Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

You’re making my head hurt. Lol!

 

With a tape measure 1 1/2 MM is close to 1/16 of an inch.

 

All I'm saying is, divide, don't multiply.

 

Well, it’s no bomber seat, but it is actually comfortable. The seat bottom could be angled even more to get proper leg/foot placement. I’m glad I just used some scrap 2”x 10”s with the prices of lumber these days. Next up is to weld in a crossmember support for the lower rad mounts.

 

The “gas” tank and fire extinguisher I bought several years ago. Getting there…Lol!

 

Lots of fun working in the garage when it’s -10C outside with no heat on and your step drill is too small to make a 1” dia. hole.



This might be a slight problem…

 

Heading back into town to get more parts. Will see if my exhaust clamps are in yet as well as the Gates elbows and straight section. I ordered from Napa. Need to order their adapter for the rad outlet which is 1.5” OD.
Also, I figured I need another 14 copper 45 degree elbows, and a couple more 90 degree elbows. Ouch!
While I was thinking about the coolant piping, I decided to re-check the coolant gage. Still works. Looks like the threaded fitting is 0.830” x 14. Some kind of high pressure gas fitting. Will order a brass nut from Grainger for it and braze it in on the manifold outlet piping.

 

Picked even more copper fittings yesterday at ridiculous prices as well as my Gates hoses, and some wire hose clamps ( they only had qty 3 in stk, and ordered another 12). Ordered another Gates 90 degree hose as well as the Gates hose reducer for the radiator inlet. Going to see if I can use the Gates 90 degree hoses on the water pump inlets, and just finish it off with a 90 degree copper elbow.
Also, picked up the brass fitting for the coolant temp probe, and it fits!




Might use these exh clamps to secure the copper coolant pipes.

 

Been doing some more mock-ups just to see how things will/need to fit as I do not want to have to redo the coolant plumbing. Positioning the fuel tank, rad, axle, and seat relative to one another I discovered that the actual frame length needed is about 10” longer than what I have on my layout. It’s a good thing I never cut down the frame rails to match my layout. I’ll now have to look into things to see what happened. For sure, most of it has to me using a rounded off conversion factor on my layout, but I think that alone won’t explain all the difference. Some of it also is also due to the fact that the rad does not fit between the frame rails and now must sit above the frame rail.
This then promoted me to this check clearance in the footwell area where the coolant pipes will run along the inside of the frame rail on the PS, as well as the horizontal body line running from the front on the moon-headlight, to the cockpit. It’s going to be a tight fit for sure squeezing my 6’-6” frame into this thing.

 

Looking at the space between the fuel tank and rad got me thinking I need a damn fan! D’oh.
A 16” slim line fan should do the trick. Now to figure out how I will get my 6V generator to power it…

 

Yet another trip into town to check on parts for the cooling system. CarQuest still had no idea when the Ideal exh clamps would be in as they ordered them from another supplier who has them on backorder. Saw a similar clamp at PA earlier in the week and took a pic. Checked the pic and it is basically identical to the Ideal clamp, so picked up wet 6 there. Next was the double wire spring clamp. Was told they were also in backorder, and wouldn’t arrive until mid-March. D’oh!
Picked up a couple more copper fittings as well. The stuff from Napa is still not in either.
So, today I’m hoping to make a good dent on the routing of the copper tubing. Also, gave up on the idea of finding a 180 degree hose, so will more Gates 90 degree bends with copper 90 degree fittings. It’s really tight around the front crossmember and crank pulley, but I think I can make it work.



Also wanted to check where the front face to house the cyclops headlight was going to end up as it looks like it will be sticking further forward than I would like.

 

Decided to change the routing around my right foot. Was going to be too tight and too hot right next to both coolant pipes. At least with this routing, I can insulate it a bit.

 

Got as far as I could. Ran out of sufficient length of copper tubing to continue. Only have one 18” lg pc and another 6” lg pc. That’s about 10’ of copper used. Will have to get another 12’ long pc next week.
I think I can return qty 7 of the fittings. I had purchased one tee with a 1/2” outlet in case I wanted to add a heater at some point, but instead I’ll just braze in a couple of 1/2” NPT female bosses and plug them. Probably need another 8’ - 9’ of tubing.

 

Was thinking I will probably add thermostats. Still need to do a bit of research on which ones and how to secure them. Some have suggested the ones used on the Subaru Justy from 84 - 94.



Will also add some bleeder valves to the horizontal copper pipes coming off the Gates 90 degree elbows attached to the heads. Might just machine my own brass female bosses to match the male M10 x 1 thread on the valves.



I will also add a couple sections of hose on the section over the rear of the engine and next tub the starter to better isolate the sections secured to the frame from the engine.

 

Love the build Zig, but put that copper out for all to see ,get it out of the cockpit, then make some bitchin brackets to show your handiwork. Heat and leaks ain't no fun.

 

Thanks. Something to consider. I need to think a bit outside the box. Maybe having the copper pipes exposed will help towards that pre-war type look. Hmmm…

 

Found these bleeder valves. Will get these as they look the part. They’re from a company in Toronto that is selling the old school cast type iron radiators (and some modern stuff).



I like this look.

