Hot Rods Thunderbirdesq Builds a Roadster!

Yeah get on it shawn! haha, thanks. I put the 32 pedals in tonight after work. Bent them around to clear the steering column and firewall. I'm just having too much fun with my new torch setup!



I also made a MC mount since the post office somehow lost the one I bought from Kevin S. First thing I ever had lost in the mail... pics of that coming tomorrow...

 

did you ever get that trans home or is it in your van yet? was curious how the gears were

 

It's here, I doublewrapped it in garbage bags and threw it in the back seat of the car! I haven't messed with it yet, I'm planning to gut it this weekend and take a good hard look...

Also started fixing the big dented area behind the door...

 

haha that was by far the thickest gear oil i have ever seen...like the 600w stuff for rears

 

I want a ride in it, but your not getting me muddy...

 

hahah...it looks like your starting an early for trans collection...

 

Very cool Andy.Tin Knockin and everything.Garage built is where its at!!

 

looks like a great build keep it up ...

 

I love these build threads. Thanks for taking the time to post. I need to get back into my Model A roadster once a few bills are out of the way but this keeps me going. Might even get to Bonneville myself next year but not driving my car.....small details like 12000 miles of sea etc

 

Thanks fellas... Just tying up a few loose ends here...

I finished fixing some poor repairs behind both doors. Lots of lead over boogerwelds and cracks... nice smooth steel now...




ground the Kmember smooth...


I put the long clutch arm on the release shaft and modified some linkage pieces... the clutch works!!!
I also made a bracket to mount the MC... Haha, Kevin S tried his darndest to hook me up with one that he had in the classifieds, but USPS had other plans... The package was found open and empty in a pittsburgh sorting facility. Some lucky postal worker went home with one more piece to his deuce chassis that week!


I removed the stock seat riser and floor hump and reshaped the floor pan to sit flat on the crossrail. A tall drink a water like me has no room for that giant stock seat in a little roadster like this. I'll be using just the uppermost piece of the riser to build a custom bench seat to accomodate my lanky ass...

 

Cool, keep going man!!! You are really doing some nice work.

 

Just dropping in for a look see. Pretty nice little ride and I love the dash. Most guys overlook the 41's in favor of 40's. I'm loving it.

 

Got my torque tube cut to length.



And I finally pulled the rear axle apart and swapped the open drive lower shaft out for the closed drive one. I was pleased to see the housing is really in spectacular shape inside and out. It will still have to come apart one more time for paint and inner grease seals.



It has mint 40 axle housings on it, I like the look of 36 radius rods... I have a few 36 rears, none of which are in terribly great shape. I decided to combine the 40 rear with the 36 rods. I started by hacking the old perches off.



I then made a template from one of the 36 rears...



I ended up having to shorten them slightly because I didn't realize the 40 rear tubes were larger in diameter than the 36s...



Zach Suhr suggested that I set them inward a bit to help keep them from colliding with the bottom of the frame rails like they have a tendency to do when installed on a 32 frame. So they're set in about an inch on each side.

 

You might have noticed in the last shot that the right rod was on the left housing. I did that to help put the perch closer to where it needs to be. I'll still have to heat and bend them to make them parallel, but this will save me a little torch time...


Also, because the 40 tubes are larger in diameter, the rods can't be mounted at as steep of an angle as they are on the 36 housings. so I had to pie cut them a bit near the forging and bend them inward to meet the torque tube like lincoln rods. Because I needed to shorten them as well, I probably would have had to do this anyway.



All said and done...

 

I also got my aircleaners from Dick York and could resist throwing them together...

 

That is going to be one great rod.

 

your carb set up is gonna be awesome...still waiting on my quicky...kev is still having problems with the machine shop

 

Andy,

Is there gonna be enough room to get nuts on those Radius rod bolts?

 

Yep, no sweat, they're bolted on tight as we speak (type?)

 

Andy, thats looking badass, keep it up!

 

Just curious why change back to closed drive shaft? looking good by the way. later shawn

 

Thanks guys! Shawn, because it's all early ford parts, using an open driveshaft would be sorta outta place, you know? For this car anyhow.

 

I spent this morning heating and bending the rear perches around to set the spring spacing and align the perch tubes correctly. At last! Here's a job for those useless metric sockets taking up space in your toolbox... Slide a 13mm deepwell into the perch tube before you heat and bend, it will help keep the tubes from distorting as you force them into place.



ZOMBIETHUMB! Not sure why I took a picture of this, but... Make sure to move you fingers out of the way before smacking a rear axle housing as hard as you can with a rubber mallet... I had to drill a hole in the nail to release the pressurized blood underneath. SPURT!



I put the spring on the rear, threw the T crossmember on top, slid the rear under the car and bolted the TT to the trans. Set the crossmember in the frame, made sure the spring was not in a bind, clamped it in place and burned it in. With the weight of the body/engine/trans on the spring it has almost 45* on the shackles. Then, I jumped in the car and bounced around for a while. hahaha! yeehaw! No seriously... I did.



I still have to add some spacers to the edge of the eyes of the narrower T spring but, it doesn't look like I'll have any clearance problems with the frame. Then again, I'm not going real low out back either...

 

Well, life has been stupid lately and demanding time for other things, but I did manage to get a few hours in the garage this week. I built a headlight bar/upper shock mount bracket from a pair of F1 mounts, a HL bar, and an old 36 ford draglink. I had been racking my brain to come up with a cool lower mount, but aside from welding a stud or bung to the axle (which is out of the question because it's already been chromed) I couldn't think of anything better/simpler than the ones I already had that came on the axle. The nylock nuts will be replaced with chrome castles. Anyhow, I started by whacking the f1 mounts down and rotating the bottom to horizontal. Once I had them where I wanted them, I cut two 12" sections of the draglink and tacked them to the top of the rear mount eye. I heated and bent them around till I liked where they were. I cut the mounting feet off the headlight bar, put a little curve in it over the tire, and welded it to the ends of draglink I bent previously. Simple, classy, effective... I think so anyhow... Too bad my pictures suck!

 

looking good!
check your fridge door latch.... your parts might thaw out with it hanging open like that

 

I also managed to lay my hands on a few more pieces to the puzzle... A nice set of "old chrome" backing plates from **MCQUEEN** here on the hamb. Although they are front plates, they have been modified to fit a 9" rear, but I'll turn them back out and redrill to fit my spindles.



I also picked up a REALLY nice trans from a street rod shop here in buffalo. Apparently it had been pulled from an 8ba equipped 36 roadster many years ago to install a 350/350 setup and sat in the loft ever since. 48 case, nice tight shift top, no wear on the forks, late gears and synchros look new, dyn-O-mite!

 

Haha, thanks Zach, that's where only the "coolest" parts are stored!

 

WOW! I love this!! Great build!!! Keep going!! (two thumbs up! Yes, even while typing. )

 

Just saw the thread today and haven't had the opportunity to view it all. Must say awesome so far. Good inspiration and metalwork skills.

 

I can't wait to see this thing in person!!! I hope I see it at the Showdown this year......getting filthy!