Followed Me Home II

Roger and everyone - I also spend some time on my back under my car and even with it sitting on the wheel dollies it was a close fit.:HMMM: I saw these supports on one of the cable TV car shows, so I can't take credit for the idea, but I made mine fit in my wheel dollies. Now the car is an extra 6 inches off the floor and I can slide under there easily on my creeper plus I can still move the car around as needed.:) It's just a bunch of 2 x 4 lumber, cut and screwed together, cheap and easy to make. They are not permanently attached to the dollies, so easily removable, too.:cool:

I'd seen the 2x4 stands, but not sitting on dollies! Another good idea!

I used the same dollies with the 2x4s under our pontoon boat easy to move around in shop

Jim Robinson asked me to post a picture of the firewall mount I used. I picked up my '33 roller back in 2009 from Duane Noblett at N&N Fiberglass Reproductions in Belleville, Arkansas, now retired. As I was going through that project Duane had a bunch of cool tips that he'd picked up through the years, and he didn't hesitate to share when asked. One was that you could pick up a short chrome exhaust tip dress up part at the auto parts store, and mount that on the firewall to constrain the bottom end of the column where it penetrates the firewall and add a bit of shiny on the firewall. The "Pencil" tip, rolled in leaves a smooth, polished look that I liked on the '33 so I used it again here.

Here's the pencil tip exhaust pipe with the column in place. Yes, the first hole in the firewall was too high; the second one, still not patched was too far inboard and barely cleared the head with the column barely through the firewall; and the third is like Goldilocks third bowl of porridge, JUST RIGHT! Blind squirrel again...

Attachment 72575
-
The inside, showing the tabs welded to the sides bolted through the firewall. This time I had the old tube from the first attempts that I couldn't use, so I cut a strip of it about 3" long, made a pair of relief cuts to form a square welding tab and flattened the rest. Bent 90 degrees, I twisted it to match the angle marked from the firewall with the column bolted in place, and welded them. Once welded just drop it in the hole, insert
the column and bolt down the column drop with the column seated, align the tabs and drill them for bolts. It worked slick! Carpeting will cover the tabs. i may cut off a couple of inches of the inside part, closer to the tabs.
-
Attachment 72576
-
Had to shorten the upper shaft about 1.5", pull the column back and slide it all in place. I like the clean, simple look of the pencil exhaust tip, and I like that one only costs about $10 even better. It's just kind of old school cool, and once the firewall is patched and painted it'll be perfect!
-
Attachment 72577
-
Been wracking my brain to see that I've taken care of everything I need to before I lift the body to tackle exhaust, fuel line, and gas tank mounting before blowing the chassis apart to paint. It may be coming off tomorrow.

Nice TIP! (pun intended lol) I like the way it looks too.

I wish I had seen this trick before I did my column. It looks great, Roger. Simple but effective.:3dSMILE:

The column in my '32 put up a fight; everyone can read about it on my build thread. I have attached a pic below.:HMMM: I also included a pic of the one on my Model-A. Only the shaft comes through the firewall, so I used an escutcheon I found in the plumbing department at Lowes.:rolleyes:

