good prices. There are some good deals out there!
And now your meeting us Nice Guys......or should I say we're meeting you...Great knowledge base and comradery around here and some parts even...and the Dry Lakes await you...
I like where youre taking it. My only real concern is what you did for the trans mount, the flat stock will likely bend trying to control the torque from when you accelerate or decelerate, the rear end will be trying to rotate during these times and lifting/pushing down on the back of the trans. The drive line could start seesawing on ya and eventually fatigue the flat stock and/or crossmember (it's not terribly strong to begin with.)
We thought of that, are assuming that 1/4" bar bolted to the front and rear of the cross member would be sufficient. But we will keep an eye on it.
Body is on and gas tank is in! had to do some trimming to the firewall for the steering column. Firewall was also barely touching rear of the motor... easy fix. My only lagging issue is the firewall is way too close to the fuel pump stand. Like, 1/2" or more. Instead of cutting the firewall I may trim the stand (not the breather filter... the stand itself).
You need the swan neck oil filler neck to avoid cutting the firewall It does require running an electric pump but they had those in the '40s so it is actually traditional. I did mine that way 12 years ago because I hated to cut a cherry original firewall.
We are actually thinking about cutting the back half off the fuel pump stand and welding on a flat piece of aluminum. That would clear the firewall, and also allow clearance for the mech fuel pump rod. Should still be enough room to "breath," but would make adding oil more time consuming. Ignore the breather cap in the pic, I wont be cutting that in half, I was just too lazy to crop it out of the photo. The other option is as you said, with an electric pump. I just really don't have a place to put it, since I am running a stock cowl gas tank, as opposed to say, one in the trunk or under the rear frame.
Got to love the SPI primer its the best primer I came across have used some top brands before but SPI is very forgiving
PERFECTION!!!!! Well, maybe 99.9%. That drivers side frame horn needs a fog light, but that's just my random opinion.
Have you any info on the Snyders parts to complete the V8 conversion, viz pedal bracket and wishbone mount, Just had a search through there web site and cant find the bits.. Very Very neat build .. well done.
I do have plans for that frame horn, but not a light. Going to rig up a front bar using a cut down brake cross shaft Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It is listed as “Model A transmission adapter kit pn: A-7001.” If you are putting a v8 and matching trans in a model a you only need items A-D. Item e is for putting a late model trans on a model a 4 cyl. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Air cleaners... I don't actually want to run any. The current crappy ones are just keeping dust and construction matter out at present. I was originally just going to run open with bug screens, but my Pop is incredibly paranoid that without running a hood its an open invitation for something to get poured into the carbs. I was scouring this site for 30's air filters (and found nothing), but was reminded of the Winfield carb setups with the elbow. This would be perfect for what I want! It is the simplicity of the frogs mouth / velocity stack without the flash. Any thoughts on this? I'll probably bend up a pair using muffler tubing to test but it isn't outside the realm of possibility to have a set cast. Thoughts?
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