Projects Altered Drag Car Build

One step forward, two steps back with regards to using the original frame mounts to locate the bellhousing. After getting an engine mocked in place it was pretty clear that the driveshaft angle was too severe. The driveshaft will be less than 12" long for the small block set up and about 10" longer for the flathead drivetrain. Looks like the engine needs to drop about 2" to get an acceptable angle. Plan is to section the existing frame mounts, lower them the required 2" and then build the front frame mounts to accommodate the Hurst crossmember. Using the Hurst crossmember will allow both a SBC and a flathead to use the same front mount.

Oh yeah, the headers I was hoping would work bend in too far and hit the frame.

 

White knuckle indeed with that rear axle! Good save!
On the headers, either make a slice along the top of the tubes an inch or so out from the flange and weld it up or just get everything cherry red and pull! Old school would be the second!

 

Spent a couple mornings this past week getting the engine located so that the driveshaft angle was acceptable. Started by sectioning and lowering the existing mounts a little over 2". Dropped the drivetrain back in to check transmission output to rearend pinion and was happy where things were.


Moved on to the front mounts to accommodate the Hurst crossmember for the SBC or the flathead water pump mounts.


Pretty happy with the way things ended up. The height of the engine relative to the grill shell and cowl looks pretty similar to a lot of old pictures of similar builds. Bottom line is everything was dictated by rearend position anyway. I'll definitely need to run a hydraulic throwout bearing as the is no space between the bellhousing and framerail to fit an arm in there.

 

Getting a few things finished up before the chassis gets fully welded.

I found a 3 row aluminum radiator for a Volvo application that fits the radiator shell pretty nicely and should allow some flexibility in run time. The bottom has a post for a saddle mount and the shell will retain it from the top. The shell is removed with four bolts to access the cap. It'll require some reducers to make up with the larger engine inlet and outlet.

Made up some simple mounts to locate the fuel tank centered on the front crossmember.

 

Slow week, didn't accomplish much on the car itself, but hit a couple swap meets this weekend and last and picked up parts I needed.
Last weekend I found a small diameter starter that I'll need to clear the framerail and a new waterpump; total expenditure of $30.
This weekend I found a nice set of no name finned valve covers with breathers for a good price.
Also picked up the driveshaft. You'd think it'd be cheap since it's only 10 1/2" long but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

 

Great save, will look period correct when done, and you will have fun !

 

Nice progress!

 

Looks great. And yea, drive shafts are expensive to have custom made. The one I had made for my drag coupe, well I nearly shit when the builder told me what my bill was.

 

I'm sure going to miss my mentor and machinist friend when it's time for my driveshaft.

 

Hey Whiteknuckle.... take a look at this photo. I'd bet you a coffee it could be the same car. The car in this photo was Lou Allevo's "Chicken Little". He ran Chicken Little in mid 60's and then bought my Uncles Super T altered in early 70's. I'll look and see what other pictures I may have. Drop me a note, I can give you some history on Lou. Lou and his brother Joe ran at Connecticut Dragway a lot back in the day. Lou and Joe have both passed, but I've talked to Joe and Lou Jr during my search for the Super T. Red car is a fiberglass body, but there are a ton of similarities.

 

Steady progress in between plowing and shoveling snow.

The valve covers I picked up were missing one breather cap so I machined up a pair.



Got the F1 steering box cleaned up, painted and rebuilt.



The door was pretty rotted out so instead of putting the time into it I found a reasonably priced one on eBay that should save me quite a bit of time.


Started fixing the rot in the bottom of the body. Still need to cut out a little bit of the reveal and fab a patch but I'm happy with a couple afternoons of work. It's cool when you think about this body being over 100 years old.

 

Nice save!
Will you be able to use that tube frame for the door? It doesn't look as lace-like as the skin.

Will the center rad support be enough? I'd consider one on each side.

 

It's coming together nicely, great job.

 

I'll transfer the tubing to the new door, most likely with some additional bracing if I make the door functional.

The radiator actually has a post in the center and is intended to be mounted that way on the bottom. There are uprights off the frame that support the grill shell and the radiator is sandwiched between the uprights and the shell.

 

I needed a radiused reveal in a panel to patch the last remaining rotted out portion of the non functional "door". I made a buck out of some aluminum and MDF board that provided the channel for the reveal. I radiused the end of a small piece of steel to mimic the shape of the reveal to serve as a punch. A panel was clamped to the buck with vise grips and I started hammering away. I was expecting to have to go through some trial and error but was pleasantly surprised to get a good result on the first try.

 

Looks great! Curious - what gauge metal is the patch? Diggin’ this thread…

 

Relatively heavy, 19 gauge

 

After blasting, the replacement door needed a little more rust repair than anticipated, but it gave me an opportunity to hammer out a couple more patch panels with curved reveals.



I transferred the tubing and latch from the original door. The lower hinge that was welded onto the body had been shorted at some point so the pivot was too close to the body and placed the door too far inward to be able to close. Luckily the replacement door came with a full hinge assembly. The new hinge was relatively easy to locate into the body recess so now I've got a functional door for those of us that aren't quite as nimble as we used to be.

 

A little of this and a little of that since my last post.
A friend brought his welder over and we started finish welding the chassis today. Probably another day and it'll be finished.



Had to modify the Hurst front motor mount to accommodate the more modern large crank damper.


Pulled an engine out of storage that I previously ran in an off topic Camaro. It had some drag race oiling mods that didn't appreciate long stretches of highway driving with 4.56 gears and I took out a roller lifter and cam lobe. Luckily the bottom end was unscathed so it received new main bearings as long as I was in there. The cam and lifters will be replaced with a marketplace find to keep things low buck. This was a strong motor in a 3000lb Camaro so it'll probably be scary in this thing.

 

No one enjoys doing this, do they?

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I sure as Hell don't!!!

 

Schneider cams can fix that camshaft if its otherwise a good cam. there prices are way cheeper then buying a new one.

 

My buddy has a cam, lifters and pushrods that I can use, but I'll check that out. Thanks

 

All the chassis welding is complete and I've started to pretty up at least the visible areas.


My shop is already enough of a mess so hopefully it warms up quickly so I can do all this dusty work outside.

 

this was a crowd favorite in 1970 Hughes brothers 23 T 289 4 speed. love your new car RLS

 

Thank goodness for a 70° day where I could work outside. Finished the heavy filling of the chassis and got everything covered with primer.

 

Powell Machine can as well, cost was $170 , at least just a few months ago it was.
They are in South Carolina.
They can also change the grind spec if you want to try a different duration.

 

Still waiting for better weather to do filling, sanding and priming outside. Had snow here in central New York earlier this week but I think it's finally turning for the better.
Been picking away at the drivetrain in the meantime. Got the rear end center section cleaned up and put back together with new bearings. I assume the extra 1/4" strap on the ring gear side is a period modification to beef things up.


Freshened up a 400 that I had laying around that had previously eaten up a cam lobe and roller follower. Replaced the cam and followers with a buddy's marketplace find roller cam of similar specifications and threw some bearings in the bottom end. The tri-power was put together for my still unfinished '32 PU but it's the only induction system I have that is period correct for this build. The headers will need replacement or significant modification to clear the framerails. A rebuilt magneto that was a relatively cheap auction score tops things off.

 

The only concern with that strap is if it's not got washers between it and the cap it to tighten on the cap ends as designed. I'd want to torque with just the cap, and check with a bore gauge, then do it again with the strap too. Make sure it's not clamping in the middle of the cap, pinching the bearing.

 

When you use those straps you fit them to the cap so it doesn't cause the problem you are talking about.
But good point.