Oh and Don, I am not bored with your thread of posts, KEEP POSTING! Teach me more! :D
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Oh and Don, I am not bored with your thread of posts, KEEP POSTING! Teach me more! :D
FMX---A word from someone who's "been there". I bought a 27 roadster fiberglass shell---no floors, uncut doors, no firewall, no cut out trunk area. I bought it brand new, out of the mold, for $3500 cash, from a no-name glass body manufacturer. Now, this post is not about trashing the body. It was a very good repop of a 27 T roadster, and when it comes as a one peice shell, there are certainly no issues with "fit" of doors or anything else. I worked for a year on that puppy---glassed in the 3/4" marine plywood floors and firewall (marine plywood is made with waterproof glue, so there is less chance of it "seperating" if the bottom gets wet a lot) I made all the internal bracing from laminated 3/4" plywood, glassed into place, and I framed and cut and hinged and latched both doors. I had a lot of fun in that year, and I learned/improved a lot of really neat skills working with glass.---So why am I rambling on like this???? Well, at the end of the game, I had a really nice 27T roadster---BUT---for very little more money, and the same amount of work, I could have built a hi-boy 32 roadster which would have had a ton more room and been worth twice as much when I went to sell it. I could have bought a one peice 32 roadster shell for $5000 when I bought the 27 body. The car ultimately ended up costing about $20,000 by the time I was finished. When I went to sell it, 5 years later, it took a long time to sell, at only about half what i had invested. It wasn't the quality of the work, it was just that 27's are only about half as appealing to the "hot-rod market" as 32 roadsters. What am I trying to say here???---just that when going into a projext, don't let "cheapness" dictate the body style you build. The $1500 you save up front will come back and bite you on the butt when you ever decide to sell that project and move on.
Brian I will take that into consideration for sure then and you are correct. You have much more experience first hand in this than me so I will listen to you. That is a reason I am just going to wait and see what happens. I will wait, sell one of my projects (maybe two), save up some money, buy some tools that I have been wanting and then if I come across anything around here for sale that is REAL then I will buy it. Heck I wouldn't mind owning a roadster and a pickup both if I found them! Hahaha
Don, don't get me wrong I think what you did with your rear suspension is awesome, I absolutely love seeing parts fabricated. I never found a need to fabricate anything for my 72 Monte Carlo.
I guess my problem is I don't know a 32 split wisbone from a Butterball wishbone. I really can't see any other way than what you've done, believe me I spent a lot of time looking. My radius rods are 40" long and run pretty much parallel to the ground. The frame has about 8" of rake, I would just be happy with it sitting close to level.
I am also looking at cutting pockets in the floor to sit my butt lower, so the idea I had to let any of the suspension swing into the floor pan is out, even if it would work.
Really appreciate the time you put into posting, Ron
Ron: Do me a favor. Post some pictures of your bucket. It would be a nice suppliment to this thread, because it will show some different ways that T's are built. Also, we can maybe offer some suggestions as to how you can get it a little lower, as you have indicated you want to do. Take some shots from all different angles, and also some of the rear and front suspension. You can only post 5 pictures at a time, so use a couple of posts if you need to. If you need help in posting the pictures, let us know, we will tell you how to do it. A picture is worth a thousand words, which is why I try to post as many as possible.
Hey, my new 350 turbo showed up today.:D :D It was on a pallet and shrink wrapped, and made the trip from NC without a scratch.. Don't you just love it when car parts show up? I'm like a kid at Christmas and couldn't wait to cut the package open. Our Parts girl saw the trailer truck show up and knew instinctively that it was for me. She said "Well we won't be seeing Don for a little while, he's got some new toy to play with." She was right.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
From where at in NC did you get your tranny from? I just remembered about you saying you didn't have room for a clutch pedal and so now I only have an engine I can use and no tranny. I would need to get a C4 I guess. lol Oh well, not like I am getting one any time soon or something haha.
Jackson Racing Transmissions, Hendersonville, NC. Here is what you do. Find their ad for some transmission on Ebay,(they run several ads all the time), then go to view sellers other items. It will give you whatever units they are selling at that time. They always have a starting bid and a buy it now. I watch until I see a transmission I want is getting near the end of the auction with no bids, and I put in the starting bid. Sometimes they have no reserve on them and you can win it for the starting bid. My first one I bought from them was a built C6 that is good for 700 HP. It had a buy it now of $ 1350.00, but no one bid and I got it for $ 450.00. Aamco won't even change your tranny fluid for that kind of money.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
Don, I will post pictures later this week, I've got Buckeye ticket's for Saturday, and have a lot of work to get done before then "real work".Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoldyouso
I know what you mean about getting parts at work, my brother and me are asked all the time when we went into the car parts business.
I've mentioned that my Son is building a '29 Ford. It started out as a Fordor that he chopped and channelled, but a couple of months ago he found a very solid 2 door sedan body that he is going to build, so he decided he really didn't want two sedans. The solution was to turn the fordor into a roadster pickup.
He cut the body in half, and fabricated brand new quarters out of new door skins he sectioned, and he and I bent up and bead rolled a new bed for it. This put him ahead by months over what it would have taken to build the fordor, and now he has a roadster too.
I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the most recent pictures of it.
Don
One more shot.
the roadster pu is beautiful.. every thing you and your son build looks perfect
Harmon
Don
Is the P/U baged??? How about a shot from the front. If I live long enough I'd realy like to build one of those.
Charlie
Yep, bagged front and rear. He modified one of the kits that they are making for model A front ends, and mounted it suicide style, and then he got a triangulated 3 link set up from Suicide Doors for the rear. The bags in the front are pretty hidden, and it sort of looks like a cross spring setup when you first look at it.