Picked up a sheet of 1/2" plywood to make a bulkhead to separate the trunk from the interior area. The cardboard pattern quickly told me that it had to be in two pieces.
-
Attachment 72597
-
I decided to put a lap joint in the middle, thinking that I'd glue it in place but then realized that my lifting beam rides on that steel at the top of the body, so it really needs to be removable, at least for now, so I drilled & tapped some 1/4-20 holes and bolted it in place. That wooden battery :3dSMILE: was made long ago when I was trying to decide where it would land, but the real one is going to sit right there. Talking with Jim Robinson, the fuse block is likely going to be on the other side of the plywood panel, tucked behind the passenger seat. I've only got four or five circuits with a fair weather roadster. :) and once it's wired the only time the block gets attention is trying to trouble shoot a short. Seems like a good spot, at least for now.
-
Attachment 72598
-
ShowMe puts in this nifty trunk release tucked up behind the dash on the driver's side with the cable running back to a VW style latch.
Attachment 72599
-
While I was test fitting the drivers side panel I kept having to move this big loop of cable that was right behind the door, laying against the body and it made me wonder why it was there? Then I realized it was going to be like the Coke bottle hung from a string inside the Cadillac door - always rattling against the body and being an irritation. Probably wouldn't hear it in a roadster, but it was only there because it was easier to not cut the cable! Of course the latch had to come out to be able to get to the cable end, but it's now 3' shorter and lays flat on the floor.
-
Attachment 72600
-
When I brought the body home one of the first things I noticed was that ShowMe had welded a pair of braces to the horizontal steel, right behind the top of the seats, running back then angled down to a pad that the rear body bolt passed through. My '33, from N&N had nothing like that and the more I looked the more I decided that brace was going to cause any rear impact to crush into the interior, leveraging the seat back (and me!) forward and down. I cut the braces out, and had formed a pair of 3/16"x1" flat steel to follow the floor, and today I drilled them, glued them to the body with Liquid Nails, and bolted them back into place to dry. They tie the two body bolts together, sandwiching the body to the frame, so for the body to come off it has to rip out the whole floor. Not that it won't happen, but I like that idea better than a plug the size of a fender washer and it kind of forms a "crumple zone", if fiberglass crumpled...
-
Attachment 72601
-
Next is to pull the seats, unhook the steering column u-joint, remove the dash and unbolt the body to see the top of the chassis for the first time in 4 years:o I hauled this stuff home in March 2014, did a little that summer and a little more the next like swapping out the TH350 for a 700R4 (this one's an automatic because my wife wouldn't even TRY to drive the coupe), swapping out the rear gears to better fit the OD, adding a True-Trac, and painting the diff & rear swing arms. Spring 2016 was to be the time to get it done..... and then the nagging pain that my wife had kept to herself turned into cancer, inoperable and the size of a youth football, grown free form surrounding her gastric artery and now pressing on major organs, thus the pain. We chased treatments for a year, but lost her in May 2017 and the desire to "build" has been slow to rekindle, no excuses. Maybe 2020! Staying isolated may be an advantage!

Really sad to lose a loved one, but our memories keep them with us forever. Nice work as always my friend!

Had other things to do around the place yesterday, and this morning spent too long fretting about the battery mount before just making a pattern, cutting out a pair of 1/2" ply supports and a shelf and hooking them together.
-
Attachment 72612
-
If you look at Jim's pictures of his support compared to mine it shows the difference between the way BeBop forms their floor compared to ShowMe! The ShowMe floor has more curve for some reason. I like Jim's bondo glue idea, and have used it before but I went with Titebond III and some staples for wood to wood.
-
Attachment 72613
-
I set it in place, started to grab the bondo can and remembered that the bulkhead needs to come out to remove the body, so it stays loose for now....
-
Another guy who used to post here a lot always puts a shelf on the interior side of the firewall as a catchall (I think he mentioned it was a good place for his cigarettes and lighter). Carpeted, it's out of the breeze so things don't tend to blow away. Sounded like a good idea so I whipped out a shelf using a piece of Cedar siding I had laying around. It's 30" wide an 5" deep with a rim to keep things from sliding off. Carpeted it disappears.
-
Attachment 72614
-
After I got it made I started to mount it and I'm not sure about it now. Mounted high it's out of sight, but being out of sight I'm not sure how much value it adds. I'd be reaching blind for the shelf, and just not sure about it. I haven't smoked for 44 years, so I don't need a place for cigarettes.... So for now it's set aside.

The shelf made me realize I've been looking for reasons to NOT pull the body, so late in the day I started at the front, loosened the support rods and rocked the radiator forward to release the hood; then pulled the grill shell & radiator; pulled the seats.... and ran out of steam!
-
Attachment 72615
-
With the seats out here's a different look at the battery support. Got an idea for a battery box that might be cool, but we'll see how it works before saying it's cool.
-
Here's a better look at the battery shelf!
-
Attachment 72616
-
Tomorrow I'll pull the steering column and lift the body, hoping it fits the dolly I modified so long ago! Fingers crossed!

Attachment 72625
-
It's always fun to rework the wood dolly with the body hanging in the air, right? It's apart, stable and ready.

I've been working on the exhaust using 2.5" steel and Summit's house Cherry Bomb's. I ordered a "Universal Kit" with 4 each of U bend, 45's, 90's and straight 4' long. So far I've cut about 8" off of one of the straight pipes, and the rest has been cutting up bends! I may be ordering a few more bends to get from the mufflers out the back! It's a tortuous path running big pipe on a small chassis! Sure is easy to burn through 18 gauge exhaust tube! :(:LOL:**)**)
-
Attachment 72637
-
Both sides cheat in kind of close to the transmission, but I can easily add a heat shield if it proves to be a problem. I think it's going to be fine.
-
Attachment 72639
-
Attachment 72638
-
After I redid my steering column drop I bolted the dash back in place and thankfully before cutting holes I determined that using the billet gauge cluster that I had, putting the tach and speedo centered above the steering wheel wasn't going to work. The steel for the drop sits too high, cheating into the space behind the dash where the gauges would be, so had to look for another approach. Today the BBT dropped this one, putting the big gauges center dash, smaller to the sides which will work fine. Done! One billet aluminum(Dolphin?) gauge cluster added to the spare parts pile.
-
Attachment 72641
-
Gonna finish the exhaust from mufflers back, then run the fuel line and drill the frame to mount the gas tank. Having the tank hanging in back may not be the best from a safety standpoint, but I like the old school look, and it's a heavy poly tank as opposed to stamped steel, which I believe helps. Anyway, I'm enjoying the build again. Thanks for checking in.

