Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[bluestang67]

Great to see you at it again Jim , So the sons A is coming along also . You must be going in the Green Machine huh. Sounds like at least your going . I am following this 3 pedal and keeping ideas .

[J. Robinson]

With the front hoop /pedals /steering box assembly propped in position in the body, it was an extended episode of "trial and error" to get the secondary hoop bent to fit correctly. I started by welding a scrap of steel to one end of some 1" tubing, ramming it full of damp sand, welding another scrap over the other end, and putting a pair of 90 degree bends in it. I spaced the bends so that the top of this piece is wide enough to just fit under the top of the dasboard /cowl area.

Next, I cut the ends off, knocked the sand out, and then trimmed the "legs" off to the appropriate length. I positioned this piece so it is tilted forward slightly; it follows the slight slope of the dash panel in the body. I also had to put a slight bend at the midpoint of the "legs" so they conform better to the contour of the body sides. I wrestled this piece in and out of the body, tweaking and trimming, at least a dozen times until I was finally satisfied with the fit.

Finally, I made a bolt-together bracket to attach this secondary hoop to the steering box mount. If I just welded everything together permanently outside the car, it wouldn't fit under the cowl. Also, if I could somehow successfully weld it together in position in the body, I wouldn't be able to remove it for future service /repair /modification. I fabricated the bracket from two pieces of 1 1/2 x 1/4 angle, 3 inches long. One piece had about 3/4" trimmed off one side so it could fit to the steering box mount plate without hitting the box. Both pieces were drilled and I used two grade five 7/16 14 x 1" bolts and nuts with the nuts tack-welded to the upper piece (because they are not accessible with a wrench inside the body). The last picture helps to clarify my description of this bracket (I hope).

Later, after I have fab'd the bottom flanges and bolted everything down, I will glass the secondary hoop to the inside of the body. The front hoop /pedal /steering box assembly will still be removable.

[J. Robinson]

Yeah, he's making some good progress now. The engine is going together and is almost ready to be installed in the car. I have attached a more recent pic of him with it. The wheels were borrowed from my coupe for the picture and he rested his arm on the roof so it is obvious how low the thing sits. He says he intends to drive it for a year or so and then chop it. Time will tell.

Unless Chip Foose and the "Overhaulin" crew show up to finish my roadster, I'll be driving my coupe (or my truck if I need to bring something large home). I might make the Spring run to Daytona with the roadster, but even that is probably pretty ambitious...

[Itoldyouso]

Don't you just hate it when life's obligations get in the way of building your car? The nerve of it all !!! As I saw the school buses going past me the other day it occurred to me that you would now be back at the grind (but not the "car" kind of grind).

Still seems like you and the boy are making progress though. Doesn't look like he is too awful far off,


Don

[J. Robinson]

Yeah, really! I just get going good on a project and that evil place where they keep my paychecks wants me to show up and entertain a bunch of teenagers every day! What gall!!

Yes, he's shooting for the Turkey Run and has a good chance of making it... if he doesn't run out of money. He still has to install the engine & trans, fire it up and run in the cam, make a drive shaft, get glass installed in the windshield frame and do all the wiring. Of course there is that long punch-list of little things like throttle & shifter linkage, belts & hoses, bolt down the seats, etc... Is this what is called "crunch time"?

[J. Robinson]

I left off with the under-dash assembly not yet mounted in the car.Of course, I had trial-fit it several times while fabricating the various pieces, but now the next step was to get the thing solidly mounted inside the body. To do that, it needed "feet" that would bolt directly to the frame.

I fabricated the "feet" for the front hoop from 1/4" x 2" angle and the "feet for the rear hoop from 1/4" x 2" flat stock. After welding these pieces onto their respective locations, I reassembled the whole thing inside the body again so I could mark the locations on the floorpan. Next, I disassembled and removed it so I could cut the necessary holes in the floorpan. At this point, I also cut holes over the rear kick-up so I could make accommodations for the bolt-in roll bar (yet to be fabricated).

After marking the locations on the frame (through the holes) I removed the body from the frame, fabricated the "pads", welded them in place, and drilled & tapped them with 3/8 - 24 threads. I left the roll bar pads un-drilled for now.

With the body back in place, I bolted everything back together (again! ) to verify fit. Along the way, I made some blocks to fit under the rear "feet". When everything is finalized the last time, I am going to glue the rear hoop and blocks into the body permanently.

[J. Robinson]

At this point I am taking a break from the cowl-mounted steering to do something a bit more visually rewarding. I'll get back to extending the pittman arm shaft shortly, but right now I'm tired of working upside-down under the cowl. Since I have already welded the "pads" on the frame for the roll bar, I have elected to do it next.

I began by capping one end of the tubing, ramming it full of damp sand, and capping the other end. Past experience with the bender has shown me that it leaves dimples in the tubing at both ends of the bend. To eliminate that problem, I made a couple of small "shields" to spread the pressure of the rollers. I made these from a short piece of tubing split down the middle and spread open slightly (I painted them red to show up better in the pics). They are not attached to the tubing or the bender; they are held in place by pressure. The second picture shows them in position during one of the bends. The result is as expected - no dimples.

The third pic shows the final shape of the roll bar after some "trial and error" fitting. The last pic shows the finished roll bar hoop with brackets installed, holes drilled & tapped, and bolted in place. I used 7/16-20 x 1 1/4" grade-8 bolts. When I disassemble the car for finishing, I will box-gusset the brackets on the back side.

