Projects Modified Lakester Build (THUNDERCASKET)

That's a lot of progress.

 

Not a whole lot of time in the shop this weekend. Ran an errand to go pick up some scrap drops from a friend's shop in Salem, which is like trying to drive into an ant farm, and once I was done with that, my neighbor, Paul, came by to inspect my progress. After all that excitement I was about done so I didn't get into much of anything other than setting myself up for Sunday.

I started off laying the second coat of the Rust Bullet on the frame with a 4" roller. That was SIGNIFICANTLY easier and better than the chip brush. Some of the fibers from my roller got pulled into the paint though but I need to scuff it down anyway so it won't really matter for the end result. I'm going to lay a skim of filler on it and top coat with a satin or semigloss white since the White Shell is a bit too slick looking for how I envisioned the car.




Having wet paint on the frame meant there was not much I could do IN the shop since I didn't want to kick up any dust, so the logical thing to check off the list was my new repop Lincoln front brakes. SO painting became the theme of the weekend since weather was good for it. I made some hooks and an improvised rack and laid down some VHT primer and white. Now when I putter around out there this week I can get to assembling them. I'd like to get my front end blown apart and painted too so I can assemble everything up there once with the new brakes ideally.






The OTHER news is that I bought an Allis Chalmers Tractor fuel tank. Plan is to split it and cut it down once I get the line from the cowl to the tangent on the curve then fill the middle to make the new nose.

 

Excited to see you have some paint going Pat! I also saved one of those tractor tanks a few years ago, i thought the curves maY be useful some day. Good luck!

 

Glad you are getting as far as pint is some places. Seeing the useful curves in old metal pieces is an art form in it's self, especially for those like me who have no idea of how to make them.

 

I've always liked these tanks since I saw a Modified built with one hanging off the back. They are really stout and have a great shape to them. So far 2 people have said it looks like a GIANT Harley tank, LOL.

EDIT: Here's the article from HOT ROD about the car I mentioned: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrxp-spring-2008-1929-ford-roadster-pickup/

It does indeed. I generally try to look at any piece of metal for its raw material and shape usage as best I can. The only thing about this tank that gives me pause is the metal it is made with. I think it may be 16ga which could complicate pulling dents and welding slightly. I've only found one dent so far but it's a bit deep. I have welded 18ga to 16ga before too so, also NBD.

Figuring out how to split that big seam is going to be the first big hurdle here.

 

I think I would try to just remove †he seam with my big belt sander or a cutoff wheel.

 

I'm thinking I will run a flap disk around the edge and over the flats on that big seam tab to try to figure out how the pieces are fused and go from there. Ideally I would like to have those ribs on there to work with; they might give it a neat look. If that just isn't feasible I will just cut along the seam above that rib on either side and be done with it. I don't think it will relax the shape much if at all.

 

Looking good! i was curious about that small gas tank was for from your IG post, but makes sense now i think! White chassis should look pretty cool too! good progress!

 

Well despite having to learn beginner dryer repair last week, I got a lot done. Brakes plates are fully painted and assembled (I had to scuff and re-coat them some). The frame got some internal coating sprayed in which was an awful mess; next time I will mask over all the holes before I use that stuff.



Put the wire wheel on the Eastwood SCT and finally got it to do something impressive (they really should ship with one). Took 8 years of shop crud and scale off my axle in minutes so I could wipe it down and lay some self etch primer.





Then on to the big stuff. @BOSTONCAMARO came by and we laid a skim of Bondo on the frame, sanded, and top coated with rattle cans. I slung the axle under there while I was at it and did it at the same time.






Now that this is done, I can move on to making a finished roller. Gotta get some paint on the wishbones after I finish weld and grind those hopefully this week. Then I can reassemble the front end. The rear end just needs to be cleaned up and painted. Then I will put it all back together and do brake lines.

After that I can take the engine whenever the machine shop gets my crank back from regrind/balance and assemble the bottom end for me.

 

WOW! That is some real visual progress. That is really tying it together in a nice way.