I like the dash now!

I like that bezel, too.:) Why are you ditching the Dolphin gauges? Don't they fit this bezel?:confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

I like that bezel, too.:) Why are you ditching the Dolphin gauges? Don't they fit this bezel?:confused:

---

Looking at options I thought that the one I had, two large openings with four out to the right was made by Dolphin, but now I see it at Speedway listed as "Universal". My gauges are VDO, and yes they fit the new wing bezel.

Ah! OK, I understand now. I thought you were pitching the gauges out, but you were referring to the other bezel. VDO gauges are good stuff!

Since we brought them up, in case anyone wonders - I used Dolphin gauges in my Track-T roadster and they were really nice; black face with curved glass like old Stewart Warner's. I had a problem programming on the digital speedo (user error), so I called them and they walked me through it. Really nice helpful people.

My day started with rain so hard it was deafening in the barn, trying to position the tail pipes and continuing to run into the clamps holding the gas tank in place so I opted to get the frame drilled to get the tank bolted in place. That ended up being a trip to the hardware store for bolts, and of course the 2" chrome button head bolts I brought home needed to be 2.5".... As Jim said, warts and all.

I'd ordered a small dash mount billet aluminum mirror, and popped it out of the box to discover that the extreme slant of the Rodwell windshield leaves zero room for it.... another wart, and another part for the spare parts shelf - arrgh! Did get the tank in place, so a step forward. Tomorrow's another day.

So what I'm reading is no matter how many builds you do, a guy still buys parts that end up under the bench ? Crap!! Lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

So what I'm reading is no matter how many builds you do, a guy still buys parts that end up under the bench ? Crap!! Lol

---

Under the bench, in the cabinets, out in the shed, in the spare bedroom and up in the attic....

...or used on the next build, or given to a friend, or sold at the next swap meet for 20% of what you paid for it originally.:rolleyes::o:whacked:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

... or sold at the next swap meet for 20% of what you paid for it originally.:rolleyes::o:whacked:

---

IF you're lucky! 8-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 34_40

IF you're lucky! 8-)

---

LOL!!! Ain't that the truth! Sometimes you pay someone to haul it off! LOL. Just can't make this stuff up!!!

The tail end of this exhaust was kicking my butt for most of the day, trying to hold two pipes and mark the alignment and at some point I glanced over and picked up on the fact that the engine hoist was sitting there, with the boom capable of extending out about 3' and that gave me an extra pair of hands!
-
Attachment 72656
-
The hoist for the arch, some jack stands for the tail pipe..... Tanks, INC says to leave 2" between pipes and the poly tank, mainly to keep from heating the fuel and causing stink from the vent. I'm not fixed on the 2", but I am routing my exhaust out around the end of the tank, beneath the frame rails.
-
Attachment 72657
-
I'll trim that loop to a nominal 45, angle it over to align with the muffler, and add a straight section....
-
Attachment 72658

Neither side is done yet, but one is close and once it's piped the other one will be easier!

Nice use of what you got to hold things in place!

I love watching these step-by-step builds, it's like we're right there with you when you drive it for the first time! Thanks for sharing!

The past couple of days have been exhausting! :LOL::3dSMILE::LOL: I got really frustrated yesterday, figuring that I was short one 90 bend, but then I noticed the two pieces on the floor that I'd cut off of the U-bends that went over the axles. Wondering if there was any chance that I'd made accurate cuts on the band saw I laid them atop the last whole 90 and wonder of wonders they matched! I didn't need the slip joint, so as jb says, "Bob's Your Uncle!!" which is NZ slang for "Even a Blind Squirrel Finds The Nut Once In a While", or perhaps "It's All Good"!!
-
Attachment 72676
-
So with that hurdle behind me I made a mirror imaged piece to fit from the back, over the hump for the other side -
-
Attachment 72677
-
Today was attacking the last two pieces needed to connect the muffler outlet to the 90's at the axle, knowing that they were at two different levels and offset side to side. A short piece of pipe in the muffler, marked an inch behind the muffler outlet got a wedge cut to angle it down. The last two 45's were halved, then straight to straight using the slip joint they created the needed offset. One of those Hallelujah moments!

