Hot Rods The (mis) Adventures of a Compulsive Tinkerer

I like the 6.40 profile...

 

Those tires fill the rim perfectly.

 

Made a little progress with the tires today. My inner tubes arrived along with the break-in oil so I mounted the other slick and put them up against the bed on each side. I was able to get an inside to inside measurement from which I could determine the rear end width needed. 57 1/4” would be perfect. I have a 9” pickup rear end that I could cut down but….
Speedway shows a 9” housing and axles for $688. They come in 56, 58 and 60” widths. The 58” one will be fine. The picture shows three bolt patterns in each axle, if that’s true it would be great, I have a few different wheels and I would have some choices. I’ll call them tomorrow to verify everything.
I think that I’ll buy the Speedway rear end and sell the two 9” and one 8” that I have. It’ll offset the cost and make some room in the shop. Extra bonus - it’ll be clean, I won’t have to deal with cleaning out the stinky old gear lube. Yep, that does it, I’m gettin’ the new one. LoL.

 

Budget36 mentioned the rear fenders. I scrounged around today and found the bobbed fenders that I have. They came on a little trailer I bought years ago made from a Model A pickup bed. They’re not perfect but I thought they were cool I just haven’t had anything to use them on. So today I decided to mock up tires and fenders. I moved some junk to get a better photo angle.
The stock ‘33 fender….


The fenderless look….


And two angles with the bobbed fenders….

The bobbed fenders are actually a left and a right. I think this one actually belongs on the driver’s side but you get the point. It was pouring rain and this fender was the easy one to grab. I like the look with slicks and Halibrands, reminds me of Hugh Tucker’s AA/SR.
Also note that the current height works well with the fenders, but without the fenders I would lower the back to make the tire radius match the bed reveal or lower.

 

I like either, but sure like the originals better. I just like the “swoop” in the back.
But I’ve no doubt you’ll sort it out as you want it to look.

 

Yeah, just looking at options. My first choice is full fenders. I’m hoping to find some decent front fenders and running boards. But I have always wanted to use those bobbed fenders….

 

Go Bobbed Bob!

 

This whole project started because of a Weesner print that I saw and bought. I like everything about this truck, even the candy tangerine paint and white and orange interior. That’s why I lean towards full fenders.

Unfortunately, my wife doesn’t like orange cars so it will be dark gray hot rod primer at first. It will probably end up blue or light metallic green if I get that far.
(Credit: amazing artwork by Keith Weesner)

 

I cut out my previous Buick mounts today clearing the way to install the new boxing plates. I used my new cordless grinder from HF with a Dewalt cutoff wheel. It kicks ****. I’m not a big HF guy but this grinder is great.

The PO had removed the rivets and bolted the front crossmember in with grade 8 bolts. I’ve modified ‘33-‘34 front crossmembers to drop the front an extra inch before and I was thinking about doing that, but I was also thinking about maybe installing a Model A crossmember. I have a really nice one that I can use. I’ve done it to ‘32 frames but I’ve never done it to a ‘33-34. It looks like it would give me a little more drop than cutting up the ‘33 crossmember.

Almost a 2” drop at the spring mounting point. It might affect the lower radiator hose but from my recent fit check, the radiator needs work anyway.

 

While I let my poor old brain mull over the front suspension, I decided to get out the starter for the new Stude engine and see if it fits. The Wilcap adapter uses a Mopar starter, part numbers are listed in the instructions. I bought a starter on sale a long time ago so I got it out and bolted it up to the adapter plate. I’m not real happy. The solenoid sticks straight out the side. There’s only three alternate positions and they all stick the solenoid out where the steering box and stuff are.

I can rotate the whole starter up and drill new mounting holes in the adapter but one hole will be very close to the edge. I will probably do that.
I do have another starter that might fit better. It came with the other Pontiac engine. I’ll pull it off tomorrow and see if it fits.

 

I love me some Baurer.
Yes, I’m a HF guy!

 

Would a mini indexable starter work?

 

This one is indexable but only has three positions. ?? It doesn’t change very much.
It never fails, you buy something you know you’re going to need way ahead of time and either it doesn’t fit or it doesn’t work when you finally try to use it.
It doesn’t matter, I can swap with the other Pontiac or go upstairs and get out the one that came with the Hemi to TH400 adapter that I bought long ago. I’m sure one of them will fit.

 

I got out the boxing plates just to see how well they fit. They look really good.
(Yeah, I know they go on the inside)


This is the radiator problem that I mentioned earlier…..

 

What side is the top hose on?

 

I’ll have to go look. I’m not really sure that that’s the correct radiator but it was the only old one there when I bought the truck. The seller didn’t seem to know either.
I bought this little truck as a basket case, it was spread all over a storage space along with construction equipment. My wife and I partially ***embled it with the help of the seller and his son so we could put it on the trailer for the ride home. We knew ahead of time so I brought nuts and bolts and tools.