 

Have not been on here in a while. Looks like you are making great progress, looks good.

 

Trying to! No updates lately because it's all been setbacks. The last round of paint I did with rattle cans failed to cure after like 10 days and I ended up scratching the hell out of it when I put the body down on it. That and I didn't have milled spindles or want to grind mine to mount my new Lincoln brakes so I've been waiting for weeks on a new set from Speedway because they are backordered. Been feeling pretty frustrated.

 

OK, so, the paint seems a little less soft now so I may not need to strip all the way down. That's nice. Moving on though, since I still can't do much as far as assembly because of that and the backordered spindles, I've been looking for other "smaller" projects to start on. I made a portable fence and gate for the driveway to clear my head then started back in on the car.


(image because I'm pleased with it)

I don't NEED the dash done to drive the car but it was something I could actually start in on while waiting for thinner welding wire to show up (so I can finish weld the body without blowing through every other tack). So, out came the hammers!







After hitting it with hammers enough, I remembered I had a bead roller and used that. Then I remembered I bought a motor for it and the whole game has now changed. I got that mounted to my English Wheel frame with a simple bracket by blowing a couple half inch holes in a piece of angle iron. I cannot praise the Milwaukee step bits I just got enough; I have never made a half inch hole in steel that quick and clean before.




close enough is good enough.



Now, I really should have rolled the curve into the base piece I made instead of doing it straight then cutting it like I did with the original piece but I decided not to start over just for the sake of doing it "right" and made it work. I replicated the F100 dash rail using the tipping die for the second brake since the brake I built is a POS and my little HF couldn't do it either. Then I clamped a pipe down and bent the curve to match.




this was a bit of a mess.






This is how I left things.

I also mocked up a simple rear shock mounting idea that I want to try once I can assemble. It's just an 1/8" plate bolted in there to double up the rear crossmember with a shock stud put through it. Somewhere I have spring shackle shock mount plates that I'm going to try out back there. I'd had this little diversion brewing for a while.

 

That is really looking good!

 

THANKS! I'm about close enough to tack the new piece to the dash and do some trimming/fitting work then abandon this part of the build until I can install the steering again.

ALSO my new spindles finally shipped out and I will be able to make this thing a roller again this weekend so I will be pretty absorbed in that and rolling the chassis out to bake that soft rattle can paint in the sun.

FYI, Speedway seems to be pretty swamped so if you have orders that seem to be running behind, give them a call (and wait like 10 minutes on hold). Their order tracking system is not currently real-time and about a day behind what's actually gone out.

 

I have had a lot of trouble lately with shipping. Things in the USPS don't show up in tracking and are then delivered to the wrong address. (that is the local postal contractor idiot.) A lot of things on back order to the manufacturer. Hoping a front hitch/winch mount for my OT pickup ships by mid May!

 

Finally back on track to getting this thing rolling, steering, and stopping again.





@BOSTONCAMARO helped me get everything assembled and down off the horses without hurting myself and took a few of these pictures for me. I also got the F1 pedals and MC with the Old Yankee adapter bolted back in with the idea that I can start running lines soon.





Before my spindles showed up I got the new piece tacked on to the dash and started the long process of tuning the fit. more smacking, cutting, and bending to get it just right (enough) but it is getting close enough to be good enough. I could firm up this as it is and it will hold the instruments so I'm happy to just pick away at this now with the broad strokes handled.

 

Diggin your white chassis! Did the paint cure?

 

It seems to have mostly cured finally but it will certainly need to be touched up once we get some better weather and I can roll it outside in the sun.

 

OK, so, silly me, I thought I could run brake lines then immediately realized I had no Idea what to do so now I AM STUMPED AGAIN and don't know how to proceed. I have my master, 25' of 3/16" NiCop and the fittings it came with and I have borrowed bending and flaring tools. What is warping my brain is all the different fittings and brackets and how they all interact and what I need to buy to make this go. This all seems very unnecessarily difficult to me. I understand how the fittings work, I just don't know how to deal with the flex lines and connecting them to the system and tabs. I'm super frustrated.