I was concerned with the offset of the exhaust relative to the rear-end center section, but as I was taking this picture I realized it was the offset of the 9" rear end making the difference. Duh!
-
Attachment 72679
-
As I was putting the passenger side back in place after tacking, I found that there was no way to get the whole piece over the axle and inserted into the muffler, so I made the decision that I'll leave the two slip joints in front of the axle, and the two at the reducers on the headers as slip joints with clamps vs welding. Speedway, look for another order tomorrow for 4 more Hooker clamps, and get them on the BBT to visit next week.
-
Attachment 72675
-
And here's the part others will see, the tailpipes nestled beneath the frame rails, away from the gas tank! Next is to get some hangers installed to keep everything situated. I've got 4 of the bolt on's with the 3/8" rod extending from a rubber bushing, and I may need to add a few more to my order.....;) That's tomorrow's task.
-
Attachment 72678
-
As a PS, I bought a "Universal" kit of 4 straights, 4 U's, 4 90's, and 4 45's. I've got two untouched straight sections left, another 3/4 of one missing the slip joint, plus a bunch of straight cutoffs including several slip joint pieces. But I have ZERO mandrel bend sections remaining!! Not one piece of angle bent stock went unused! I think that's AMAZING!!!

Looking good over there!
Wondering why it's important that Bobs your Uncle??? :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 34_40

Looking good over there!
Wondering why it's important that Bobs your Uncle??? :p

---

When we visited NZ in 2014, I was interested in the common slang terms that were used in normal conversation, and jb bought me a t-shirt that had a bunch of terms, arranged in the shape of the north and south islands. He also gave me a cheat sheet, explaining each term. Bob's Your Uncle correlates to Everything will be alright, All good.
ATTACH]72682[/ATTACH]

I've seen your cheat sheet! Just don't understand the reference to this unknown uncle Bob! Can't wait for JB to wake up and fill me in!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 34_40

I've seen your cheat sheet! Just don't understand the reference to this unknown uncle Bob! Can't wait for JB to wake up and fill me in!

---

Could it be that our own Uncle Bob Parmenter is known in NZ? JB can tell us!

I had absolutely no idea of the origin of the phrase; so looked it up in 'Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'.
Bob's your uncle. 'That will be alright; you needn't bother any more, just leave it to me!' The phrase was occasioned by A J Balfour's promotion of his uncle Robert (Lord Salisbury) the Tory Prime Minister, to the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Balfour had previously been made President for the Local Government Board in 1886, then Secretary for Scotland with a seat in the Cabinet. The suggestion of nepotism was difficult to ignore.'

So now we all know. My maternal Grandmother was of English stock, as was my paternal Grandfather, and they used the phrase regularly. So it obviously migrated to NZ from the UK. It's used now when everything just falls into place, and you think "Crikey! That was a doddle!".
All good.

As it should be.................

Thanks to all for this mornings smile! Bob's your uncle!! 8-)

Roger, it's nice to see some one working on a project and nice to see you enjoying it! I see a lto of same issues I will be up against on the 40. The steering column mount in the fire wall. The exhaust, finding the time and then not getting burnt out. :LOL:

It's looking really nice. It will be cool to have the choice on which hot rod to drive before too long. Take care, Ryan.

.

Thanks for the kind words! Ryan, I am indeed enjoying the challenges, and if there's no challenge then you're doing something wrong!

Today was one of those look & think, then look some more and think some more. I was not happy with how close the drivers side pipe coming off of the header came to the transmission, and after considering several options, some involving multiple cuts & welds I made one small wedge cut with the band saw, pulled it together to tack it and it shifted the pipe almost an inch at the critical place, much better now.

Mounting hangers has been another area with lots of looking & thinking. Pete & Jake's uses a tubular center section and tube cross members off of the boxed frame rails, so finding a place to bolt on exhaust hangers isn't really straight forward. I finally decided that I need to weld on some reinforced tabs drilled for bolts, and that I'll need another pair of hangers (I already bought 4) to constrain the pipes movement. Came in and found the hangers and clamps that I need at Speedway, and since I'm in the first zone from them the BBT will bring them tomorrow afternoon (Bob's Your Uncle!!!)

