Projects '29 Model A Roadster Chassis Build...lots of pics.

Bass's work makes me happy in pants

 

Hi Brian,
cool soloution for the steering box !!!
what dash and gauges do you use?

It was good to meet you at the LARS , i picked my body up later that day.
I had to primer the body with spray cans before i dropped it of at the shippers
otherwise it would be really rusty when it arrives in Germany.

Michael

 

with the quality and quanity of work on your car, i'm surprised that you don't have to close the doors of your shop. awesome work.

 

Thanks again guys....

Russ...I may have to notch the frame slightly...I won't know for sure until I have the real motor in the chassis (that's just a bare block and heads in it for mock up) and the full spring pack. With the full spring pack under the crossmember, the leaves space the spring downward a little more and give it some more clearance. However, I'm not opposed to C-notching the frame if it needs it....I'll just have to wait and see. Where the car sits in the above pictures is going to be ride height.

Michael, it was nice to meet you as well! My body made it home safely without much surface rust, fortunately. If we would have hit rain, it would have been a different story!

I am using a '55 Lincoln steering wheel, and '56 Desoto gauges in a '32 style dash. There's still alot to be done, like restoring the wheel and making/modifying a column drop and mast jacket...but I went ahead and attached a pic of the dash area as it is right now. I'll explain the gauge choice at a later date.

The rest of the interior will be white pearl rolls and pleats, with contrasting piping.

 

Nice choice on gauges. I am planning on running '53 Desoto gauges in my '31 Chevy. Seriously though BASS, you really are a talented mother fucker!!!

 

Bass, excellent thread, beautifull work, nice car! I've been a product designer for 20+ years, styling all kinds of stuff. Your ride exudes style! Overall your taking a nice car and putting in great details and good form! Love the dash and wheel.

I want to learn how to weld, and when I start, I'm gonna look to your work!

 

Bass.....WOW!!! Very very nice!!!

 

OK, I am turning in my hammers. I suck.

 

Brian, very nice work and execution as usual... cant say much more

 

Awesome and innovative...........love it!!

 

would say thats about good as it gets , very nice

 

That steering box treatment is slick! This is the kinda shit we can all learn a little something from. Thanks for putting this up Brian!

 

october is getting close!

 

It looks great. You have excellent ideas and fabrication skills.......

 

anymore updates?

 

I have gotten a little bit more done on the engine for the roadster. I ported the '57 Fuelie/Powerpack heads with the advice of E.C. aka Eric. I basically cleaned up one head then had him come over and show me what else I needed to do. Since he works at Reher Morrison, he knows what good ports are supposed to look like. So anyway here's a pic of one of the combustion chambers...it's really hard to take a pic of the inside of the bowls...



I am by no means a porting expert, but I didn't think it could hurt the heads to clean 'em up. I did that last week and went and dropped them off to E.C. He already had the rotating assembly balanced, and the skirts of the NOS Jahns pistons coated.

Last Friday, I ordered the carb kits and parts for my Strombergs from The Hot Rod Company, and they got here Monday (Thanks Mike!)...so I started doing the carbs last night. I wanted them to have sort of a "factory" appearance, so all I did was wire brush them really well and scraped out the nooks and crannys with an Xacto knife. I also painted the bases gloss black, and cleaned the shit out of the inside of the carbs after pulling the emulsion tubes.

Here's one of the carbs...this one doesn't have a choke.





I couldn't bring myself to take the old rebuild decal off the back of this one. Gotta have a little "character" here and there I guess...



I'm using all large logo Stromberg 97's on a really early Weiand WC4D 4x2 intake. I made new linkage with new rod ends, and put it all together this afternoon. I'm going to have to make a support for the two extension shafts coming off the pass. side carbs, but other than that and fuel lines, it should be ready to run now.



Here it is on the mock-up motor. I have pretty much the entire Weiand set-up for a 265-283 Chevrolet. Early block letter, staggered-hole valve covers, 4x2 intake, and Weiand 4x2 fuel block. I thought it would be neat to run all Weiand stuff...it was a bitch to find the valve covers and the fuel block though.



That's about all the progress I can report at the moment...I've been really busy with customer work, so my time on the Roadster has been limited. After I knock out some more customer projects, I hopefully can devote some time to making body mounts and running brake and fuel lines.

Here's one more shot of the carbs before I go..I really like how they turned out.



Thanks again fellas...

