Projects Mish-Mash Nash -'52 Rambler Wagon

Thanks. Progress can be a bit difficult to measure when things keep getting cut away and removed, but things are moving in the right direction overall.

I finally got around to making and fitting up the main sections of the trans crossmember, and partially welded it up tonight. I need to add another strap over the top of the half hoop, and some bracing/gussets to the underside, but the trans tailhousing clears the hoop, and there's room to install and remove the speed sensor.







I picked up the Energy Suspension GM 2WD trans mount, as I didn't want to try my luck with the aftermarket rubber mounts...plus this mount was available locally. Easy, and I have it on hand for fitting.

 

Excellent work!

 

More work on the trans crossmember tonight, starting with beefing up the half-hoop with a narrower, but thicker, strap of metal. The crossmember is surprisingly stiff now when the ends are clamped to the framerails, so I moved on to making the bolt-on trans mount bracket.

My plan for the bracket is to use four horizontal bolts, which will pass through the 2x2s and both wings of the bracket, to keep things aligned. The Energy Suspension trans mount is almost 2" tall, so I had to make up 2.5" total from the bottom of the mount to the bottom of the 2x2s. I tried a few things, but didn't come up with anything I liked, so on my weekly trip to one of my local Habitat for Humanity ReStores, I found a N.O.S. early '70s bumper-mount trailer hitch kit which contained some thick pieces of steel...hmmm:



The larger black piece just so happened to have a 2.5" drop, the same 2" width as the crossmember, and was 3/8" thick-- plenty strong for a trans mount.



Test fit #1:






That will work. Hopefully I can get it finished up tomorrow.

 

I love that, when you can find premade stuff that works great on your build at Habitat or garage sales, etc. I need a bent plate for my truck for safety chains like is in your hitch kit.

 

After much more cutting, grinding, and welding, the trans crossmember is just about finished. The main section is now one with the framerails, and with the removable center section bolted in place, it's surprisingly rigid.





The lower, bolt-in crossmember section as it progressed:










A bit more welding and grinding tomorrow, and this step is complete.

 

Us Rambler people have determined that the slit was for vibration noise -- to cancel it. There was originally a thick piece of fiber mat, kind of like thick tar paper, over the slit to keep dirt/noise/water out. It stops a harmonic vibration in the floor pan at certain speeds. A few have welded it up and not noticed anything, but those were hot rods (like yours) with loader engines. The original was really quiet. Personally I'd just cover it and let it go since it was built that way.

An interesting story from the Hudson guys. Hudson was having trouble with noise at certain speeds when they were developing the Step-Down body. They finally hired an expensive British engineer to come and evaluate it. He rode around in one, then asked them to take a ll the carpeting out, and rode again. Told them it was vibration in the rear floors. The Hudson engineers didn't believe him. He said cut the floors out and drive it. They scoffed, but management said we're paying him big bucks, do what he says! They did.. vibration noise gone! That's what we think that slit is for....

 

Been a while since I looked at this -- nice progress!!

 

Thanks for the floorpan slit insight, @farna . It will likely be replaced when the new driveshaft tunnel is installed, but good to know why it was there in the first place.

I took some time to repaint the garage interior white, as it hadn't been painted since 1956 and was a dingy, gold-biege color. Did some minor upgrades here and there, moved a few things around, but mostly just prepped and painted, as it was long overdue.

Back to working on the Rambler today, I decided to bolt up the front control arms, add some sleeves to the shock studs to act as ride height stops, and drop the tires onto the ground to check the ride height:



Hmm, a bit higher than I like, but at least it's not too high. I still have the 2" GM A/F/X-body drop spindles I can use, but that entails all new ball joints, etc., so I will probably hold off for now.



Definitely have some rake going in now, but the rear tires are taller, so that was expected.

I also removed the stock outer front fender wells and radiator brace, so I have a mostly clean slate to work from now. I will be adding some bracing to connect the front framerails and firewall/cowl, but I'm still working it all out. I pucked up some trailer fenders which might work, so I just need to ensure I leave plenty of vertical clearance for tire movement as the suspension compresses.



I'm working on making a temporary fender support so I can bolt the fenders into position, allowing me to position other things under and around them before locking anything in permanently.

