Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

I guess it's appropriate to say the "construction phase" is winding down. I'm done with the chassis fabrication and all the major components are in place. I'm down to finalizing some details and the construction/fabrication that's left is all inside. Today I tackled a couple of those small details. First, I wrapped the exhaust pipe, where it passes under the master cylinder, with header wrap. Next, I located and cut the access hole in the floor for the master cylinder. I fabricated a cover for it from a scrap of .060" aluminum and attached it with two sheet metal screws.

When I was under the car a few days ago bolting the fuel cell and battery tray in place, I noticed that the top of the differential was only about 3/8 inch from the trunk floor. At the ends, the axle housing is over an inch from the frame. So what happens to the floor if/when the rear axle bottoms out on the frame? CRUNCH!! I need floor clearance, so I cut a hole in the trunk floor over the differential. I will make an aluminum cover with a rise in it to alleviate this problem. Yes, I will be raising the back end for additional suspension travel (it settled when I put the body on the frame), but I still need the floor clearance for those inevitable big bumps in the future.

[53 Chevy5]

I found out with Rita that things definitely do settle. I noticed lately that it sits lower than when I first put it together .The other day when I hit a pretty rough bridge intersection at 60 mph, my front suspension bottomed out, I never had that before. So Yes, travel is a good thing lol.

[Dave Severson]

I found out with Rita that things definitely do settle. I noticed lately that it sits lower than when I first put it together .The other day when I hit a pretty rough bridge intersection at 60 mph, my front suspension bottomed out, I never had that before. So Yes, travel is a good thing lol.

Back in the circle burner days, we would check spring rates on the spring checker once a month or so, after a couple 40 or 50 lap mains it wasn't unusual to have a spring lose 5% of it's rating, on a rough track, we had springs lose 10% on a single night! Torsion bars on the sprint cars do the same.

[rspears]

So Yes, travel is a good thing lol.

And bump stops are not bad, either!

[J. Robinson]

I obviously needed to cover the gaping hole I cut in the trunk floor. I stated above that I would make an aluminum cover and that's what I did. Using another piece of .060" aluminum scrap, I cut a rectangle the same width and 3/8 inch longer than the hole. I used a vise and bare hands to bend a gentle curve in the rectangle. The high part of the curve is approximately 1.25 inches above the ends. Using the curve of the panel as a pattern for the shape, I cut out two sides. I left tabs for attaching the sides to the curved panel and also left a 3/4 inch strip on the bottom of each side (see pics) for attaching the finished "hump" to the trunk floor. After shaping and riveting the pieces together, I trimmed the ends and riveted the finished assembly over the hole. I sealed the ends with duct tape. Finally, I relocated the back end of the fuel cell strap to the right about 2 inches and bolted it down again (final pic).

[34_40]

will you glass that over?

[J. Robinson]

Sorry for the slow answer - been on other tasks for the last couple weeks... It's pretty solid, made from .060" thick aluminum so it doesn't need any 'glass for strength. I will probably just seal the edges with some epoxy before I put the Kilmat insulation over it.

As I said, I've been doing a dozen other things (mostly "Honey-do's"), so I haven't spent much time in the shop. One thing I did accomplish was making patterns for my under-dash panel and a small console. Ignore the battery sitting on the floor; it's just there to run the power seats while I'm fitting things. The air conditioner evaporator unit will protrude through the center of the panel right under the dash. Below that, in the vertical part of the console, I can put a radio. The bottom console will have two cup-holders. If there is room I will put a small glove compartment in the far right side of the under-dash panel.

[rumrumm]

Your dash design is very similar to the one I built for my deuce, and it has worked out very well.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

[J. Robinson]

Lynn, I can't get that link to work. It takes me to Facebook, but says the content isn't available...? Anyway, I'd like to see yours. My design of the under-dash panel and console isn't necessarily final yet. When I get my A/C unit I may have to tweak it a little.

[rumrumm]

pm me at LS-Johanson@wiu.edu and I will send you a photo. I cannot get a new photo to upload on this site.

[J. Robinson]

OK, I've been distracted with other things (Electrathon racing season has started. See my other thread.), so I haven't spent as much time as I should on the Deuce. I finally put in a pretty good day on it today.

