Hot Rods Just Another 5-Window Build Thread

@ Tom
Same for me, HAMBERS comments and ideas really helps keeping working, especially on the body work as it is a long and hard work for me

 

Great progress! Thanks for the updates.

 

Thank you Hotroda and Alpo!

 

Made some pretty good progress the last two days. I wanted to get the headlight bar in so I could trial fit my headlights. I installed the TC cover, WP setup, and fan on the mock-up motor. Adjusted my motor height with a couple washers and installed the radiator, grill shell, rods, and separated my hood sides from the hood tops ....





Got it rolled outside for these pics because I had to use my torches to bend the shifter arm and HL bar. Hate using them in cramped areas ....
So the HL bar was all ready set up for mounting on the front frame rails but the feet were kind of pigeon toed in. Worked on that first and got it right after a couple tries ...

For the shifter handle, I first bent it straight forward about 8 inches. .

The above pic is when in reverse and this next one when in 1st, 3rd, or 5th ...

So for things were looking good but, when in 2nd, the shifter ball ran into the steering wheel. After about a 2-3" bend to the right, all is well ...
Back somewhere in this build thread I showed the Packard HL buckets I am going to use and the patches I cut out of a 3rd trashed bucket in order to install the mounts to my HL bar. Got a new welder and tacked in the first patch ....

I bought some OTB HL mounts a while back - cleaned up the welds and installed it on my first bucket ....

Still not a very good welder but getting better - did the second bucket ...

The buckets fit great and are looking good ...


I now have the dash out and I am working on installing the signal switch and the column drop mount ...

 

WE ARE PATIENTLY WAITING...

 

Great build thread keep the updates coming

 

Thanks, Ron, Jack - looking forward to having this baby on the road ....

 

Not too much to report as I worked on the roadster yesterday, getting it ready for a run to the LSRU, and I had to get one of my DDs inspected today (and it had issues that I will have to repair in the short term, taking time away from my project) but I did get some more progress l ...
The turn signal is now mounted. I don't love it but it's behind the dash and it works ....

So, the column drop was dropped 2" off of the bar I have installed with the wood I had used. I just angle cut some 1x2 tubing, drilled the holes for the mount and welded the nuts inside the drop. A little cleanup and it's done ...

I also mounted the ebrake handle to the frame rail as I had decided. I drilled the back hole and bolted it in, playing with the throw a bit and I've got it where I want it .... here it is at rest ...

... and fully pulled back ...

I think when the ebrake is engaged it should be somewhere between these two points ....
I'll be back at it on Wed as I'm helping Gabby tomorrow .....

 

Great car!! Keep it going!

 

Thanks, Hotroda .....

 

When I used a stock '32 parking brake lever on my tudor project, I couldn't get enough pull to engage the brakes. I used '40 rear brakes, so maybe your mileage may vary. I had to create an idler arm to increase the distance of the "pull" to get the shoes to grab. I think the stock '32 brake arm thingamajiggy that bolts to the backside of the K-member must increase the ratio.

Do a test pull before you paint everything up shiney.

 

Thanks for the heads up, alchemy - my plan now is to use the Lokar cable setup to the stock brake handle off of my 9" rear. Whatever happens I will report it here ....

 

Helped Gabby out today setting up how his build will come together .... looking pretty good to me ....




Sbc/2004r, hairpins up front, 32 commercial headlights, and some interesting changes to work with the parts he has - it was a fun day ....

 

Finished up the column connection to the steering box today. I first cut the column on the mark I had made and set up a washer drilled out to 3/4" and the same inside diameter of the column to hold the PVC sleeves in ... I installed the column and roughly
measured what I needed to cut of the shaft itself and added a bit more just to be sure ....

... double D'ing the shaft to match my joint. I then installed the rest of the steering linkage to double check that I had measured correctly ..... The joints I am using need a notch cut into the D's shaft to "locate" it in the joint. Once that was done I reassembled the linkage. I put a collar on the steering shaft so you can't "pull up" on the column. A nylon bushing/washer separates the welded on modified washer and the collar for ease of movement ....


