I posted about the Floor I did in the '32 5W Drag Race Coupe... First thing I did was take pics and measurements off the Trunk Floor off my own ( unchanneled ) 5W Coupe. I made a set of dies for my Pullmax and made my own version of these floors for the Channeled Racer.
My '27 T Coupe needed a Floor too. I cut the original out to channel it ( and it wasn't to nice anyway...) I made new subrails out of 1X1" square tubing These Tubes bolt to the Ch***is, and are Welded to the Body. After the Body was nice and square on the Frame, all the adjustments were done to get the doors to fit right, etc, I filled in the gaps between the Body sides and the tubes of the Subrails.
then I made the Pan that goes under the Seat ( a middle Bench out of a Quest ). This was kind of tricky because the Pan had to be lower than the surface of the rest of the Floor, but the Kickup for the Z'd Frame was higher than that.
Trunk Floor was next... First I cut a Sheet in to the outside dimensions I needed ( I kept the back a couple of Inches long because the back edge isn't straight line...) And I checked the fit. Then I layed out the Pattern. Put the big Beads in with the Pullmax, and the smaller ( crosswise ) ones with my Beadroller. Thr Pullmax doesnt like to cross over the Beads that are already made, so after a bit of experimenting I I decided to stop the Bead just before it goes into an other one. So all the T and X spots in the Pattern had to be hammered in. ( Still less work than cleaning up the mess from going over another Bead... ) After that I punched holes every 2" for the Roset Welds. Last pic shows it Welded in...
Next was the piece that goes from the Pan under the Seat to the Firewall. Rough cut to size, layed out the Pattern ( with all the holes for the Shifter, Master Cylinder, Pedals...) Then I made a Tunnel for the Bellhousing. This Car has a 292 Y-Block with a 3Speed Stick, so it has a real nice rounded Bellhousing. Putting a single curve Tunnel on top of that would take up a lot of interior space, So the Tunnel I made is double curve ( done with a shotbag, E-Wheel, and Kick Shrinker ) Welded it all in, and ground down the Welds. I also made a Cover that goes over the base of the Shifter. And a Cover over the Master Cylinder lid ( also double curve, because the lid was a little higher than the level off the Floor...) And a little cover that goes around the pedals. I made a 3X6" of 1/8" sheet to bolt the E-Brake Handle to, and Welded that to the floor ( it also ties into a Tube from the Subrails.)
Do you have any close up shots of the dies? I would like to get some for my machine I have here. Thanks Michael
"Alex-goes-wild-on-HotRods".......that should be the name of your new TV show brother! We are so spoiled to have you show us all of these cool fabrication skills.
Great work! I've never seen a Pullmax in action, does it start the bead at the finished depth or are there many back and forth p***es to get to the desired finish.
Thanks guys... A little more about the Pullmax. Its a nibbler, stands about 6' tall, weighs a couple of tons. It has a 4.2 Horse Electric Motor working the upper part of the Tooling at about a 1/4" stroke ( you can imagine the amount of force...) 2nd pic is the real Pullmax Tooling to make a Bead. But that was too narrow for what I wanted to do here, so I made my own ( 3nd pic ) Softer than the original ones, so they will wear quicker... Put the sheetmetal against the rear guard, and lower the upper die into the Sheet. ( pic 5), and move the sheet sideways untill the Bead is as long as you want it. pic 6 is a piece of s**** that I put a couple of beads in. There is a lot of warp.. I ddnt take too much time adjusting the Machine for just these couple of Pics, and the Bead is pretty aggressive for this tiny piece of sheet steel. pic7 is after a bit of Hammering ( by hand ). Again, rough & quick. I would have taken more care if it was going to be Welded into a Car ( spend more time on it...) I hope that shows how it works, though.... Edit. Forgot to attach the pic that shows the whole Pullmax. That was supposed to be pic #1, it is now the last. Other than that, the order of the pics stay the same....