Projects NOT THE TYPICAL '30 ROADSTER BUILD

Got some time today to work on the roadster and was able to cross off a few things off the to do list...
Hoping to fire up the engine in a week or two.

After lots research and reading I couldn't find a set for belts from Napa that would fit the fan and water pump/generator.
My local Napa hardly had any belts in-stock and unless I gave them a part number, they couldn't find one based off length and all the part numbers I had were no longer in use.
I ended up ordering from Amazon a pair of Goodyear belts. They fit really nice; hopefully, they are good quality belts.

Any one needing belts for their 59AB...here are those part numbers



She is looking more and more like an engine...

Next, was the starter, got it mounted with support bracket and all. Starter was rebuilt as 12v and now +
Got the solenoid fully wired too.

Got the alternator wired along with the coil and finished the fuel line to the fuel pump...only missing to do 2 more wires for the oil and water sensors but ran out of terminals.



Then I moved to the clutch slave cylinder, added the fluid line and gave some adjusted to the rod to get me on the ball park
This kit from Krylon32 is nice. Everything fits like it should.


Finished the day by starting to install the shifter, hand brake and cables...





...A good day indeed....

 

Coming together nicely.
Really like your engine!
Carry On!

 

The quality of all the little things shows in your pictures this is really going to be a great car!

 

Thank you
H&H did a great job with it. Not cheap but worth it.

 

Thank you

 

One step forward...trying to finish the engine to fire it up

I am using the Gear Drive lakester headers and one of the things I've been thinking of is to quiet them down bit.
Granted, I've never heard them before but figure that regardless they can use all the quieting down they can have.
I plan to drive my roadster and ear plugs, hearing loss, or upsetting my neighbors, is not something I am looking forward to.

Fiberglass insulation blanket and stainless steel zip ties.
The baffles are from Gear drive


Blanket gives plenty of material to wrap/pack them well.

Fits nice and snugged..we soon shall see how well it works


I plan to turn the turn outs 45 degrees, pointing to the road.

 

I am starting to take the seat apart. Getting ready for upholstery.
The plan is to recover it using the same style, keeping it stock. I will be using the cotton application the same.
The seat cushions may be far too gone to save. A handful of the springs, maybe 12, are too soft and tired.
I am not sure if I can find replacements...seem easy enough to replace them.
The metal rod around the perimeter is broken/rotten in a couple of areas. That might be an easy fix

The backrest looks much better and springs appear to be nice and strong still.

A new seat spring cushion might be in my near future.

 

Busy weekend, barely had anytime to work on the roadster.
Was able to get the passenger side headers on and loving the look.


The driver side is another story. The lack of using the fuel pump at time of mocking up comes back to bite me in the ass, again



The fuel pump filter was hitting the bottom of the oil filter, so I had to turn the fuel pump yet one more time to get clearance. Unfortunately, that cause for the regulator not to have enough room in-front of the fuel pump :-(
Little bit of research....I read a few posts stating I don't need a fuel regulator with the stock fuel pump but I also read equal amount of posts saying I do.
I am planning to install the regulator on the line behind the fuel pump...really the only place I can see it fitting.
...Of course, I don't have the fittings to fix the regulator to the fuel line, so placed an order and waiting for fittings to get here.


Slowly but moving forward...

 

You shouldn't need a regulator with a stock fuel pump; from the factory thousands of them ran fine without one...

 

You may have to drain the glycerin from the fuel pressure gauge, when the engine on mine got to operating temp the gauge stopped working. Works fine without it.

 

Thank you. Those are good news!

 

That's good to know. Were you using a moon eyes or different brand?

 

You shouldn't have to drain the glycerin from the gauge, do that only as a last ditch thing to do!

 

Of course... having said what I did this pops up...
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/flathead-fuel-pump-problems.1271359/

 

Got it. Thank you for the heads. I will be in the look out.

 

Perfect timing! Thank you for sharing
I will reach out to Charlie see what options he can offer. I just might send my fuel pump to him and have him check it to make sure it is putting out the right pressure.

 

chrome dont get you home but the quality of your little parts and assembly will.well done

 

I picked one up at SoCal, looks to be similar to Moon’s.

 

That looks good. Plumbing looks sharp!

 

That's a good thread. I reached out to Charlie and might be sending my fuel pump to him.

 

Relocated the regulator to be behind the fuel pump. Only room available.
I am considering sending my fuel pump to Charlie Schwendler in NY. He can replace the diaphragm and valves and set pressure to 2.5 psi.



