Thread: Project "Left Overs"

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Looks like the 3 D's Garage is crankin out some hotrods! between Don's 46, your RPU and 27, and Dan's RPU you guys are single handedly boosting the car parts industry economy!

You're right, Steve. Sometimes it seems like it. Dan and I were talking about that tonight, and how he is going to really enjoy a break from spending every spare dollar and every spare minute working on his car. Me, I'm just too dumb to know when to quit.

Dan had today off so we got a full day in, working on both cars. He is essentially done with all the wiring and the car now cranks on the key. He decided to go with an Optima blue top marine battery because his car was built around that one.........the battery box is a billet one made just for the Optimas. He got that installed and is down to the short strokes on the electrical end.

While he was doing that I got the rear frame sections for my rpu prepped so he can weld them up for me Friday. I did the same thing I did on my 23 frame, cutting small arrow shaped backers to slip into the insides of the 2 x 4 tubing, and then I welded them in with rosette welds to hold them in place until he fully welds the joints up for me.

I clamped both rear sections together to make sure they are exactly the same shape and dimensions, and once welded I will do the same thing to each side of the frame. Then we can put it on the frame jig and build our crossmembers.

Here are some pictures of what I got done today. Picture one is the backers I cut out of 1 x 1/8 flat stock, picture two is the 2 x 4 tubing with holes drilled for the rosette welds to go into. Picture 3 is after the backers are temporarily welded into place, picture four and five are of the two rear frame sections clamped up for final welding.

Don

Don,
Looks really good! Glad to see you are pre-heating these areas.
Will you have to run a electric water pump for your cooling
Ken

Thanks Ken. No, I don't think I will need anything but the stock pump. I wondered the same thing but have spoken to several people running rear radiators at shows, and have talked to others on some forums, and all say the stock pump puts out enough flow to go back there and return ok. I've done some measuring and should be able to fit in a 19 x 29 inch aluminum radiator. That, coupled with the cooling effects of all that tubing should do a good job of keeping the temps down..........maybe too good of a job. I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

One guy I spoke with at a show said his only problem was burping the air out of the system as the engine was higher than his radiator. So he picked up the back of the rod with his front end loader and kept adding coolant until all the air was out. We rodders do some crazy stuff.


Don

Don,
You have probably thought of this but what about adding a bleeder valve at the highest point on the engine to release the air? Perhaps at the thermostat housing?

Jack.

Somewhere I saw a thermostat housing with a radiator cap built right in the top of it. If I run across it again, Don, I'll send the info. It may be the perfect answer to filling and burping the system.

Here ya go Jim, but mostly for SBC, though may be adaptable to others: http://www.moroso.com/catalog/catego...?catcode=29400

That's it, Bob. That should solve Don's delima. He's running an Olds engine, so it should probably fit...

That's a good idea for the bleeder. I know it was either my Honda or my ex GF Toyota that had a bleeder on top of the block and when you did cooling system work you had to crank it open and let out the air or the car would overheat. As soon as coolant started coming out your shut it off.

I do have one of the filler necks that go in line, I already ordered and got it a while back when I started thinking of how to fill this system. It should be at the highest point in the engine, so that might suffice itself. Here is a picture of the one I got from Summit. I'm going to come right off the upper water neck with a short piece of hose and insert it there.

Don

That will do the trick. Cobra guys have this problem quite regularly because the radiator sits so low.

That makes sense. I've seen some of those Cobras and the radiator is way low. This neck has an extra port on it for an overflow, so I can probably bleed right off of that.

Don

Don,
Another problem I ran into with my roadster was air trapped by my thermostat. I solved it by putting a little water fill in behind it. It's really weird where air can get trapped. That is why I was asking you bout a electric water pump, sometimes the mechanical pump can't over take air pockets.
I built a '29 sedan delivery with a blown 560 c.I. Ford with a radiator in the rear and the pump just didn't have what it took to clear the system. I fought it and finally a friend told me to try it and it then would clear all the air and ran cool. I know you aren't there yet, but I think if you are looking for these kind of problems as you built it, it might help later. Just trying to help.
Ken

That's really interesting, Ken. So you had a rod with the radiator in the back? I never knew that. How did it work out overall? Was the airflow enough to cool it without the fans running constantly? Did you build some ducts or just rely on the air going under the car? How was the radiator oriented........laying flat or vertical?

Don

I've shelved working on my rpu project for a little bit and am concentrating on helping Dan get his rpu done. We've realized that we have a good shot at getting it running in time for Billetproof on April 9th if we really put our minds to it. If nothing else it might be running well enough to drive from the trailer into the fairgrounds to at least show it for the first time.

We got the engine started and did the break in procedure quite a while ago, but that was with it running on a gas can and electrical test panel. For the past several weeks Dan has been installing the American Autowire kit and finally got that all done. Last night we installed the permanent fuel tank, electric fuel pump, regulator, and all the lines to the carbs. After some fiddling around we got it to start and run on the key. All the gauges work and the car is holding about 50 psi oil pressure and the temp stayed at 170 the whole time.

One glitch we found is that the ignition switch that comes with the kit is set up for a starter with those two little posts on it, one to activate the starter and the other one to supply 12 volts to the coil while cranking. Dan has a Powermaster single wire starter so we were not getting any juice to the coil while cranking. We rigged a temporary wire to do that and on Monday I will call American Autowire to see if they carry a switch that keeps the ignition post hot while cranking, or we can use one of the marine switches we have used in lots of other projects. Just a small thing.

The engine sounds great, but something funny happened. After running it for a while in the enclosed shop both of our ears were ringing from the open headers. When we took a drink of our celebration beer I got a sharp pain in the left side of my jaw. Dan said his jaw was stiff too. Evidently, the loud exhaust had plugged up our ears and it wasn't until an hour later that they unplugged and the pain went away. I guess next time we will have to wear earplugs.

I think our project today will be to remove and replace the front spring. We are using a Posies front spring and evidently the weight of the 468 Olds and heavy frame have flattened it out. We bought a heavy duty one from Posies and are either going to use it as is or use some leaves to get the car about 1.5 to 2 inches higher. That is good news to me because I can use the too flat spring for the front of my own rpu project.

In case there is anyone in the free world who hasn't seen the old YouTube of Dans car running, I'll post it again.

Don

http://www.youtube.com/user/dhdh71#p/a/u/0/R-j2Q75Y4b0

I had a rear mounted rad in one of my old cars Don, It held a lot of water , i ran 1.75" stainless tubes inside the model A rails before i boxed them, I used a Davies Craig electric water pump controlled by their controller in the middle of the frame, I removed the guts of the SBC pump so it was just a water transfer, Had scoops either side just behind the doors and a big rad with twin electric fans in the trunk, i then had a shroud that exited through the very rear of the trunk floor, It all worked well.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

That's really interesting, Ken. So you had a rod with the radiator in the back? I never knew that. How did it work out overall? Was the airflow enough to cool it without the fans running constantly? Did you build some ducts or just rely on the air going under the car? How was the radiator oriented........laying flat or vertical?

Don