Hot Rods Homogenized ‘28 roadster build

thanks for another example Dan! I should have worked on these today but got carried away with other stuff.

 

Ive been watching that series, did they use 36 driveshaft though or just a pre fabbed cone?

 

That I do not know. But I'm guessing not because if you look at the car's headers, while the collector is bigger than the primary, they don't have much of a cone shape that a 35-36 driveshaft has. The collector looks to be a consistent diameter throughout.

 

Looks straight here

 

It’s funny how I often end up working on the same thing at work as I am working on at home…making some exhaust out of full driveshafts for a ‘32 5-window. Much like the above picture shows, I pie cut the part where it straightens back out, clamped it and welded it all together. The male end of the driveshaft that I cut off previously made a good dolly for straightening it out. This worked well for getting it down to 1-3/4”. I’ve got to go to 1-1/2” for my own car though, so we’ll see how that goes.

 

Fantastic

 

I finally figured out how ahead of myself I was getting with headers and other stuff. Got back to some more important tasks like getting the body fit and located on the frame, then getting the rear subrails fit and welded together. Then I was able to better mock up the back half of the body and see where braces were going to land and need to be cut or modified. I still have some fitting to do but it’s pretty close. The aforementioned rear end narrowing will help too.

 

This dash was slated for the late T roadster I was building a few years ago but will find it’s way into the A.

 

I think I’m going to go Vega steering

 

That dash is neat! What is it?

I think we can forgive the Vega as long as there’s not an assault on our eyeballs with a trapeze of joints and rod hanging out in the breeze. I’m sure you’ll nail it

 

Knecht Auburn repro

 

Correct, the insert is from Karl Knecht. He hasn’t been selling them for a while.

The dash itself is Desoto, but I don’t know what year.

 

I had kept this box from that same abandoned T build. It’s from Neal Jennings and built with the pitman arm pointed up because that T was really low slung. Thought I could use it on this car but with the arm up, its really screwing up where I want to put my headers. If I rebuild it to point down, there’s not enough room between the hairpin and frame for the draglink.

I grabbed a couple ‘37-‘48 cross steer boxes today to mock up and see if I can make that work. And I believe the factory ratio on those is 18:1 which is better than a Vega. It’s just a little big.

Another problem I have is my chrome spindles don’t have a hole for a draglink. I could use the tie rod they make with the extra hole in it, except these spindles have been drilled out for a 1/2” bolt and rod ends. So then I’m looking at making a tapered sleeve insert maybe…but it’s turned into a big mess.

I think I’m going to build the headers how I want and figure the rest out later.

 

If the tapered sleeve is a press fit into the spindle, then maybe just a quick tack weld on the bottom where it won’t show, that should work. Wouldn’t ruin the chrome much.

 

Yeah. And I’m imagining the insert going in from the top, then the nut on the bottom would still tighten everything up against the spindle, holding it all together tight.

 

Here is how I did mine. It's right in front of the header. E-mail me if you need better pictures. I PM you my E-mail

 

Looks like is going to be a ‘40 (ish) box. Should work out pretty well. But with half the day off, I really got started on the headers this afternoon. I tapered the front pieces of the driveshaft halves the same as above. Then to get it down to fit the 1.5” primary,
I hammered the end over an old hairpin yoke ball.

My biggest concern was getting a hood side on with the cut-out for the header down low. I wanted the main tube down at framerail height and pretty level or even up in the back a little.

Many times we spend a lot of time trying to replicate what other guys did, or doing stuff just like the other cars…but today kinda showed me that they were just doing whatever worked. If you look close enough at the headers on many of these cars, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on. So, I’m doing what works with what I’ve got.

Side note…I might have to chop this thing just a bit more.

 

Those headers are to look great!

 

I have headers to work on and a bunch of parts on the way. But until then I picked up this Brookville “second” shell. It’s so much better than what I had. I might not chop it this time, we’ll see. I ordered a United pacific insert for it. Also moved the headlights back some, but also think they need to be more outboard. The front axle is WIDE and I need to make it appear less so. Shocks will help there too eventually.

 

The Vega box can actually be reversed (like they did with Corvair boxes), (Engineering Buddy did it)! That would point the pitman arm down and help with bump steer. The big threaded end needs to be turned down (and holes drilled for a spanner wrench) to tighten it, to make room to fit a u- joint on the shaft.

 

I’ve got a lot of new parts to keep me busy…the United Pacific insert doesn’t fit the Brookville shell worth a flip, but that was expected and nothing I can’t handle. Still better than the cheap junk I was using. Got a chrome Powergen ready to mount. From Speedway, their “nostalgia” steering column. I wanted turn signals and a horn without a clamp on switch and button on the dash or something. The bell at the top has a nice look. Also got a set of their gauges. Knock offs of Stewart Warner, and all the small ones look ok. The speedo has a weird bezel on it that I might try to change. Also bugs me that the small ones have white between the bezel and gauge face while the speedometer is black. But the set of 5 was $200 so they’ll do.

 

I’d be interested is seeing how you make the insert fit. I’d be dead in the water and looking for a different insert if that was me.

 

I love seeing a build that doesn't have to have super rare unobtainaium everything.

 

Great to catch up on your progress!
Regarding gauges, have you ever looked into Marshall?
Performance Auto Gauges from Marshall Instruments
They sell complete sets on Ebay, also.

 

Yep! I do not have the budget nor patience for that kinda stuff. I try to find a good balance between original and aftermarket parts.

 

Unfortunately I think this is about all you can get anymore.

I can’t fathom how a really nice ‘32 shell and insert isn’t available these days. The Vintique stuff you used to be able to get wasn’t nearly as bad as what the eBay specials are now. It’s hard to tell what people are actually selling anymore. And a Vintique shell with a Dale’s insert was pretty damn good. But Dales is long gone I believe. If I were building a ‘32 I’d gladly pony up for a nice original setup, but this stuff is good enough.

 

I hadn’t, but looks like they have some decent stuff.

 

Passenger header is more or less finished. Then I turned my attention to the front spreader bar, reshaped the frame horns more like a Model A then welded in the V-d bar I made a while back and smoothed it all out. Might do the drivers side header tomorrow.

 

Re your 32 grille/insert problem, someone posted on here that the Brookville grille and insert was a 'reasonable' solution. As Vintique parts are more readily available here I've used 2 Vintique inserts in original shells with the only problem being trying to fit the insert without removing the nice new paint on the shell.
Real annoyed that I didn't jump on a genuine Dale's insert at a local swap but didn't find out it was a Dales until after it sold.

 

It's nice to know that I am not the only one having a problem in getting a grill insert fit in a 32 shell, the brookvirl insert doesn't fit their shell very good either. I am going to try a Fors insert and see if it fits any better. If not I will make the shell fit it.