As an old-time fabricator who designs and builds "on the fly", I sometimes make an unforeseen problem for myself. Although I have built five previous torsion bar front ends, no two are exactly alike. This time I created a problem with interference between the tie rod and the bottom shackle bolts. I didn't take a "before" picture, but the problem was, when the front wheels were turned sharply either direction, the tie rod contacted the head of the shackle bolt. That could be a problem in a tight turn on uneven ground.

Below I attached a pic of one of the shackles. Notice the head of a 1/2-inch diameter bolt is almost 3/8-inch thick. In the second pic is the shackle modified to accept a countersunk bolt. The final pic is the modified left shackle back in place and with the wheels turned full left. The tie rod clears the shackle and bolt a little over 1/16-inch. Now I can finally ditch the temporary (homemade) tie rod and install the nice pretty Speedway Motors chrome one.

[J. Robinson]

Saturday I finally installed the pretty new tie rod and drag link. I've had them forever, but didn't want to install them until I took care of the protruding bolt heads on the shackles. Since I did that (see previous posting) I had no excuse to wait any longer... except...

In the previous posting I commented that, sometimes, old do-it-yourself fabricators do things that cause problems later. The shackle bolts were one problem with tie rod interference, the other problem was the new tie rod also had interference from the bottom arms of the radius rods! Fortunately, it was only a minor clearance issue and the fix was pretty simple. I took the steering arms off and, with a tapered reamer, deepened the holes for the tie rod ends.

With everything back together and the tie rods in place (first pic) I set the toe. The last three pics show my toe boards made from 3/4-inch furniture grade plywood (they could also be made of aluminum or steel plate or heavy plastic). This is an old system I learned in my stock-car racing days. In case anybody is interested, the boards are 22 inches long and 10.5 inches tall. The cut-out is there in case you are adjusting a car that has protruding hubcaps or trim rings. The little holes at the bottom corners are done with a 1.5-inch hole saw. Set the boards on the floor against the tire sidewall. I use masking tape to hold them in place. Now pull two measuring tapes through the holes on one side and hook them through the holes on the other side. By pulling the tapes snug simultaneously, the difference is the amount of toe-in or toe-out.

[J. Robinson]

I finally got around to tackling the mount for the heater-A/C evaporator unit. I held it in position and did some visualizing with "calibrated eyeball". I finally decided the best route was to weld a support bar all the way across, even with the bottom of the dash. I used a piece of 1-inch square tubing that I drilled and installed nutserts in to hold the bracket supplied with the evaporator unit. I also welded brackets with J-nuts on either side so I can attach the under-dash panel. I actually tacked these pieces in place and then removed the dash to finish welding.

While the dash was out I attached the back support brace (the top of it is barely visible in the 3rd pic) and bolted the evaporator unit in place. I put the dash back in place and spent the next three hours modifying the patterns I made a couple of weeks ago (post #457). It's at a slightly different angle, but still looks much the same. Now I just have to reproduce the cardboard in a more substantial material.

[timothale]

I always try to find a drive shaft that doesn't have any weights, or very small, better chance of not having a balance problem

[J. Robinson]

Drive shaft?? That was a few pages ago. Anyway, I don't think I've ever had a drive shaft that didn't have at least one weight somewhere.

OK, I've been doing several different things for the last month, so my time on the '32 has been pretty meager. In between other things I managed to make the brackets to hang the A/C condenser. I used some 1/16 x 1 aluminum strap. After bending two pieces to fit with about 3/4 inch clearance, I used a hole saw to "ventilate" them. After riveting the straps to the brackets on the radiator, I drilled them and hung the condenser in place. It all seemed to work out well and looks nice in the pictures, but... the grille shell won't fit! It hits the condenser at the top left (driver's side) corner and the horizontal supports in the grille insert also hit the driver's side of the condenser. I can't move it to the right because of the space needed for the lines. I can't pull the grille shell forward because then the hood wouldn't fit and I don't have room to move the radiator back.

So.., I ordered a different condenser. The new one is 2 inches narrower and 2 inches shorter in height. Hopefully that will allow me to move the condenser over and down just enough to solve the clearance issues. Hot rodding sure was a lot easier when I was young and didn't care about creature comforts...