Time to start looking for some Thermostats., so I can start plumbing the radiator and hoses.
I went to my local NAPA, Oreily's and Pepboys and they no longer carry the NAPA THM 111, Stant 14157, or Murray 4157, and have no options to order it. Couldn't find them in Amazon either

eBay it is. Ordering 2 of these. Stant 14157...hopefully they come in correct. I dislike their return policies., not the easiest ones.

 

Not a lot of progress on the roadster done this week. I got a smoking deal to replace the roof in my house and I had to put everything on hold to jump on that deal. Roof had been leaking so had to get it done before the winter.
In the process of demoing the old 3 layers of shingles, removing some damage wood, and laying the new roof, the workers punched the lineset for the AC, and cut the lines for the TV.
I am not sure what was worst, the lack of AC in a heat wave or hearing my 2 young girls complaining that they couldn't watch TV. I guess both at the same time was hell to pay and no access to the garage to escape to. Damn!

The time away from the garage was well spent...I had been struggling with the exhaust bolts...I now can laugh at it and even feel dumb about it, but not the case a few days ago.
Since I was bolting the headers on, I went a head bought all 3/8-16. stainless steel bolts Why wouldn't all bolts be the same size, right? Wrong!
5 bolts on the passenger and driver side were a perfect fit for 3/8, but the bottom front bolts were not fitting. They needed to be bigger!? Were the threads stripped? H&H missed it? What am I doing wrong?

It is rebuilt motor, so why would there be a stripped bolt? Tried not to panic and find a bolt to fit.
Couldn't find the right bolt, I was finally able to find a metric bolt that fit very well....something wasn't right. A metric bolt on flathead?
I didn't want to force anything or start trying different bolts.
As I started researching how to insert a helicoil or time-sert, I found a post explaining the 2 front bolts are meant to be a different size...what? why? 7/16-14
I had tried a 7/16-14 and it hadn't work....well, come to realize the bolt I had used had bad threads...Feeling pretty dumb right about now

So for anyone facing the same, (4) front bolts are 7/16-14 and (8) rear bolts are 3/8-16. Local hardware store doesn't carry 7/16 stainless steel bolts in-stock. Ordered and waiting for them to arrive

Since the fuel pump is getting some work done, to ensure pressure is correct, I decided to get the filter kit.
I read when done right it is a good thing to have. Well, it turns out it is backordered from all vendors I called.


I pieced my own kit,
Filter part number 3039 from Napa
Cork gasket part number is 773, from Oreily's.
The neoprene gasket seems to be a point of failure as it swells when it comes in contact with gas causing leaks. Cork is the solution for it
The spring, comes from Bratton's and it is a Model A window regulator escutcheon. You need to cut a full turn at the bottom.
There it is! Now I have it and rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.




The Stats arrived too Yay!
That's next on the project list. Want to get the radiator installed and hopefully my engine fire up.


Upholstery, well, seat adjuster taking a bath. Rust removing...there is something so satisfying on seeing the rust bubble up like that


End of the week, roof is now done, AC and TV are now working again, and I am cleaning the aftermath of a new roof.
Since there was dust all over all the place, it felt right to fire up the sandblaster to prep and paint the matching wheel.
I've been dragging my feet on this, hence, I haven't put the tires on.


I didn't realized until after I installed and looked at them, but the 2 front wheels are different.
The 2 wheels are both 4" but the inside styles were different. One is more of a step and the other one has a slant/angle to it. The angled side fits much better around the Buick style drums


There is that step on the left side.


There is that angle on the right side.
They will both now be angled. Once I get the pinstripes on the wheel I can cross this one off the list and put some tires on this roadster.

 

An old post I know, but just found your build. How does that catch can work? seems to have a pipe out the bottom like it lets water out?? I assume that runs up inside to the top and acts as a safety over flow or something?

 

Ive been looking at these, are they ok for cranking a v8 and for a driver? One listing has them as a motorcycle battery

 

No expert here but...the tank collects the the overflow/expanding coolant that is heated by the engine.
It recycles the coolant back into the coolant system once it loses enough heat. The radiator overflow tank helps protect the engine and prevent coolant loss due to overflow.

 

Everything I read showed it is enough for a flathead. That's what I am using
Some people reported drains easily overtime with no use. Hopefully, the kill switch and trickle charger eliminates that problem for me.
I like the small proportions since I could install underneath the seat and away from fuel fumes in the trunk area.

 

I like the size as well, but id be looking to crank a 348, which was why I asked, thanks.

 

Yep, I think thats correct, but id not seen an overflow before, I thought the idea was that the water expanded, went into the sealed catch can, and when it all cooled down again, it got sucked back into the radiator.

 

killer build by the way, very impressed.

 

This is an outstanding build. Very nice work. Will be following