Projects BRIAN MADE ME DO IT: 34 Roadster Build

Hey Bubba
What did you come up with on the panhard bar mount?
All the progress you're making you must be as giddy as a schoolgirl!

 

I'm giddy all right. I love this part of the job. I have nit returned to the front pan hard rod. I will as soon as I finish the e-brakes and fuel lines.

With the weight of the flathead added to the frame I can see where the pan hard rod needs to go. I post up the fabrication soon my friend.

Tomorrow I'm going to start polishing the aluminum driveline. There is definitely something wrong with me but nothing that a little mothers polish wont fix.

 

I'm going to have to agree with the something wrong comment
You lost me when you started talking about chrome plated nylock nuts and polishing things like v band clamps.

I'm making some things look pretty on my RPU with paint and plating and a little polishing, but I refuse to get that obsessive.

You're making this thing so pretty you'll be afraid to let it out of the garage.

 

I have a bad habit or over detailing/over restoring my cars. Feel at ease though, after an initial period of indoor shows is complete, I also have a bad habit of driving the piss out of them. The '34 will know no different. I built this particular body for it's drivability in all weather. My cars don't sit during the winter months. They may not see snow but they get their fair share of cold.

Not to say that they don't find a little "lift time" at the end of the season to get a wipe down and ample amounts of Mother's to erase the seasons battle scars. It is one of my favorite times, stereo turned up, heater on, car on the lift, cleaning cart nearby, glass of bourbon at the ready.

I also enjoy watching your RPU progress.

 

Sounds good to me. I’m hoping to be able to get myself a lift when I get moved to my retirement place eventually.

 

I kid you not, the best investment in tools and equipment I have ever made.

 

And the price is affordable.
https://www.amerimark.com/standeasy...erm=4583108062025834&utm_content=All Products

 

Run along Skippy, we’re talking serious car stuff here.

 

^^^^He called him skippy!

 

Before I could get to that one I realized I also forgot the emergency brake bracket that I was going to add tot he frame before I painted it. I came up with a fix last night and a few scrap pieces of steel, welding, grinding, paint and clear I came up with this little jewel.

It is slotted to slide between the trans mission and the mount/spacer. I offset the e brake cable bracket so it aligns with the handle that I added to the side of my T-5 in a previous thread somewhere.

To make this next picture a little easier to follow along I have diagrammed it thusly
T-5 trannny......new bracket.......spacer..........lever cable bracket.....new e-brake adjusters

I had made the spacer to correctly align the transmission to match the QC's pinion angle. I had it nailed but after taking the chassis apart for paint/chrome and re-assembly the transmission was needing to be raised by about the width of a washer as I stated in one of my posts above. This killed 2 birds with one bracket.
Here is shot form underneath, tonight I will slide the cables out, trim the sleeves, adjust and finish the installation.

I hope the front pan hard bracket does not provide more of a challenge. Now...what else did I forget?

 

That flathead...

 

I will take that as a profound compliment until directed otherwise. And it sounds better than it looks.

 

Come on chrome that bracket instead of that paint, one less drink of Jack should cover the expense. Just looks out of place ,like you forgot something.

 

Bob, you may have been speaking facetiously but I was actually considering it

 

...and not the one less glass of whiskey part!

 

Hey ! Stop enabling him

 

My thinking is this is the prototype, you can chrome plate the next one as this looks a little spindly.

 

To me it looks flimsy as hell with too much leverage on slotted holes.
But What the hell do I know? Test it before you chrome it.

You'll need full weight on the chassis before you get "washer" anal about the driveline angle. You could mill the spacer and make that bracket out of 1/4"

 

I set the angles with running gear installed, you think the weight of the body will impact since it is spread over the entire frame?

I have quarter inch stuff and I could use it but I thought it was a bit over kill. In fact I have some quarter inch stainless, I could polish it and please you and Bob! .

Ill cut the lines and see what happens tonight, post tomorrow.

 

No pleasing me required, well there is one thing but a bit OT
May not know if it will work until your faced with that unforeseen emergency.
I can envision a really cool mount that clamps on to the transmission crossmember.

 

My experience is yes,
there's a bunch of weighty stuff that nobody thinks about and then there's a boat load of stuff that doesn't weight much at all by itself - collectively it's no more than a "boat load" anyway though.

