I've been a member since 2009 and lurked a year or two before that. Figured its time to post my build thread. I finished the car this past May and drove it part of this last summer. I have some changes to make on it this winter, but anyway on to the build. I was checking out the classifieds and Pinstriper 40 had a 26 coupe body for sale. We exchanged a couple PM's, met at his dad's place, the bobber went down and we loaded it up. View attachment 3788880 View attachment 3788881 View attachment 3788882 We got it home and unloaded. Then we built a cart to move it around on. It wound up sitting on the stand for two to three years before I really got started on it. View attachment 3788894 View attachment 3788898 I knocked the body apart to start on bodywork and subframe. Got the lower patch panels on the cowl and started on subframe. Used the old subframe for pattern, and used new 14ga rectangular tubing for the new. Next project was doing the doors. Used Howells panels for the inner and outer replacements. They seemed to work good for me though I am not a body man, but I think they came out good. More to come.
After doing the doors I built these wheel well hoops. My thinking was that these would really help support the back half of the body to the subframe. I used the same rectangular tubing as the subframe and used pie cuts to make the curve. If I was to do it over I would think about cutting them out of plate and welding together. The pie cuts worked great but make for a lot of welding and grinding. Through out the build I noticed my welding never got any better but, I became a hell of a grinder. Anyway the hoops really tied the body together on the subframe. After putting the body back on the subframe it was time to start building the actual frame. I used 2x4x1/8 tube for the main rails and rear cross member. I kept the main rails over length at the final bend at the firewall forward being unsure of final engine, radiator placement. I then built a stand to hold rails together at the ride height I wanted. I then temporarily hung the rear end and then set body on frame at a 1in rake at the front. Here's some more. Stay tuned.....
Next I built front motor mounts and started doing engine placement. After these photos were taken I have added a gusset on the top half or block side surrounding the nut. After building front mounts I hung the motor and measured and looked and measured and looked a few times. I wanted to keep the motor close to the firewall but not into it. I was hoping to make as much room as I could inside the body as the TH400 also takes up a lot of room. After getting motor and tranny in place I started to measure placement for fan and radiator. I got lucky in positioning for fan as I wanted to stay with a mechanical. It was going to center with radiator perfect. I cut and measured front cross member, welded it in and then capped the ends of the main rails. I used a complete Pete & Jakes suicide front end. Built a front perch and welded the rear hair pin mounts. Finished with a cover for the front perch. For the rear suspension I used a P&J triangulated 4 bar with QA1 coil overs. Narrowed the housing and used a set of Dutchman 28 splined axels. Triangulated 4 bar up next.
Thanks for thread. I hope to do a 26/27 build in the near future and you give me some serious ideas. Appreciate it.
Have you noticed when you move the rearend up and down the top bars will bind? I'd hate to see you crack a mount off. Give it a hand test and see. The bolts mounting the bars should be parallel, not at different angles.
Alchemy, I never gave the top bars a thought in that respect. I moved the rear end up and down and around a lot when building, and never noticed a bind or a problem. I have driven the car 3000 miles and have checked and double checked and everything seems good. Are you saying that because the housing end is at a angle it will change the radius as the housing moves? Thanks for the hit and I will be keeping a close eye on it. I will give you a shout if something comes up.
Very cool build, a buddy just finished a 35 Franklin and is now starting on a 26, same shape as yours was, I'll have to show him these pics, looks like you've been welding and fabing for some time
After getting the rear end squared away I started on the tranny mount and X member. I tried to have a tube welded to the frame where I had pie cut and formed the main rails for extra support. Maybe a little overkill but that seems to be my habit. We had a nice day so I rolled her outside to see what we had and clean the shop. Made tubing body mounts with weld-nuts in the top of main rails. Made front body mount, firewall support and finished firewall. Decided to use Speedway's 90 degree master cylinder mount under the dash. Mounted fairly easy. Bent the pedal arm to come down along the left side of steering column. More to follow on this later. Stay tuned.
