Hot Rods The Arin Cee Roadster

Me 2

 

Thanks very much! Although this project is evolving - don't they all? - it remains pretty much as I first conceived it several years ago.

The primary differences will be to facilitate safer driving under modern conditions. Creating a mechanical clone of the hot rods built 70 years ago is fine for weekend putting and car shows, but I drive my hot rods a lot...at modern speeds under modern conditions. I also drive 'em year-round so I tend to put a lot of miles on my hot rods, which means that stuff wears out and it's a lot less hassle to use parts that can be readily found at O'Reilly's than to be sidelined for days and weeks looking for obsolete parts.

And so the concept is getting tweaked to fit today's reality in my world, not the reality of Arin's world in 1955.

And yes, one either likes roadsters...or one doesn't. Those who don't build closed cars, and those who do won't drive anything else. Hot rod diversity in action. Thanks for the kind words.

 

Drive em he does

 

Well...that was bullshit.

Arin Cee Roadster is "game on" again with zero "evolutionary" changes. The new and improved 327 motor that Joe Anonymous is building for me won't be going into Arin's roadster, it will be going into a BRAND NEW CAR, the assembly of which is scheduled to begin once Arin's car is completed.

So...stay tuned there's lots more to come.

 

Well...now that I've got the concept nailed down a little tighter, progress continues.

This weekend I worked on getting Arin's roadster off the jack stands and up on four wheels. I started by restoring some '46 - '48 Ford passenger car brakes to update the mis-matched stuff that was on it. The early brakes - '39 - '41 Ford - are easy to find but they differ enough from the later '46 - '48 version that it was worth the effort to do an update.

Although they look pretty much alike, the early version and the late version are really quite different. The early versions differ primarily in that they have four adjustment points per brake whereas the later versions have only two. Using the later style makes keeping the brakes in excellent adjustment a whole lot easier and quicker, so having mis-adjusted brakes is far less likely, even for a lazy guy like me.

I started with a milk carton full of rusty junk, which was the best I could locate locally - shipping is prohibitively expensive these days and this stuff is heavy. A few hours in the bead blast booth for the big parts, and in the vibratory tumbler for the small parts, makes a huge difference in appearance. Also makes it much easier to spot worn-out parts of which there are likely to be many.





With the rear brake parts cleaned, repaired and painted the process of reassembly was easy. The only hard part was remembering where each piece went and how they fit together. They only assemble one way...but which one way was the right way? I finally figured it out. (And yes, the short shoe goes on the rear, the long shoe goes to the front on Lockeed-style brakes. On Bendix-style brakes this is reversed.)

I'm not brake expert but after renewing these rear brakes I think there is a functional difference between the late-style and the early style as well. On the early-style ('39 - '41) Ford hydraulics the lower pivot is adjustable, but fixed and allows no movement in the lower end of the shoe. In the late style brakes the lower pivot was redesigned allow the shoes to "float" a bit, a characteristic similar to Bendix-style brakes of later manufacture (and of the Lincoln brakes of this era as well.) It would be my guess that this allows the shoes to "multiply" the braking force in the same way Bendix brakes do, but to a lesser extent. I dunno...maybe some HAMBer can add to this...

 

I had gathered several sets of backing plates and drums for this project, most of which were the '39 - '41 style, but most of the drums were not usable for one reason or another. Cracked, broken, worn oversize or pitted beyond saving, most of the drums ended up on the scrap pile. So I was left with two nice rear drums which cleaned up nicely...and two ratty front drums that were marginal but which could be saved.

So once again Joe Anonymous turned the pitted front drums, cutting them as far as possible while leaving enough meat so that they could be turned one more time if necessary. This is why it's so important to have the drums turned by a savvy machine shop rather than by the local parts store. Most parts store "machinists" won't turn drums that are "marginal", or if they will they will cut them until even the deepest pits are gone...and with them the life of the drum is reduced because they can never be cut again without exceeding the maximum inside diameter.

And so, with the drums turned, I set about fixing the rest of the problems they had. One outer race needed replaced, the studs needed to have the threads restored with a die and they had to be bead blasted and painted. A couple days spare time and they, like the rears, are ready to go.


The brakes I'll actually use are in the upper left corner of this photo. The other backing plates and parts will be offered for sale so that other guys can use them on other projects.


These are the pitted front drums after being turned showing the deepest pits which were allowed to remain in favor of keeping the drums able to be cut one more time in the future. They won't effect brake performance at all.


