Introducing my Fuel Coupe-styled Tudor

Looks killer man!

 

It's looking good Gary. I like the front spreader bar moved forward!

On a side note regarding 17 year old sons, has your son begun working on his own car? My boy bought an 03 V6 Mustang last October and I gave him a set of GT wheels for it. We also lowered it a little at that point. Now he has decided it needs to be a skosh lower, so we're going to cut another half coil all the way around. His growing interest is exciting to me.

 

Good to see your still plugging away, I saved this photo of a center steer off the net a few months back and I think it goes right along with your build.

 

Cool build man ! When I hear "Fuel Coupes/Sedans", it reminds me of a small Car Craft mag. I saw
in about '58. It had an article about a '40 Ford 2 door sedan with a straight 8 Buick engine.
The title of the article was "Buick On Juice Hauls A House!"

 

Thanks much for the kudos, guys.

Dave,
Sounds like you've taught your son well. The hot rod bug hasn't infected mine yet, though he's attended several NHRA Nats & the Jalopy Showdown, and knows basic maintenance- brakes, oil changes, etc. I think as he drives more and our Model A becomes driveable, it will...

Swade41,
Oh yeah! That's what I'm shooting for, but street legal. Thanks for posting!

 

I made two rectangular 1.5"x1.5"x 1/8" angle frames to enclose the gas tank; a 17 gallon aluminum RCI #2171A.




The top frame bolts to tabs welded to existing body panel seams...


...while the bottom frame bolts to the subrails & more body panel seam tabs.


Fill-ups are via an external cap in the driver's side sail panel...


...then through a modified '46-'48 Ford fill tube from HAMBer nwclassics, an adapter sleeve & hose from <www.fillernecksupply.com > , to a 45* angled filler from HAMBer Flatheadjohn47. It took me a week of eyeball-engineering before I figured how to cut up the fill tube so it would penetrate the body purpendicularly.

 

Separating the tank from back seat passengers is a 3-piece, 18 ga. steel bulkhead.

They're just two hammer-formed front pieces, flanged and screwed together, topped by a small horizontal "package tray", sporting a removable inspection panel.
Seam-sealer around the edges should make them gas odor-tight & NHRA-legal.



The stock hump & floor wouldn't clear the differential & panhard bracket at full compression.



So I hammer-formed a back seat floor panel & massaged a T-350 pan into a new hump (they'll soon be plug welded together):


Everything is intended to be race car simple- even Spartan - but neat, not butchered.



Big thanks to Dean (Dino64) and Fitnessguy for convincing/ inspiring me to use weld nuts & 1/4"-20 machine screws for a more finished result.


Next up is the trans tunnel.

 

Gary,
Will the back seat passengers still have enough leg room. Nice job on the tank/seat area work. Very cool ideas on the pan!
Paul

 

Gary. I did my hump for the pan hard bar in the coupe with a 350 trans pan also. Great minds think alike . LOL. Looks really nice Gary. She is going to be a wild beast.

 

Gary - thanks for documenting this very interesting build. You are too modest, downplaying your skills. Fabrication takes vision, it's easy to tell you have that. Love the tire tech, great results.

 

Gary, have enjoyed your posts and always wondered about your avatar pic. Well, I wonder no more! Can't believe that I missed your build, this is going to be one fine machine. Plenty of great ideas, Clint Eastwood and how to prevent black boogers, what else could one ask for in a thread?! Keep Us posted, Carp.

 

Alright ! Lookin' good Gary, that modified oil pan was very clever.

 

Look What I Found Today!

 

Paul; yes, there should be enough back seat leg room for kids or adults on short trips. I think the back seat will come forward about 6" and the front seat back about 2".

 

Fabulous build thread.

 

Oh YEA, this is getting good.

 

Thanks for the compliments, guys. They're much appreciated.

My transmission tunnel is a copy of TomT's & Dino 64's, but it's asymetric to hug the trans as closely as possible.
It begins with an arched 18 ga. firewall lip, just high enough to access the engine-trans bolts.

Next was a "perimeter flange"; made of 1.25" wide strips of 16 ga sheetmetal, temporarily screwed to the floorboards and firewall lip.


The driveshaft tunnel design is still a big unknown, so a scrap of brake tubing keeps everything temporarily aligned at that end.