Welded in 3/4 tube for floor supports. Mounted the shifter and E brake to tranny and started on the cover. I wanted the tranny cover removable and used sheet metal screws for now. As with most of the interior tin I used screws to start and later went to riv nuts and #10 ss button heads for final assembly. Built a frame work and mounted the fuel tank. Tank is from a old Larson boat I had. Tank is 16 gal and takes up some trunk space but it is what I had and the price was great. Decided to build a few interior panels. Before you guy's get on me about the different type screws, I was trying different types to see what kind of look I would end up with. What I ended up with for final assembly was riv nuts and #10 SS button heads. I built a door into the package way for a storage compartment underneath. Worked on the placement of the radiator and headlights. Used a Brassworks radiator, my second one, and Lee is great to work with. I wanted to keep the headlight bracket as part of the shock mount, and the headlight even with the leading edge of the grill. The tube that the shock bolt passes thru on the headlight mount is threaded so it acts like a big nut plus the jam nut. Later........
Mounted the radiator and started building fan shroud. When I did the motor mounts I measured off the center of crank pulley, and off the center of the water pump pulley for the shroud and WTF! Stared at it for a while and jeez the water pump is offset 1in. to the right. OK now I see. Matt built the pipes and brought them over for a test fit. Finished mounting M/C, pedals and brake lines. Also did the steering column. Used a Speedway column with their upper and lower mounts. Built a rear bumper and worked on deck lid Mounted the seats and finished some other odds and ends. Started to pull it back apart, pulled the body to get chassis ready for primer and paint. More to follow...
Got everything pretty well blew apart. Sandblasted the frame and gave it a coat of epoxy, then sanded for paint. Took the frame to Adam at Kings Paint in Dundas Mn. Adam put the final color on it. We used Delfleet Essential Gloss Black. While Adam had the frame I finished some mud work and sanding on the body. Also fitted the visor, dash, and built some door panels. Picked up some 1/2X10 and 1/2X8 maple boards for the roof. Used some Tite-Bond and some pegs along with some pipe clamps. Waited till the next day to cut and fit. Got the frame back from Adam and started to reassemble for the last time. ( I hope ) I don't know what happened to some of these pics if it was glare, dust, or the film but anyway here they are. More to follow...
We got the motor home and back in the chassis. Adam got the body and a shit load of parts painted. Delfleet Essential 1964 Cad Eldorado Firemist Blue and Delfleet's Wimbledon White. The wife was nice enough to let me use a spare bedroom for parts storage. Time to rehang the body on chassis. Used some redi-rod for some alignment bolts at the mounts. Put the fuel tank back in and ran the fuel lines Mounted the radiator, fan, shroud and headlights. The air cleaner is off my old 86 Chevy plow truck Had a Q-Jet that I replaced with a 2brl. Took the snorkel tube off and a couple of other smog tubes off and filled in the holes. Drilled in some 7/8 holes around the back half and JB Welded some SS screen across them. Put the bumper back on along with the tail lights and license plate bracket. Then moved on to hanging the trunk. See you guys later
Bent up some expanded metal for storage basket under access door in package tray. Mounted the steering column and started on the dash. I won a gift certificate from P&J at BTT50's so I used it on a set of their Bare Bones style of gauges by Classic Inst. Started to install the interior tin. Before I took the body to Adam for paint I through some old screws in the riv nuts hoping I wouldn't have to tap them all out because of paint in the threads. Worked great and used lots of button heads. Everybody's favorite wiring! I mounted the fuse panel to a piece of sheet metal hinged at the firewall and screwed to bottom lip of dash. Went to work on the windshield. I used a Mr. Roadster stock height frame from Speedway and then cut to size. For four pieces of aluminum this was a spendy little item. To say the least I was a little nervous about cutting it up. What's that old saying about measuring how many times before cutting. Got the thing installed and mounted the visor. Next we installed the seats and belts, laid the carpet, and put on the shifter boots. Laid the roof back in and made some door sill plates. Mounted and balanced the tires, bleed brakes, put the pipes on, and yes the doors. We'll be back, time for an intermission.
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