1930s Era Champ Car - new project

True Dave. But my welding capabilities are far superior to my machining capabilities. My extensions are a half inch thick and that is quite robust compared to some of the aftermarket steering components I looked at.

 

Just doing some thinking out loud this morning. I think the idea of imbedding square socket recepticles in the frame has some additional merit. They could be used to hold the headlights while driving on the street or when at the track or for shows they could serve a dual purpose of holding the front gravel guard and crash bars with the headlights removed. Or some combination of both? I will mull that over further.
A friend suggested I anchor the front hoses on the bottom side of the frame and route the hoses between the hairpins. I like that too. It keeps the nospiece area cleaner.

 

The kingpin kit arrived, so I removed the spindles, ground them down and gave them an acid bath before installing the new bushings. I had to make two press punches - one to press out the old ones and one to press in the new ones to a prescribed depth. They looked much better after priming. They will get an aluminized top coat next, between snow flurries.

@Dave G in Ganesvoort notice that I took your suggestion to heart and added a zerk where it will be accessible under the steering arm.

 

Looking good! We should collaborate on a kingpin fitting thread, showing both ways to size the new bushings. That reamer setup looks expensive. My setup only looks expensive, but I don't have much more than $10-15 in the whole thing. It was headed to the scrap yard and I can't let stuff like that get away...

 

Thanks Dave. The adjustable reamer is indeed an exquisite tool. I've been wracking my brain trying to remember where I acquired it. It may have been my Dads. I may have picked it up at a swap meet / flea market. Dunno, I've owned it for decades. I don't even remember if I ever used it in the last four decades. It took me a little head scratching to figure out how it works, The knurled handle on the left slides on the pilot and the tapered end centers up on the bushing bore, keeping the reamer on axis. The segmented cutters slide on a keyed ramp and the diameter is adjusted / controlled by a locknut on each end. The reamer is driven by the square dog on the right side. I turned it with a hand wrench - perhaps a gear reduced drill motor would do the job quicker, but I wanted to sneak up on the required fit. I ended up removing about .008 - .009" off the inside of the bushings. The kingpins have a nice snug slip fit (without lube) now.

 

The machine shop I worked for had blade type adjustable reamers that were long enough that they would have reamed both bushings at the same time, if they had been sized right. So before I acquired the Sunnen machine, I used one of the kingpin reamers sold by JC Whitney. It had a fixed size reamer and a tapered cone thing much cheaper in cost AND design than yours. My older brother bought it new in 68 to do the kingpins on his 30 A sport coupe. I lost it a few years after I got the grinder so it didn't matter. My brother still has the A. Go figure...

 

I like the aluminum look of the spindles. I may do the rest of the suspension in similar silver. I have some 2-part acrylic enamel which will be more robust than the rattle can stuff I used on the spindles.

 

The rear shock mounting studs arrived so I bolted them up to the lower rear shock brackets. I think the spacing is correct so now I will fixture up the shocks and weld in the lower shock bracket to the rear end housing.

I also torched out the front lever shock pieces.

 

I see some grinding and filing in your future. Lots of filing and grinding!

 

Well you know how you eat an elephant - one bite at a time.

 

That's the ticket! Going to look perfect for your design.

 

I took a little detour. Somewhere down the road I'll need to grind and paint the rusty front drums, similar to the rears. To that end I turned a spindle arbor so I can set the drum up in space and rotate it while I grind and spray it.

 

Rear shock mounts are in place.

 

Back on the front shocks, the pieces got finessed a little more and now the shocks are ready for trial fit up.

 

More grinding! (back of hand to forehead...)

 

All the shock pieces are made. The star wheels got "pucker" pressed into them. Short links attach the arms to the axle. Now to weld in the axle bungs and reassemble.

 

The shocks are essentially done.

With the completion of the front and rear shock absorbers and the plumbing of all brake lines both the front and rear axle assemblies are functionally complete. They are now ready for disassembly and finish welding in places then paint and re-assembly and charging with fluids. That is a milestone worth celebrating.



I'll probably add lightening holes in the star adjusters, and maybe the levers themselves.

 

Just a thought: those brake hoses look way too modern. Before you put fluid in, you could camouflage them using black shrink tubing over them to make them look like old school rubber hoses. Not my idea, saw it on someone else's thread. Don't remember which one.

 

Here's a little gizmo I made. Can you guess what its purpose is?

 

Ooh, me,me me! It's a fluglepin framistan!

Or it's a tubing bender. My 2 cents worth...

 

LOL its a part for the champ car. I mentioned the need earlier on.

 

The need has been filled.

 

RATS! And I thought I had won 1st prize! Now I'll never have a nickle plated muffler packer! And I'm going to need a new one for the Whatever project...

 

The answer to this week's riddle is
An adjustable handle stop for the hand brake.

 

So it's a demobilizer mobilizer.

 

Or perhaps a demobilizer stabilizer?

 

So reading the next 2 comments, can you tell it runs in the family?

 

You guys related?

 

Yes. ratrodder's father is my older brother, not big brother. I've outweighed him by 70 to 100 pounds since I started high school. We won't talk about the timeframe...

 

So Uncle / Nephew.
Thanksgiving dinners must make for interesting conversations.