Projects 1931 AV8 Roadster Subassembly Build

After having my roadster for over three years I decided it was time to start a build thread. I kept thinking to myself that I haven't started building the car yet when in fact I guess I have been.

When I first purchased the car many here suggested that I don't tear the car apart until I have most of the components located and ready to go. This was excellent advice which I heeded. I have been in the process of getting all of my subassemblies gathered up and put together, so I guess that I have actually been "building" the car.

I will try to give updates on what I have done over the past few years and get to the present state of the project.

I have enjoyed so much reading all of the other threads on this site that I thought it was time to start contributing. Thanks Joey for encouraging me to start a thread. I am enjoying your SF Roadster Thread so much.

I don't plan on moving too fast on this project. I just had my second knee surgery in a little over a year on Monday so I have some time to post some updates. It might be awhile until I can get back out into the garage.

Stay tuned for updates this week as I wade through pictures and post my progress. Thanks to all on this site for their insight and knowledge that I have benefited from over the past few years.

I also have read through the Tardell and Bishop books many times over the years and these have been an excellent resource in the pursuit of this project.

Plan to lose the fenders, slight chop on the windshield and top, 16" steel wheels, 32 grill and radiator, juice brakes, 32 K member, V8 and perhaps a heater so the wife will ride with me when the weather gets a bit cold.

Thanks,

So Cal Brian B

 

Below is a link to thread I started when I purchased the car:
took-the-plunge-1931-roadster.1065922

 

nice car, have you been driving it as is?

 

Shortly after my purchase I found a rebuilt and unfired 8BA engine locally. It had a F100 transmission with a Jeep shifter.

I sold the transmission and purchased a rebuilt 39 trans in a truck case as I am trying to replicate a post war build. Here is the rebuilt engine with the 39 trans. Found the correct bell housing and starter plate.

I am in the process of converting the engine to the 59AB configuration. I put the earlier water pumps on as well as located the crab distributor and early timing cover. I dropped off the engine at H&H in December. Mike is going to swap the engine over with a 3/4 cam. Over the past few years my beautiful wife purchased Navarro heads and a dual intake for me for birthdays, Christmas and Father's Day presents.

I have the early pulley which isn't pictured.

I plan on running my fan off the generator mount. I have a power gen already to go and plan on running dual Strombergs.

 

Another item I purchased early on was an F1 steering box with column and steering wheel. It needed a little love but the bones are there.

I cleaned it up and disassembled it. I had purchased an old school Craftsman (Atlas) Lathe a few years ago and it was in pieces in my garage. I finally broke down and cleaned it up and reassembled the lathe. I had never used one but have been just scratching the depth of its usefulness. I knocked what I could off the mounting plate with the cut off wheel and grinder. Then I built a fixture to hold the box in my lathe in order to turn down the housing to accept the new plate.








As other have experienced turning these down in a lathe, the casting isn't perfectly round so you end up with some turned material along side some unturned material.

Here is a shot from the tailstock end when I moved the tailstock out of the way in order to test the outside diameter by sliding on the new collar. I used the tailstock on the lathe to support the outer end of the steering box/fixture assembly.

 

I haven't been driving the car as is. Haven't had much time. I did get it up and running. Put a new radiator in it, rebuilt the carb and replaced plugs, wires, etc.. I also put new tires on it and made sure everything worked. Didn't want to have a non runner sitting around.

 

After swapping to the 39 trans I found the correct flywheel and had H&H redrill it for my rebuilt clutch setup. Then I had to trial fit the shortened 32 K member for grins.

 

I picked up a complete 1940 front and rear end. Hauled them home and broke them down. I wanted to use all the components in the build. The front spindles were pretty worn out through the kingpins so I did purchased new replacements along with new bearings and seals. I may still try to get the old spindles off the front axle in order to have them reamed and bushed.


I pulled the backing plates and related components from the front end and began bead blasting, priming and painting the components.

