Projects The “truth” roadster build

This a car l brought a while ago. Credit to the previous owner and bodywork guys as it’s a really nice body which needs minimal work.
Original cowl and doors with a repro steel rear.
I am going to run the ch***is it came with but will have to box it due to engineering requirements down here.
It’s already stepped up a little at the rear and running a dropped original front axle.

 

I am planning to build it simple, not to shiny but sort of dependable , hey maybe like it’s owner.
I have never had a car before worthy of a name apart from the normal names like “you p.o.s “or “pile of **** “ but l had a few mates around having a few jars and the discussion turned to what l paid for the car and do you tell the missus the truth?
Anyways there was plenty of banter about telling the truth or not and it sort of stuck.

 

Will be running a 39 box with f1 style pedal ***embly and mechanical linkage.
I used a splined shaft from a mower deck which l was welded to the clutch shaft ,some machining involved but really simple.
It gives you plenty of scope to position the clutch actuator lever in the desired position
I did this on my 36 , works well [

 

The real "truth" is that it's a hole in the pavement to pour money into!!

 

The unfillable hole.

 

Some progress
Seat belt mounting points
Seatbelts will be a requirement for registration on this one

 

Frame horns were knocked around generally so l am in the process of fixing them up

 

A bit of grinding ****

 

Ripped the guts out of the fuel tank and going with this

 

Back into it
Going to run a tandem m/cyl with remote reservoir accessible through boot/trunk.
Will be pushing centre cross member back and boxing frame

 

Great roadster.

 

Enjoying the pics!

 

I call my chap the truth, CUZ WOMEN CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Nice work on the roadster! Cool gauge insert.

 

Was thinking of retaining the original cross member but l don’t think it will be required
Boxing etc to come

 

Stripping frame down to sandblast
I was bouncing around the idea of not blasting it in an effort to try and retain its patina/history /vibe but the reality is by the time l have boxed it and welded up excess holes what’s left of the old paint will be a mess .
My version on an “arty” shot

 

Back into it again
Dragged the ch***is table down from the loft , got it might as well use it.
Frame is in really good condition as far as rust but did have a reasonable bow in it , measured 5/16 in the middle, l have taken most of this out with a bit of “tweaking “. Heat and pulling.
Get it straight, fill some holes then box it

 

Bouncing around all over the place but it will all come together
Trying to come up with a new option for the torque tube centre bearing, experimenting with modern centre bearings
First one was a strike

 

The splined coupler was totally screwed

 

Starting to ***emble ch***is

 

Really happy with the gauge panel, poor man’s options, el cheapi gauges , popped of the gauge gl***es and put a cooler logo on them

 

Making a start on preparing body for paint
Lots of surface rust, l found the heavy rust actually came of cleaner than the lightly rusted
All came of reasonably easily with the wire wheel,
Whatever you do when you use these things l highly recommend using appropriate safety gear, at the very least safety gl***es.

 

Had a mate machine up the axle housing bearing surface so we could fit new sleeves/ hub bearings
Of course the housings had been pulled out of straight when the spring perches had been welded on. So he got the housings straight before commencing machine work.
Thanks Glenn , your work probably needs its own thread.
So the actual ***embly and set up of the rear end was reasonably straightforward and not as daunting as l thought it could be.
So l am now just mocking it up in the ch***is to check that the modified (shortened) tube and drive shaft are the correct length.[/ATTACH]

 

so while I was messing around with shortened drive shaft I thought it may be worthwhile checking it for straightness and of course one end was out .015 thou , which could not be great for the roller bearings in the torque tube or the u/j on the back of the gearbox. Through heating and quenching I was able to get it down to .003 which I can live with, I know quenching is probably not the best and .003 is not perfect but I'm going with it.

 

what is wrong w/ either of those factors??

 

I just figure if that solid drive shaft isn’t running true the roller bearings it runs in will get flogged out as well as pinion and u/j
Thoughts ?

 

No need for an additional bearing towards the rear of the torquetube since the pinion will hold the shaft where it needs to be. And no need for an additional bearing towards the front since every torquetube already has one there from the factory.

Only reason the midpoint bearing was added in the later 30’s was to prevent the whipping that the smaller diameter bar they used for the driveshaft was gonna give at those long lengths.

 

My dodgy drawing is not accurate enough, that rear roller is further forward, as out of factory, was just trying to convey my thoughts on a bent drive shaft.

 

Big milestone for me is putting the body back on the ch***is for hopefully the final time.
As mentioned earlier l decided to go with a remote fill master cylinder, l think l should have just gone the normal/ standard route and used just a standard under floor master cylinder accessed by a removable floor panel. I have ended up with a combination of hose and tube from master cylinder to reservoir with way to many joins, l could possibly have just used hose for the whole run but would still have had a number of joins . Note : there is a specific sae rated hose to use in an application like this .
Anyways l am very happy to be at this stage of build, looking like a car again and making progress.
Clutch hooked up and starting on bleeding brakes.

 

That’s gotta feel good to reach that point. Looking great. You’ll be blasting down the road in no time.

 

Awesome man