Hot Rods 28 modified build downunder

Aaaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhh.... BILLET!!!

Hahahahaha, as has already been said, OK if you made it yourself.

Maybe bead blast it or knock the corners off and rough it up a bit with a Scotch Brite pad.

Looking good.

 

Why the hell is AlumiNIUM so expensive in Australia? the damn buaxite is mined here ....

 

I've been following your build for awhile, man it is coming out great. Really clean and well thought out, "spot" on every where you look!... Congrats

 

Lookin good


You want to make me one of them water necks







Tom

 

Thanks for the comments guys.

I just had my ASRF inspection. It went pretty well. I have a list of stuff to do but nothing too major. It just puts me back a few more days Should be good to go by NEXT summer though.

It'll probably get bead blasted like the rest of the aluminium on the motor. It does look nice and clean though. I can see why the original billeteers found it attractive. It just got screwed up by over use and commercialisation.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think only plate and flat bar aluminium is manufactured here. All machining bar is imported. So we dig it out of the ground, sell it overseas for next to nothing, then pay a premium to buy it back as aluminium.

By the way did you know that the Yanks call it ALUMINUM due to a spelling mistake - Quote:

"Charles Martin Hall is considered the originator of the American spelling of aluminum. According to Oberlin College, he misspelled it on a handbill publicizing his aluminum refinement process. The process was so revolutionary, and brought the metal to such prominence, that Americans have spelled aluminum with one <big>I</big> ever since".

 

Heaps of room in a 4" channelled RPU body...if you're 9.



Pete

 

A trully inspirational thread, Thanks again striper

 

Well, it finally looks like a car!

We are in the middle of wiring and a few more little things and I might actually get to go for a drive soon.



One problem that I mentioned above. I never mocked the car up with 7.00s on the rear. They are a bit tight !!





I just dropped the wheels off to have the tyres demounted. Hopefully this arvo I'll adjust the offset of the wheels. I can only go about 15mm (5/8") on the rims so I hope it's enough. I like things to fit nice and snug, but I don't need rubbing.

Pete

 

Man, it looks So good!
I've loved watching it come together.

Your clearance issue looks familiar.



Norton

 

At least your bones don't move independently of the wheel / tyre.

My problem involves suspension. I really won't know if I have enough clearance until I drive it and rub some paint off.

 

What about making a spacer and longer wheel studs, Oh and by the way looking good.

 

last resort

 

Plenty of room,the tires grow in diameter not width when driving. In other words they get skinnier. They may rub in tight cornering at speed when the body rocks over but spacers and extended bolts etc are for ricers...

 

Great stuff - its lookin real good now that its all together.

I think it'll rub when you come in and out of driveways etc - articulation and movement and I think itll touch.

I think a 10mm alum spacer and longer, bigger OD studs and you should be OK. 10mm wont be too big for load/strength etc?

Think it'll work?

Fantastic work - looking forward to seeing it on the road mate !!

Rat

 

A number of things pushed me toward the alteration of the offset of the wheels over spacers.

The first one is: It's the right way to do it

The other thing is I could do it straight away without relying on anyone else. If I went with spacers I'd have to source and buy the material, then I'd have to machine it, Then I'd have to get longer studs, Probably from the US because you can't buy anything out of the ordinary here, then I'd have to machine the studs to suit my brake drums (as I did for the ones on it now) Then I'd have to pull the hubs that I just torqued up, Then I'd have to press out the studs and press in the new ones and reassemble.

All this to have spacers I don't want.

Instead I did this today and it's done and done right:


Drill out the rivets


Knock out the centres




Clean up the surface rust off the mating surfaces


Refit the centres in the rims (reversed) and plug weld the rivet holes from both sides


Weld along the edge where the rim and centre meet


And paint

All done this afternoon and tonight, ready for tyres to be refitted.

I gained about 17mm or so in the end so it should be good. I reversed the centres only to save on filling and finishing the rivet holes. This way they are actually used as part of the attachment. Just had to fill and redrill the valve stem holes.

Pete

 

Wow this build is awesome! Reversing the wheels over spacers was definitely the way to go!

 

Did you set the centers up on a spindle and bearing and rotate the "outers" while checking with a dial indicator to guarantee that everything is truly lined up with no run-out, or did you just "eyeball" it? I used to know a fellow back in the sixties who reversed wheels as a business sideline, and he used the method I just outlined to ensure that the wheels wouldn't wobble as they rotated.

 

Brian,

I ran them on one of my front hubs. A dial indicator is probably a little too sensitive for these 60+ year old wheels. But I did spin them and checked with a more appropriate guide (a hammer handle secured to a milk crate) that they ran true. Only a little tapping was required to get them to probably 1 1/2mm accuracy. I think that's about the best you'll get out of them given their age and the fact they were probably never 100%.

Just for others doing this. It is worth mentioning that I checked for run out against the inside "channel" of the rim, not the outside of the rim. The outside is usually so out of round from years of abuse you could never hope to get an accurate reading.

Pete

 

Striper---Based on the quality of the rest of your build, I kind of figured that you would have done this. The scary part is all the kids that see your post and DON'T see that very important step will rush off to reverse their wheels without doing it.---Brian

 

Great work!
I can't wait to see it with the tires mounted and wheels back on.

Norton

 

Striper, good call on doing it the right way and reversing the wheels.

Worried your rearend vent will spit a little though. Keep us posted.

 

Well done on the reversing mate, nice work.!!

I agree that spacers arent the optimum but would probably have been OK to get you out of a jam for rego and done right are barely detectable for the short term.

I figured 10mm would'nt change the load much and would give you time to source/mod the right wheels.

Nice work !!

Rat

 

holy cow. i just read 18 pages. awesome job. i think i can build a hot rod now!

 

WARNING:

All of the stunts you see here are performed by an experienced hot rod builder. Do not try this at home!

Dislaimer: The term "experienced hot rod builder" is a loosely used term to describe a back yard hack that has already fucked everything up at least once. The results you see here come from many hours of cursing, sweating, bleeding (and a word that I can't think of to describe being burned) and they also may not represent the first attempt of performing such operations. Smoke and mirrors may be utilised. Objects seen on this thread may be larger than they appear.

 

It was just a punt to avoid taking the rearend apart again to drill and tap for a proper vent.

There are actually a number of things about that rear that I'm not 100% happy with. The least of which is not its strength. I'm hoping it will last a year or so until I can organise a QC

 

Somebody should pull this rim reversing out and post it on a tech of its own for future reference.
Really helps save time for searching and the usual agro that goes with the replies.
What do you think Striper? Since you have the pic's.

 

I suppose I could do a quick tech on it. Probably would have taken more pics had I thought of it

 

I used V.W. rims in Dodge centers for the front of my first Modified.

 

Good job again Striper. BTW o/s and long studs are freely available from any hi-po or diff shop.