Hot Rods 28 modified build downunder

Yep. I'm sure we must be related. I took the body back off mine yesterday. Pulled the motor and gearbox too. I knocked my plywood seat back and it scraped down one of my doors. I tried to cut and polish it out but you can still see it. I would never get a job in a rod shop.

Are your fenders '36 wheel covers? I have one but i think it's too small for my tyres. Fronts are 6.00 x 16 (about 28.5" dia), rears are 7.00 x 16 (about 31" dia).

Pete

 

Not such a clever bastard after all...........yes you are!

 

Man, I am sorry to hear about this. I hope that the repair goes smooth. It really is tough to stay excited sometimes when things like this come up. And yes, I have been thru this type of problem a time or ten

You will conquer it though!

I was telling my close friend Carmen Electra about this. She told me to send this to you, she hopes that it helps a little:

 

Pete,

The fronts are indeed the original '36 spare cover, cut in half. My front tires are 5.50x16's, these are meant to cover 6.00x16's, so I'd think they'd work. I did spring them a little by very precicely standing on them and bouncing a little...

The rears are '37 Buick sidemount covers (some restorer would probably have a coronary if he knew), widened 2", and the rear tires are 7.20x16's. They're huge. I'm hoping the Caddy has enough torque to handle them...

It's a bugger scratching one up before it even leaves the garage, innit? I know just how you feel, I'm going to have to brush touch both doors where I opened them with the windshield frame leaning on them (bolts not tightened up) and the rear fender wound, even tho my wife couldn't see it, still bothers me. The plus side is that the Olive color looks even better buffed (it softens it a little), and the scratches on the doors are under the w/s posts with the doors closed, so that's good. Sorry to hear you scratched up the door.

I'm hoping to get the seats finished and upholstered and installed, the interior panels scuffed and mounted, and the headlight wires hooked up, and I guess it's then ready for a maiden voyage to the muffler shop. If I'm lucky, I won't get stopped for excessive noise on the way in, the big cammed 472 cackles a little.

 

Should just manage those 7.20s OK.

I can't wait to get out there and get some real scratches. Then the garage inflicted ones will fade into insignificance. It was never meant to be a show car.

Pete

 

nice work on the car pete. I especally like your attetion to detail and that fact that you are running a nailhead. What bellhousing did you use? did you use an adapter plate?

 

Man, that helps a lot. You really are connected. I'm back on the horse thanks to Carmen.

Thanks Tiki. I used an Eelco bellhousing. That's about all I have to say about that. There are other options.

Time for a mini update:

After a few days of pissed offness I bit the bullet and set about cutting all my wires so I could pull the body off again. It wasn't a mindless hack but precision surgery. It should all go back together nicely. So off came the body again



Then the motor and gearbox came out



And I split them. The knocking I had heard when I pushed the clutch on "fire up day" was as I suspected: The hydraulic fittings on my hyraulic throw out bearing hitting the back of the pressure plate assembly. they shouldn't have but they did. When I pushed the clutch the whole T/O assembly moved. It was just enough to cause the clash. I think part of the reason it moves is the shims between it and the front of the gearbox.



There are 7 of them in my application and they aren't a snug fit on the snout of the gearbox by any stretch. They can move around on each othe so the T/O bearing doesn't really have a very stable platform to push from. That's my theory anyway. So I'm going to machine a more accurate solid spacer. I have also ground off the offending parts of the hydraulic fittings so hopefully take 2 will go a bit smoother.

While I had it all out of the car I thought it would be smart to make sure nothing else was fouling e.g. clutch plate and flywheel bolts



It was all good so I am now sure where my problem is / was. I think Martin is coming to give me a hand on Thursday so I'm trying to get to a point where if we go hard at it, it'll be back together and ready for a second try this week.

Stay tuned

Pete

 

My fingers are crossed for ya Pete...

 

Mine crossed too. Best thing is this will become a minor glitch in 12 months time when you've got a bunch of miles up.

p.s. Cut wires??? Naughty sparky!

 

congratulations striper,this just has to be the best thread i`ve seen on the H A M B .enjoyable ,informative,well documented and allmost as koooooool as that magic little modified.looking forward to seeing it about soon

 

you aren't the first person i've heard of that has had a problem with that throwout bearing behind a 401. i'm interested to see how it will turn out.

 

Good luck Pete - between you and Martin you should get it nutted out !!

Rat

 

Not much happening. My playdate with Martin fell through, but I made a little progress. I made up the spacer that is going to replace the shims behind the throw out bearing.





Motor and gearbox are back together. I just need a solid day or so to clip up all the wiring and fix a couple of other small things before I put them back in the chassis and drop the body back on.

Because I haven't got enough going on I started a new project. We are building a go kart. Must have rocks in my head!

Patience..................

Pete

 

That spacer sure looks cleaner than that "pile of bent washers"! Good luck

 

Yeah... but there you go spreading that rumour again that Aussies drink Foster's Beer!

LOL

 

It's a Carlton Cold box. I don't even think my bottle shop sells Fosters. I might look for it...maybe start a new trend

 

Interesting thing with the spacers. The McLeod I used is adjusted with different depth pistons. Naturally the one it came with wasn't right. After taking all the measurements ordered the right one and it works perfectly. Catch 22 is you need to have the whole thing set up to do the measuring.

 

That sounds like a pain in the ass to set up but in the end a better deal. The trouble with the Howe is when you put the shims (or spacer) in, the whole assembly moves forward. This is where I ran into trouble. When it all goes forward the hydraulic lines go too. That's how mine crashed into the pressure plate. If it doesn't work this time I'll need to explore the McLeod and Ram options.

 

Looking good!!! Next nice sunny day i want to do a sun set photo shoot just out side of newstead.

Give me a call 0400 103 590

 

Striper, when I said you have to have the whole thing set up it's not that big a deal. You can do it with the engine sitting on something and bolt the throwout to the box and measure piston movement at 1" m/c travel. If that's ok bolt the lot up to the engine and check any other clearances. I suppose the pain is you can't add shims there and then, you have to order the new piston. The wrinkle I had was possibly the use of a Lakewood scattershield, maybe a stock bellhousing may have been ok with the standard piston.

 

This is looking really sweet, looking forward to Chopped this year.

 

Easy there tiger! I haven't driven the thing yet and it's currently apart and you want me to drive to Newstead?

Oh, and for a sunset shoot. It gets cold this time of the year when the sun goes down.

What about in the middle of a foggy day in Kilmore Then we can do it anytime

 

LESS TIME ON GO KARTS, MORE TIME ON MY '32! I NOW YOU LOVE USING THE LITTLE FACES!

 

wow!

 

You Southerners sure are scared of a drive!

 

What bell housing are you using?


Tom

 

Sorry Tom,

This one slipped by me. I'm using an Eelco bell housing.



Just got the car back in one piece yesterday. Hopefully we'll fire it mid to late next week for take 2. Might even get a drive this time. I now have a totally new clutch set up. The only part from the previous clutch that stayed is the clutch plate. It's now all mechanical...one push rod between the pedal and the fork. Less is more.

More soon

Pete

 

Awesome build. I really like what you have done and you have some great ideas. Very Cool!!!

 

Striper, This is one whale of a thread to follow. Hope that all is well with your family. You will soon be picking your son up at school. Looking forward to the completion of this build !

41 Dave

 

Well it is now time to draw this chapter to a close. She hit the road today so to celebrate I started a new thread. It has some video too so go and have a look.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=387872

Pete