Lastly I have to anchor the column to the floorboard but that's for another day ....

 

I don't know about the make of the steering wheel, but that looks like a Pontiac logo on the horn button Tom.

A quick Google search produced this 65 Catalina wheel:

 

Thanks,Dave - you are right. For whatever reason I think I've been saying it's an Olds wheel. Mid 60s is a little beyond my early 60s vibe but I like the wheel ....

 

Several days worth of progress to report here, small amounts, but I am moving forward ....
The steering arm I was going to use put the tie rod end either too high or too low. So I decided to shorten the heavy duty flat steel one I have 1" to make it the same length ....

Johnrodz tig welded it together for me ....

Put a little paint on it - Ace Hardware had some cans of Bondo Hot Rod Black - go figure ....

I measured and placed the park brake handle location on my paper template, transferred it to my floor piece. I cut out everything and after some slicing and dicing by the pedals, got it in ...

Now for the paper template for the tunnel. I think the template will have to be in three pieces. I slso want access to the inspection cover on my adapter ...

With the top piece being the simplest, I started on the main tunnel one piece at a time working from the front of the car back ...


Much easier than using one big piece for me ...

Happy with the results - transferring it to metal will not be as easy ....

I also decided on my heater box location - I'll get a pic of that tomorrow ....

 

Been under the weather for the last week so not too much progress. But I did figure out how I will support the column mount. The dash mounts to a plate just below the WS so I decided to connect to it and only two spots to the firewall. I also decided I wanted to be able to remove the whole support setup if need be and in retrospect I probably should have just welded it in.

Regardless, here is what I did. I first made a paper template, transferred it to a piece of wood and the cut our four supports ...

Here is how they will mount ...

The rectangular tabs are welded to the tops of the supports and provide a place to bolt/weld to. ..

I finished the two passenger side supports ....

The two driver side will be on either side of the column mount. That is all she wrote for now ....

 

After a bit of a relapse, I am back at it. Finished up the supports - I wanted to be able to remove the entire support and/or remove the body if need be without disturbing the firewall. Anyway, the driver side is now complete. Sorry, no pic.

The next piece was to mount the heater on the firewall to locate where the removeable firewall support for my column mount. The heater I bought is a small unit that will fit into a 46-48 Ford car heater enclosure. I have one in myriadster and it works great. Mounting it is an issue however. First off, there are only 3 screw hole mounts on the back of the unit ....

Sorry - pic is 90degree clockwise. I made up a simple plate to begin my mount ....

I am mounting the heater on the passenger side of the firewall, using existing firewall holes for the hoses and the three stock holes for the gauge tunnel which I am not using. Made another plate for that ...

I then mated the two plates for a trial fit ...


The outlets above are two plumbing fittings joined to the heater box with so.e radiator hose I had around. I will pipe over the outlet to the driver side later. I also roughed in the water lines to give me something to work with ...

The outlets are right where the firewall holes are ...

This all would have worked but there was not enough room for my plumbing so I made "stands to separate the two plates, allow access to mount them to the firewall and to separate the heater mic in case I needed to replace it ...

The heater box has a two speed fan, needing only a simple two position switch. My roadster has the heater pointing at your feet. So we got really warm feet, toasty in fact, but the heated air was not uniform throughout the cabin. I am hoping the outlet placement I have now will work better.
The only thing left now is to make anchor points for the cover and run the two heater hoses through the firewall to the heater through simple rubber grommets.

Moving forward again feels great ....

 

Cleaned up the hoses on the heater box. ..

Put the valve on the top and that really cleaned things up. Put it up on the firewall ...


... and just to see how it will look ....


After that, it was way past the time for a shop cleanup. ...

 

Worked on the floor area today. First, I made the over-piece of my floor that attaches it to the center of the firewall ...

I then put in a couple self tapping screws that will be swapped out later and tacked it to the main floor. Working on the floor to the point where all the pieces are tacked in, then remove it to weld it up.

