Cheers guys, it's a shame you can't all actually see it in person. It totally defies anything I could have imagined or dreamt of and that's a fact. Even after all of Pete's work and my input on the build I'll stil have problems coming to terms with the idea that it's my own car.
I got to have a look at her yesterday, first time in a week, she's coming on strong now. The rear end set up looks fantastic and is a real testament to Pete's hard work and what seems like endless skill. What becomes clear when you see Pete's work is that, yep it's a freakin tidy job, but every piece is a small work of art and that every job he does whether it's on a car,bike or industrial job he treats as though it was his own stuff he was working on. Pure class! Any how enough brown nosing! We had to drop the motor and box out again yesterday to adjust the clutch actuating arm and to clearance the water pumps in the block as they were rubbing. Pete also turned up a small 3mm spacer to space the crank pulley out to align it with the water pumps. Got a load of stuff from Snyders in the week, all the usual nuts bolts etc. Also got the steel hinge for the windscreen as I managed to buy a steel windscreen from a mate for £85, he was swapping his to an ali one! Don't ask me why.. This means that the ali kit I had previously bought from is up for grabs. No work on the car next weekend as we're off racing! Well I'm not racing but I shall be watching from the comfort of my lawn chair with Pimms in hand. Shelsley Walsh next weekend, should be a blinder <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
just in case any of you guys thought we were napping have a gander at this column drop that Pete "knocked up", Art Deco? Art Pete more like As I've said before, there's no such thing as a simple bracket or plate where Pete is involved. Pure class <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
Column drop in? Steering wheel on? handbrake in place? Yep, that's right the body is on the chassis , bolted down and looking as mad as a box of frogs. Seriously I couldn't be more happy with how the Coupe looks now, it sits high and has attitude by the bucket load. We dragged the body round to Pete's workshop on thursday night and fitted the body straight away, having placed the webbing and blocks on the chassis first. Yesterday the rad and grill shell were fitted with a little adjustment here and there, hood,sides and stays fitted. Floor cut out for handbrake. Lots of fettling, even Pete's step son helped us out. Pete had to do a load of work to get the new steering column and '40 Ford wheel fitted including the aluminium bell underneath the wheel. Both the bell and steering column were picked up from Namco when Miles had his open day. If you thought things were going well, you're bloody right. After a bit of fiddling we got the engine running on tuesday and it sounds strong and healthy. I can almost smell the tyres smoking <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
Nathan, You already know what I think of your rebuild and it just gets better each time we see progress! Nick.
<!-- google_ad_section_start --> roll on the drags! (wiring,plumbing,brakes etc etc still to be sorted, fingers crossed) <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
Thanks Nick, got to say that I'm looking forward to getting her done. Can't wait to see yours rolling too
Love that column drop.Very nice. Sits perfect Nathan,think I'll have to dock the wife's housekeeping and save up for a quick-change.
Crackin' Nath (and Pete) top drawer work as usual,column drop is real sweet! Is it gonna be ready for the Nostalgia Nationals? Chris.
Cheers Langy, it really does look that mean, Chris, I'm really hoping to have the car ready for the Nats. I'll be working on it every night from now until then
cool... love the feel of the car and the full hood. looks like you guys have had your hands full fixing someone else's f@ckups though. please tell me you've fixed (or are fixing) that horribly thought out cooling fan... good lord does seeing that kind of stuff make me crazy. any chance you can still use a mechanical fan blade (an original type) and build a proper shroud for it... you could even use a whole bunch of rivets. lot's of interesting stuff going on in this thread... be sure to post a little video when you get it all back together. cheers
The fan has to be mounted to the front of the rad because of where the engine mounts on the chassis rails are in relation to the front cross member. What Pete has done by mounting it directly to the grill shell is cut out all the shite original fan shroud making it a lot less noticable from the front. Unfortunately there isn't even room to run a stock blade. Sometimes a compromise has to be made even if it's just to get the car on the road
FWIW... from my experience you'll almost never get enough cfm from a "pusher" type fan mounted in front of the radiator... generally speaking "pushers" are used to aid a "puller" type fan. While driving you will probably get enough "ram-air" going through the radiator to keep it cool but when puttering around at low speed is when issues typically arise... just keep in mind you are running a hood now. There are several thinline (electric) pullers availible that might work for you. Another thing... use a good thermostat(s)... the longer the coolant stays in the radiator the better chance it has to cool... we see a lot of cars that run warm because people think it's o.k. to run without any type of restriction in the cooling system. Oh... and a good low pressure radiator cap goes a long way as well. I'd just hate to see you have cooling issues after going through all of this work. Hayden S-Line fans move air pretty dam'n well for an electric fan. They do offer some fairly thin ones. http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-S-Blade-Universal-Electric-Cooling-Fans/881536/10002/-1 http://www.summitracing.com/search/...oduct-Line/Hayden-Electric-Fans/?autoview=SKU I really do prefer to people to use engine driven fans but sometimes that just isn't an option. Edit... shrouding is crucial... if there's a way to shroud and create vacum across the entire radiator cores surface that is the proper way... you can mount these right to the core but a shroud ensures even cooling and eliminates hot spotting. Hope this all helps... if not for you... maybe someone else.
Black,black and crispy,black crispy and burnt,black crispy burnt and burned alive! What i was trying to say was....shit! Sorry dood.
haha, no worries Chris I'll just have to hope the electrickery doesn't just fall out the ends of the wires
looking good dude. i think the car was hot when you got it. im glad to see you had the balls to tear it down and do it how you like!
The Jalopy Journal
