The front shocks needed to be cleaned up. The oil was drained. The housings were ground smooth, sanded and given a satin finish with an abrasive brush. The valve that screws in them had a big rusty hex head on it. I decided to put a SS flanged head on it like spring hanger nut. The head was turned off with a 3/8 dia. boss left in the middle. A round 1-1/8 stainless plate with a 3/8 hole was welded to the valve that would be the flange. The head from a stainless 1/2 bolt was cut off and welded to the flange. Then it was finished in the lathe. The shocks have 3/8 holes but a bolt with a 9/16 head won't fit them so SS flange head bolts with a 1/2 head were made the same way for them. 5/8-18 flanged nuts with 3/4 hex like the spring hanger nuts were also made for the brake anchor pins. The head of the king pins were replaced with SS ones like the wishbone bolts. This is what everything looks when its finished and put together.
That was my feelings also, this has become more art than a hot rod, don't in any way take that as criticism because this is the kind of project build thread that I just absorb when looking at photos. You know what they say about art!
I think you might be exaggerating a little. Looks like old Ford and Buick parts cleaned up and made to work together to me.
True craftsmanship. You have the gift of vision. The hardest part of fabricating for me is ''seeing'' the finished part before starting. Beautiful work.
Stunning stuff! Thanks for sharing! A Q if I may - the rear section of the exhaust appears to be solid mounted to the rear crossmember. Is that so? And if so isn't that going to vibrate and / or fail to deal with expansion? I'm not trying to shoot you down here, I have a similar setup but with bushings but I'm needing to redesign as I've nothing to prevent the exhaust from moving away from exactly where they needs to be - which is important (to me) when they visually frame the QC rear. I could double up the bushings but I'm liking yours for its simplicity. Chris
I've never mounted one solid in the rear so I don't have a definite answer. There will be short tailpipes added on and I don't want them to move back there so I figured I'd try it. I'm hoping that even though it's mounted solid in back that the rubber bushings will take care of any engine vibration before it reaches the back. As far as expansion there are a lot of bends in the system. The ones over the rear are almost 180*. Everything will only have to give a very little to account for the extra length. Rubber sway bar link bushings are used for isolators that do a good job at controlling vibration. They will allow more side to side movement when laid flat with the bolt vertical if not over tightened. I figured when the car is done I'd loosen the back bolts and see how much tension was actually on them. If there is a problem I will drill out the tabs in the tailpipes, bend them back a little and add 4 bushings.
Hotrodfab32, thanks for building such a great hot rod and for sharing pictures & explanations. Seeing projects like yours inspires amateur hacks like me to attempt to up our game.
Not sure how i missed this build up until now but glad i found it. great workmanship my friend, be proud. Looking forward to seeing the rest of it.
The last several picture series - pure hotrod ****. I just keep going back for one more look while I wipe drool off my tablet. Beautifully executed.
Damn nice work/ welding! When you welded the Center in, did you weld both sides? Or did the weld penetrate that much and weld thru to the other side? Do you use a Tig? Or Mig? Thanks Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
"I think you might be exaggerating a little. Looks like old Ford and Buick parts cleaned up and made to work together to me." I have an old Ford & Buick parts, cleaned up, hopefully will work together and it doesn't look anything like this...............................................................................
The Jalopy Journal
