Hot Rods Homogenized ‘28 roadster build

Just noticed that 2 carb manifold on SBC. Hard to see but looks welded but on what manifold. Would love some detail explanation

 

Look on page 1 of this thread.

 

Tks for reminder - back in oct/2021 there is build of the manifold. Wow, nice I also like 2 carb manifold idea.

 

Really like how this picture looks, was it deliberate or just happened?

 

Thanks! Other than the bonkers Instagram filtering, that’s how it sits. I do always try to do a decent job of framing my shots.

 

Finally! I never liked the rear crossmember that came in this frame, and had picked up a ‘40-something to replace it with. Went ahead and cut it into 3 pieces which helped it fit in the blast cabinet at work. Then pie cut the ends so the whole thing had just about 2-1/4” from the top side of the ends to the bottom of where the spring seats, which is pretty close to what the tubular crossmember was. Welded it up, then added some doubler plates to the inside…which strengthened it quite a bit, but also since I’m using a 2” wide ‘40 front spring, helped narrow it up to fit the spring a little tighter. Then I braced the frame, cut out the old crossmember, cut the ends of the new one, and welded it in. Functionally it improves nothing…but I hated seeing that tube and those spring clamps.

 

How much did you sell it for?

 

Sell what?

 

The far ends of those internal fish plates should be left un-welded, you just moved the potential stress riser over. Keith Bontrager did an Engineering paper on this in the 90s with his "chin gussets" on thinwall MTB tubing. Otherwise, rounded ends change the load patch if you weld fully. I had @ELpolacko laser me a batch of round gussets years ago for this very reason.

 

That’s a good point I didn’t consider. Maybe I can go in and trim the corners of the plates.

 

My goal is to have this car painted by October…but that won’t be “finished”. I have had this plan in the back of my mind for a while and have been making sure I left room where I might eventually need it. But long story short, I picked up this 4-71…my first supercharger! I’ve got a bunch of other goodies to convert it to a street blower…other than a snout, and drive setup, or an intake…but it’s a start. I plan on building a much more stout small block later on. For now though, I’ll just put this little 283 back together with a mild cam and hit the road.

 

I don’t have anything to report on the roadster…but have been up to stuff that will make work on it much easier.

I built myself a pretty large shed next to the garage so I could move out all of my parts shelves and a bunch of other misc stuff. Freed up a bunch of room in the garage. I also ran some new electrical, so I finally have 220 for my welder…and for my new air compressor which also lives in the shed now so it’s not so loud inside. This 60 gallon should keep up with my air tools when I get going on sheetmetal finally. Should have everything wrapped up and plumbed this weekend so it’s back to work on the roadster.

 

Actual progress!

Last weekend was busy with other stuff but I found time to finally wrap up the front frame horns by boxing them in.


This weekend I was able to dedicate some more time to the car. Figured out rear shock mounts, nothing fancy. I didn’t want another bracket welded to the rear end so made some simple bolt-ons from 1/4” angle. Once that was sorted I pulled the rear end, straightened out all of the brackets, and fully welded them on. I also took 3/4” out of each axle tube before I welded the new ends on. I feel like it made a big difference getting the tires a little closer to the quarters. When I put it all back together I left out the top two rear leaves to get a better idea of how it will sit when it’s all together. I’m happy with it.

 

Killer. The 4-71 is just over the top!

 

Kick ass! That shed should be really handy and the blower and other progress is fantastic

 

What Tim said...

The only thing I have to add is the metal work on the front frame horns looks fantastic and I hope my skills one day reach somewhere in the same ball park..

 

Thanks guys! Next I’m going to add some reinforcement/gussets to the ladder bar mounting plate on the frame and really stiffen up the X-member. Then final weld my front hairpins and mounts, and the chassis will be nearly complete.

I realized with the cross steer I’ll have to use either a dead perch or add a panhard bar. I’m leaning towards the bar as it can mostly disappear behind the axle, and I don’t like the looks of a dead perch.

Have to fill the framerail too where the first steering box was mounted.

 

Piddled around with the hairpins yesterday

 

Just finished reading through this whole thread. Not sure why I hadn't seen it earlier. Guess I need to pay more attention to the HAMB. As usual, your attention to detail is impressive! It's the little things and unique touches that make all the difference, not the high dollar rare parts. Keep it up man!

 

About a month ago I came across this PSI axle for sale. The price was very right so I inquired.
Then it turned out to be for econoline spindles, and the price came down even more. I had the seller ship it directly to Sid Drapal in Oklahoma, so he could bore the ends out for early ford kingpins. I picked it up at the Roundup this past weekend and am pretty happy. I’ll have to add a spacer to the top of the axle because I guess Econoline spindles are tighter between the kingpin bosses.