I have ruined studs before by being too lazy to clean the threads before driving the lug nuts on with an impact. This time I took the time to clean the threads with a die until the nuts thread into place by hand. No point in tempting fate.
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Nice save

 

One of the rear drums I'm using is off that Mercury rear end you gave me. Thanks again!

 

Lots of progress...some good, some not so good.

Let's start with the not so good first. The engine I had stashed for this project finally got pulled out from under the bench where it has lived for many years and given what I expected to be a once-over inspection before dropping it into the car.



Well...not so fast. It turned out that a combination of poor machine work and sloppy assembly had totally ruined the engine during the few minutes the original builder ran it to break in the cam. I won't go into detail but the only parts salvageable are the block, the intake manifold, the oil pan, the timing chain and the water pump. The rest, including the crank, rods, pistons, cam, lifters, roller rockers, heads and related parts are toast.

The good news is that I was able to find a very appropriate replacement on Facebook Marketplace in only a couple of days and for a very reasonable price. It will have to be torn down and inspected, of course, but a cursory look-see indicates it is good in all the important places. We'll see...

 

As it turns out, the motor I bought in the previous post is somewhat less than perfect. The good news is that I have enough "882" heads with 1.94/1.50 valves to make a good set for this motor, and a CompCams "Thumper" cam and lifters will make all things right again.



So, while the heads are at the machine shop and the new cam on it's way from Summit Racing, I'm cleaning up the short block and detailing all the exterior engine components.



A lot of guys use exotic coatings on their engines and stuff, I'll be doing it the old school way with a can of black enamel and a paint brush.



And although I've got a three-deuce setup all detailed and set aside we'll be doing the initial start-up, cam break-in and first driven miles with a very conventional intake setup, an Edelbrock Torker II and 1405 600 cfm 4-barrel carb. Both the intake and the carb are well used so I'm working on the rebuilding and detailing of these components as we speak. The deuces will go on later, once the car is somewhat de-bugged.



So that brings us up to date as of today, with more to come when there's more to come. Later...

 

I bet Pete and Ora Mae are smiling at this up in hot rod heaven.

 

Just in case a few HAMBer's don't know who Pete Millar is...or that he was the original creator of the Rod & Custom Magazine cartoon character Arin Cee. Some members might not also know that "Arin Cee" is the spoken name adaptation of "R & C" which is the shortened version of the magazine's title.

Arin's visage varied unexplainably in Millar's cartoons, but Arin was always Arin, and always making a humorous comment on our precious hot rod hobby...usually with a hard edge of reality thrown in for good measure.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2008/07/25/hot-rod-cartoons-race-to-pasadena-museum/

 

It's about time somebody gave Pete and Orah Mae some credit for bringing me into this crazy world! Thanks, Chili Phil!

Now, Missysdad, GET ON THE STICK, will ya', and get my ride DONE!

 

I hope you used a new brush on that paint job, you don't want any stray hairs in it. Are you going to paint the car with a new brush?

 

Nah, I'm too cheap to use a new brush every time...

 

Curious what killed the first motor - even the rockers? Help us avoid the same problem

 

Actually I'm on my 4th motor, Mike. All three of the rejects came from my own stash of take-outs or trade-ins which had accumulated in the back of my shop. They all turned out as needing complete rebuilds which is what I have been trying to avoid...unsuccessfully, I might add.

This latest motor I got as part of a trade package, the seller assured me it only had about 20 minutes of run time, just enough to break in the cam. It was also enough run time to ruin the entire motor, but not for one single cause, there were several, all pointing back to sloppy choice of parts and sloppy machine work/assembly procedures.

It turns out that it was only a partial rebuild of a tired dirt track race motor, a freshen-up so to speak, with a new cam, head rebuild and roller rockers being the primary new parts. The rotating assembly was left as-is, broken rings on the cracked 12:1 pistons and all. The rods had been clearanced on the big end to reduce side-to-side friction so they were junk. The freshly rebuilt heads had the valves seated too deeply and to inconsistent depths so they needed new seats and guides as well as some of the valves which were damaged from getting a little too close to the piston domes. Oh, and the roller rockers were installed using the wrong pivot balls so they were wiped out as well.

The biggest problem was that the block was not cleaned thoroughly before it was reassembled. There was enough trash left in it so that the cam and all the rod and main bearings were wiped out during the first initial run-in period.

The tear-down was just one heartbreak after another. When we were done the only salvagable parts were the block, the water pump - which was new - and a rebuildable crank and core heads. Oh...and a double-roller timing chain. That's it. Everything else was junk.

So, after tearing down four assumed-good motors and finding none of them ready to go, the lesson learned is: Don't believe anything a seller tells you. It's gonna be wrong.

Thanks for asking.

