Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[Dave Severson]

I've seen a few guys post that the heat has driven them out of the garage, and I khow it sure makes me go to the shop later and later every day. And even at 8 pm it is still 90 in the shop.

Don

You guys don't have A/C in the shop???? Man, I have A/C even up here in South Dakota. With the weather lately, probably the most important piece of equipment in the shop!!!! Even have a couple of the neighborhood stray dogs coming over in the afternoon to find a cool place to catch their afternoon nap!!!!!

[Oldf100fordman]

Also, (Don will understand this) some days I go out to the garage, poke around for a few minutes, and decide that the heat is more than I want to tolerate, so I just go back in the house...

I can understand that train of thought. I am working on mine outside (read no garage ). I am glad I tried out my chain saw yesterday while it was only in the eighties. Got all the trash brush and volunteer trees cut down.

Starting today it's supposed to be in the mid to high nineties all next week. I don't even want to no what the humidity will make the heat index.

I really like both your track T project and your sons fordoor is nice. It great to see a body style not often used for a rod.

[J. Robinson]

Well, I have reached the point in this project where I must mount the steering box and linkage. The problem is, I want cowl-mounted steering as was common in the old track roadsters and I also have to contend with the pedals. Remember, I'm running a stick in this car and I have to make room for 3 pedals... So, I kind of have to contend with all of it at once.

I began by cutting a piece of 1 5/8" tubing about 6 feet long. I welded a piece of scrap steel over the cut end and then filled the tube with wet sand. I tamped and packed the sand as tight as I could get it and then capped the open end with a pipe cap. I measured to find the center and then put a mark 11 inches out each way to indicate the approximate center of the bends (determined by measuring the bending dies).

I moved the rollers of my bender out to the second hole, centered one of the tubing marks on the bending die and began pumping. At about 45 degrees of bend, the jack was starting to get pretty reluctant, so I relieved the pressure, moved the rollers out to the next hole, and completed the bend.

All went well, so I moved on to the next bend. I figured that it would be more prudent, time-wise, if I just left the rollers in the 3rd hole to start with and I should be able to make the bend in one shot... WRONG! At about 60 degrees of bend, the tubing kinked! (See 3rd pic)

OK, lesson learned. I took another short piece of tubing, welded a piece of scrap over one end, filled it with wet sand, etc,etc... With two nice bends in hand (after dumping out the sand and cutting the welded end off), all I had to do was make them into one piece of the appropriate size. Some trial & error and a little measuring to get the right width, and I was ready to put the two halves together... Splicing tubing together is no big deal; all you need is a sleeve for the inside of the splice. Leave a little gap between the main pieces so the weld penetrates all 3 pieces and weld it home. Properly done, the splice will be the strongest part of the tube.

[J. Robinson]

With the tube made to fit under the cowl, the next step is to hang the pedals. Yes, I am using swing pedals instead of bringing them up through the floor. I have a few reasons for doing it this way. First, beleive it or not, swing pedals were common in track roadsters! Track roadsters were the forerunners of modern-day sprint cars and many of them were built with cowl-mounted steering and pedals. It kept everything up out of the way of the rather cramped driveline space and also made service / repairs at the track easier. Secondly, I am using the Chevy S-10 hydraulic clutch mechanism and the master cylinder has to be mounted above the slave which is easier to accomplish with swing pedals. Finally, in keeping with traditional hotrod building practices, I am using some commonly available salvage yard parts that I have on hand (that's how we did it in the old days, right?).

Beginning with the complete pedal assembly from the S-10, I determined I needed to remove 2 1/2" from the front of the bracket. After sectioning that bit out, it was "cut and try" until I got something that fit where and how I wanted it. By the time I was done, I had tacked the pedal assembly to the tube, cut it loose, and rewelded it twice. Finally satisfied with the fit, I welded the pedal assembly solidly to the tubing and then trimmed off all the excess bracketry that is no longer necessary.

The last step was to prop the whole thing in the car, climb in, and determine what changes would be needed to make the pedals workable. In order to get the gas pedal in there, both pedals needed to shift to the left. Also, they needed to come up a little further from the floor. All I did was a little heating and bending with a torch; problem solved. The bottom dogleg in the clutch pedal was already there; I added the upper bends. I bent the brake pedal a bit more than the clutch pedal to get it a little closer to the clutch than it was originally. The pedals are a bit tight in there, but similar to an early VW Beetle...

In a "worst case scenario", I might have to borrow Don's ballet slippers to drive it.

[Itoldyouso]

Cool way to do the hanging pedals. You are right about them being able to fit in a tight space. I had an Austin Healy Sprite years ago, and the three pedals fit into a very tight area. I like the ones you are using.

Don't get Bob started on that ballerina thing. I swear the man has the strangest collection of pictures I've ever seen. He must have been a side show barker at the circus at one time.

Don

[Ron B.]

Jim, good call on using wet sand in the pipes, my brother gave me his bender because he kept kinking pipes. I will be nice and let him borrow it back and maybe I will even let him borrow some sand.

