Projects 1929 Roadster Build “the marauder”

I have been itching to start a build thread and I think I finally have enough parts collected.
Here's the basic plan.
29 Brookville Roadster body
32 Frame
4-71 equipped SBC
5 Speed
Winters Q/C
Picked this frame up from a buddy for a great price, think it's JW Rod garage rails and members. If anyone identifies it different let me know.
Scored the axle from Sid, wishbone from a HAMB'R and the spring straight from Posies.


Don't plan on splitting the bones but who knows. If i don't ill fab up some mount along the lines in the photo.

Question for the group, how do the shackles look? Obviously there is no weight on the spring should they be angled down a hair?

Really excited about this project.

 

Great job. Hurry up already.

 

When the spring is fully loaded the ends should be below the perch pins. The shackles should be roughly 45 degrees. You can see the angle in this pic I borrowed off the HAMB.

 

Good project.
Good parts list.
Supercharged SBC, 5spd, and a quick change. Yeah baby.
They say Henry's front-ends work best when unsplit.
I'd be excited, too. Lots of encouragement to you.

 

Gents I will be the first to say that i lost my way with this build but now i am back on track. I am taking things a more traditional route pure AV8...ok, ok, it will still prob have the T5 but everything else traditional.
Scored a couple model A frames local, here you can see the differences between 28-29 and 30-31 frames.

 

Picked up a flathead off of marketplace, said it was rebuilt years ago and never fired. Fella seemed reputable so I pulled the trigger, don't think it was a "krylon rebuild".

 

Got my body from brookville man is it nice! Went straight to the painter for a coat of DP 90. Not real keen on the smooth firewall but it was better than the ribbed one brookville offered. Might graft the OG I scored at the NSRA swap meet into it.

 

Finally I scored my dream gauges and panel. Will probably do something similar to the tape mock-up. Tachometer will be up on the column. Probably do a stainless insert or tortoiseshell behind the gauges.

 

Questions I am trying to answer right now and things I'm searching for...
1. Quick change or no? If a quick change is it Rodsville or Winters? Not a huge fan of the look of the Winters but they seem very popular.
2. Taillights, man taillights are hard... so many nice options.
3. Original or NEW Strombergs?
4. Is a Glide seat worth the $$$?
5. Generator or powergen or?

-Searching for-
Edelbrock Slingshot
Edelbrock Block Letter Heads
32 Grill
Tach drive

 

Wow those gauges look great, what are they from?

 

Almost forgot, i got a super x kit, boxing plates and pedals from Dagel's street rods in Oregon.

Just got a quote from a sandblaster here in Alexandria my model a frame... $650 to sandblast one frame!!!
I almost wrecked my truck.

 

You had me at 4-71...

And then like a knife to the heart, I now see MY dreams for YOUR car are crushed

....don't get me wrong, I love flatheads. I'll still watch.

 

1936 Packard 120

 

Shoot, I'm glad you said that... So I am a man of my word. I pulled the trigger on a 4-71. It is now tucked away for a future build (I'm thinking 30-31 Sedan real early 60's style).

If you ever get a chance to visit Gary Dyers shop up in Chicago, GO. He is a super nice guy, gave us the full shop tour, has probably forgot more about hot rodding than i will ever know.
Also, shop cats rule.

 

Everything seems super expensive to get done around here.

 

I was floored. In the Midwest that’s $300 max.

 

Looking good man good luck!

 

For sandblasting your A frame, give these guys a call: 540-323-7518.
About | Frederick County Customs LLC (powdercoatingfccva.com)
They're out in Winchester, VA so their operating costs are much lower than near the beltway.
They did a beautiful job media-blasting & epoxy priming my '28 sedan body. I don't remember the $$ cost but it was very reasonable.

 

HOLY MOSES!! $650, for one frame? I'm thinking of selling my blast cabinet, because my blaster is quick, cheap, & close by. I don't think I've spent that much in an entire summer of blasting

 

Very nice collection of parts there, will be watching, make your own seat to match your posture.

 

Super cool build! I'm in to watch this one!

 

The round Pontiac taillights on A roadsters is the best in my opinion. Classic look without being off-putting.

~Peter

 

$650 for one frame? I'm pretty sure the guy just didn't want to do it. $150 around Cleveland, TN.

 

Lots of updates to this build. I ended up getting a frame from Boling brothers and ordered a @Winters Performance quick change from @krylon32 as well and a full brake set up. Today I linked up with Curt from Winters, got a kick ass tour and picked up my V8 Quick Change!

Lots of history in this building.
I am am fascinated by machining, Curt probably got sick of me saying "holy shit". There are some COOL TOOLS in this place!

 

Now some questions for the experts. I have the QC mocked up. what are the best practices for tacking up my spring mounts and ladder bar mounts?

I was thinking of putting the wheels on and the body on to get some weight on the spring and then center it. Or? do I only need to be concerned with the shackle angles? Of course and the pinion angle.

 

Here's my process, as I did this same install on my thread.
1929 Model A Tudor Traditional Build



(1) Okay, since the rear leaf spring mounts square to the chassis, and mounts square to the lower perch brackets. The rear leaf is critical to getting your axle squared to the chassis and also is where you set your pinion angle. Even though the ladder bars allow you to adjust pinion a little bit, you're twisting the rear leaf as you adjust the pinion angle. So I wanted to use the rear leaf to set the axle location and pinion angle, tack weld the leaf mounts inplace, and THEN mockup and tack the ladder bar mounts.

I made this spacer the exact width that the spring perches need to be apart, and then tack welded the perches to each end.


I broke down the leaf to just the main one, but after measuring the leafs removed, I added in a piece of box tubing (or wood) that was the same height as the leafs removed so that the overall height of the spring pack is the same, that way your ride height can be mocked up while setting pinion angle.


You can then have less spring pressure to fight as you get the brackets mounted in place.




(2). Sorry, I didn't take pics of the mockup stage, was kind of a one-man operation that day.

After getting the chassis at the ride height/rake you want it to ride at (with engine and trans installed and the front weight on the wheels, you can then setup your pinion angle. Measure off the rear of the trans output. Typically most guys want 2-4° difference between the two, but honestly on a driveshaft this short, it's not too critical.


Then, with the leaf spring and brackets bolted to the chassis, they'll be hanging from the chassis, but will be square to the frame. Then you can get the rear axle aligned so that it's equidistant side to side, then use a jack to set the pinion height where you want it, measuring angle off the pinion input.

Now tack weld the spring perches to the axle to start locking these dimensions in place.


(3) At this point you can use the ladder bars to get those brackets aligned and tacked in place. At this point it's essentially supporting it's own weight, but I'd tack in the gussets for the rear spring perch brackets before you re install the full spring pack and verify that ride height is where you want it. Though the only way to raise or lower the rear end is by changing the rear spring mount either higher in the chassis or by installing spacers under it to raise the body up.



Hope that helps a little.

~Peter

 

Oh, and you may want to check your clutch master cylinder clearance. I ran into an issue with the Boling Brothers mount and certain wilwood master cylinders. Not their fault really, just differences in widths between product lines.

~Peter

 

Got a little more mock-up done today. Should have the body and my wheels/tires next weekend, should start going together quick at this point.

 

Got a quick bracket made to space my spring mounts.

 

Perfect. That's exactly what I was describing.

~Peter