Projects Timm builds a model A

That's really cool. Who's going to be the guinea pig?

 

I'm your Huckleberry.

 

No real updates but here’s a painting I just finished for a client. Got some neat stuff coming up
With paintings this year. If you’re on fb or IG feel free to follow along at timmmckennyart

 

That's really cool!

 

Really nice. I'm going to be an artist when I grow up! Right after I'm done being a cowboy.

 

This is hanging in my office across from my desk

 

@Dreddybear thats awesome feels like a blink since you got that but it’s been almost a decade!

 

That can't be righ... OMG.

I was but a young buck... and now I'm an old f...

 

Dude I’ve had several children since I saw you in person last, talk about feeling old lol

 

And another one.

 

That came out great!!

 

Thanks Dave! Here’s the Mcphail painting that inspired it.

 

Finally met up with @Primered Forever to look over and under his sedan and measure and take notes. Really nice little hot rod! I’m continuing tonight my 46’ but once it’s sorted I’m ready to tear into this again

 

Thanks Timm!

 

Was helpful man! I havnt had a car with a good wood kit or floor let alone a 1/4 spring rear to snoop around on. Extremely helpful! Definitely worth laying in the grass for

 

Good deal!

 

The A in question if you aren’t familiar with it. Between looking at cars yesterday, some buddies making progress and @Austin kays firing up the 34’ I’m really ready to get back into this. Hopefully I have the 46 sorted soon

 

Started transferring measurements from the note pad to the axle tubes. i think his axle is maybe an inch wider than mine, go figure one of the few things I didn’t actually
Measure.

The only spot I’m running into stuff hitting each other is the ladder bars placed at Pete and Jake recommended spacing and the measurement I have for the spring shackle.

how ever all my measurements were from his backing plate so accounting for the narrower axle it should be fine. I’m also likely to mount my springs in a slightly different spot front
To back because I’m going to attach them
To the rear a little differently

any how progress? Sorta lol

 

You amaze me! (In a good way) Will there be anything on this car than hasn't been re-done from the start of this thread? I wish there was a time lapse video.

 

lol dunno probably not. I’m
On like the 5th hood and second set of fenders boards and aprons oat least lol.

the 46’ has had lots of stuff changed and re configured over the last 13 or so years.

 

For my brain anyway, setting up the rear axle in the T was one of the more challenging parts of the build - estimating ride height, spring spread, pinion angle, ladder bar design, shock height and angle, then figuring how much to narrow each side.... I'm happy that part is over. Looks like you're on the right track - keep a piece of paper handy to track your thought process and take lots of measurements, lots of reference pictures.

 

Yeah starting with a car that’s very similar to what I’m doing with the same springs helps a lot. I’m planning on tacking everything and seeing it it works before anything is permanent but it does twist my brain a bit lol.

think I’m getting close to having the 46 solid again, and I need to get the new welder set up to make the new rear shock mounts for it then we will be ready to party on the A again

 

46 is still fighting me so I put a blanket over it and went back to the A.

Everything g on a car is a set of dominos so what may appear to be 6 different projects on the A I’m working on I’m kinda seeing it as a whole.

since the motor has to come up to clear the steering that changes a lot of things. So I started playing with ideas for the trans cover and floor

The drivetrain is getting raised just shy of a can so I figured they’d make for a good spacer on my cardboard floor.

I bent a clothes hanger to copy the top shape of the trans and bell housing and stacked it all up to see where it lands

 

Then I started going through build threads and taking screen shots.

As always Cory Taulbert proves an inspiration. These are from his 34 and a little under dash wiring panel and engine packaging shot because why not .

 

Is the drivetrain raising up that height to clear steering?

 

As of now I think that’s my favorite idea, a trans cover that is part of the toe board and comes out together. I can make that with metal easy enough I think.

The flat part of the floor I think I can run some additional legs off the tube subframe to hold a piece of 3/4” marine plywood as originally planned and the legs along side the trans can get drilled and threaded or nutserts. Then the trans tunnel flange will completely over lap it and you won’t even see it.

still toying with distributor clearance ideas which may have to tie into this same area of the firewall/ toe board.

I’ve got the ladder bars and cross member on the box siting next to the car but I need to get the drivetrain in position before I start messing with that stuff.

lots of picking away at it lately. Even if most of the work is mental. But eventually the work will be hammer forming

 

@Tim_with_a_T yup. The motor currently sits about where a small block powered car would have it positioned but to even sit here the motor is offset almost two inches to the passenger side. And it’s still pretty tight to the column.

I guess stude even had them pushed over a few inches from the get go.

Any how this stude is basically olds 394 size, and similar to caddy size so I started looking where those cars landed the engine and unless they have cowl steering they more or less land in this raised up position. And while yeah I could blister one hood side or change the steering entirely moving the engine up and centering it solves a lot of other issues I hadn’t really found answers for as of yet.

the next steps will be reference marking exactly where this motor is sitting front to back before removing it, bracing the frame to cut the stock center cross member out, and starting the try it, cut it and repeat dance with the fire wall again.

once it is where it needs to be I’d like to come up with some method of holding it in place with out the factory mounts so I can fully mock up the engine mounts. I’m thinking maybe a flange to the exhaust with a leg down to the frame rail or even simpler a stack of wood blocks under the oil pan.

Somewhere in there I’ll clean the sections of the frame where motor mounts, ladder bar cross member, and trans cross memeber will weld in. My thinking is to have the mounts welded to sections of boxing plate and just tack them in enough to hold steady until the body comes off and the entire thing is fully boxed in.

this will also let me weld the frame side motor mount to the boxing plate on the bench and then put it back in the frame. I’ll do the same with the rear spring mounts.

 

Rocket powered Ani saw at the roc this last fall as an example. Things almost exactly where my stuff will land

 

Good thoughts. Did we talk about putting a Jeep T90 top shifter on that T86?

 

Yup that’s the plan!