Anyway, the reason for the new axle is twofold…one being that as cool as the old-chrome one is, I kinda want it to be really nice…since I’ve got to chrome the new spindles too. Second, I decided the best way to attach that end of the panhard bar will be to weld a boss on the back of the axle, and then have a tab off of the batwing for double shear. I don’t like the idea of the panhard bar attached only to the batwing and pushing against it trying to flex the clevises. And I just can’t bring myself to do all that to this axle and destroy the old chrome. So I swapped them out today and the old one is for sale to help fund a 4-71 intake! I couldn’t help but clean up the new one just a little.





I also figured out there’s no way to run frame mounted pedals and have a functional clutch since I refuse to use a hydraulic throw out bearing, and it leaves no room for the exhaust except under the frame, which I don’t want to do. So I’m going to do swing pedals again and I went back to R-Jays for this setup. I will be modifying the mounting plate to run dual ‘40 masters like the original Ansen setup I had on my ‘32. I’m not a big fan of a single reservoir brake master cylinder, but I’m even less of a fan of a single reservoir brake and clutch master like the Chevy truck version that is often used. I’m going to build a framework inside the cowl to mount the pedal assembly to so the flex will be minimal, unlike the ‘32 which I never got around to doing.

 

That’s exactly what I did on my A project other than the Ansen knock off I got wasn’t from Rjays. New axle looks cool, looking forward to seeing how you do the pan hard

 

Still a whole lot of nuthin done…but more parts arrived. Got a set of rings and lifters for the 283. I’m a crank check and a set of bearings away from being able to put it back together.

I also got my intake for the 471. It’s one of the Aussie made Munros. The next round of blower stuff to save up for will be the belt drive…and then I can start collecting for engine #2

I also got some original appearing shackles from Roadster Supply, a front u-bolt kit, and one of their nice spoon pedals

 

I'm sorry, I must have missed it. What is engine #2, and what is it for?

That 4-71 is bitchin!

 

Thanks! I just mean the eventual second engine for this car. It’ll have a more stout bottom end and probably a later block, different heads, etc. I’m going to keep this 283 kinda mild and when the time comes, yank it and the T5 for some other potential project and put the new engine and a TKX in here.

 

good progress man! cant wait to see your cowl/pedal bracing, as I need to do something similar with dads roadster.

 

I got to spend most of the weekend on it. I figured out last week that the tie rod was going to be very tight to wherever I put the panhard bar. So I went to put the kingpin locks and steering stops on to see what was what, and found out they didn’t fit. Not sure where the problem was because these kingpins and locks fit great on the old axle. Maybe Econoline locks are in a different spot. Anyway, some grinding on the notch in the kingpins and a little on the locks got it sorted out. I also made some spacers for the top of the axle from some brass washers I had that were the perfect thickness.


I pre-machined the bolt for the panhard rod, turning the head down to get a little extra room. And once I figured out the bar/bracket needed to be at the same angle as the axle, that helped too. In the end I’ll have to fill the depressions on the spindles where the steering stops would hit and it should all clear just fine. Haven’t gotten to the axle end of the panhard yet.



I finalized (again) the location of the body and drilled some new holes for mounting. Then I blew the cowl apart and started cleaning up the panels. It’s all very nice, but since this cowl was setting upside down for a long time, the tank top is pretty bad on the bottom side. I wire wheeled it and have a lot of pinholes. Going to have to find another one. I finished my repair of the passenger windshield post mount and welded the brace between the a-pillars back in. I pie cut the bottoms of the cowl sides to match the upward sweep of the ‘32 frame and to let the rest of the subrails lay flat. And I cut out the front lower corner of the cowl sides too, so I’ll have a place to route my exhaust since I did not want to routed it around and under the outside of the frame. Also made some preliminary cuts to get the distributor in to later make the recess. And finally I finished welding up the passenger side windshield post and started smoothing it out for chrome. I’ll get around to the drivers side later.




I have ordered almost everything to do brake lines and exhaust. I might have mentioned it already but I’d like to get the entire chassis fully sorted out before I really get going on sheetmetal work. Thanks to everyone following this thread!

 

Looks good

 

I have parts but between Mother’s Day with the in laws, then my folks and helping dad with their chicken coop, and replacing our water heater this weekend, I won’t get to work on it any.

 

I love how the upper bar on the hairpins follows the frame.

Looking great dude!

 

Looking forward to the pedal install