Right ! Rome wasn't build in a day !!!! They worked LOTS of nights !!!!!! Love your projects, Carry on Please....
Its been a long time. but with me beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the 2BitT chassis build (HERE) I'm starting to plan for the next thing to be on the chassis table. Well, this is it. since the last update I did, over 11 years ago, I have done... some stuff. The root of this car not getting done lies in that I had no clue what I was doing when I started building it. The chassis is on point, cause I had help from my buddy Mike on it, but here, 11 years later, I've never finish welded it. I did build (Overbuild) a structure for the inside of the body out of 1x1 square tube. THAT will be getting cut back out. I have learned a lot of stuff on the 5 cars I've partially or fully built since then, and now feel confident enough to tackle tearing the car back apart. One of the good things I did since the last post, was install a 28-29 model a cowl, and a aluminum Hallock style windshield. Controversially I will be swapping the rear quarters from the Speed coupe project (HERE) so it will basically be a model a with short T doors. anyway, I had it outside for my open house last year, and since then it had just had parts piled in it. We bought a bunch of parts here awhile back, when I first started my chassis table build, and I'm pretty stoked to start pulling it apart. I got it partially cleaned out last night, and started poking around it figuring out what I wanted to do. there are a few changes to the chassis to make, after having such good success with the quarter elliptical springs in my roadster, I bought a set for the rear of this thing. I also may have figured out a sneaky way to put the tie rod behind the axle after all (I'm trying REAL hard) And lastly, I'm gonna swap the giant blob of fun-sucking auto-matic out of it, for the camaro T5 I picked up a couple years ago. should make it good fun. .
once I start on it full time I will swap it into my signature. don't wanna get in too much of a hurry.... the rest of this has only taken like 13 years. (tech tip though, all of my build threads are easily accessible through links on my profile page.)
IT HAS BEGUN! last weekend mike came over to hang out and offered to help work on stuff, so while I worked on the current chassis (SEE HERE) I put him to work cutting the whole back end off the old roadster project. I snagged the rear quarters out of my pile, and slapped em on for a look. it was a nice enough day to roll it outside and figure out the profile. all the trunk structure is GONE now. Once we got it outside, I decided that the rear didn't quite look right. A little fiddling, and I moved the quarter back about an inch. Much better. then I proceeded to take a bunch of pictures. after a long week of working 12 hour shifts, on nights, plowing snow, I just needed to take a break from the frame for a minute, and decided I would do some sheetmetal work. I cut apart the rear quarters, and took the catwalk panel out (it needs narrowed an inch or two) and started trimming to get them to sit right. I was trying to figure out how I was gonna build the door pillar, and add an inch to the front of the quarter, and then I found a pair of four door model a B-pillars, which should work killer. It's coming together. I need to roll it out and see if the profile is still good. and I've got a bunch of working to do, building all the structure for the rear. but it's started! first real progress since 2019. stay tuned, once the Two-bit-T chassis is done, it will be hammer down on this one. .
Pushing the quarter back was a smart idea. Good call. Might want to shove it outside today or tomorrow before it snows again. Blah
And so it continues. I did a bunch of mocking up with the quarters and the seat pads out of my roadster, and determined that the seat bases need to be lower than the top frame edge. Its really hard to get the seat low enough in the cockpit, so you can be protected behind the Hallock windshield. This posed a problem with the rear hairpins that we have had mocked up in the car, and I even considered a truck arm setup, but it still would be too tall at the rear of the seatpan. So as you can see in the following photos, I have moved on a four bar setup, with the lower links sunk into the framerails. I also dug out my mockup trans and started mocking the manual that is replacing that lump of no-fun automatic transmission. You can also see the exhaust routing I'm playing with. with the seat sunk into the frame, it takes up all the space for exhaust, so I'm going to run a crossover pipe in front of the oil pan, and one 3" pipe beside/under the driveshaft/trans area. originally I had planned on putting the muffler under the passengers feet, but it was gonna take up too much room, and would probably turn the floor into a frying pan. I moved up front to play with the steering, and I think I've determined a way to make the steering work behind the spring (not with these steering arms) the biggest issue is that dad wants front brakes, and the only way to make them look decent is to install them on the back/bottom side of the spindle, which is right where the steering arms want to be. So its looking like a custom built set of steering arms may be in order. Here you can get an idea for where the lower links are going on (in) the frame. I'm going to cut the bottom flange of the frame off, and box the inside above the four bar link. hard to explain, but you'll see as we go along. here's a rough estimate of where the upper bars will go, on a cross member that will be above the frame, behind where the seat backs go. they will be shortened up and there will be a quarter elliptical spring that mounts in there too. I also played more with exhaust, and should have room at the back, in front of the rear axle, for the muffler to mount. It looks like a mess, cause it is. but after a week of plowing snow on night shift, and just trying to stay alive, I hope to be back on the 2bitT chassis next week, and get it out of the shop, so this frame can go up on the table. till next time! .
Haha I've only gotten one flat tire in 15k miles, so I think I'm doing pretty good. On this car I actually installed another leaf in the front spring so I could figure out the new ride height with the shorter front tires.
