More progress on the roadster project. 1936 Ford drive shaft made into lakes pipes. Have finned block offs and the exhaust will run out the back.
Started making the cowl vents. To keep with 50's style I repurposed a 1948 cowel vent. Look at how the vent was split to make the 2 individual vents. Had to cut up 4 to get parts that were not rusted out (thanks Paul and Dave for the donations of vents). If you look at the last pic you can see where I have finished up the beading around the end of the vent to seal into the weather strip.
My friend Paul loaned me an original Auburn Dash so I made wooden bucks and made the dash below. I do not like just hanging the column from the dash rail so the (Dash-o-rangs) in the second pic tie the lower rail to the cowl flange and you can't move the bottom of the dash.
Time to look at filling the grille shell. Don't want the radaitor cap etc to disrupt the flow of the lines before you even start looking.
Okay, so the stamping for the radiator filler sticks up and disrupts the visual flow from the front to the rear of the car. It needs to be carefully marked and cut off. My friend Paul who has seen more 32's than anyone around cautioned me not to fill it with a flat piece of steel unless I want to top it off with 1/4 inch of Bondo. (The top of the radiator shell is a 3D compound curve). Carefully cut the hole and mark the center lines.
Next it is time to get a distance across the SURFACE of that compound curve. You can use some really complex Topology equations or I prefer using a piece of cardstock and approximating the curvature with the card stock. Then just mark the distance and you have a template. (Don't stretch it tight when marking, also, it is better to have extra material to grind off later for a perfect fit.)
Now what to fill that 3D cavity with. Enter Paul again with a great suggestion. Find a headlight at a swap meet with the right curvature and use part of it to fill the hole. ($5 fix). You can just make out the stamping in this piece but the radius was too tight. So diging up another headlight with a better Radius lay out the sector So you can see this headlight already made one repair so this is now a $2.50 repair Lay the piece on the shell and see how well it fits. Don't worry about the gap at the (front of the old headlight) that piece will be cut off.
The piece fits in well and lots of witness marks make sure we get it in the correct orientation. Curvatre is ever so slightly high but as we torch weld and hammer and dolly the shrinking will pull this down nicely.
Spend plenty of time fitting the piece. Cut outside the lines and grind to fit. More time spent now will save way more later. Holding the piece in from the back it is a nice tight fit. Using my heel dolly I gently worked the piece before starting to weld it in.
Now it is time to get some tack welds on the piece. Once the tacks are done start welding sections in around the circle. I like to skip around to reduce heat. Remember to hammer and dolly continually as you weld the piece in. Even with all the dolly work there was still a bit of extra crown so a quick heat shrink and we are there.
A few shots of the filled shell on the car with the stainless spear I made attached. Also, thanks to my friend Cory for taking all the pics as I plod along.
Thanks for the response. The reason I asked is because I thought it looked like one, but they are also available filled. That's what had me wondering.
There have been posts on making trans tunnels but I like to make them in one piece so here are some of the steps Start with you floor and toe boards bolted up tight exactly the way you want them in the finished car then start with a cardboard template Start trimming and fitting. Make sure to give plenty of room around the shift tower, it will be covered with the shift boot and you don't want the trans tunnel rattling against the transmission. At this point we are just taping and roughing out what we need. We can lay it out on another piece of card stock to get the final pattern before going to steel Lay out the card stock template on to some 18ga and use a spring-loaded ctr punch to punch right through the pattern into the steel where you will have bolt holes. These punches will serve as a way to index the pattern to the steel as you start forming.
Love the thread Russ! I'm glad you finally are doing this.... It didn't occour this was you until 1) I saw the screen name, and 2) I thought: hey- this guy is doing cowl vents just like Russ! Duh! Keep going!! Matt
Next, since I don't have a wheel or power hammer I lay out radial lines to get the curvature needed on my brake. If you do a lot of incremental brakes you can use a slap hammer and make the tunnel smooth. I've marked out the lines below and I usually do two additional bends between each pair of lines. Next up use the shrinker/stretcher tip the flange. (Tipping dies can help in your bead roller but not required.) A little additional help from the SAE fully adjustable incremental tipping wrench Note that the corners are cut where the horizontal meets the vertical. Keep checking it on the welding table to make sure it is laying flat each time you change the shape. (Also, make sure every tool you own is on the bench.) I like to put a rib inside the tunnel so if it gets stepped on etc it won't get bent. A small 90 degree angle shaped in the shrinker adds a remarkable amount of rigidity. Just plug weld it in the inside. Lastly go back to the shrinker/stretcher and roll the back lip. I do this after the rib is installed so I don't lose my shape. Some planishing with the slap hammer and a trip through the bead blaster and it will be done. This take a few hours but it is a nice solid addition to the car.
I say your build is absolutely detailed and well thought out. I see that the dash connection for the column drop looks like a weak point at that lip where it attaches. Maybe a piece of flat stock with tapped holes would beef it up. Just throwing this out to you. I'm dealing with that issue on my 40 pick-up; I think that would tear easily in a front end accident, that involved the steering, God forbid.
The Jalopy Journal
