Great looking alternator mount. Going to steal that idea. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Headers are next. They are built out of 304 S.S. 1-3/4 16 ga. tubing and 2-1/2" collectors. I drew flanges for the engine and collectors up in a CAD program and then sent the file to a shop to have them water jet cut from 3/8" SS. The tubes needed to be kept tucked close to the engine to try to keep them as far away from the hood sides as possible. Tight radius bends were used at the flanges and standard ones everywhere else.. The left side is pretty straight forward. It has to clear the oil filter and pedal assembly. Three down, one to go. The inside of the tubes are purged with Argon while welding them together so with 100% penetration the weld looks as good on the inside. After the tubes are welded the weld can be ground down without weakening them. The surfaces are then blended. A DA, Flap wheels and 3M pads are used to finish them. I wanted a natural finish that will darken some after they are used. Left side finished. They ended up being tucked in very tight. I took more pictures when I was doing the right side. I'll get it on here as soon as I can.
The right side was tight because of the starter and pinched rails. The tubes were kept as far away from the starter and tucked in away from the hood as space would allow. The tubes wouldn't fit around the starter 2X2 so they were 3 wide going under it to maintain ground clearance. A 16 ga. plate had four 1-3/4 holes cut in it. One side was bent 90 then it was clamped to the frame where the collector needed to be for a fixture to align the tubes. Once they are all done they are marked 1/2" longer than the plate and cut. This is the second tube. 9 Pieces. Manifolds next time. All the tubes finished, cut to length and ready to be reassembled. The tubes are put back together. The fixture is still in place. Quite a bit of starter clearance considering the amount of stuff packed in there. At this point they were tacked to the flange and a filler piece was welded on the collector end in the middle of the four tubes The flange is then bolted to an I-beam to help keep it straight while welding the flange. The hose on the end is argon to purge out and keep out oxygen while welding. I decided it would be easier to weld the flange on the collector before welding it on the header. Both flanges welded. Collector tacked. Argon will be hooked back up to finish welding. You can see how tight everything has to be. I'm glad I did it but don't know if I'll ever do it again. These ended up tucked in the same amount as the other side.
I was gonna comment on the beautiful fabrication of headers & then looked at the rest of this thread... the whole thing is magnificent! I wanna be your apprentice....
I always wondered how the pipes get welded around them as they come into the collector? Are they not welded all the way around the tube? Or only as far as can be reached from the outside? Absolutely beautiful work too!
A piece called a star is welded in the center of the tubes on the end to seal the area between them. Then each pair of tubes are welded to each other on their face and about an inch between them. The collector is slid over them about a half inch and when its welded it is sealed to the weld between them.
I just read through this whole thread. Thank you for documenting your Hot Rod build. Incredible work and details!
That build is just kicking ass perfection. I'm glad it's not the typical 350 sb which you see all the time. Awesome work !!!
To repeat what many have said, WOW! That is the most incredible fab skills I have seen. The headers are insane!
Thanks for all the great comments. I'm going to try to keep this thing going. 2-1/2" stainless tubing is being used for the exhaust. The left side was done first because it was the most difficult of the two. The right side was then made to match. Front hangers were fabricated for both at this point. Rubber sway bar link bushings will be used for mounting the hangers. Aluminum spacers that are the same height are used during fabrication. 1" angle was used bolt mufflers together to locate themso tubing could be built to them. Once the right side was done an aluminum angle was clamped to the rails. Plates were cut and clamped on center to use as a reference when building the left side so they were close to the same. Both sides completed back to the mufflers. I decided to use a panhard bar so it needed to be built next before the tailpipes could be fabricated. Rear hangers and mount tabs fabricated. One side completed. Tabs welded. They will stop here for now. They will be finished once the body is on and the back of the frame completed.
I love this build!! I considered putting a big block in my model a but I took the easy way out. You probably know the 65 blocks need a groove machined in the camper or special cam bearings. I had one in a 59 chevy. Thank you for posting this build!
I’ll get some more posted. Been pretty busy for the last month. I’m building the car at a friends repair shop because mine isn’t finished. He was having an open house and we wanted the chassis finished in bare metal for it. All the tubing for brakes and fuel were run. Then I took it off the table and it tore everything apart to finish welding under the frame. Welded and finished everything else. Worked until 3 am night before the open house to get it presentable.
As I said earlier I upgraded the brakes from 2" shoes in the back to 2-1/4. I found some rear 2-1/4 backing plates from a 53 Buick Special and cut the center out of them then milled the lip to get the correct offset. A plate was welded, a hole bored in the center and the bolt pattern drilled around it to mount to the Ford ends. The fronts went from 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 wide. To get the shoes centered front to back in the drum they had to be moved back an 1/8" toward the backing plate. Since the smooth 2-1/4" backing plate was already modified to fit the spindle with correct offset for 2-1/4 shoes (post #75), it was easier to mill the pads down the 1/8" then fill the holes. Filler pieces were made and welded. After welding they were straightened and then put back on the mill and a skim cut was taken on the pads so they were all the same height. Then the plate was turned over and the mounting surface that goes against the spindle was cut so it parallel with the pads. A shim had to be made to raise the wheel cylinder 1/8" to center it with the webs on the shoes. It was welded in place The welds on the back side were ground and finished so it still looks like a factory part.
Holy Christmas. When I dream about building something it’s not anywhere near this nice and here you are building this ridiculously spectacular art work that your calling a car. While the title says 60’s build, which would have been measure it with a yardstick, mark it with a crayon, cut it with a torch yours shows what talent we have here on the HAMB. My hats off to you sir. Cliff Ramsdell
The chassis was disassembled and frame taken off the table next. The frame was flipped over to finish welding. All the partd were also finished. The spring hangers were quite long enough to through the sleeves in the wishbones and so there were only a few threads sticking through. To fix that and help keep the nut tight and the hanger from turning I countersunk both sides of the sleeves in the wishbones. Then I cut a 82* angle, same as a flathead, on the shoulder of the hangers. That allowed them to go another 1/4" deeper and when tightened help keep it from turning. Those have 5/8 threads that use a huge nut that takes away from the wishbone so I made some small ones with a 3/4" hex. They are 1/2"-13 SS nuts with SS round stock welded on them. They were turned, had the angle cut and then drilled and tapped 5/8-18 to fit the hangers in the lathe. I bought some flat top spring perch bolts. I wanted stainless but I could only find steel and chrome. So I bought steel ones then turned an 1/8" off the top, welded stainless on the top and recut the taper and the top. To keep them from turning when tightening the nut, a piece of 1/8 keystock was welded on the shank next to the taper. A 3/16 slot was milled in the wishbone for it to fit in when they are together. All of stainless stuff will not be polished but be glass beaded. Everything will be clean and functional but very little shine. View attachment 4020467
Really unbelievable, but great fun to watch. You could set up bleachers and charge admission for us to see you finish this. And LOVE the 396!
My new favorite build on the H.A.M.B. I'm going to wad my thread up and throw it out after seeing this work of art! Thanks for sharing all the detail!
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