 

What happened to the 3 or 4 motors that you sent to the machine shop last year ?

 

Are you running a early ford box or 4 speed?

 

Two of them are still there, donated as "cores" for the machine shop to sell to customers who want a rebuilt motor but don't have one to rebuild. The third is the nice 327 that Joe Anonymous is building for use in the yet-to-be-announced project* that will be started once the Arin Cee Roadster is completed. The fourth is the old race motor I just tore down that was ruined by trash in the block, and the fifth is the one I just bought that I'm putting together for the Arin Cee Roadster. Phew! That's a lot of motors.

The Arin Cee Roadster uses a Muncie M20 wide-ratio 4-speed coupled to a '41 Ford 4:11 rear axle with a Speedway Motors open drive conversion kit. Nothing exotic but it should all live happily ever after behind the newest motor which is on the mild side, probably 275 to 325 hp on a good day.

I'm keeping the Arin Cee Roadster motor very mild on purpose with low compression, a relatively mild cam and mediocre heads so that the driveline will live. This is also the reason I'm using Coker reproduction Firestone bias ply passenger car tires instead of my "signature" dirt trackers. Call me a chicken, but I just don't want to have any trouble with the banjo in the future.

*The next project won't need caution in the motor to protect the driveline. I've already collected some of the parts for the new car: 11-inch heavy-duty clutch, Tremek World Class 5-speed, ladder-bar style rear axle locators and a Winters Newstalgia 3.78 posi quick change. Even with sticky tires that's a combination that's going to be pretty tough to break. More on this in another thread at another time.

 

Still waiting on a couple parts for the motor and driveline, so I've been working on rust repair. This body was nice, but had rust in the bottoms of the rear wheelwells and quarter panels. It had been repaired before, poorly with lots of warpage and body filler. I cut all the old repairs off some time ago but never got around to redoing them properly until now...


The photos kinda jump around a little bit. This is the first panel I did, butt welded in spots, to be butt welded solid later. As I discovered the repair must be tacked like this so that you can still get the old piece out. Once the old piece has been removed - I had to chisel it out - the butt weld tacks can be connected and the seam welded solid.


I stepped up for Brookville Roadster rust repair panels and am really glad I did. The quarter panel patch are already compound-curved and fit like a glove. The cheapo ones on the internet are stamped flat and are a bear to install properly.


I use Cleco fasteners as much as possible during the fitting process. Once in a while a self-tapper is needed to bring a gap closed, but that's seldom. I spend a lot of time shaping and pre-fitting each panel so that the fit is close to perfect before I start welding.


This is the inside of the finished wheelwell repair. I get 100% penetration on my butt welds but I will still need to use MarGlass on the outside to be certain that all the pinholes get sealed up to prevent moisture coming through from the back side and lifting the paint. The brackets are to stabilize the quarter panel to the modified subrails and give the assembly lots of strength.


Finished and ground smooth the repair doesn't look too bad for an amateur. I use compressed air to cool each weld immediately to minimize warpage from the heat. That is tedious but it works. Now it's on to the other side...

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Eric you can use brush-able seam sealer on the backside to seal it so no moisture will creep thru any pinholes I do it on all my butt welds. I have some that have been repaired close to 50 years ago and still holding up. Good luck with your project. Frank

 

Digging around for good threads and found another

 

WAITING

 

Okay, Frank, okay... Man, you are more impatient than Arin.

Anyhow, the red '31 is now officially finished except for a few small details so I can concentrate on Arin's roadster again without major distraction. It turned out great and will soon go up for sale to pay for the parts to build the next one. Hang in there!

 

Looking good painted Resale Red I love it. Where did you get the steering column drop?

 

The color is Eastwood Pinup Red in single-stage urethane over black primer/sealer. I've seen a lot of reds in my time but this one really does it for me. The column drop is aftermarket, I don't know who made it cuz' I found it buried in my "stash of stuff." It's a 5" drop which gets the column and wheel down where I like it. It takes some getting used to being that low, but I like it. Thanks for asking. Hope you're doing okay.

 

I like the transmission floor pan did you make it?

 

Yes...and no. It's a fiberglass aftermarket piece that I sectioned in both directions and built new mounting flanges to fit my floor and firewall. If I had it to do again I'd probably start from scratch with a cardboard form and some Saran Wrap. I've built hardtail HD seats that way. Works great! The Arin Cee Roadster doesn't need a tunnel, the transmission/bell housing all fits beneath the flat floor. Just barely.

 

I guess it's time for a little update on Arin's roadster...



In-progress photos are the most interesting so here's a few. There are more to come...
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