Projects Straight 8 RPU build thread

A little more to report.
I fixed a problem with the circuitry in my garage which was affecting my welder. Made a difference.
I managed to get the engine mounts burned in. I pulled my bellhousing and adapter plate off of my mock up engine and installed them on my good engine and swung the mess over the frame so I can start thinking about transmission crossmember and a pedal assy.
Baby steps, but its forward progress....

 

Wow! so what is your wheel base going to end up at?

 

LOL
Not quite as bad as it looks in that last pic. The rear axle is just sitting under the frame and is about 18" farther back than it supposed to be. Now that I have the engine nailed down I can figure out where the body will mount, then I can figure out where the bed will be. Once that is done it will tell me where the rear axle will have to live.

It will be kind of long
Bobby

 

Bobby, do you plan on recessing the firewall for the engine? Might cut down the length a bit and help with proportions.
Good to see you back on this!

 

Just caught up on this project, and Damnit this is cool! Those Packard flat 8's are absolute beasts in terms of size!

Following

 

Looking good Bobby! I like how this pile of parts is shaping up into a nice little pick up.


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Thanks
I'm still trying to decide about the firewall. We're only talking an inch or two, in the grand scheme of things I don't think it will matter too much. I think this thing will just have to be long. I don't plan on bobbing the bed either.

Bobby

 

Things are progressing. Slowly but at least I'm moving forward.
I fabbed up a transmission crossmember and have it bolted in place so now the engine and trans is sitting between the frame rails.
Since I gat that handled I started attacking body mounts. I cut out some mounting tabs from some 2x4 rectangular tubing. I have a chunk of old conveyor belt that is 7/16" thick reinforced rubber that should make some pretty body mount pads.
I also managed to dig my bed out of the backyard and bring it around front to start assessing it.

Bobby

 

The saga continues....
When last we checked in I had started fabbing body mounts. Naturally I ran into some complications. The front body mounts on my 26 body were a bit tweaked. With some judicial application of heat and pressure I was able to get them bent back to mostly stock configuration. Due to using 2x3 tubing for the frame rails the mounting holes interfered with the frame so I filled the original holes and redrilled them and cut some tabs to weld to the frame to match.
So, I've located the front 2 body mounts and welded them in place. Now I can lay out the remaining body mounts. I've fabbed some pads that will weld to the body, cut some reinforced rubber, and fabbed the frame mounts. Not I have to lay it all out and weld it together.

I have a small hiccup with the bed. My bed is a Model A or newer and my body is a 26 model T. The rear section of the body structure on the Model T has an area that flares out beyond the valances of the bed.
So, do I cut off the rear body section of the Model T?
cut off the lower flange of the valance?
cut off the flared out part of the body structure and make it all uniform?

I'm thinking cut out the flare section.....ugh.

Does anyone have any tips of mounting a later model bed on a Model T body??

thanks all
Bobby

 

Looking good. You going to have it ready for the dirt Drags the first if next month?

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LOL! I wish
Are you driving up for the drags? I'm thinking about it. If I go, we'll probably drive up Saturday morning. It'd be fun to thrash my ol' 49

 

Yes, the plan is to go on the 31'st. Taking the motorhome. Rick is taking his '28 Coupe and I'm planning to take the '29 Roadster. It would be great to have you show up with your Pickimup and play for a weekend

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I read through the rules, I'm not sure if my 49 fits the bill. Its more of a 60's themed type hot rod but it would still be a fun drive up there. Again, Buddy and I might drive our trucks up on Saturday and sleep out under the stars...

Here's my dilemma with fitting the Model A body to the Model T body structure. Look at the bed, note the lower valance. The lower lip on that valance is approx. 42" inside to inside. The Model T body structure has a swelled out section that is approx. 42 3/4" outside to outside. Somehow I have to make the Model A bed slip over that Model T swelled area.

Bobby

 

So, I sat the bed on the body just to see how things lined up. I think I have a plan to deal with it.
I'm going to cut a section out of the top rail of the body structure and with a little cutting and fiddling I'll "pinch" the outer rail in and weld it all back together so the bed will slip down over the body structure.

Bobby

 

Nice work.

 

I came, I saw, I conquered....

I pulled the bed and body back off the rails this morning. I laid out some marks and before I could second guess myself I started cutting. I cut about 3/8" out of the body structure rail and pinched it together and welded it back together. One of the body mount crossmembers was in this wide section so I had to trim it down also. I got it all welded back together and set it back on the frame rails.
I was then able to get my body mounts tacked in place. I welded the nuts onto the pieces that'll weld to the body. Since the body was back on the rails I went ahead and tacked my fabbed mounts to the body and the frame.
I then pulled the body back off the frame...again, and started welding the body mounts. I got most of them done before running out of wire. So, Maybe tomorrow afternoon I might be able to finish welding all the body mounts on the body and the frame. After that The bed should drop right down over the modified section of the body.

Bobby

 

See how easy that was?LOL Looks great!

 

I've heard that is nothing more than a "nip and tuck". Very nice project, and no "belly button smell" to it at all!

 

Thanks everyone.