Iterative CAD (Cardboard-Aided Design) produced tunnel templates....


...followed by 18 ga. steel, bent over a 6" pipe.


I whipped up a simple fixture from an old bedframe and bolted the tunnel to it. It gives easy underside access while (hopefully ) minimizing welding warpage.


Tack, grind, hammer/dolly, repeat. I alternated welding the seams from both above & below to minimize distortion, using my trusty Lincoln 140c.


Then I filed the seams smooth. A Dremmel worked well along the flanged sides....


...and sanded the whole thing with #120 on a jutterbug:


Finally, 1/4" x 20 weld-nuts & stainless machine screws look racy & hold everything together.

 

Great job, that fixture worked really well, wish I had thought of that when I did mine. Asymmetrical designs difficult, nice work.

 

Man, that's a beautiful bit of craftsmanship and it also highlights how tiny these Little people Hotrods are...sometimes I feel like a Sowbug rolling up into a ball to get in the Ole Sport Coupe...and to think theres 3...?...I just re-read I think 2 pedals and a column and your feet going in there...

I guess its a Hotrod and fit is not always a perfect thing as its not the main focus so we make it work as best we can.

 

Looks great Gary, and not a easy piece to fab. Very well done.

 

Nice man

 

This is the same look I'm after with my 28 Tudor, right down to the tank, I have the same one. You are doing an amazing job, going to be following this for sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

Back when he assembled my frame, @oj inadvertently convinced me that Model A front frame horns (~4" shorter & ~0.5" thinner) look lighter & more racy than Deuce horns:


So I whacked off the ends, sliced lengthwise slivers...


...and squeezed them together, capping the ends with 2" OD x 1/8" thick tubing half-circles.

Then finished by welding & grinding everything, & filing the edges to a consistent radius:


They may get boxed later; after finalizing shock absorber & headlight mounts.

Then, I notched the frame for front spring clearance. The U-shaped notches are two 1.5" x 1/8" thick L's welded together.


The spring (and therefore, the notches) isn't quite perpendicular to the frame rails, due to the pinched front end, axle's caster, & car's rake.

Also, I followed @C9's (RIP) recommendation to slightly angle each notch so it parallels the spring's arch where the spring might bottom-out against it.... instead of letting the spring hit a corner of a horizontal notch, which would result in a high stress in a small area.

(Yeah- I tend to geek-out over minutia...)

Tacked and rechecked, then the MIG was cranked up to "11" for good penetration. Finally, rough edges were ground smooth.


The frame isn't boxed inside the front cross-member. For peace-of-mind, I added a small stiffening brace between the top of the notch and the cross-member.


One step closer to driving this thing!

 

Great job, one step closer


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Looks great - you know it’s all in the details!

 

You're doing a killer job Gary!

 

Did you weigh the "take outs?" Were the man-hours worth the weight? I know, it all adds up, eventually.... just saying. Gary

 

Very nice Gary.

 

Any updates on this one?

 

Look, Ma- no jackstands!

The chassis is finally a roller:




Still a bazillion tasks: driveshaft & loop, front shocks, rearend vent & copper washers, hard lines, yada yada yada...

Meanwhile, Frederick County Customs < http://powdercoatingfccva.com/ > "dust-less" blasted & epoxy-primed the 91-year-old body using crushed bottle glass & water. They took a while but the price was fair and it came out really nice- only two minor "surprise rust spots" and despite the low-crown sheetmetal, no warpage.
Thanks to @oj and @Dino 64 for recommending them.


Bob, my friend with the trailer, is a local hot rodder from way back who was so happy to help that he gave me his koozie from the '74 Timonium, MD Street Rod Nats. I've been needling him to dust off his Mopar-powered '34 Dodge pickup.


Some stance fine-tuning is needed, but I'm pretty happy so far.










Two more A Tudor bucket seats came from a Ford Barn ad.
I'd tried a pair of Austin Healey/MG seats & considered fiberglass buckets, but these seem the best combo (old Ford/ racecar spartan/ '60's hot rod) that still allows rear access & space for four. They'll look bitchin' in black tuck & roll.


Finally, my Father's Day gift is flanges & collectors from < http://www.headersbyed.com/ > and J-bends from Summit to make my own headers. Should be fun!