Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

The best news of all is that we all came through alive and uninjured. Some shingles and some fencing can be fixed. There certainly are many who lost a lot more than me. Just a few miles north of me an EF-2 tornado touched down during the storm and destroyed a half-dozen homes, damaged several more. I feel fortunate; I finished the roof on my shed yesterday and will tackle the fence next (no big hurry on it).

Unfortunately there are always looters and thieves who take advantage of others. It should be legal to shoot them on sight.

Progress on my Deuce will be interrupted for a week or so while I'm making repairs to the property. My Vega steering box arrived today (delayed about 5 days because of the hurricane); I'll get to it as soon as I can.

[shine]

it is i texas. you loot we shoot .

[mrmustang]

Where's Bill ??? :lol:

Driving, driving, driving

[J. Robinson]

??? Make your own what? Did I miss something?

[J. Robinson]

Oh. OK. I wondered; I haven't been here for a couple of days and apparently missed it...

[J. Robinson]

It's been a while since I got to work on the Deuce. I re-roofed the shed, re-roofed the back porch, and finally got the fence back together. I had to replace 12 posts that were broke off at the ground and then reattach all the fence sections. I finally finished all the repairs last Friday, almost a month after the hurricane...

So, during the aftermath my steering box arrived. I had stomped the local salvage yard before the hurricane looking for a rack & pinion unit that I could make into a homemade version of a Unisteer. Having failed to find a suitable donor, I elected to use some sort of steering box. I already had a Corvette box (which has a long sector shaft) that I could have mounted similar to the one on my coupe, but the steering shaft would have to be snaked around the headers on top of the frame rail. Besides looking like crap, it would make installing hood sides impossible if I ever wanted to do that. So, I bought a new Vega box. It has a short sector shaft which allows it to mount down low and I can keep the steering shaft below the top of the frame rail.

The first step was to mock up the Vega box in place using wood blocks of various sizes. After verifying steering shaft access between the headers and frame and bolt access under the frame, I fab'd up the mounting plate from a piece of 1/4 inch plate and some jam nuts for spacers (Vega boxes don't mount flat; they have to be spaced off the plate about 5/16 inch). I couldn't just slap the mount against the frame either, as is usually done, because the torsion bar is in the way down below. I needed to space the mount out from the frame rail 1 1/4 inch for torsion bar clearance. I used a piece of 3/16 x 1 1/4 flat stock to make what I call a "three dimensional gusset". After welding the gusset piece to the mounting plate, I bolted the completed mounting bracket to the steering box, set it in its mock-up position, and clamped it in place. I re-checked all the clearance issues and location and welded it in place with 3 large tack welds (No picture. I will weld everything solid when I blow the chassis apart for finishing). I still need to fabricate the bottom strap that ties the bottom of the mounting plate to the bottom of the frame rail, but I ran out of time for today.

[stovens]

Glad to hear your back to rights at home. Also glad to follow your build!

[oldrodder43]

Hello Jim, old Friend. Just discovered this thread. I haven't been doing anything for some time, but getting fired up now to re-start on the Essex. How are things? Perley

[J. Robinson]

Hello Perley! All is well here. Sorry I didn't see your post sooner. I also got your private message, but just now found it (over a month late!!). Anyway, glad to hear you're going back to work on the Essex. Keep us posted on your progress. If you've read this thread you know that I've started on a '32. The chassis is on wheels and the 454 /700R4 are mounted, but I'm temporarily sidetracked on a different project.

Anyway, to everyone following this thread, I have been busy remodeling the kitchen. This was not just a fresh paint and new light fixtures job; we tore the kitchen out to the bare walls. So far we have updated the wiring, new ceiling, repaired drywall/plaster, new flooring, and new plumbing. I'm doing this all myself (with the help of my wife), so it may be another month before I get back on the Deuce. I've also been racing my Electrathon car when I can find time. You can follow that on my other thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

[40FordDeluxe]

Those remodels are just like an automotive project IMO. You tear into them and find hack work and it takes way more time and money to get the end result you want.

[Dickster]

Greetings Jim, I am finally here but no pix?

[Dickster]

Jim, you won't like a detroit locker on the street unless you don't mind skipping around a corner. My '32 roadster had one and it wass a rush, but nice in a straight line.

[Dickster]

Jim, you wold be well advised to invest a with couple hundred in a glass bead cabinet. They are a godsend. Clean most anything without damaging the metal surface.

[Dickster]

Jim, I had a uni-steer rack on my black deuce. it is nice but the big drawback is that it has such a slow turning radius, kinda like the old choppers with the log springers.

[firebird77clone]

Good stuff, that complete kitchen remodel. I hope you put lots of outlets, can't have too many. When I built my kitchen, the refrigerator got a dedicated breaker, and the island is wired in 10 AWG on a 30A breaker with a total of five independant GFCI outlets. Short appliance cords, no problem. Run the microwave, crock pot and mixer all at once, no problem! All the outlets in the room perimeter are on a 20A wired in 10AWG, because you never know when an extra microwave or space heater will come into play.