 

Got the fitting for the coolant temp sensor fitted to the copper tee. Was a challenge again as the dia. of the hole needed was larger than my step drill. Had to carefully use my die grinder to enlarge the hole, and finish it up with my drum sander. Also, had to machine the brass fitting to increase the depth of section sitting in the hole. Lots of work for such a minor thing, but that is the way it had been all along.

 

Had to cut down both ends of the tee and the 45 degree fittings as they were too long for the getting it centred and lined up with the hose. The hoses of course will have to be cut down where they fit onto the pump inlet.



Tired of working on the coolant piping. Will look into the exhaust collector mounting next.

 

Why not run the top pipes out the front, under the belt either side of the generator and down and under with the other one? I know its cold in Canada but its going to be amazingly hot in there like you have that.

 

I want to have a bit of symmetry with respect to the coolant piping (at least with what is visible around the engine). Chances are there will likely be a few more iterations, even after the vehicle is completed and on the “road”. Only then will I know what works and what doesn’t. I just moved the piping from the heads to the other side of the trans. Again, not ideal in terms of foot space and additional heat, but there are other considerations to take into account. At least it’s not all concentrated in the right footwell. There will also be lots of heat coming off of the trans and engine. I really hadn’t thought much about “sealing” up the “cockpit”, but it might be a necessity to keep all that heat from cooking me. Lol!
Went into town again today as the stuff from Napa arrived as well as stuff at the Toyota dealer for my DD. Ordered a couple more Gates 90 degree hoses (that was the third time - guy must think I’m crazy), as well as a couple 180 degree thermostats. Picked up another length of copper tube. Almost fell over when I saw the invoice for almost $200! They have a bit of a weird system where you place your order in one area and then it is printed out over in another area where you pay. I recall paying just around $130 for the last one before tax. So, long story short, last time I ordered it, they gave me the contractors discount of 60%. Fortunately, they gave me the discount again, and the order guy told me which account number on my invoice to use for the contractor discount.
Also, decided to just use regular U-bolt type clamps to secure the copper tube vs the exh style clamp. Picked up some smaller U-bolt clamps for the supports to mount the exh collectors, but realize the 3/16” dia. Is too small. Will have to get some 1/4” ones. I think I figured out how I’ll mount those supports after playing with it a bit today.


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This is starting to look interesting!

 

Starting!!??

 

Haha! It’s taking forever. When I brought the Model A bits home, my neighbour was curious and came to check it out. Told him then that I think it was going to take a couple of years to have a rolling chassis. Lol!
Engine was at the machine shop for almost 1.5 yrs, then my wife passed just before Covid, then I started on another project which I sold. Now I’m retired and the girls are out of the house, so hoping to get more time on it. Now it ‘s time for the major systems to be started, so yeah, it’s getting more interesting for sure.

 

Finished mocking up the idea I had for supporting the exh collector. I was a bit worried about making it strong enough to support the weight of the collector and flex pipes then I came by across some scrap angle pcs. I’ll weld or braze the 2” angle to the frame, and the U-bolt will attach to it. Found some bronze bushings to add a bit more dia. to the 1” steel tube so I could use a larger dia U-bolt, plus it adds to the “period” look I’m hoping to create. I got stingy and made the angle too short, so the M8 studs and nuts are too close to the 1” tube. Will just have to grind away all welds that end up in the way. Lol!

 

Hey @Ziggster
This is an amazing project, to say the least.
A bit of classic encouragement for you.
"Everything old, is new again"
"The Ox is slow, but the Earth is patient"
That's a classic line from the movie, "High road to China".
"Perfection, cannot be rushed"

 

Took it easy today. Was kind of beat up from working in the garage yesterday with it being open. It was “warm” for this time of the year (around 9C), but that quickly changed in the early evening when we had a flash freeze warming. Temps dropped to -14C overnight, and the winds really picked up causing a power outage for a couple of hrs.
Hose still hasn’t arrived from Napa, and with the cold temps, I wanted to just stay inside and look at the dash layout for the gages. I did mount them previously to an old baking sheet when I thought I would run the engine on the test stand I built, but now that the engine is mounted in the frame, I’ll just run it there. So, I decided to see if I can come up with an arrangement for the gages that will be as close to the final layout as possible. To that end, I picked up a scrap piece of aluminum for the dash, and just ordered this speedo off of eBay. Dash will probably be only about 20” wide, so not sure where all my gages will go. Also realized that getting a 5-spoke steering wheel was probably not the best idea, since it just blocks more of the dash than a typical 4-spoke wheel typical of that period. Wondering if I should cut off the spoke at the 12 o’clock position?
Supposed to get up to 7C late tomorrow afternoon, so hoping to get back at the exh bits.

 

Dropped in the battery under the seat, and connected up the tubing to the rad inlet. Hope it clears the driveshaft. Allowing for about 3” of travel for the rear axle.




Youngest will be home from school tomorrow, but says she has lots of school work to do, so she might not be helping her dad out much. Can’t count too much on these two either. Lol!

 

I’m liking this layout for the gages. I think I have some thin wood sheet. Will lay it on that if I can find it and mount the gages. Small circle is the engine start button.