 

Test fit with the "radiator" in place looks encouraging, though I think the engine angle is a bit too low as it sits. There is about 3/4" of clearance between the fan blades and radiator core:



I may end up with more vertical space eventually, but for now, within the confines of where the stock hood roughly resides, I have enough clearance.

 

I knew I needed some substantial bracing to replace the double layer inner fender structure I removed, so after a road trip to IL and a local marketplace purchase, I had tubing and a bender in hand. I kept it simple with one bend per brace, then cut and trimmed until they were both in the same plane and the same length. They have a slight downward angle, but are tucked up inside the fenders, mostly out of sight. Once fit, I welded each brace to the lower A-pillar structure at the top, and to the front frame rails at the bottom/front. I didn't think plates were necessary as there will be more sub-bracing and other integral supporting structure yet to come, tying everything together.





I decided the existing firewall brace and funky kick panels should probably be replaced since I'm already in this deep, so out they came. I added a new cross brace just rearward of where the new cowl and firewall panels will meet (I'm keeping the oddball 45* angle on the top half of the firewall), so more stiffness, as well as another solid attachment point for the pedal bracket, etc.





I was looking at the Corvair hoods, too, and thought they looked close in contour to the front frame rails...hmmm. I can find another one.



It just might work.

 

Saw these '36(?) Ford Pickup hood sides on marketplace and thought they might work better for inner fenders if I tweak them a bit:











Possibly, but at the very least they are another option to have on hand.

I put the Olds cylinder heads and valve covers back on the engine, too, as I am ramping up my search for a set of 4-bbl Olds 215 heads, and wanted to recheck for any potential firewall clearance issues.

I was reminded of the lack of mounting points/bolt holes for, well, anything on the RH head, too:



Maybe early Buick V6 brackets will work, as I only need the alternator mount for now.

 

Have you looked at this ad?
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/215-buick-olds-aluminum-v-8-s-and-speed-parts.1290135/
4 bbl intake, etc.

 

Ok now I wanna say "Bad Idea". The 35-36 guys are all cringing. With that said, you will have to flip them around or the louvers will be working the opposite of what you want...if my thinking is correct. Neat build btw.

 

@In_The_Pink would you mind sharing the self-service media blaster you use? I've used "U-Spray" in Butler quite a bit, but they don't have Saturday hours anymore.

 

Yes, I read all of the 215-relevant classifieds here as few months ago.

It was/is U-Spray which I use. They are a few minutes away, and there's never a wait, so I've been happy using their DIY cabinets.

I'm slightly more concerned with having some engine compartment protection from road debris, water, etc. at this point., but yes, they should be oriented as to allow air to flow out of the engine compartment. I still have a long list of things to figure out, so if they don't work out for me, down the line they will go.

 

I like your out of the box thinking on each part of the car.

I'm partial to how Plymouth did the inners on my 40.
It has shapes that hold and won't vibrate, allow air flow out without worrying about stuff tossed up by the tire and even predate the NACA duct that was developed later.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1941-plymouth-coupe-440-4-speed-custom.961437/

 

Well, keep me in mind.......I'd be interested.

 

Thanks - I've been happy with them also, the Sat AM hours were nice though.

 

I have looked at many inner fenders from various vehicles via FB Marketplace, but nothing has screamed "THAT'S IT!" to me yet. I do have the space and freedom to make something close work, so I that is my M.O. at this point. I need to leave space for the outer z-bar/bellcrank pivot on the LH framerail, decide where the steering shaft will pass through, the box will mount, leave room for the LH headpipe...and so on. I like to have options, and even better if they are on-hand for physical measuring and mocking up.

Working on getting the firewall worked out again, and probably sticking with a similar shape to what was started previously. The battery will no longer fit (not enough vertical clearance), so it'll probably go under the rear stowage/former rear seat area now.

 

When I think of the jobs of inner fender wells, it's
Provide strengthening for front sheet metal and radiator,
Close off engine bay from wheels tossing up stuff,
Airflow from radiator around engine and hopefully also vent hot air,
Mounts for additional items, on a rod this is usually clean, but still nice to have wiring not in the wheel area.

The louvers you had kind of fail on a few points, but look good.
Just my thoughts.

 

I'm still trying out ideas, but air intake at the base of the windshield and hot air exhausted out the top of the hood is not an ideal match. I love the look of a louvered/vented hood, but it may simply not work out in this case.