Is the difference a lot ? Sometime not, but if it's down to a washer's thickness now there's no way to get it any closer until the chassis is supporting all of its full dressed wet curb weight.

 

Well, it wasn't the slotted holes but the arm the e-bracket bolted to deflected pretty good when I pulled the handle all the way back. The brakes worked, the set up is correct, but the material was not sufficient. I am going to use this as a template and knock it out of 1/4" stainless, that ought to do it and it will polish up real nice. I may add a gusset, we will see how the new material works out.

The adjuster also needs to move inboard 3/8ths of an inch to align a bit better wit the ratchet handle. I did recheck the driveline angles with the bracket installed, it took the trans to dead zero. The rear is still .500 negative so I'll install the new bracket and see what I have before I adjust the rear ladders. Like you said maybe I'll wait until he body is loaded to do the final adjustment.

 

When is the body getting dropped on ?

 

Maybe after this weekend. Last night (after I dropped my bracket off with a buddy who owns a water jet machine to knock it out of 1/4" stainless, thank you very much) I added the fuel lines. They make a move from frame rail to over the inside frame supports that is a lot easier to do while the body is off.

You can see where they have to move over that last bar. And I added a bracket there as well to secure them that would be impossible with the body mounted. And yes, I polished the stainless steel lines to nice high luster just for the entertainment of BlueOne and Bob. I am also planning on adding a bracket between those two and one more at the back where the tank connections are.

Still to do is to add the 1 gauge power cable from the rear battery to the starter. That is getting tucked under the risers welded to the frame that hold my channeled body at stock position (visible in the picture above). I will add a clamp or two on top of the frame rail to secure it but it will in essence be quite invisible. I am going to add the alternator cable (#4) to the battery down the left rail. The remainder of the wiring runs down an internal channel in the body. I would have liked to have had the tail pipes back by now but they are not hard to add later.

I started polishing the driveline last night. It has to be sanded with 180/400/1200 and then ran on the buffer so it will take me an evening or two. It doesn't have be added now, it is just something to keep me from getting bored.

On the body, I am adding my wipers now so I don't have to reach across the cowl, easier to stand in front of the body and work. I am also messing still with the cowl vent trying to adapt a screen to fit. Really, the body is nearly ready once I finish the above on the frame.

I'm going golfing on Saturday (finally we have a nice day) but I will see what I can get done.

 

Tonight I spent a little time in the shop after work. I made a couple of brackets out of stainless steel bar stock to hold the duel fuel lines fore and aft.


Here are all 3 lines, fuel, return and vent all waiting patiently for the fuel tank to be installed.

Oh, and I finished polishing the aluminum driveline I had built for the car over at Driveline Specialty in Portland.

One step closer to body mounting.

 

Don't know how I missed this build but it will be a must see in person this coming summer!

 

You'll see it!

 

Here is some more brake line progress. To keep the job from becoming monumental and overwhelming I brake (pun) it down into little parts so I can accomplish something every night. I started by routing the flex line from the frame to the rear axle and then I made the axle line. The empty connecting rods are awaiting the tailpipes that I dropped off at Russ Meeks for a little ceramic coating.

The line closely follows the QC, mounted on the left and right on brackets I welded to the axle prior to paint. You can see the frame drop line in this pic and the tab it is bolted to..

A little hop across the top, probably going to make a little bracket up there and attach it to one of those bolts on the QC housing.

And over to the right cylinder and the tab securing it.

All polished stainless steel lines and stainless line nuts.
I also bought a pair of line adapters for the front brakes so I could use a 3AN flex line to the tabs I welded under the frame.

You notice I welded the tabs on the outside edge of the frame where most guys add them on the inside. I did this because the line has to run under the left rail until it passes the steering box due to my bolt in motor mounts. I bought a clever little tee that attaches (3/8 inverted flair) directly to the adapter that clips into the frame. It shoots the line straight down the underside of the rail and tees it directly over to the right wheel.

I am thinking about adding some gravel guard on the line that runs below the rail. If you didn't know where the tee was you may never find it.


You see that Teflon pad on the spring that looks like it about to fall out? I am thinking about putting a little dab of black RTV on there and sticking it where it belongs. It only does that when the suspension is hanging but it is annoying me.

That is it for today. Next up is the front cross over tube, then it is on to the front and rear M/C lines. Those will not be fun but all I have to do is connect the dots. What could go wrong?.