Turns out the dirty old diff I dragged out of a local creek is surprisingly pretty good on the inside! Water was leaking out of it when I got it home and the brakes are rusted through and total rubbish. I was thinking I'd cut the spring perches off and that's about it. Well I opened it up and it was full of grease and oil which has preserved the insides! Gears are 3.77 as well which I'm pretty happy about! Free gear upgrade for the roadster!
Well I was dreaming I'd finish this roadster and build a 32 coupe after it, but it's just not happening... I have picked up quite a lot of 32 coupe parts while looking for roadster stuff and I've decided to put the fully fendered coupe parts up for sale in the hope that I can get this roadster done! Pretty much selling everything I have collected to get this roadster done this year!! I hope...
There a a few gifted folks who manage to turn out a large number of projects but for the rest of us reducing the distractions help with getting somthing done. I'm not sure which camp you fall into, but you certainly are a doer! Selling the coupe project would have been a big decision but good on you!
D Definitely a tough one for me! I have nice 35 wires and a decent flatty with many other parts. Getting the roadster done should make it all worth while.
Bit more fitment work for this windshield frame. Light filler to smooth out the top and a coat of primer.
Couple more shots... still some work to finish off, but I like it. I was telling my mum I'm using skills I learnt during work placement☺. I did school arranged work placement at a panel shop 20 years ago as a kid, and put up with a massive twit of a boss for $5 a day. I learnt a few things from the experience, mainly that I didn't want to become a panel beater ☺!
Stripped the roadster down again, back on the rotisserie for some cleaning up, welding and ironing out some small damage. Also working on the stiffening legs for the frame, and working out my hydraulic brakes while the frame is at a handy height to work on.
The front cross member was replaced a long time ago, and braced with 1/2" plate underneath. The cross member was bolted in, and I want a stock riveted look. So I plug welded the cross member in and used my copper bar to make some rivet style acorns.
Man this build is more proof most anything can be saved....so awsome. Inspiration for my pile of parts
Some finishing off work to do on the rivets, and I've made a start to flattening the front cross member.
Some template work. I had to raise the shelf for the "U" bolts to work on the flattened cross member.
Front cross member is almost done. Some cleaning up to do on the rear cross member, and still some work to do on the stiffening legs. Getting there! Worked on my house over Easter, back into the rod after this week.
Great trick for the faux rivets. I'll be using that on my build, thank you. Your roadster is coming along great. Cheers, Stewart.
I got a chance to make the template for the chassis stiffening legs today, and plasma some holes out. I plan to recess the floor slightly to get my seat a little lower. Which means the legs will need to allow for this.
If I was to do these again I'd do them slightly differently to save a bunch of welding.... But since I already had them folded up and only recently realised I needed to get my seat a bit lower, I decided to roll with it, and use what I have...
I am sure this is too late but in case it helps another rodder... I boxed an x member on a '34 coupe...tight fit... had a leaking tranny fluid line... took me a day to remove the seats, carpet and floors so I could get at them... check to see if you can access all the suff on the tranny sides... if not, you might make the 2 holes near the side of the tranny into an oval... my $0.02.
Tranny mounts forward of the original "K" member and the stiffening legs I've added are bolt in, meaning if I have any issues with space to work at a later date I can un-bolt them. Thank you for the input! Good tip to keep in mind!
I decided to have an easy day in the shed today and play with the hydraulic brake set up. I've done a decent amount of research and put the feelers out in one of the other traditional online hotrod groups. I've chosen what I think is a pretty traditional method, which utilizes the brake cross over, mounting the master cylinder backwards from standard. It'll be a tight fit... I also like that it gives the braking system some protection behind the "K" member rather than having the brake master hang slightly below the "K" member. Quick mock up. This means there is no pedal modification required, and uses the original brake cross over arms to change the pull motion to a push motion into the master with hardly any modifications.
I'm thinking I'll go with a dual circuit master cylinder for safety. Even though I already bought the single circuit early ford master cylinder.... I had to keep my kids busy while I was playing in the shed! They had a great time decorating the 35.
The Jalopy Journal