I picked up a '60 Rambler cowl vent scoop and a '58(?) Ford pickup cowl grille recently, so we'll see if either proves useful when figuring out the cowl area.

I grabbed a bunch of parts (HVAC controls/cables, wiper arms, inner door handles and window cranks) off this '60 Rambler, a glovebox door from a '63 Impala, some B-pillar mounted interior lights from both a '51 Ford 4-door and a '49(?) Hudson Hornet 4-door, wiper transmission linkage from the '58 Ford pickup, tail light housing from an OT British car, as well as a pair of OT bucket seats. Hopefully some of it can be put to use.









Still haven't made much progress on the firewall, but it'll come together eventually.

 

Hmm, that cluster would look good in a bucket...

 

In light of the recent '60 Rambler Classic HVAC control parts I acquired, I mocked them up on the Willys Aero dash and...not a great match. So, back in went the stock Nash dash:





In the back of my mind, I keep hearing the comment from an earlier page regarding retaining the original dash, and while I wasn't too keen on it, I did keep it around. I'm going to see if the steering column angle and steering wheel position are any better with the '61 Olds F-85 column and go from there.

With the '60 Rambler controls in position to the left of the steering wheel, it looks and fits much better than on the Willys dash, with a very close contour match:







I also have the Defrost and Wiper pieces from the '60, which I may try to use somewhere, at least the wiper part:



I would need to do some trimming and such to get this all to fit so closely:



I would definitely need to dial back the gauges if I go back to the stock dash, but I could live with that. I haven't seen any aftermarket gauges which screamed "These are IT!" to me anyway.

 

I guess I owe @1oldtimer an apology for straying from the stock dash and not heeding his advice.

 

Ha, like my opinion matters... it's your car. I like weird, funky dash/gauge combos but they don't always lend themselves to a nice custom.

 

All good. Honest comments and opinions are always welcome and appreciated.

A quick check of the steering shaft position shows it's very close side-to-side. The angle is more or less fixed, but the upper collar can be made to rest inside a concave depression, so things look promising at the top end, too.





'63 Tempest LeMans collar shown above... might need to grab the column as the '61 F-85 column shifted auto column is significantly different at the top.

 

I put the Uniscope gauges back in the dash, and same for the crusty '63 Tempest LeMans steering wheel which has 6.75" of dish/depth. That seems like a lot, and definitely more than what I recall the stock steering wheel having, so we'll have to see what the driving arm position is like at some point. This steering wheel is merely a placeholder, so something shallower which would allow for the upper collar (which, importantly, incorporates the 'modern' cancelling turn signal switch) to be used would be ideal.









Not sure if I can find another gauge cluster with a 5.375" max O.D., incorporating all five (speedo, oil pressure, water temp, and, amps/voltage), but I've got time to look. '49-'51 Ford looks a bit too big, but checks most of the boxes otherwise.

 

I'm liking that '60 Rambler steering wheel a whole lot better than the '63 Tempest wheel. 'Specially w/the horn "ring" - got a bit of "butterfly-wheel" effect going on there. . Also like the controls from the '60 Rambler, & the knob shape looks good. & it's "family", too. .
Marcus...

 

Yeah, that '60 Ramler wheel and horn ring are plenty stylish, but maybe a bit too busy? I kind of like the LeMans wheel's spoke positioning, and how it allows unobstructed vision of the gauges.

I tried trimming the red T-bird cowl panel I had, and while narrowing improved things, it was going to need re-arching, reshaping, etc. and still might not work out in the end. I just can't come up with an elegant solution to making up the vertical distance between the bottom of the windshield and top of the cowl, so out came the stock hood and the section of stock cowl I previously removed:



With the '60 Rambler American fender roughly in position:



That looks promising, especially with the leading edge of the hood slightly lower than the stock position.









Blending the side edges of the hood and fenders together should be a hefty challenge, but I don't dislike the higher hood as much as I remembered not liking it. The original front fender tops are way too low to consider using, and I think the edges of the hood need to go, too, as they have too much roll. We'll see once the trimming starts.

 

Cowl back into position, and three inches removed from the hood edges:







The hood-to-fender fit is much better than expected, even with just these rough first cuts, so I should be able to make it all work.

Left and right rough cut hood-to-fender gaps: