I started reading this thread six months back, read up to around page 10 and stopped. Started reading again about a week ago and thought, why in the hell did I quit reading this build? Really like your roadster, really envious of your scrounging ability! You and my daughter share the same birthday. This photo makes me smile, looks like she goosed the throttle and it is trying to get away from her!
Ha ha, thank you for the complements and I'm glad you get a smile out of that photo. Thanks for following along!
Well Covid keeps interfering with my plans to pick parts up from interstate, so I had a play with some other car stuff to scratch my itch and get some shed time in, ha ha. I also dragged some crap together I have been collecting for fun. Just because it's enjoyable to mock it up. 32 Sport coupe with custom roof, or 5w I am not sure yet. Nearly enough parts in the pile, either way! I'm basically just waiting to get some parts out of storage to continue with the roadster.
i just traded around for a ? ...year / ? make ... four door rear clip, no doors, pix when its home... wish you lived closer as it would be cool in you PILE !
I polished some parts the other day, and my hood side emblem arrived in the post which I am very happy with! I'll clean the old paint off the emblem when I get the chance. This arvo I spent some time making a jig for forming dies on the hood sides. It is surprisingly easy. I plan to have a play with the idea of either brass or paint finished inserts on the hood, at this stage it is just mock up and deciding the louvre style. The louvre I formed is based on the rear louvres on the deck lid. More refining needed on the jig used to form them, but it works quite well, and is simple.
I believe you should try punching your mini louvers at the same angle as the Henry ones for a more cohesive look. Keep up the progress!
my $0.02 ... try '35-'36 car or '35-'37 truck inner panels... the big trucks have shallower hood sides...
I'll have to see what I can get. The inner fender panels I planned to make will be domed for sure. These hood sides are Aussie big truck. If I can come across cheap inner fenders I will grab them. All the truck inner fenders I have come across have been a mess from the punishment a working truck receives. I am also changing the hood side radius to suit the 32 so I'm not sure how much of the stock inner fender would be of use. Thanks for the input.
V Very cool! I hadn't seen the hood sides used on a roadster before, I just liked them. Thanks for the photo, I think it would look good with original style inner fender wells. It's just a matter of finding some for a reasonable price and condition, or making some to fit. I'm enjoying the challenge and process.
That is cool! Nice shape, and would be perfect for the coupe panel pile. I'll be on the hunt for something like that!
Rainy day here, so shitty paint blending day. I'll knock the sheen off once it dries to get the perfectly shitty survivor finish over the patch panels on the roadster. It was fun!
I get over your way every now & then, would love to check out your projects if it worked! Drove through the valley last Jan actually.
That would be cool, I plan to have a bit of a "shin dig" once the roadster and house are sorted! I'll keep you in the loop!
Fired up the crappy old lathe and made an articulating mirror mount and mounted the centre mirror. Side mirror mount is mild steel and will be painted. I think the mirror itself might be Blitz?
I had great fun hitting a swap meet for the first time in a while. Covid meant it was small, but I met some really nice fellas and got some good deals on parts. Swage and jenny was my best deal with tipping dies. I also cleaned up and painted a few parts, built hand brake mount, played with the old paint a bit more, and toyed with the idea of pump in heads. I would need to fly cut the heads for the dome pistons and replace the studs, I am in two minds but love the look of the older heads and it will help with the fan belt clearance issue with motor mounts.
Pump in heads have been blasted and crack tested, surfaced and polished. See how I go with the piston clearancing. They were a good price, and will look good on a mock up engine worst case scenario. I also shortened the drive shaft and had it machined and welded. Plus I made up a wobbly anti chatter rod to get around pedals.
So those heads must have been offered that way for a builder to cut specific dome shape to match the the shortblock needs? Don’t think they were for flat top pistons. Time to find a proper machine shop to barter with, she’ll be alright. They’re ripper!
T I'm not sure if they've been over machined or what the deal is. They do appear to have a lot of meat left in them to be machined for specific pistons.
Looking good, nice deal on the swage and jenny! What does and original 32 ford RHD antichatter rod look like? That's quite a twisted path it needs to take!
Pump-in-heads certainly are pretty, polished up like that! Love that high-stacker intake! Agree with Carter... Likely compression chambers were designed that way. Seen those early blocks with flat top pistons before. I have a '37 flathead with the firing order cast right on top of the left head. (in 2 rows) If I had a good 21 stud block, I'd build it. Just for those heads. (they're cast iron, but very coool...)
I don't really know what the rods look like stock around pedals... It's all a learning process for me.
I dragged out a rough stock early 21 stud head, and it appears the pair I have are stock for flat top pistons. Thank you for the help fellas.