Projects Introducing the Roofus Special

Got my frame rails mostly welded on and the center frame rails cut to length. There will be a round tube spreader bar installed at the very front. Still have to encase them in heavy sheetmetal.

HPIM1005 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1006 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1010 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1009 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

And started on my front suspension.
I found a pretty cool raw material in the junk pile....Uni-strut. I like the factory punched, ebenly spaced oval lightening holes. I cut it down to 1 1/2 x 3/4 channel.
The round tubes that hold the bushings are tractor link bushings from TSC.
The tapered hole for the lower ball joint is from the jaguar parts car.
Way more work than I thought it would be. with all of the trial and error, it took two days for me to figure the first one out.
First I-beam

HPIM1011 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

donor tapered hole

HPIM1016 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

With tapered hole installed

HPIM1014 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Turning it into an a-arm

HPIM1021 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

Making a unistrut gusset

HPIM1023 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Gusset welded in

HPIM1026 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Tractor bushings cut down to size

HPIM1025 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

The rear bushing end got reinforcement...the holes line up too!

HPIM1027 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

One down. ....three more to go.

HPIM1028 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1029 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1031 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Passenger side "kit"

HPIM1033 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

My daughter driving Roofus.

HPIM1037 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

My motor mounts showed up. I ordered 56 chevy V8 rubber biscuits from Rock Auto. The big ones were $.58 each and the small ones were $.54 each (I ordered 20 of each!....less than $33 to my door for all). I plan on using these everywhere I need a rubber mount.

edit: somebody on another forum asked for dimensions. I thought I'd post up here too.

small one p/n 2122 diameter: 1 1/2" height: 7/8"

big one p/n 2123 diameter: 2" height: 7/8"



HPIM1040 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

I don't think I will get to the rolling chassis stage before I go back to work, but hopefully I will get the other a-arms fabbed and at leat get a good start on plating the front frame section.

 

Great build ! ! !

 

awesome build man! im watching this build with great interest, as i will be building a boat tail, eventually.

 

I really like it when "found" stuff comes together like that and make the perfect part. Very nice build.

 

The lower arm I-beam is 1.5" x 1.5".

I'm thinking of making the upper arms less bulky looking.

How much smaller do you think I could cut down the I-beam and still be OK (may have to find a new starting material)?

 

Do you want the upper a-arms to look vintage? What is your target weight and distribution?
As a guide, here are pics of my upper a-arms (I only have a spting on the bottom) this was stock on a 41' Stude Commander 3000+ pounds. My vehicle has three wheels and has 2/3rds of its 2100# up front, so each a-arm needs to carry 700#.

 

I didn't get nearly as much done over Christmas shutdown as I had planned. Having a chest cold for about a week put a big dent in my plans. This made matters worse. ...the temp is 30 degrees in the shop.

HPIM1041 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

I did manage to get the passenger side i-beam welded up. I quit before it made it to A-arm status.

HPIM1042 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr


HPIM1044 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

 

Since I pushed the wheelbase out to 109", I'm thinking about moving the motor forward and gaining some gas pedal room. (engine was moved back when I was shooting for 100" wheelbase).


What's cooler...foot room or the idea of engine set-back?

 

Engine setback!

 

Any other opinions on the engine setback?

 

I think it all has to be in proportion. So, i say, set it back/leave it where it is and step back. Then mock it up moved forward and step back. I personally dont really like the "engine set back" look, and definetly not for a euro styled boattail speedster. (but opinons are like A**HOLES)

(take some pics so you can just sit and flip between the two, then decide)

 

How did you decide on the A-arm length? Did you just use established Jag dimensions?

BTW I'm waiting for my garage to be 30 deg. right now its -5 ish during the day and -15 ish at night.
It should get up to 5 or 6 above by the weekend.

Jeff

 

Yeah, some of it is based on the Jag dimensions....some of it, I am making up as I go.

 

I went looking through my early pics....when I did my original mock-up. My feet were completely behind the bell housing. Now they are beside the bell housing.

I lost a lot of foot room with the engine set back.


HPIM0572 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Looks like I need to take JGRAFFs advice and try sliding the engine way the hell forward again and see how things look.

 

i say make it comfortable for you, (feet behind the bell housing) if you dont like it you can always move the engine back if needed.. my.02

 

Look at it this way.... with the motor there and the pipes where they are your feet will stay nice and toasty!!!

 

I agree about going for comfort. Will you be sitting quite upright as in early racer's? This allows you to go with a little less "toe room". Do you have big feet? Will you be driving with all types of footware, or just Italian racing bluchers? I want to have room for my motorcycle boots....
Are you a heel-toe driver? Will anyone else be regularly driving it? Will the floor be just even with the top of the frame? Are the pedals/master cylinders going to be under the floor, in front of the firewall or under the dash? Will the steering wheel be parallel with the front of the car or angled inward slightly? Where is your CG centered now, with engine setback giving you more tendency to spin out but maybe quicker in turns. I'd do a rough calc to put the car at 60:40 for a road car.....

 

The seats will have a little rise to them as my butt will have to be above the leafspring boxes. There will not be anything under the floor other than 1" tube diagonals. The truss in the body side is the frame; this will allow me to have a very low foot well. It should be a comfortable seating position.

A pic from back when I was playing with body panels.


HPIM0685 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Pedals will be swing style mounted on the firewall or above the footwell not 100% sure where the master cylinders will be.

No fancy footwear here. I do want it to be able to be driven by other people easily.

I must say that the scene from the world's fastest indian with the aerodynamics of the cigar does enter my thoughts from time to time....wondering if my wing shaped car is gonna have a crazy wobble due to the shape/center of gravity.

 

This is the coolest thing ever!! I'm totally seeing a lot of the same things happening with my car. Great build!

 

I can't believe I missed this one.

Very cool build. You definitely have an eye for it.

 

Flipper,

I've been following your build. I will pass along the decisions I made on mine. I went for comfort and when you couple in the length of the inline engine and my size, my wheelbase stretched. I kept my feet behind the bell housing for more comfort and safety. I also made my car single seat because it enhanced the comfort. That was a huge trade out that I don't know if I would make again, but it also fit with the inspirations for my car. I used swinging pedals so I think you're on the right track. I really like the idea of using an IFS modeled on Miller's '35 Indy cars, a beautiful elegant design typical of the master. Good luck on your build.

Jim

 

I backed away from that idea. The lower arm tucked up inside the upper arm didn't really lend itself to working with the jag spindles. I think/hope the I-beams will end up having enough of a 30's vibe to work.

 

Depends on your leg length. For me it would be leg room.

 

Cool build! Can't wait to see more pics of it. I've been thinking about building something like this for a long time. Even wanted to make an all aluminum block engine with an integral head, so the blower boost wouldn't cause a head gasket failure Well, someday... Good luck on your build. BTW, I have an SU carb book if you want to borrow it.