 

The brake drums were completely worn out all the way around so I decided to reuse the hubs and buy new drums.

My new drums showed up a bit worse for wear during shipping Speedway sent replacements right away.

With information gleaned on the HAMB, I was able to remove the old drums from my hubs without damage.

Removed the swedge with the hole saw shown above the tapped out very easily. I wanted to make sure that I didn't warp my hubs by trying to press or pound out the old studs.


Old stud removed from hub.

 

Front and rear hubs removed from the drums and with the old wheel studs removed.

I chose new studs for the front and back, ground a flat in each one, reamed the holes for a proper fit. I made a set of very heavy "backers" to aid in the removal of the old studs as well as making sure that I was able to press in the new studs without warping the hubs.


I made two of these. I used the two when pressing the old studs out. I then used one while pressing the stud down into the hub. The hole in the round stock is big and deep enough for the stud to slide into while keeping the hub from bending.

 

Lookin good!

 

Looking great! Do you still have the banger and mechanical brakes? I'm also in SoCal building a roadster, im a few steps behind you though!

 

Thank you Tim!!

Hi Retson the Racer, Great start on your Model A. My Model A is still intact, running and driving. Haven't torn it apart yet. Waiting to get the subassemblies completed prior to taking it apart.

 

Thank you Joey!! I have enjoyed your thread so much!!

 

12V Starter subassembly

I know that I didn't need to convert my 6V starter to 12V but I decided that I would do it for peace of mind.

I purchased a mid 60s ford starter and used the case for the conversion. I ran into a problem when I found the starter end cap was too wide for the conversion. Some research showed that there is an automatic starter case/end cap and a manual case/end cap. I ordered a NOS thinner (manual) starter end cap and then was able to put together the new 12V starter.

I added some retention straps on each end of the starter so it doesn't fall apart into pieces every time I need to remove it. I stole the idea from the Ford Barn forum for the conversion and for the retention straps.

These are the guts from the old 6V starter with the wider automatic transmission end cap.

NOS thinner end cap replacement side by side with the wider one.

New 12V case vs old 6V case. Note difference in width of the case. This is why I needed the NOS thinner end cap to use with the new case.

End cap retainers to aid in installation and removal.


Finished product.

 

No worries! Give me a shout if you want to sell that stuff once the time comes.

 

Will do Tim!!

 

Nice to follow.....doing great !

 

Glad you started a thread Brian. You are doing some great work. I'm looking forward to the rest of the build.

 

Aaron D!! You were a huge inspiration with all of your videos. I am in the process of watching most of them again. I now realize just how much time you spend videotaping your progress, uploading them to the HAMB and commenting on all of them. I'm going to do my best but it won't shine a candle compared to what you have done.

I hope to add some posts soon and get caught up to where I am. I amazed at how long and involved even the most simple processes are. I have a renewed respect for all of members of the HAMB and their dedication to working on these pieces of history.

Stay tuned for more!!

 

Awesome work Brian!

Could you tell me which studs you used and the size you reamed the holes to?

I need to replace my drums as well.

Thanks for the posts: very well documented work,
Gregger

 

Thank you Gregger!!

I used a couple of different studs. The first set didn't work like I wanted. I believe these were the second set. I used two different reamers in order to engage the knurl appropriately without putting too much pressure on the hub as you press it in. If I remember correctly I had to turn one of the reamers down to fit in the chuck of my drill press. Hope the pictures help.

 

Thank you still runners!!

 

Fantastic Information Brian.

It will save me and other HAMBers hours of time in research and finding the correct studs.

 

I figured it was time for an update since it has been over a year. Fully recovered from my second knee surgery and getting ready to make a big push on the project.

I picked up my engine from H&H in April of 2021. They converted the 8BA over to the 59AB configuration. They installed the heads and intake that I had purchased from them previously and topped it with two 97s. I love the look. Also changed from the grey color to Ford green. I have gained quite a bit of room up front with the conversion. A couple of pictures from the day I picked it up.

