Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[stovens]

Wow Dick York has some cool pictures on his site. Should be really cool Jim!

[J. Robinson]

Don - We'll see how easy it is when I start building it. I have a feeling this could be a time consuming project. I already lost the summer to building the new back porch and screen enclosure; now another setback. The roadster may not make it to the Turkey Run again this year. Oh well...

Steve - You should see Dick's garage! He has some really rare stuff, carburetors and intakes sitting all over the place and everything spotlessly clean. My wife and I try to go visit him and his wife whenever we make it to Indiana. When we finally go out to the shop I usually just stand and stare with my mouth hanging open for the first 20 minutes or so. The '34 coupe that is in the rendering on his home page is a real car and is sitting in the shop along with his '48 Chevy sedan delivery. I have known Dick since he and I were building chopped motorcycles in the early '70's; his stuff is always nicely done and detailed to the max.

[OFT]

Hang in there Jim, I know you will come up with a nice, this is how I did it, and amaze us all.

Earl

[J. Robinson]

OK, it's finally time to get down to the task at hand. I bought a piece of 1/4 x 3 flat stock to make the flange out of. After cutting it to length, I used the original gasket to lay out the holes. Nobody in this one-horse town ever heard of Dykem, so I used the next best thing... a Sharpie pen.

I center punched and drilled the bolt holes first. Then I center punched the center of the intake ports and cut them out with a 1 1/8" hole saw. One advantage of making the manifold myself is that I can leave the EGR port blocked off. I am also leaving the rear water passage blocked off. If it turns out that I need a return line there, I will drill & tap it later for a pipe fitting.

Also, I will trim the corners and excess material later. Right now I am leaving as much of the "meat" intact as I can to help avoid warpage later when I welding.

[Itoldyouso]

Glad to see you working on a solution Jim. When you get it all welded up do you plan on having the surface blanchard ground or in some other way machined totally flat so you get a good seal? I imagine the welding would distort the flange a little.

I think this is very do-able. You and I have both seen some really weird intake manifolds created by some of the rat rod guys..........ones that really shouldn't work, but somehow do. With your talent yours will be just as nice and functional as the rest of your car.

Oh, BTW Jim, I scored two engines at work the other day. One is another Gen VI 454 that had head problems, but the rest is fine, and the other is a 3.0 liter Chevy 4 that was replaced and found to only have a valvetrain problem.( rocker arm, lifter, or cam..........haven't pulled it apart yet to see) Anyway, that one I'm saving to build a similar car to your track T. Of course, that one is like 5 down the list of other ones I have to do. But I thought of your car the second I saw it being pulled out of the boat.

Don

[simpsongreg68]

I see gasket matching and head porting coming, what carbs are you going to use? I saw a model a 4 with an overhead valve conversion that used two s&s harley davidson carbs, it really looked nice , this setup goes a long way toward getting parts to keep running problem, You are getting really close my project is dead in the water I have been off of work since april, I have had a lot of time to perfect tig welding , a new miller tig is in my plans right now, good luck when you get this car running please put a video with some good shots of it going down the highway,

[Ken Thurm]

Jim,
Glad to see you do this yourself. I promise you it Will be very rewarding when you are finished. I have done this many times and would be very happy to send you photo's of how I made sharp turns with tubing so they look cast when finished. If the runners are going to be made out of round tubing, which is what it looks like you are doing, it's no different than a set of headers but with a plenum instead of a collector. If you give me the bore and stroke I can give you a idea on the plenum size. Or are you just going to make runners with a direct port?
Ken

[oldrodder43]

Isn't any question but what J.R. can do it----------------NONE! He does things that amaze me, and I been around things for near 66 years. I ain't einstein, but I know he's sharp, J.R. that is! Funny I'd mention both names in this post. heeheee.
Jim, I have cut my driveshaft like you said. And near there with manifold, just need some rod (someday). I NEVER would have attempted it were anyone else that said I could. God Bless! Perley

[J. Robinson]

Don - True, I have seen some weird ones. I saw an inline six once with 7 carbs on a log manifold! I have always wondered if they all worked or if some of them were dummies... As for warpage, I will run this thing across the belt sander when I'm done to see if it needs further machining and decide what to do then; gaskets can make up for a small amount of distortion.

Let's see... you have a small-block Chevy in your lakes-modified roadster, an Olds in the roadster pickup, and a small-block Ford in the '27 and you just procured two more different engines... Looks like you have at least two more projects in your future!

Greg - I also saw a 2.5 Chevy like mine with a pair of Harley carbs on it. It was in Street Rodder or Rod & Custom back when I started this project. Too bad nobody makes a commercially available conversion like that; it would get me up and running a lot quicker. Oh well, what good are these projects if we don't learn something along the way? This conversion will be equipped with some very traditional old carbs, either Holley 94's or Stromberg 97's.

Ken - I would never tell you to mind your own business! When it comes to fabricating, I bow to you. The details and modifications on your roadster are absolutely mind blowing... OK, I am making the "log" and runners out of round tubing. I assumed I would keep this first attempt simple; I also need to keep the carbs as low as is practical. I will come straight out from the flange with the runners and right into the side of the "log". The two carburetors will be positioned with one over each pair of runners. The holes in the flange are 1.125" diameter because that's the biggest hole I can contain within the limits of the intake port. A good friend of mine found some tubing that has 1 1/8" inside diameter, so that will be the runners. For the "log" I have a piece of 2 1/2" tubing, but I can get something different if necessary. The bore on these engines is 4.00" and the stroke is 3.00" (basically half of a 302). And, yes, I would like to see those pictures sometime for future reference.

Perley - You are too kind. I am no genius. Most of the things I do I have learned because I never could afford to pay someone to do anything for me. If I couldn't do it myself, it didn't get done, so I had to become a "Jack of all trades". The good Lord blessed me with a pair of nimble artisitic hands and an inventive brain so I could turn the things I imagine into real tangible objects. If I have any knowledge that someone else can use, I am happy to pass it on. It's my way of "paying it forward".

Glad to hear you tackled the driveshaft on your own; I have always cut my own and have never had one commercially made for me. After the first couple, they are no big deal any more...

[J. Robinson]

Well, progress has been slow, but I finally have something to show you all. I'm not done yet, but I have most of the pieces cut and fit. First, I discarded the round tubing for the "log" in favor of a piece of 2" x 3" thinwall (14 gauge) rectangular tubing. Mounting the carburetor plates is much simplified by using the rectangular tubing... Anyway, I still need to hole-saw the intake holes in the tubing, cap the ends, and weld everything together. Here's what I have so far...

[Itoldyouso]

That's using your dipstick, Jim.......my! I knew you would come up with a solution. I like it a lot and I bet it flows just fine. Now just keep after it so we can see the finished product. (Billetproof maybe )

Don

[OFT]

Jim, I agree with Don, that is going to make a nice looking intake. Already looks like a race car setup. Follows your track T build theme.

Earl

[Gastrick]

Good thinking Jim. That intake looks real nice.

[J. Robinson]

Thanks guys, for the compliments. Since I took that last pic (Tuesday) I have cut the remaining holes and tacked it together. I hope to finish it up this weekend and then it gets shipped off to Indiana for carbs, linkage, etc. I'll keep you posted...

[J. Robinson]

OK, here it is. In the first pic the flange is clamped to a piece of 5/16 x 3 angle iron so it won't warp during welding. In the last two pics it's welded, ends capped, welds ground, and studs installed. Now I have to decide... Should I paint it the same red as the engine, dull silver so it looks like aluminum, or black like it might have been done in the 1950's (the theme of the car)?