[Itoldyouso]

Glad to see you back on the job! You are like me, I have to jump onto something more fun sometimes and leave another chore for a bit.

Even with your little hiatus you are still moving along really well.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, Don. Yeah, progress is slow, but steady. We are in a crunch to get my son's car running for the Turkey Run and time is growing short...

Anyway, as long as I'm having fun I thought I would move to another visually rewarding project and fabricate the front bumper. I began this operation by making a special bending fixture. I took some scraps of 3/4" plywood and cut them into half-circles. The middle peice has a diameter equal to the spread of the front frame tubes/spring mounts on the car. I cut this piece carefully and worked it on a belt sander to get a nice smooth contour. The outer pieces are 1 1/2" larger. Since they are just guides for the tubing, the outside radius isn't as critical and I just left them "as cut". After all three pieces were cut, I glued and screwed them together in a sort of sandwich. The finished piece looks like half of a big pulley. Finally, I bent and drilled a piece of 1/8" x 3/4" flat stock to make a loop to hold the tubing at one end.

To use this apparatus, I just clamp it in a vise, insert a piece of tubing into the slot under the loop and bend the tubing around the form. After bending about halfway, I slid the tubing further into the form, clamped on a pair of vise-grips to keep it from sliding back, and bent it some more. I made two half-circles. I discovered that the tubing springs back some, so the bends ended up with a shallower radius than intended. To fix this problem I resorted back to my trusty hydraulic bender and deepened the center of each piece slightly.

[J. Robinson]

After some trial and error fitting, I trimmed the two bumper pieces to match each other and to fit the contour of the nose piece. I took a short piece of 3/4" tubing and dressed it down very slightly on a lathe to just fit inside the 1" tubing at the front of the frame horn/spring mounts (If I had not had a lathe available, I could have done this with a grinder). From this I made two "bracket tube" pieces about 4" long. I drilled a 9/32" hole in each of the frame horns and drilled and tapped a 1/4-20 hole in each of the small bracket tubes so that I could slide them in and bolt them in place with 1/2" protruding out.

Next step was to notch and weld the bumper pieces together in the appropriate shape and then weld them onto the the bracket tubes. I may weld up something to insert into the center of the bumper later, but for now I just left it plain.

[Itoldyouso]

That bumper is perfect........it really "makes" the front end of the car. Reminds me of the old Curtis Kraft cars. Are you gonna put your initial in the center?

So you guys are hustling for Turkey Run too? We have about 10 days left in Sept, 31 in Oct, and about 20 in Nov. Wow, it is getting close. Hope you guys make it, just like I hope we do too.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Thank you, Don. Yeah, the bumper and radius rods are styled after the early Kurtis midgets & sprint cars. I am eventually going to make side nerfs and a rear bumper for it, too. I think I need to put something in the bumper, but not sure yet if it will be my initial or something else...

The Turkey Run is sneaking up on us almost too quickly. I will drive my coupe unless I need my truck to haul something home, but my son is really wanting to have his sedan running. He has reached that point in his first build where a lot of first-timers get frustrated and quit. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but it seems like an unending list of little details that keep getting in the way of putting everything together. We've all been there...

[Itoldyouso]

I know that "valley" that we all get into all too well. I'm down to stupid stuff like brake and fuel lines, and I built the whole car faster than I am wrapping up these little details. Just pulling the starter and making up cables the other day was enough that I needed a nap after. My big project for yesterday and today is making up my exhaust baffles.

Keep after your Son, it sounds like he has a real good shot at making it. Don and I figure once Dan actually sees our two rods running it will kick him in the butt and he will quit reengineering his '29 and want to get it on the road. Right now it is in a million pieces getting a total revamp and it has never even seen the street.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Well, the roll bar and bumper were a nice distraction from standing on my head under the cowl, but I must get this steering done sometime, so...

In order to get the Ford Ranger steering box to work as a cowl-mounted unit, it is necessary to extend the pittman arm shaft out through the side of the body. To accomplish this, I gathered a couple different sizes of tubing, two pittman arms (the original one that came with the Ranger box and another one of unknown origin), and some miscellaneous nuts, bolts, and washers.

The first step was to cut the Ranger pittman arm apart. I only need the splined portion. I ground the remains of the arm off to get this piece as round as possible so I could chuck it up in a lathe later. I also marked and drilled six equally-spaced holes in a pair of 1 1/4" washers.

I could have used a grinder to reduce the size of the splined collar, but it would be slow going. Luckily, I have access to a small lathe, so I quickly turned the splined piece down to a more easily useable size. The purpose here was to get the piece down to a smaller diameter that would fit between the six bolts on the big washers. I also turned the tips off the corners of the big nut that holds the pittman arm on the steering box so it would fit through the hole in the washers.

Once I got what I needed, I welded the splined collar to one of the washers. I welded a short piece of 1 5/8" tubing to the other washer. These are welded on both sides and then the welds dressed just enough to make everything fit together. Now the splined piece fits on the steering box, the nut with the shaved corners will hold it in place, and the other piece bolts to it.

That's as far as I got. The pictures help to explain what I did and it is becoming apparent where I'm going with this.

[Itoldyouso]

Pretty cool way to mount the box and extend the arm.

Don