Next I removed my seat to make my seat risers. My setup will be a 2.25" rise in the front, 3" out back. Since this is an original body I am using the original bolt holes but weld in some frame pieces for some long bolts ..



Those are the original seat tracks off the original seat but there will be no seat adjustment forward or back (unless it turns out I need it). For right now, the seat is right up against the rear package tray. I decided to use oak right now and perhaps encase it in some aluminum plate on its long sides ....
I made up a new tunnel template the other day and have been whittling away on it to get me as close to what I want as I can ....

The tunnel will be in three pieces but I also want access to the inspection cover, so some kind of door will be needed. Since the Cornhusker adapter has it the inspection cover, no sense in covering it up ....


I will tell you of my one mistake though - the supports I made for the steering column bar interfere with the dash. The dash sweeps back right under the lip of the panel I have screwed them to and cannot be seated properly ....

Dumb move, I know but you live and learn. So, I could modify what I have made up but I decided that I will make new, one at a time, and weld them to that panel this time .....

 

I redid the column support brackets today and I had to move back the signal stat unit as well ....


With the bar now removed I will clean it up and put some paint on it ...

To finish this off I need to make two removable supports from the steering column mount bar to the firewall .....

 

Nice day out today - a good day to make a floor tunnel. Scribed the new template on a piece of 16 gauge ...

Cut it out via a cutoff wheel, cleaned the edges, and made a place to bend it up. Jacksandeuces gave me the idea using a pipe but the heavy angle iron did just fine ...

Never having done this before, I took my time, unbent my mistakes, and compared it to a template I made up for the part closest to the firewall ...


It started to get close so not wanting to rush it, I took a break. Most times I keep going and screw up! After my break I trial fit the tunnel and I knew I was going to get it in place tonight. Once I got the edges tucked in ....
... and removed the short throw B&M shifter tower. The tower on the tail shaft was only going to be above the tunnel about 1/2" or less. With just a bit more tweaking, it popped into place ....

I've got some additional trimming to do and cutting the shifter hole but not bad for my first time.

Between that and getting my roadster all ready for a run to the LSRU, it's been a busy couple days ....

What's the expression? "Too soon old and too late smart"!

 

Looking great!

 

Thanks Gary !

 

Small update - cut the hole for the shifter .....


Now I need to figure out how to transition from one to the other ....

 

Tom - Auto Fair? Same time same space.

Lee

 

Hey, Lee - I will be in Austin for the LSRU. Sorry to miss you, man! How have you been?

 

Before I can weld in the steering mount support setup, I needed to trial fit the gauge pod. Jacksandeuces had an extra tunnel and gauge pod so I installed it with the support setup and it just fit ...

Tight but it went in. I also noticed that I could not use both these items together - they boxed in one another - if I had to swap gauges if would not be easy ....

The gauge pod can be installed with the stock tunnel or - attach it to the dash and they will be one piece or attach it to the steering support structure.

Going back and forth with the last two items, I decided to see how attaching the gauge pod to the support structure would keep it steady and not cause it to vibrate when going down the road. I still have the two gauge tunnel pieces that came with the body when I purchased it - after installing them on the firewall I slipped my gauge pod blank on them and installed the dash ....

The gauge pod did not sit snug to the dash which I think is probably good ....

Tomorrow I will use some self tapping screws to hold the gauge pod to the tunnel, install my support system and see how to fabricate some brackets to hold the pod ....

 

I started making the brackets to hold the gauge pod to the support structure with the tunnel supports in place ...

I used 2-3 self tapping screws on 2-3 of the brackets once the brackets themselves were screwed to the support ...

Just in case, I removed the tunnel support pieces and installed the dash to verify all was well ..


From this point I removed the dash and the support piece. I drilled all of the needed holes to the pod and screwed it all together. I then set the support piece back in the car as I ran out of time ....


With this done I can finally paint and weld the support in place, remove the gauge pod and install the gauges but this will have to wait a couple weeks. I am off to the LSRU, Easter, Spring Carlisle, and the annual car show here in town. At least it's all for good stuff .....