HOW DOES THIS WORK?!

To balance out my frustration with actually tackling things I can do with what I know and what I have, My rear shock mounts have been a mystery for a while. Initially I had a stud at the end of the crossmember but that was a no-go. Moved those inboard a few inches and suddenly it's starting to come together.



A couple hours scratching my head and looking for ways to mount the shocks to the rear, it suddenly dawned on me that I had some cutoff steering arms on the shelf.



Not wanting to deal with welding or stripping the old chrome on these particular arms, I dug out another one I had. Hopefully I can get another one from the other side so I have a matched set to work with. Not sure how much it will matter since I'm going to need to trim so much off to bring things up above scrub line. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the tapered holes too but I'll figure that out.

 

These are on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/401024148488
The threaded ends of the rubber flex line from the backing plate go through them and are secured by the clip. You run the hard line from the master to where they connect and make the flair fitting. You may have to make the connection before installing the clip. There are also clips for securing the hard line to the frame.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/160410736921
https://www.ebay.com/itm/160918415253
I like the shock mounts.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I've got the general idea, it's just been over 20 years since I've done it and the scrambled disconnect between the parts I've got and what I need to connect them to is infuriating. I am still not sure what specific piece I use to connect the 3/8 hard line to the Dorman H4900 lines I have going to the repop Lincoln brakes up front or if I should just buy different lines entirely.

I also don't know how long of a flex line I can run down my torque tube which has me scratching my head because part of me wants to run a flex from the master to a T fitting and run hardline down the bones right into each wheel cylinder (instead of a hardline to a T on top of the rear end).

 

OK, I just realized the hoses have internal threads too and I'm no longer having a meltdown. Also, bless you @IronTrap because if I'm stumped on something, you usually already did a video on it.

 

Glad you got it. I think using the T on the rear axle gives a little more protection to the lines. Are you using a double master cylinder?

 

Yes, drum/drum double master with the Old Yankee 3/2 adapter to the F1 pedal assembly.

With this car, putting the lines on the rear and down the TT or one of the bones will be ugly and actually more exposed because of how the rear end sits proud out back with the spring ahead. Running down each of the rods to each WC will be more attractive and less exposed to damage.

Just ordered a bunch of tabs, clamps, and clips so hopefully I will be in bznz this weekend. I don't have a torque tube in the car so I probably need to wait to run the rear lines. I may be able to get the V run made up the radius rods to the rear WCs though.

Can't waid to make myself insane figuring out how to run fuel lines and wires!

 

Sounds like you have it under control. There will be plenty of time to fret about fuel line and wires when the brakes are done.

 

Well after getting some more parts in the mail and borrowing some 5/8f nuts from my neighbor to hold the WC lines, I got a start on building the front end brake line system. I may end up re-doing or re-making all of these lines because I am not sure I am totally happy with them or if I made my flares good enough every time, but I'm getting the hang of it at least.

This is roughly where I am at now.


I am still waiting on retaining clips so I really can't do as much in the way of getting this more than roughed in. The line across the front will more than likely get re-made but it has done well to solve the problem of routing this one. I had it hanging free the first time I put it in there and immediately got spooked by it (see below) so this is a re-bend. I think I am good with the routing on the Pas side, then I will go up on top of the crossmember (clamp it there), then up and over the perch, then over to the driver side in a less mangled bend than what's there now. I may put some hose protector on the part that goes over the perch for good measure.

Here's the scary run I undid so you can shame me:

 

That looks good. Are you going to be able to run that radiator? I'm in hunt for one for my Chevy now. In some ways Ford guys are lucky.

 

I sure hope so. It held water last I checked. We shall see. It's a couple modified Ford tanks with a honeycomb that must have been built by a radiator shop likely for a sprint car many, many moons ago. It's nice and narrow. You may have luck hunting out old sprint car radiators or possibly use a 64 Falcon/Mustang radiator. There are also Honda Accord radiators that are super small out there for like $40.

 

Looking good