 

I was voting for the Bobbed fenders... 'til I saw the Weesner truck... now I'm with you on the full fenders.

 

The Buick is a long engine. It also has the starter on the left side so steering gear clearance may be a problem. I used a Steer Clear unit on my Model A to solve the starter problem.

 

Yeah, I noticed that things were a little tight with the starter on the same side as the steering but I will probably use a Vega or 525 box and cross steering (I have both lying around) , so it should just be a shaft running by the starter.
I’m leaning towards keeping the Buick in there but since the Chrysler hemi has the front mounts in a similar position and might be able to share a single motor mount crossmember, I’m gathering up the parts to install the Hemi for a quick fit check.
Those Steer Clear units are pretty slick, huh?

 

I got to put a little time in on the 33. I trimmed and generally cleaned up the Model A crossmember. It looks much better.
I cut out the remains of the old boxing plates.

I moved the jack stands and positioned the truck at the approximate ride height and rake and made sure everything was level side to side.
I straightened the p***enger side frame horn. Then I cut and welded in a temporary spreader bar to hold the frame position.

 

I carefully removed the old front crossmember. Nothing sprung or moved significantly, the bolts came out without hammering and the crossmember slid back fairly easily for removal. I went to work with a wire wheel and flapper wheel to clean the area for welding. I’ll probably do a little more tomorrow.
I heated and straightened the horizontal rivet flanges at each end of the new crossmember to give myself some more weld area and something to clamp on. I marked and trimmed them a little and the crossmember fit nicely.
Before I started this series of modifications I printed out the dimensional diagram from Wescott so I have accurate dimensions to refer to. Hopefully tomorrow will be a final fitting and alignment, I need to build in some caster angle. Then I can start welding it in.

My front inner tubes arrived so the front tires are aired up and ready. I ordered a 6” drop transmission crossmember that I will trim the mount from and use for a crossmember for motor mounts. I think I’ve identified a position that will work for both the Hemi and the Nailhead. We’ll see I guess.

 

Yeah, I was hoping that there was no stress on the front crossmember that might indicate that the frame was twisted or racked. All good. Whew!

 

Great thread Bob.............. (I vote for the stock fenders, they just seem to flow with the bed rather than look "stuck on".

 

I agree, Ford did a nice job with the fenders on these trucks.

 

I’m in the process of positioning the crossmember and I decided to do a little experiment. I have the ch***is at the height in the back as dictated by the tire to stock fender relationship.

Measuring from the forward most bolt hole in the front frame horn to the floor, I am kinda stuck with 11 1/2” due to my jack stand height.
If memory serves me, my ‘33 coupe was 10” and I was striving for 9” when I was messing with the front end as a young lad. I never got there IIRC. And it became a moot point because I did the Corvair IRS. Hey, it was the 60s and I was an avid reader of HRM. Lol
So I decided to see just how much the caster angle changed from the 11 1/2” height to the 9” height. (The photo is random)

With the crossmember set at 5.9 degrees at the 11 1/2” height, and using a Craftsman digital level, I lowered it in increments as follows:
11” = 5.7 degrees
10”= 5.4 degrees
9”= 5.0 degrees
Not high science but interesting data. A 2 1/2” drop in front caused about a one degree change in caster angle.
For my purposes, installed as mocked up, I will never raise or lower the front enough to leave the 5-7 degree standard range. Using my hairpins I should have enough adjustment to optimize the caster at my chosen height.
Or have I had too much coffee today…..

 

I got enough weld on the crossmember to keep it in place. I made little plates to connect the front and back flanges of the crossmember to the frame rail. I’ll weld them solidly and then put the boxing plates over the area and weld them in. Now that it’s welded in solidly I can raise the front to make it easier for an old guy to finish welding it up. I’m hoping to trim the boxing plate to fill the wedge gap across the top. We’ll see….

I needed a break, so I welded up the headers for the Buick. They’ve been taking up space on my welding table and I needed to check my TIG skills before tackling the final welding on the frame. I was mainly wondering about my vision - it’s fine.

I wanted to make headers down through the ch***is so I could run a full hood eventually but lakes headers with mufflers underneath will be good for now.

 

Had appointments and stuff that cut into my progress but I’m fitting the boxing plates. With the ‘33 double frame, it’s a little more trouble than a Model A or ‘32. I got my crossmember yesterday and it looks like it’s going to work out well. I have Hurst mounts for the Chrysler and they move the mounting points very close to the Buick mounting points. That will make the placement of the crossmember easier.

I ordered a Trans-Dapt 6” drop transmission crossmember because it only has one bracket to trim off and it was cheap. Unfortunately, they welded it all around, both sides, so it will be harder to trim off than I thought. Oh well.

 

Is that a Harley belly pan lurking under the Hemi?

 

It sure is. A skid plate from one of the old rigid frame basket cases I built. One of the few items left from my old Harley days. I sold my last Harley, a ‘53 Pan/shovel sometime in ‘97-‘98. Riding in LA traffic was not fun anymore.