Ah, hot rodding. You overcome one hurdle only to create several more. This is a great hobby....lol
The bed now fits the body structure. Now to figure out how to attach it. In my mind it bolted to the frame. From looking at the bed and the body structure it appears as if the bed bolts directly to the body structure. No worries, a little clean up work on the bed and body structure, numerous measurements, etc and I'll bolt it down, and then... ...and then, I'll finally be able to decide where the rear axle needs to live and can start fabricating a rear crossmember and spring mount.
If I can get that done this thing will finally be sitting on all 4 wheels. And then the work can begin....LOL

Bobby

 

Well, not much to report life had slowed me down some and I haven't had much garage time (although I did take time yesterday to drive up to Monte Vista, CO for the dirt drags.....a GREAT event! https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/hot-rod-dirt-drags-2018.1109536/)
I did manage to get the body mount tabs burned into the frame so Friday afternoon. I had the bed sitting on the body on my bench outside. I decided where the bed needed to live and temporarily secured it with some TEC screws. Then pulled it all apart, put the body on the frame and bolted it down, put the bed on and put the TEC screws back in place and started measuring for the rear axle location. I have the frame marked for the rear axle centerline. Now I can start fabricating a rear spring crossmember. Hopefully I can have this thing sitting on all 4 wheels within a month or so.

Bobby

 

Looking good Bobby. It is going to be a fun ride!!

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I managed to sneak a bit of time in out in the garage.
So, after getting the body bolted down on my new mounting tabs and putting the bed in place I was able to mark the frame for the rear axle location. Now I can start fabricating a rear suspension x-member.

Does anyone know the distance from the banjo rear axle centerline to the centerline of the rear spring? From a quick eyeball measurement it seems to be 7.25 inches but I'd like some verification.....thanks

First, I got to preface this by saying that I have no idea on what I'm doing. I'm kind of wingin' things.
I got a hunk of 2.5x2.5x3/16' square tubing that I'm going to attempt to use for a rear x-member. I think I'll have to grind the outside of the spring a little bit to fit inside the 3/16 tubing. The spring would fit inside 2.5x2.5x1/8 tubing but I don't that would be stout enough for a rear x-member so I decided on the 3/16".
Now the next question is where to mount the spring in relation to the axle. I'm not lowering this thing, its gonna be a high ridin son-of-a-gun. I'm running a 1940 Ford truck rear banjo and spring.
Again, just kind of by "eyeballing" it would seem like the top of the spring should be about level with the bottom of the frame. With that in mind I took my trusty carpenters square and some soap stone and drew it out on the floor and started cutting and bending.
Here's what I have so far. Before I weld anything in place I set it all in the frame and see how it sets.

Bobby

 

Here's my soapstone scrawl (first draft....I had to modify to show that the x-member hit ont the bottom of the rails and not the top) on the garage floor;

 

A continuance....of sorts.
I decided to rough fit the x-member. So, I tapped it into place between the frame rails (slightly to the rear of where it will eventually live) just to have a look. I think its going to work out.
I have the frame marked for the centerline of the rear axle and what I think is the centerline of the rear spring. The next step is to pull the body back off, verify my axle and spring measurements (or at least make sure they are square with the frame) then position the x-member and tack weld the pie cut areas. I think weld it up on the bench so I can run every weld flat. While it's out I need to drill the locator hole for the spring pack and cut out the bottom section of the square tube and figure out how to make it slip over the spring pack (grind down the edge of the spring pack a bit? Heat it with a torch then Heat it with a hammer?).
Once it fits over the spring pack then I can position it in place between the frame rails and set the rear suspension in place. I'll bolt on the tires and wheels, body and bed and see how this thing sits before I commit to welding the x-member in the frame......whew.....

 

Looks like it's going to sit really high. You could probably make the X member flat(no dip) and be fine.
Depends on how high the front is and how high you want it I guess...

 

Yea, that's why I'm not going to commit to welding it in the frame until I can get everything situated and get it sitting on its own 4 wheels. Then I can adjust as needed to get it to match the front.
I have to decide on the spring as well. The spring I have is a 40 Ford truck spring....tons of leaves. I can probably pull several leaves out or maybe find a car spring. I haven't got that far yet

Bobby

 

Scott, You were right. Way too high. I'm not wanting any drop at all but this was a bit ridiculous.
So, if at first you don't succeed... ...fab, fab again. Time for some rethinking and some handwringing and maybe the careful application of some frosty beverages.

My stock 40 Ford truck rear spring has 14 leaves, the danged things is 3" thick. I think I can pull 6 or 7 of them which will buy me an inch. Then I can start over again fabbing a flatter crossmember.

On a brighter note... ...I bolted my front wheels on the front axle pulled it off of the jack stands to get an idea of what it looked like. Woohoo. I'm liking it!

 

Bobby, that looks great sitting on four wheels! I keep doing stuff over till I'm happy with it....then later do it over again cause I still don't like it. LOL
You're doing fine.....you may have to swap in a different spring. If you flatten that one too much it will get too long.
I had to walk away from my project for a few days, was losing focus.

 

When you were making the cross member I thought you intended to mount it with it flipped 180 to make it sit lower! Is that a possibility to make it sit more like you want it to?

 

Thanks guys
My son suggested the same thing, flipping the x-member over. It doesn't look like it will work that way either...too low. No worries, fabbing the x-member was a learning process and was fun.

So, right now the front end is sitting on the ground under its own weight. In the rear. the frame rails are resting on the spring pack and the rake looks about right. So, Plan B will be to remove some leaves from the spring pack and fab a new, flatter x-member. There is a small chance that I might have to notch the frame slightly for spring clearance.

Bolting the front wheels on sure helped overcome the disappointment of my failed rear x-member. I might have to set the body back in place so I can sit in the thing and make silly "vroom vroom" noises.

Bobby