Found your thread yesterday. Just finished reading it from the beginning. Great story - pretty cool that the car has so much personal history. I'm subscribed for the ride.
Every Model A builder needs a rusty cowl for mock-up work. Slow progress lately. I ordered an F1 pedal assembly and a different Hurst shifter handle from a HAMBer. After I get the pedals and clutch linkage worked out, I have a bit more suspension tuning to do. then it's on to fuel and brake lines before I strip the frame for hard welding.
I bought a different shifter handle from HAMBer a4278V. I'll have to do a little fab work for the lower portion but I think this should work to replace the welded Mustang piece.
I put the body back on for the first time since assembling the new frame and suspension. I think this stance will work OK. Now on to pedals and steering column.
I'm nearly finished hard welding the frame. Since my rails are butt welded sections of 2X4, I added doubler plates at the joints. That ought to hold up to a little torque. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Deer season got in the way so it's been slow going. I managed to run brake and fuel lines with Nicopp. I loaded the 9" center section with a Detroit Truetrac and 3.89:1 gears. Engine rpm at cruise speed will be: Engine RPM = (336 X Cruise Speed X Final Trans Ratio X Rear End Ratio)/Tire Diameter (336 X 60 mph X 1.00 X 3.89)/28" = 2800 rpm Bad for fuel economy , good for acceleration!
The '68 Mustang Toploader rebuild is under way. I have nearly two weeks off for Christmas so I hope to get a lot accomplished.
It was nice to take a break from fab work by doing mechanical work. I finished assembling the toploader and 9". Then it was on to assembling the block for deck height measurement. Before I take the block back to the machine shop, I think I'll keep it around so I can start building headers.
Cool story and a nice build! Your kids are lucky to learn with their father! [emoji41] Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I had an old pair of headers in the rafter, so I relieved them of their flanges. The primary stubs all swept the wrong way, of course, so I cut and grinded them out. I could have bought a new set of bare flanges for $60, but that would have been way too practical. The header flange opening is oval so I needed to make a hardwood swedge to form the transition. I used a piece of an old busted maul handle to make the swedge. I cut 2" long stubs and pinched them in a vice to get the shape started. I greased up the swedge, tap-started the stubs and pressed them onto the wood. A few taps on the bench with a big socket knocked the swedge out. The fit was pretty close. I had to re-pinch the sides before tack-welding into the flange. The upper and lower edges had to be persuaded a bit with a BFH and a 1 1/2" pipe laid in at an angle. After tacking in the stubs, I mocked up the first tube (since it is lowest and closest to steering parts) on the chassis. Then it was off to the welding table where I wasted tubing and time to figure out the angles. All tacked up and ready for welding. Now to order some more J-bends.
Great build. Tell us more about the headers: What diameter are the primaries? Collector? Will you finish weld them with mig or tig? Will you weld a little cone in the collector between the primaries? Thanks!
Headers are 1 3/4 primaries and I think collectors are 3". I usually weld a sheet metal diamond where the ends of the tubes all come together. I plan to run a block-off plate on the ends of the header. I'll weld in an angled 2.5" reducer to run to mufflers under the car. Sadly, I don't have a TIG so I will MIG weld. The trick there is to turn down the heat on the back side of a bend; the weld blows out the thin metal. Then it's on to the tedious task of grinding.
Headers are mostly finished. That was a lot of work. With my luck, the welds will crack right after stat-up.
I had to bend the '48 F1 pedals to clear the steering column. Steering column is tilt aftermarket for now but I'll eventually replace with something more period correct.. I had to shorten it considerably to work with the Mustang steering. The modified Hurst shifter barely clears the Dodge Caravan seat, but it clears. It's going to be a tight fit. Good thing I'm under 6'. My kid ain't so lucky. I was propping the steering wheel here; I'll have sufficient leg clearance once it's properly installed and tilted.
Cool story! Neat car! Looking forward to seeing the video of the boys face when he first fires it up!
Subscribed!!!! My son and I built a 64 Ranchero. I’m obsessed with getting an A and getting something going. Great job so far. Keep plugging away. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Slow progress lately, mostly because I hate body work. The bottom 4" of the body were rusted away and replaced with Maytag sheet metal in the past. After cutting all of that out, I traced the A and B pillar curvature onto cardboard. I extended the curve for the missing portion to something that look right. I taped the cardboard patterns to the door and used them to develop door bottom structure from manila folders. After transferring the shape to sheet metal, I cut with the Beverly shear, formed the bends with a ball peen hammer and vise and rolled the flange side in an Eastwood shrinker/stretcher. After MIG welding, it cleaned up OK. the lower door skins were flat as pancakes. I rolled them to shape over a small propane bottle before sliding them on. The Eastwood clamps did a good job of aligning, but the Howell's inner door bottom shape was off. That created a bit of a dip when I pinched the patch panel edges. It will need a little filler.
Slow going here lately. Work and what not is getting in the way. A major challenge I have is mounting the channeled body. I had no subrail assembly to use as a guide when I built the frame, so the frame came out a bit wide. I solved the channel job in an unorthodox manner. I added body mounting tabs to the lower edge of the frame rail, right under the A and B pillars. I'll have mounts near the firewall, as well. I fabbed 16 gauge L sections 2.5" X 3.5". The short leg sits on the rail and the long leg is welded to the A and B pillars. I bought a pair of original subrails from a HAMBer and cut them down for use as door sills. I suppose it looks better than bent sheet metal or angle iron! I
One nice heirloom there sir and a wonderful story to boot - excellent fab skills 2! - you people amaze me with yer skills - NICE
Nearing completion on patch panels. I'll tackle the firewall next. I had an old rusty, cut-up '31 cowl behind the house. I'll have to sandblast the firewall, weld it back up and then cut it for engine recess.
The bottom end of the firewall was partly rusted and partly torched out some time ago.. I used a 1" pipe to bend some 16 gauge and then pie-cut it to form the radiused lowered corners. The ol' Harbor Freight bead roller was used to jog a flange. After tack welding the center of the firewall back in, I made a template and then cut out the firewall for recess. It's getting there.
Progress, a little bit at a time! I try to do something each day however insignificant just to keep at it. You are doing a great job. Good save on that firewall
I picked up a new TIG after I got mostly done with patch panels! Maybe I'll know how to use it by the time I finish this thing.
The Jalopy Journal
