Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Joy! Joy! Working outside as it was snowing. Not sure what I’m really doing working on a piece of wood that sits on a stand that is on a compound angle trying to keep things square/parallel. Noice…

 

Been waiting for this day a long time when I wouldn’t need all those wooden blocks to support the exhaust collector. Could not use a 45 degree joint at the collector like I had thought, so just went with 90 degrees. Still have some tweaking to do, then I’ll bring down my MIG welder into the workshop to weld those plates to the frame. Then onto welding up the tubes to the exh manifold plate, not sure yet how to keep that from warping. Broke one of the bronze bushings trying to slide it onto the tube. Some went on nicely others not so much.

 

Got the exh collector frame support plates tacked to the frame. Can’t see $hit through the helmet. Surprised it was all square to the frame. Next is tacking in the battery support plate, and rad support C-channel to the frame. Will also fab up a trans support bracket and tack into position so engine/trans are fully supported. Issue is that the trans rubber mount is right against the crossmember. The engine/trans should be shifted forwards 1/8”.

 

Cleaned up the drill holes and some rust and it’s now tacked into place. Next is the rad support. Getting the mill scale off of the plate steel is a bugger. Using my cutting disc to do it as nothing else seens to works that well.

 

Going to see if I can use a piece from this angle iron to support the trans rubber mount.

 

Rad support is tacked in. The angle iron is a no go for the trans support. It's not wide enough. Have larger pieces that are also thicker. Would be overkill, but don't feel like buying a piece just for this. Will have to see tomorrow.

 

Unfortunately, no time to work on it today, but did have a look at the trans support mount. Was thinking of moving the engine forward a bit, but now after tacking in the exh support plates, it could have a ripple affect, meaning longer flex tube pipes. It would only move 1/8”, but you never know how that would affect those flex pipes. Might also affect coolant pipes and their alignment with the hoses going to the rear. So, instead, I think I will lower the trans rubber support by 1” which will allow me to add some space between it and the cross member, and the body of the trans tail hsg. This then would allow me to just weld a flat plate to the bottom of the crossmember. Think it would look cleaner as well. Would add some gussets as well to the crossmember to stiffen it. Will get started on all that tomorrow. Big snow storm supposedly coming tonight/tomorrow morning and Sunday also. So tired of winter…

 

Made this spacer from a scrap piece lying around. Found some longer head bolts I was thinking of using that were the correct thread size/pitch. Why are these mounting holes Imperial and other fasteners are Metric?Installed it with the mount, and noticed it brought the bottom of the rubber mount too low (below the bottom of the crossmember). However, then noticed one side was higher than the other. Then started wondering WTF!? Is the trans/engine cocked to one side. Trans shifter plate looked level. Remove spacer and rubber mount, then notice the mating surface on the tail housing is on an angle. Oh vey! Why Ford?
Added a couple of washers so rubber mount clears tail hsg. It will unfortunately be up against the crossmember. It is what it is. Hopefully it’s fine. Now onto to making a mounting plate and gussets. That was a couple hrs wasted…

 

Oh yeh, welcome to my winter wonder hell. More snow supposedly, then freezing rain, then rain. Will be back to to 13C on Monday.

 

Got the plate installed, but then realized once welded in, there is no why to remove the rubber support unless the trans is first removed. Not ideal, but cobbing up a brkt now out of multiple pieces that could be removed doesn’t seem worth it. Will still make some gussets to support the plate.

 

Think of going with this style gusset. Just got to make sure it clears a deep socket for the 3/4” hex head bolt.

 

Two gussets 1.5 hrs later. Fingers & toes frozen, but then I was wearing my crocs. lol!

 

All tacked up. Added some speed holes to the gussets on the other side. lol! Freezing rain out. Now to re-install everything. Also checked the angle on the engine. Thought it was more, but heard folks say flatheads like the carb at zero degrees, so should be good. This of course, should put the trans rubber mount on the same angle.

 

She’s sitting on her own! Made a spacer to go between the rubber mount and tail hsg. Found a scrap piece of 3/16” that was the correct length and width (or close enough). lol! Had forgotten that I only had two bolts holding the tail hsg to the main case. Had to hunt the rest down, and noticed some were “larger”. One of the larger ones did not sit flush against the tail hsg because of the size of the flanged washer head. Strange. Tout the angle finder on top if the trans and shows 0.4 degrees. Next will be finally starting on the exh collector on the PS.

 

Kiddo said I had a package from Amazon. I said no. Didn’t order anything. Went there last night and opened the package. Forgot I ordered these buggers. lol!



Ordered and picked up some 3/16” and 1/4” steel plate for suspension brkts.