It's been a while since I updated this thread, so here comes a photo dump..... I was ready to start engine and trans mounts, so I got the two married together and hoisted into the frame. It was a balancing act between radiator clearance and torsion bar crossmember clearance. When I bolted on the side aprons, I discovered a problem I did not anticipate - the exhaust manifolds were going to protrude into the hood sides. I knew my torsion bar crossmember was going to make the engine sit higher, but I didn't realize that I needed to keep the engine lower, positioning the exhaust manifolds in the blisters of the side aprons. I pulled the oil pan to see if I could notch the front, but found my pan to already be shallow in that area. With no other alternative available, I got the cutoff wheel out and removed the torsion bar crossmember. With that out of the way, the engine came down, fitting where it needed to be. The torsion bars are still on, but I'm going to have to go to "version 2" of the system. While I contemplate that, I decided to push on with engine and trans mounts.
With the engine and trans blocked up in place, I decided to get the front suspension mostly squared away. The front wishbone was already split on this car, but I decided to redo it to a little better standard. I made some new frame mounts, slightly inboard, so that the wishbone plane matches the bottom of the frame rail plane. With that done, I fitted a pair of squareback spindles on the Ansen dropped '32 axle. I dropped the steering arms to get the tierod and draglink below the wishbones, since I wouldn't have the clearance under the crank pulley to go on top. I picked up a pair of '46-48 front Lincoln brakes a while back, so I got to fitting those on these spindles. It required a little more modifications to the spindles that I originally thought, but I was able to get everything married together.
I made a new tierod and draglink out of chromoly tubing, which allowed me to locate the Saginaw 140 steering box. With the box located, I got to work on the engine mounts. Cadillacs have the odd three bolt pattern sort of like hemis, which make building purposeful looking brackets a little more difficult. I decided to build a symmetrical style bracket, using some bushings and sleeves from Welders Series. With the engine mounted, I moved rearward to the transmission. My QuickTime bellhousing clocks the transmission 3 degrees over toward the drivers side. I made a drop out mount, that attaches hard to the transmission, but again uses Welders Series bushings and sleeves at the ends. The crossmember is flat on the bottom, with a wedge shape on the top to account for the slightly angled trans.
I wanted to build a torque box in the x-member to increase the torsional stiffness of the frame. It would mutli-task, serving as a point to attach the rear suspension, along with the master cylinders for the brakes and clutch. I had the pieces laser cut out, which made the fabrication go a lot easier. With the crossmember in place, I got to work on the rear suspension. I picked up a pair of '37-40 wishbones, and shortened them to fit in the frame. I had @HotRodWorks narrow a pair of '40 axle tubes so that the rear end width would be the same as a '32-34 rear end. The slightly narrowed width allowed me to keep the wishbones mounting at the flanges, while still maintaining clearance to the frame rails. I had some custom bungs and pinch clamps machined to match the front wishbone bungs that I used to make, just in a larger size to accommodate the 3/4" rod ends, which are Johnny Joints from Currie.
With that fabrication done, the garage was in need of a cleaning, so I rolled the jig outside for a look afar. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things are coming together. Next on the agenda are sorting out the pedal assembly mechanicals to facilitate both hydraulic brakes and clutch. I need to build a torque arm to take the load off the split wishbones too. Once that's done, I'll get back on fitting the torsion bars in the frame. With the jig outside, I climbed the ladder to grab a couple Rickman style shots.
When I got this car, it had a new Tanks fuel tank, which I planned to reuse. With the quickchange in place, the tank needed a notch to fit back in the frame. I did a rough cut to allow the tank to fit back in the frame before marking out a final cut line.
I wanted to rebuild the pedal assembly to make it the best that it can be. In the past, I've always used the reproduction pedal bushings that all of the aftermarket parts houses sell, but no matter how well I try to fit them, it seems that my pedals always have a little side to side wobble to them. This time around, I wanted to find a better solution. After browsing the McMaster Carr catalog, I found some bronze oilite bushings that had the correct 15/16" OD to fit the Ford pedals. The width was a little too wide, but that was easy to solve. The ID however was 3/4" rather than 7/8". The 7/8" shaft is probably overkill, so I decided to just downsize to the 3/4" shaft to make those bushings work. I picked up a pair of 3/4" shaft collars from McMaster to replace the collars on the stock pedal box, and I also got a case hardened, chromed, 3/4" shaft too. With the collars replaced, and the bushings fit, the pedal assembly works extremely smoothly.....but most importantly, there's no more side to side wobble! Next up, I'll modify the pedal arms to correct the ratios......
Very nice, too bad about having to redo the torsion bar set up, but we all end of having redo stuff. Best to make it right than to compromise and not be happy later. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I'm amazed that you made a "miscalculation". That just proves you are a human being like us I was beginning to think this was being made by those computer robots it's so perfect.
While I'm sorting out the pedal assembly, I worked on a torque arm in the background. Instead of fabricating one from scratch, or from a wishbone, I decided to get one machined. I created a quick rear suspension model in CAD, and got to work designing an arm that would fit in that packaging. I came up with a tapered arm design, that has some draft angles to make it look more like a cast piece. I then had it machined from 6061. Now, I just need to make some brackets that will weld to the RH axle bell and RH wishbone to formally put it in place.
I wrapped up the pedal assembly yesterday. That project was pretty involved, with a lot of small projects adding up to actual brake stuff. I first needed to c-notch the rear rails, so that I could determine how far the wishbones swing upward during full suspension travel. With my packaging envelope now known, I got to work correcting the pedals ratios, at the pedals. Then, I moved to the rear to mount the master cylinders. I used my rear suspension crossmember to hang them. I drilled and sleeved all of the holes for the master cylinders, allowing me to use long through bolts to attach everything. With those in place, I began designing bell cranks to turn the pulling motion into a pushing motion. Since I already corrected the pedal ratios, the bell cranks could simply be 1:1. The linkage is built from chromoly tubing, with some weld-in bungs allowing easy adjustment. It was tight packaging, but everything actuates very smoothly. I used teflon lined rod ends, and bronze oilite bushings, so the whole system should be relatively maintenance free.
I got the torque arm formally mounted. I made a simple single shear bracket for the RH axle bell, along with a double shear bracket for the RH wishbone. I double checked my driveline angles, then welded the brackets in place. It should handle that Cadillac torque well!
If you keep practicing, you just might get the hang of the whole fabrication thing someday.... Just kidding of course, your work is nothing less that stellar. -Abone.
Art in Metal...Thanks for helping make this place THE Place to be...You are truly a gifted Talent @CTaulbert
I love using those oilite bushings. And, you torque arm is a work of art. I would totally buy one if they were offered for sale.
I have become more active lately and have been impressed with the cars being built. Lots of us just got busy with life, family, OT cars etc in the last years.
Are the master cylinders under your seat now? Is the seat going to be a bench with a flip up bottom? Or just scoot fore or back out of the way?
I think the ease of using Instagram to document a build has probably killed build threads more than anything. I'll admit, I do more updates there than here because it's more user friendly.
They should fall under the seat. I'll build a stock style seat frame, where the bottom cushion can flip up/out, so the access will be easy from the top side.
My handle is ctaulbert there as well. For those who don't have an Instagram account, this link will take you to my profile: https://www.instagram.com/ctaulbert/?hl=en
OK I have to ask this How are you going to change gears in that quick change without dropping the gas tank?
Realistically, you're going to jack the car up (to get underneath it), so you could let the axle drop down with some jack stands under the frame. The gears are 1 3/8" wide, and there is enough clearance to sneak them out between the Halibrand case and the gas tank. Even more realistically, I bet 95% of quickchange owners never change gear sets....myself included.
The Jalopy Journal