Tomorrow will be bolting the first hangers in place, then scrounging for material to fab some mounting tabs. Thinking I may be able to use a piece of square tube cut with a hole cutter to form the radius for welding to tubes..... I was thinking of drilling & tapping the boxing plate, but it's only 1/8" and my bolts will be 3/8x16. For a hanger it'd probably be OK, but I think my spot is right at the end of the inside boxing plate, so getting a nut on the back side is easy, and removes any doubt about the threads.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rspears

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings....

---

Ramblings??? Entertainment my friend, keep up the good work and ENJOY!

I've been having the random thoughts going through my head about my exhaust issues on the 40 and I'm half tempted to take the easy way out for now. Put a muffler in between the frame and front fender and exit just under the fender like a race car. Yeah, it might be loud, but it would be quicker and help get it on the road. :LOL: But then I think I should just quit thinking. :LOL:

.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I've been having the random thoughts going through my head about my exhaust issues on the 40 and I'm half tempted to take the easy way out for now. Put a muffler in between the frame and front fender and exit just under the fender like a race car. Yeah, it might be loud, but it would be quicker and help get it on the road. :LOL: But then I think I should just quit thinking. :LOL:

---

Yeah, I woke up yesterday thinking, "Why didn't you just load the chassis on the trailer, and take it to the shop and have them bend pipes! But then I thought about the way the muffler shop does hangers, welds and cobbles things together and I decided I'm better off. I recall talking to a guy at a local hamburger joint about the roller chassis he had loaded and him saying he had a guy down south that was going to do the exhaust for him, but I don't know that guy!

I got a late start today, but drilled the mounting holes for a pair of hangers, then marked them and heated the rod to bend it to fit under the pipe, bolted it back in place and tacked the rod to the exhaust pipe, both sides of the rod. Did the other side the same....
-
Attachment 72698
-
With that point anchored I decided that I needed to anchor the loops over the axles, and that's one of the 2" round cross members that has the brake line running across the front side. After too many stutter steps I picked up a piece of 1.5" square tube and a 1.75" hole saw and cut a chunk out of the tube, leaving the bottom whole. Cutting it at the bottom of the arc gave me two pieces to fit the cross member to make a flat bolting surface tangent to the bottom of the cross member.
-
Attachment 72699
-
I cut off the top on the band saw, making a C channel, and as I was making the cut on the second one the blade snapped. Arrrrgh! So I finished that one with a cutoff wheel in the angle grinder.
-
Attachment 72700
-
The tabs will extend back from the cross member, right below the floor of the trunk, and the radiused gussets will stiffen them up.
-
Attachment 72701
-
Stopped for the day and cleaned up for a run to Harbor Freight to pick up some blades for the saw. That little deep throat band saw, mounted on a stand has been a joy to use, along with the Northern Tool Cold Cut Off saw. I don't know how I did without them!

Got the bandsaw going again, and tacked the two brackets I'd made on the crossmember. I'll weld them out after I blow the chassis apart and finish some other welding.
-
Attachment 72708
-
I copied this attachment method from Jim Robinson after thinking about how the connections across the top of the hump really limits movement. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right?
-

Attachment 72707
-
Again, a bit of head scratching and ended up with a pair of simple tabs to weld to the top tube of the center section and one of the vertical braces. Constrained on two sides it's not going anywhere, and it made an easy connection up front to limit any flex.
-
Attachment 72709
-
And the whole thing, no jack stands, slip joint & muffler clamps still loose!
-
Attachment 72711
-
I've got a question. The PO bought this coil of 3/8" aluminum fuel line. Some say never run aluminum because a rock or other road debris thrown by a front tire can penetrate it, causing a catastrophic ending. I can see that with an electric pump, pressurizing the line a pinhole would spew fuel, but running a mechanical pump that line from tank to pump might drip while static, but once the engine is cranking that line sees suction pressure (negative) from the pump. Seems to me that there's little risk but I'm open to ideas. Have any of you run aluminum line from the tank? What do you think about it?
-
Attachment 72712
-

-

I wouldn't be afraid to use it.:) I know you aren't going to put it UNDER the frame rail, so I don't see how a rock could ever get to it. If it did, it would likely just dent it. A rock big enough to break or puncture it would probably never get launched by those little front tires, anyway. If this was a jacked up 4-wheel-drive going off-road it may be an issue, but I think it's OK stuff here.:rolleyes: Bottom line though, Roger, do what you are comfortable with.:cool:

My biggest issue with aluminum line is ethanol. There are a lot of gas stations in this state that offer nothing but ethanol even if the sticker says it isn't. I could see the rock dings being an issue as well. A couple of our freightliner cascadia semis had some aluminum air lines and we had to replace them before they were 6 months old. The construction around here and gravel roads are no joke.

.