Projects 1940 American Bantam Woody Convertible Build

Welcome back. I haven't done anything on the Austin either. Patiently waiting on your project to learn what mistakes to avoid.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Build a second (wood body) car?
How about something very historic but probably never done?

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/...929-cunningham-model-v-8-carved-panel-he****/

 

that's the most important thing. hobbies are good at waiting for us to show attention. thanks for keeping up the thread!

 

Sometimes, you need to take a bit of time away from a project to really figure out where you are going with it. If you haven't noticed, I have been a bit absent from posting progress on my car for quite a while. Likely, there wont be many posts for a while as my attention is currently on wrapping up a couple of other projects. I hope you have all managed to stay healthy and occupied.

For those of you who have been watching, I'll share some of my current thoughts/plans for the project:

Driveline-

Transmission: The overdrive plan appears to be dead. I have been waiting for about 2.5 years for the vendor I reached out to help with the build to make some progress. None has been made. I think his interests shifted and he realized the parts I sent to him wouldn't work as neatly together as we hoped. Unless I can find a 39-41 Studebaker/Willys/Nash T-84, I will probably relent and accept that these Bantams generally thrive in the upper RPM range. So, my plan is currently to use an Austin 7 4 speed transmission. It's a more straight forward swap, however it won't do much for the top end.

Engine: The Judson blower is out and I have decided to go for a VW Pepco which I picked up. There is something about needing to feed the blower with a constant supply of marvel and be considerate of vane/rotor wear that makes me want to avoid the Judson altogether. I have another engine plan in the works, Bantam based of course, however that will be the topic of a future post.

Rear: As the O/D may be on the way out, I've considered a two speed Columbia rear out of a 6 cylinder Auburn. However, these are supposed to be quite heavy, so I don't really think that adding unnecessary unsprung weight is a great idea.

Body:

Inner structure: I stalled around the time I was working on making patters for cast iron body supports. I froze at the thought of making them interface with the rocker panels at the wrong angle and ending up a complete waste of resources. The new plan calls for a subframe/birdcage to make sure the body is rigid and can hold up to the added weight of the wooden body and the lack of central support. The rectangular tubing I bought will work for the rockers, but there will be a few pieces that not only connect the front body mount to the rear, but to also go from side to side. I am more confident in this plan to overcome the inherent problems with the convertible Bantam bodies..

That's about all for now. Thank you for your continued interest and Happy New Year!

 

I still have that Suzuki 4 speed transmission if you want it.

 

I appreciate your offer and will definitely consider it.

Today, something elusive followed me home. A person on facebook was actually selling a 1941 Willys overdrive transmission.

In the photo, you can see the Willys side shift transmission next to a Bantam top shift case for the sake of comparison. There is a lot to consider as to how I would want to make this set up work. However, it is going to go in a corner for a while until I get the chance to mount it into my ch***is for mock up purposes to understand how the side shift levers will intrude into the driver side floor and how the longer input shaft will impact the installation as well.

 

Four years goes by fast. This project has been shelved while I try to clean up a number of other projects that I no longer need. While the dolly with the body has been dis***embled and everything has been put in the corner, I hope that I will get back to this project in the not too distant future. However, there are two big projects, which are each smaller than this project that I need to tend to first. Thank you to those of you who have commented and supported this project along the way.

 

We’re here waiting with bad breath for when you need us!