Your progress your making is incredible, and your ideas are inspiring.

Ron

[bluestang67]

Jim i'm a favorite to swinging pedals and glad to see you in operation . I like this idea and pics may help me get mine in there just right. Fred Flintstone and twinkle toes comes to mind for shifting and bowling .

[Ron B.]

SLACKER!!!

Just kidding, I got tired of going back so far to find the thread.

Ron

[Henry Rifle]

Don,

That's the same way I joined two halves of a straight tube axle that I narrowed for a Super Comp altered. I didn't do a rosette weld, though. I beveled both halves of the axle, left a little gap, welded it up and ground it smooth. You couldn't tell it was narrowed.

Great minds, eh?

[J. Robinson]

Yep, I'm a slacker! I admit it.

Yes, great minds think alike...

Actually, what little time I've spent in the garage recently has been mostly to help my son with his sedan. (Plus, I had to go back to work [YUK! BARF!] ) We rebuilt all the brakes, ran the brake lines, and finally put the body back on his chassis. In between helping him, I have been tinkering with the steering box mount, but I'm not far enough along with it to write it up. Soon, very soon, I promise!

[FMXhellraiser]

I wish I noticed this thread earlier. I will have to keep up with this one now and follow along with it like I do Don's. Great work and I love Track T's!

[J. Robinson]

Hey, better late than never, FMX. Glad you found my thread. I've always been partial to track-T's.

Another long-time dream of mine has been to build a replica of an old Indy car (either a Kurtis or Watson roadster) and make it street legal. So far, though, I've never been able to get my hands on a set of blueprints...

[J. Robinson]

Many of us who have been playing with hotrods and race cars for years already know this trick, but it may be helpful to someone reading this...

Frequently, when building a car, we use steering components from newer model vehicles. In doing so, we encounter pittman arms that are positioned incorrectly. OK, so take it off and reposition it, right?

Not so fast! If you look at the splines you will find that there are some irregular teeth that only allow the pittman arm to be installed on the shaft in one of four positions. What if none of those positions is compatible to your application? You need to find a custom made pittman arm, right? Nah, just a few minutes with a hacksaw and a file and you can put the pittman arm back on the shaft in any position you like.

Over the years, I have performed this trick on GM, Ford, and Toyota steering boxes. The shaft and hole diameters are different, but the process is the same. First, clamp the pittman arm in a vise. Next, remove the blade from the hacksaw frame, put it through the hole in the pittman arm, and reinstall it in the hacksaw frame. Now, simply cut the wide teeth in two, working the saw just slightly deeper than the neighboring teeth. After cutting all four of the wide teeth, remove the hacksaw and round off the "new" teeth slightly with a small rattail or half-round file. (I highlighted the "new" teeth with a red Sharpie so they are visible in the last picture.) The pittman arm will now go back on the shaft in any position.

[Itoldyouso]

I had to do the same thing on mine, used a stock Corvair arm. Then my Son ordered a Speedway one for his T bucket, and it has teeth all the way around, so it can index anywhere. Oh well, I needed practice with a hacksaw anyway.

Good tip though.

Don

[J. Robinson]

OK. It's been a while since I posted anything new on my roadster build. Aside from going back to work two weeks early for a (mostly useless) training seminar, I have been helping my son thrash on his project. Like Don and his boys, we are trying to get my son's sedan ready for Daytona. Also, while doing all these other things, I have been mentally working out how to work myself out of the proverbial "corner I painted myself into"...

I decided early on that I wanted to put cowl-mounted steering in this car because that was common on the track roadsters of the 40's and early 50's. If this was a steel body I could just weld in some appropriate bracketry and bracing, bolt in a compatible (and expensive) race car type steering box and be done with it. I am using a fiberglass body, however, and I am also using a $40 Ford Ranger steering box I picked up at the local salvage yard. The problems here are (1) the steering box needs to be adequately supported, not by the fiberglass body, but by some sort of structure that bolts directly to the frame and (2) the output shaft on the steering box will need to be extended so that it passes outside the body.

In this installment I finally tackled the steering box mounting problem. In previous posts I already formed the tube (front hoop) that fits immediately behind the firewall and mounted the pedals to it.

I began making the steering box mount by cutting and shaping a piece of 1/4 inch steel plate. After drilling the necessary holes to match the steering box, I welded a 7/16 jam nut to the underside of each hole and then drilled out the threads. These form the needed spacers so that the box will bolt up. (The steering box is not flat on the mounting side and must be spaced away from the mounting plate.)

With the pedal assembly propped in place in the car, I started mocking up the steering box. Using a combination of blocks, wood shims, clamps, etc, I kept trial fitting and measuring until I arrived at what I believe is the correct angle and location. Then I transferred the whole shebang out on the floor and mocked it up again using the same measurements and angles. After heating and bending the mount plate three different times, I finally arrived at a useable angle (almost 90 degrees) and welded it to the front hoop with two pieces of 1/4 x 2 flat stock. Notice that I positioned the flat stock so that the bolts holding the pedals are accessible.