Projects The Flathead Flathead

Yup. Ordered the material yesterday. Hopefully get to them this week, but work keeps draggin me away.

 

Thanks to @J.Ukrop, I’ve get a rear spring pack. Just need to source a reverse eye main leaf and buy some spring over mounts and I’ll have a complete rear end. Also took the plunge and cut the back of the frame to step it. Hope to get that tacked in later today.

 

Thanks, Joey! I got it cut and gussets made, and started welding today. Unfortunately, my welding hood decided to crap out on me. Got flashed twice. I knew it was getting old. Ordered a new hood today so I can keep welding. I think I may have another hood (cheap brand) in the garage.

 

Back in business! New helmet with headlight works great!

 

Holy cow. I really liked this helmet 'til I looked it up and saw the price.

I know; I've only got one set of eyes, but I'm 71 years old and have gotten along nicely all these years without spending this much. I doubt I'll be welding that much longer enough to justify that expenditure. Good for you though. I'm happy to see that you are being proactive with your eyes.

Was the light an ESAB option or did you get it elsewhere? In my searches I've never seen one like that. I like it.

 

I just got the light at a local hardware store. I like it because the clip let me attach it to the back of the helmet and point it forward. Then I bent the clip until the beam from the light points right at the puddle.

 

Cut the cross member out and put in the ‘40 “X” member. Lines up pretty good. Still need to figure out how to finesse the X member to work best. Also found some cracks on the front cross member I need to weld up. Progress is better than Congress (hehe)
Cheers!

 

And the garage is a complete disaster. This week is cleaning week

 

Thanks to a buddy, my bushings were machined to work with the old shackles. They’re flat now, but when the Flathead is in I expect them to be correct. Question: grease fittings face foreword or back?

 

I would put them facing back to protect from road grime/debris. Though would be easier to get to from the front...?

 

More mock up of the front end today. Got the tie rod dropped, shortened, and in. Drag link and steering box location still need work. Also got the Tardel wheel spacers welded to the rear wheels so I can install the rear end after I get new shackles Monday.

 

Got my shackles yesterday and assembled the rear spring today. Massive respect for table saws, angle grinders, and model A rear springs. Seems like a massive amount of potential energy in these when compressed. Unbelievable that a 3/8” bolt can retain all that energy. I’m pretty sure that I’ll need to remove leaves and possibly reverse the eyes, but it’s good for now to get the chassis parts aligned.

 

Wasn’t happy with the height or stiffness of the rear pack so I removed some leaves. Then I rolled the rear end under the chassis. Body goes back on today to see where I stand. Not sure if the ‘40 X member is the right way to go but I’m still going to try my best.

 

Looks great! Personally I think the 40 x member is great. It will really stiffen the chassis up.

 

Looking good. Tie rod & drag link look parallel with frame, have you checked Ackermann steering angle?

 

@AmishMike The drag link is not connected to the steering box. It’s only connected to the passenger steering arm. Trying to make the drag link and tie rod as parallel as possible. Planning to add a panhard bar as well. Does that answer the question?

 

coming along nicely......

 

Set the Engine in to see where we stand. Back of the car is about 2” higher than it will be because I haven’t trimmed the sub for the step in the frame. I need to rethink my accessories on the front of the engine. It’s too far forward. Or I need to move the radiator forward or trim the firewall. Not sure what to do.

 

Looking real good, I’m sure you are aware that on your rear spring pack you need to run spring clamps on both side, helps with all that energy held down with that puny bolt ✌️great job. Following

 

Nice progress! I would address your subrails now and get that body bolted down where it wants to live and fit your engine and transmission where it wants to live then that will dictate your center crossmember. That later engine is doing you zero favors in the room department unfortunately. You can definitely eliminate some things on the front of that engine to gain some room, but it will definitely still be tight in there.

 

I'd run 59ab style pumps and early single groove crank pulley and a fan mounted on the generator snout like a 32-36. That should get you all the space you need. You might have to swap to an early distributor too.

 

Or just harvest the current rotating assembly and install into an earlier block and be done!

 

Looked back on Aaron’s ‘29 AV8 build and realized he had the same issues. Plan to do the same and place the generator over the head. That will allow me to use one belt for everything and cut down on the length of the engine. Hoping to get on that soon.

 

coming back off today. Now that I have a plan for the chassis, I can make more progress!
Moving sloe because of “work”. Yes, I said Sloe

 

Excuse my ignorance, how are the 59ab pumps different?

 

The pulley is much closer to the engine block. You gain several inches with the swap.

 

Lookin good

 

But I believe that if you use the 59AB pumps, you need to use a chevy distributor to move it up and out of the path of the drive belt, right?