Still at it, continuing to mock up stuff. I notched the spring perch to fit the tube, so I could mock up the spring on the passenger side. I'm about ready to make some front mounts so I can cut these bars down. It's hard to get a shot of all the stuff going on here, but this is a pretty good view the bar heights still need to move around a bit, but I did pick up a couple mounts that I can cut up and use (misuse?) to mount stuff. I also got a set of steering arms I could modify to clear the brake caliper and also put the steering behind the spring. The start: Once clearanced for the caliper, I welded a piece of 3/16 wall 3" tube to the bottom, and then fashioned a cardboard template of the arm. I then made a test version from 1/8 plate, and with some extra clearance it fit great. On to a version cut from 3/16 plate, and welded together. It will get gusseted, and a 3/16 thick flange welded around the outside edge to make it super stout. The curve goes around the caliper, (slid all the way in on the pins) is slightly longer than the stock ones, and checked for Ackermann. you can see how the top part clears the caliper It looks a little flimsy here, but believe me, it will be solid once I'm done. All this work to hide these goofy front brakes. but it will look good when its done. .
Now that the 2 bit T is gone, and my T is back on the road, I decided to start cranking on this one again. I moved a bunch of stuff around in the shop, and temporally moved my frame table outside. So, of course, had to take an outside photo she's LOW. one of the things I have to do, to clear the steering, is move the motor and radiator back a couple inches (it will have a full hood when its done that will hide it) So I needed to move the motor mounts, and even though I had spent a lot of time on these in years past, I've never really liked them. Most of my problems stemmed around the stupid looking tubular mount that was on the block, and having had trouble with motor mounts on my car, I thought these looked like they would have a lot of weird leverage. so I cut them up. and then re-organized the pieces... much better. once I box the front rails, I'll make some plates that box the frame side mounts into the framerail better. small steps in the right direction. .
Joe, you described it and showed your work. Great job. However, the one picture I left in the quote shows the caliper slid all the way OUT, not in. With the rotor and pads installed, that caliper is going to be further in. Maybe you do have room and it just got moved before the pic, but it didn't show in the other pics. I trust your work, just wanted to mention this.
yeah, I noticed that when I posted the photo and wondered if anyone would catch it. Its in the out, or clamped position, cause I pushed it out to make it easier to mock up the arm. It DOES fit with the caliper in the released or "IN" position as well. thanks for the note.
I figured as much. I wasn't trying to call you out, you know what you are doing. I wanted to note it so anyone who tries to follow your footsteps isn't confused by the word and pic not jibing. Of course I had to be the proof reader!
well I had a productive weekend, even though I didn't get to work on it Sunday. I was able to use a bunch of scrap 3/16 plate I had, and turn it into smaller pieces of scrap. Friday night I finished up the passenger side motor mount, and added a curved piece of 1/8 to the top. I still have to figure out how I'm finishing the back edge off. (the weird sharp corner) I also got the frame side mounts tacked into place. They lined up with a hole in the top of the frame so I rosette welded them in as well. the boxing plates will get welded in around them, and they will be beefy. It sits nicely. moving back on saturday, I started on the trans crossmember I added a tube for the exhaust to route through. it will be 2.5" pipes, with a y into a single 3" pipe going back. and I worked up a little trans mount for it. and mocked into place. I'm going to drill a couple holes into the mount so I can take the trans mount loose from the bottom of the trans. I'm gonna try and route the exhaust as close to the center as possible so the seat can be down in the frame rails. and i'll snake the 3" pipe down the passenger side of the trans. Dunno if I noted it anywhere, but I moved the frame table directly outside of the shop for the time being, and it has freed up so much room. Dad came up and hung out in the chair while I welded on stuff. It was a good chill day. .
Any reason to not weld a nut on the under side and have the bolt drop on from the top? Then you can unbolt it with out getting under it. Considering that your cars are inches off the ground and the trans is going to have to come out through the top it seems like it might be easier?
I know it seems odd for me, but this car will have a full trans tunnel, and it will be open to the ground. So it will have to go from the bottom.
Darn near every trans uses threaded hole to attach the mount from under. https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=transmission mount Access is tight from above and doesn't have a flat face. I'd also venture a guess that if the trans mount is coming off, it's getting pretty deep so ground clearance is up on jack stands by that point! Oh, Joe already responded!
With Joey it’s best to assume what ever he is doing is the opposite of conventional which is what prompted my question haha
I had a couple nights this week to work on the roadster, and started to get somewhere with the exhaust. If you remember, my plan is 2 into 1, with a single pipe going back on the passenger side. so with a few pointers from mike, I made a merge. I had lots of help. as usual, everything is tight. I continued back from the merge, with a V band clamp and some 3 inch pipe snaking as close to the trans as I could. and then I continued out the back. I'll hang the muffler once I figure out the crossmembers in the rear of the frame. with that sorted, I could move on to trying to sort out the floor. like my T , its gonna have a floor that sits level with the bottom of the frame, but it will have a built in bump for the the exhaust, and a removable upper trans tunnel, with the trans/exhaust tunnel open to the underside. slowly plugging along. .
Looks great....amazing to fit it all so tight. What will you use for insulation over the pipe tunnel in the floor....that's gotta get mucho warm-o.
yes, she's a hard nosed boss as can be found Its on the passenger side, so I don't care. nah, just kidding, the bottom side will be open, so that will help move the heat out, and I'll put some killmat type stuff on the tunnel, maybe inside and out? Last resort I wrap the tube with header wrap, but honestly my first test will be just driving the car and seeing HOW hot it gets. .
Got a few minutes in the shop last night, and did some plasma cutting on 3/16 plate, building the floor and a little rib for the edge. You can see the slits I cut in the middle of it so I could bend the plate to match my framerail. I'm thinking I may look for a piece of large diameter exhaust tube to build the exhaust hump, otherwise I might have to run over to my buddy with a slip roll. I'm gonna have to narrow a clutch Z bar, and get the linkage kinda sorted before I get too far building the floor on the driver side. .
The Jalopy Journal