44D82DE1-4FDA-4FB1-A46D-07A6D1E7F1EF_4_5005_c by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

537D72E4-2EEE-4BD2-AC66-6AF919BDA535_4_5005_c by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

One more update coming regarding spindles.

Thanks,

So Cal Brian B

 

My attention just turned to the front end assembly. I purchased a set of the Speedway reproduction spindles as I couldn't get the old spindles off of the 1940 front end that I had purchased. I kept looking at those original spindles and really wanted to use them. The bushings appeared to be almost completely worn through but I wanted to get them off and try to use them.

I purchased an old Snap-On King pin and perch puller and had a go at getting the old kingpins out but didn't have any luck. I know I need heat but needed to upgrade the size of my oxygen/acetylene set up. I purchased much bigger tanks and drug out the old Snap-On puller and went to work. The kingpins didn't go easy but I was able to get one off and then the other.

7E8AD0A5-8DA4-4CBA-9D60-33A1F05FC785 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

AA50FE8E-3E7A-4E49-B6CB-3C087A0B7EC2 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

A2C740CE-E1E9-4827-9C94-52C06970EA02 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

Then I cleaned off the grease in the parts tank and then blasted them. They look pretty good for being 82 years old. The bushings were worn through in a couple of areas but it looks like they are going to be okay. I pressed out the old bushings. I plan to install new bushings and then have them honed to match my kingpins. Below are a couple of pictures of the spindles after blasting and prior to removing the bushings. I plan to pick some new bushings tomorrow.

0F087E84-FF53-44F1-9549-990CBD207920 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

32BEBA2E-ECF3-4A4A-BF7B-B6539EFD9ACF by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

7ED7B670-C16B-4021-BF63-E4DE868C46B7 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 11, 2022 at 11:31 PM

More updates coming soon.

Thanks,

So Cal Brian B

 

Latest pics not working?

Chris

 

Thanks for the heads up on the pictures Chris. Are they working now? I tried something new with this update. I made an album and uploaded the pictures to my album.

Thanks,

Brian

 

Some tool pictures (haven't cleaned up the kingpin puller and put it back in the case).

69E28098-5827-4F30-A019-B61313954DB0_1_201_a by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

10E86EC6-C224-45BE-BE03-E9B16AA3B3BA by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

Also some closeups of the old bushings after removal.

F68A02D1-FA8C-481F-A1A2-6BBF93CB3008 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 11:00 AM

8D6296A4-D3C8-440D-ADB3-18A3CB7E344C by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

7C3D32E8-49F0-4F3C-8166-1DD248CE7670 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

Cleaned up spindles ready for new bushings:

62F4039E-9F98-4460-BA11-2FCEE2DA0C08 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 11:00 AM

C5933FA7-2F98-44EE-8502-975CEE9B69DC by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 11:00 AM

DD87505D-C4EE-4862-BE77-0D4A674ED86B by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

BD6196AB-0ED6-44A8-97B1-1173E80CB79A by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

A8369443-0303-44F2-B22C-3B29A336D3BE by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

803CABD9-8038-4A87-9AA3-2BCC4379BEBE by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

021EA60C-1964-4FD1-9FAB-99795FC2377F by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

FBCAFD86-3C0B-42D5-B94E-5B9471854150 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 12, 2022 at 10:59 AM

I was able to get the new bushings in and dropped off the spindles to be honed to my kingpin size.

CE7D7060-498D-437A-A311-BE9C942FC2C2 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 17, 2022 at 8:20 PM

F50D7266-80E9-4FC2-B42A-D527A5DE2871 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 17, 2022 at 8:20 PM

0B3F12F5-A2DB-4906-B826-7B9F2E8AD8E6 by So Cal Brian B posted Apr 17, 2022 at 8:20 PM