-Brian

 

Nice. Been looking for a set of those valve covers for a long time. Still don't have them.

 

When this roadster is finished it will be one of those Hot Rods that you hardly ever see in a car show that you can't stop looking at. You can't park next to Brian's roadster at a show, because nobody will notice what the fuck is next to it. The look of this A roadster is unreal. Flatout Awesome.

-E

 

Wow.....have lusted after one of those manifolds for along time......not to mention the blocklettered covers....great to see them going into use.

Quick question, the shaft extensions that you used on the linkage, are they supported at all? I'm probably 'over-thinking' things, but can imagine that over time they might get a bit 'sloppy'....?

Anyhow, keep at it, toe by toe your kicking butt..

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

Looking good Brian!

 

I would die to weld that nicely. Heck, I've never welded a thing in my life. But, I KNOW that's some fine work. Good job. No....make that GREAT job.

 

not much to say that hasn't already been said. This is incredibly inspirational to me. You make this level of workmanship look so easy and still seem like a humble guy. Bravo!

 

That's a killer setup Bass! I love all the Weiand stuff.....got a pic of the fuel block?
I'd like to hear how it runs with the straight linkage.....I have the exact same intake and carbs, but am running it progressive. And it runs really well....
I made my support bar for the throttle extensions with oversized holes that fit tight over the throttle shaft "bosses" on the LH carbs, held tight with set screws.

Did Weiand make those VC's for later heads (straight across holes)?

 

amazing, simply amazing!

 

Beautiful work. Love the motor mounts. Inspiring!

 

Absolutely fantastic work! Beautiful TIG welds. Very well done sir...

 

I attached a pic of the fuel block down below. Evidently, the 4x2 Weiand fuel blocks are pretty rare. I talked to a guy at the LA Roadster Show swap meet that is starting to repop Weiand stuff, and he was under the impression that the 4x2 fuel blocks were never actually made. He said that the mold got broken as they went into production. I obviously have one though, so maybe he was just full of shit?

This is only the second one I've ever seen, however.

Not that I know of. As far as I know Weiand switched from the block letter logo to the "say why-and" logo sometime in the very early 60s. And I've never seen or heard of a set of block letter logo covers for straight across bolt pattern SBC heads.


Anyway, I still haven't been able to spend much time on the roadster lately, but I have gotten a few odds and ends attended to...so here's a mini-update of sorts.

I had to recess the firewall to clear the Vertex (hei-type) mag. I only recessed it enough to clear the mag. body and cap, and I think I'll be able to 'hide' the plug wires in the recess. I wish I didn't have to cut the firewall, but there was no way around it with the tall mag.

I bolted up an extra junk (but straight) firewall to keep everything from moving around as I cut and welded...



I continued the flange to the inside of the firewall...



I added a slight recess the bottom section of the firewall that matches up with the top, but I don't have any pics of that.

Also deburred/ polished the 265 block before it went back to E.C. for final honing and assembly. The heads got the same treatment. It was a lot of work, and I got a piece of cast iron in my eye that was a real motherfucker to get out, but I think it will be worth it when the block is painted. I picked out a color for the motor finally, but I'm not going to give it away just yet.



The new Walker radiator came in today too. I initially bought the chopped radiator that Speedway sells for their '32 Lowboy kit, but it was chopped too much. By my measurements it was chopped about 6.5", but I needed a 4.5" chop.

So I had to order a custom radiator from Walker. It was spendy, but it's beautifully made, fits perfectly and was on my doorstep one week from ordering. It hurt to un-ass the money, but I think this is one of those areas where you get what you pay for.



I also got the support rods for the radiator bent up and shortened to fit.

I've been going back and forth lately on the valve covers. I'm probably going to stay with the Weiand covers, but I am sure liking chrome script valve covers on the car as well. I'll just have to wait and see what looks best when the rest of the car gets further along.

Here's a profile shot of the car with the 4.5" chopped radiator in place. I used masking tape to give an idea of what the hoodline would look like, and to make sure that everything is on the right plane...



I think it's pretty much right on the money, height-wise.

I'll leave off with another profile shot without the tape. I still think the windshield posts need to be leaned back a little more.



That's all for now....thanks again guys.

-Brian

 

Awesome!!!!!!
Can't wait to start on my '29.............
I may even go SBC .......
A friend has an early 283...he jus don't want sell it to me.
Michael

 

Brian, Awesome stuff as usual and your post are about the only reason why i check back here from time to time!!....