Projects M/F-ing HOT RODS, '32 3W build for a HAMB member!

it's amazing how much talent you have steve and crew

 

With those rails that you build are they all out of 1/8 in? After seeing my 2x3 1/8 box tube bent like a banana... I was thinking of stepping it up to a 3/16 for the vertical piece as this next one I'm building will be a c channel for the most part, then again I'm going for a 4 in rail rather than 3... What do ya think?

 

the rear frame horns are 11 gauge (1/8") and the same as the stock rails. My X member is made fro 10 gauge cold rolled sheet and the rear spring crossmember is 3/16" HRPO sheet.

It really depends on your design and the loads the parts are supposed to handle that will determine the thickness and height of the rail. To make the beam material thicker on your frame rail will just add weight and very little gain in strength. But height and proper support would yield a stronger frame.

2X3 box should only be used in lightweight T-buckets and very short wheel base cars. There just isn't much beam strength there.

It's math, but if you truly want to know what materials you should be using these charts and formulas help a ton.

http://www.steeltubeinstitute.org/pdf/brochures/beam_load_table_bro.pdf

 

Should tech archive this, very good.



Ago

 

Thanks for the link! I've used similar charts before to figure crane structures and stuff like that at my previous job. Never had a chance to apply it to a chassis though! Might be a tad bit over engineered but I've got it well figures out now. Just gotta get on with it! Been spending too much time drilling wish bones Ha!

Any updates on the 32?

 

I know this car..

 

I'm behind on reading this post. Steve, on the frame horns what radius did you use on the bends? And how did you achieve it? My son has a project in the works (non-car) and he and I have been discussing bend radii. What is a good rule of thumb?

 

Busy with mail order and running the business end of things. We do have the firewall modified and tack welded together. I want to get the body on it to double check we have it right.

I have the lower rear shock mounts coped, cleaned and tacked in place and going to put together a torque arm today. Then I can blow it apart and finish weld the rear axle and start paint prep.


Phil, my punch has a .095" radius. It's a bit tighter than the stock '32 rail edge, it really depends on where you measure on the frame and when and where it was made. I have found the '32s to be anywhere from .080 to .125 inch radius.

All my design books have formulas as to the minimum bend radius for specific material. More or less, the minimum radius should be 100% the thickness of the material. That doesn't work when trying to match existing structures. I have punched up to .25" A36 with this same dieset and have had no cracking or stress issues. In fact we had to help our next door neighbor put his trailer back together and I used 1/4' Plate to do so. I put 1" flanges on the edges to help stiffen things up.

 

Just amazing!

Subscribed

 

Show off. Steve, I feel totally inadequate after reading some of these posts. I should consider yardsaling the stuff in my garage.

 

Back from intermission and on with the build. The lower shock mounts got coped and tacked into place. I did use the ends of the 35-36 rear wishbones and a set of standard issue shock studs.





Anthony and I both expressed the need for a torque arm of some sort. He left me up to my own devices on how to go about it. I wanted to do something "traditional" but still have my shops style to it. So this is what I did. I machined four sockets that fit into the registers on the side bells. The bottom of each socket is only 1/4" and have a 7/8" outer shell. The 1/4" steel bracket I cut was reamed to final size and just pressed the sockets into place and bolted it up to the rear axle for fit.







How to attach the other end to the wishbone made me think for a bit. When I started rummaging through my luck buckets and core shelves for some interesting clevises or what ever, I came across the discarded ends of 37-40 rear wish bones. The angle was slightly different but close enough to what I needed and a pair of 1" tubes stacked like a double barreled shotgun fit the cut off end like it was made for it. A little bit of bending and some creative band saw slicing, I tacked it together, checked fit and welded the whole thing out. I have yet to machine the threaded bushings to attache the forward end to the right side wishbone. But everything has been marked and needs to come apart for welding.









I spend a few hours calculating how the spring should be made and what spring rate I would like. Since I am using Bilstein shocks front and rear, I could use a slightly higher spring rate and still have a comfortable ride. This spring has five working leaves and an effective spring rate of 170 lb/in according to the formulas I have. Five inches of preload at ride height should carry 850 lbs. I have three "tuning" leaves on top to adjust ride height and rate if necessary.





Joel was busy working on the firewall while I toiled away at other things. He did some somewhat subtle changes to try and keep the wall looking rather stock, but now clears everything well.

 

I'll tel ya what, those machined Sockets for the torque arm are nothing short of stunning. Love that entire piece. Works well with everything thus far and more importantly it looks like it's going to work perfectly.

 

Crap, hit the picture limit.

The motor mount was next on the list to finish. I wanted to use the existing Flathead engine mounts installed by Rudy and crew. Just didn't make sense to redo everything. Drawn, plasma cut, bent, cleaned and prepped, sockets machined it all got tack welded then finish welded and installed.













And that wraps up last week. Joel is working on the floors and I should be tearing things down shortly for final welding and paint preparations.

 

Keeps getting better and better. Very cool ideas and killer craftmanship.

 

killer...

 

Beautiful Work!!!!

 

engine mount is the TITS !

oh, and the Firewall looks good too.

 

Your craftsmanship never ceases to amaze! Love the engine mount!

 

Thanks for taking the time and sharing the pictures and videos with us. Such beautiful craftsmanship, very inspiring.

 

pure sex.

 

yep.....that's a hot rod....and all class.

Cheers,

Drwfus

 

Your work is fantastic, and you make it look so damn easy!!

 

Amazing work and photos as usuall Steve!! Very nice!! Hope all is good over there bro!

 

El P., this is sweet, hard to beat a 32 3-window that is lookin that fine. Nice to visit your shop. We missed the mean green Ford tearing it up at the H.A.M.B DRAGS, you had us spoiled showing up in it year after year, you deserved a break. Keep on keepin on bro. ~sololobo~

 

WOW what sano work and design....I LOVE IT !!!

Keep em comin Steve !!

Rat

 

Man, you are very talented... wow... My notebook is wide open when I found threads like that, thanks for sharing.

 

Thank You for sharing.

 

Thanks for the update, now which loser gave this thread anything less than 5 stars?

 

I saw that. Probably someone with an SBC prejudice or an S10 framed farm truck

 

Thanks for taking the time to post all the amazing design and fab work you're doing. Truly inspirational and it has definitely prompted me to push my skills to another level.