I loved it as a sedan, but have to admit the RP is pretty cool. I don't have any current shots from the front end, but will get some and post them.
In case any of you haven't seen the frame and what the car looked like as a fordor, here are a few more shots.
Don
Here is what makes all the bags work.
Thanks for the nice words guys.
Don
Looks like post 385 shows you got the automatic trans in your project. Hows the linkage working out.
The tranny showed up the other day. I put the new shifter assembly on it for a trial fit and it luckily is exactly the same as the dummy tranny I used to build it. I was worried that there might be some minor differences, even though they are both turbo 350's.
One thing I was real interested in was how the detents inside the 350 would "click into gear" when I moved the shift handle. While there is a pretty good hold on the shifter when it is in one gear or another, I am still going to put an additional detent on the shifter itself. I think it needs to be a real positive click into each gear so it won't ever slip out of any gear. I still have to pick up some 1/4 inch rod ends to use to make up a permanent shift rod between the shifter handle and the transmission shift lever. (I just made up a quick one from some scrap steel to see how it would work. The throw through the entire range from park to low gear is just about right. I also ordered two special little nuts from Lokar that slip into the two depressions on either side of the trans to hold the shifter mount in place. I could have used 3/8 inch nuts, but the ones from Lokar hammer into place and lock down better.
Some minor tweaking , adding a neutral safety switch, and I will be done with that part of the build. I measured, and the shift handle is going to stick sort of high out of the cockpit, which is ok with me. I'll just look like one of Ed Roths cartoons when I am going down the road.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
you could use a ball bearing and load it with a spring and load the spring with a set screw if you want more presure is would be on the stick part of the shifter.you would mark out out trans detants on a half moon plate mark detants were they hit and drill and debur with a smaller hole then the size of the ball the half moon plate would be welded to the base
Pat, that is precisely what I came up with too. I went around work looking for a stray ball bearing today, and we keep tossing old stuff out, so I am going to the hardware store to see if they have one. Our Service Manager tells me they carry different ones (I can't imagine why a hardware store would carry them) but if not, I will just tear something apart that has some bearings in it and get one of those. I like your idea about loading it with a set screw to increase/decrease pressure. I will make up a tube to hold the bearing, spring, and set screw, and weld it to the bottom of the shift handle, so it rubs on the larger of the two brackets. Some little depressions drilled into the bracket for the ball bearing to rest in, and I should be good to go.
Thanks for the tip.
Don
yes a tube would work good i was going to post that :3dSMILE:
yes a tube would work good i was going to post that . or drill out some round stock and tap for the set screw or a block of steel would not have to be round and drill it on the set screw side for a small cotter key to keep it from dumping out if it backs out:eek:
Wow Denny, one of these would be perfect. Wonder how I can score just one of these? Do you think they sell retail and have no minimum, or is there another source that might be retail?
Would save me alot of figuring, and is all in one piece. Great idea. Thanks,
Don
enco ball plungers or short spring plungers #3/8 #505-4372 or standard spring plungers 3/8 #505-4256 or 240-0615
yes this is the way to go less work. did buy some of the bullets nose pins for a job
Yep, we have one called BOB DEAN SUPPLY. I'll phone them up tomorrow. I have to run by there anyway to pick up two small rod ends for the shift linkage, so maybe they carry these too.
Great suggestion, kind of an all in one part.
Don
the standard spring plungers is the one i would look for. you can move the load on the spring with a set screw
Don
If your hardware store dosen't have them thers a place in Chicago that does and you can order them over the phone
# 1-630-833-0300
McMaster-Carr Supply Co.
They sell them seperatly and under $3.00 each
Charlie, Denny, and Pat. You guys just saved me a whole lot of fabricating. Thank you. I called the McMaster Co, because everybody I called locally thought I was from Mars, and she knew right away what I wanted, I will have it Tuesday. I upgraded to the brass one for longevity,so it was $ 9.60, but still a bargain. They have no minimum either.
I owe you guys a beer.:3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: :3dSMILE:
Don
Just glad I could help
Charlie
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
I've found if I take my heart meds with a beer they work better.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Don
Sometimes its better to beg forgivness than ask permission.
To tell the truth I can't remember what beer tastes like I haven't had a drink since 85. Quit smoking same time. I guess if I look out in the shops I'll see where my money has been going.
Don---I thought that you new that spring loaded ball plungers were commercially available, or I would have mentioned it to you. I use them all the time in machinery I design, so ya know how it goes ---I have known about them for years, so I assume that everybody else does too. One word of advice----get one with a really strong spring. From the pivot point on your shifter to the detent ball is only about 1 1/2", yet the shifter lever will be about 18" long from the pivot point. That gives you a mechanical ratio of 12:1, so you should have no problem overcoming a really strong detent spring.---How are you going to design the lock-out gates???? The spring detent ball will hold the shifter in position for normal driving, but without a lock-out gate, the shifter will still move if it gets bumped with a knee, or under real hard acceleration. This could spell disaster. The Gennie shifter must be manually rocked to one side to disengage the lockout gates, thus require no push-button. The Lokar units have a sprag which is engaged with the lockout gates at all times unless you manually depress the shift button to allow a shift. (actually they have no lockout gates between drive, drive 1, and drive 2, which makes sense, but they don't have a lockout gate between drive and neutral either---as many street racers with blown-up engines can attest to).
Brian: No, this was the first I had ever seen these. I was going to build my own version of the same thing. I bumped up to a 3/8 diameter sized one, with 5-10 lbs of push on it. I have nothing to judge that by, but it seems a good starting pioint. Plus, combined with the internal one in the 350. it should be ok, I hope.
That's what is great about these forums, there is such a large pool of info and experience to draw from.
Don
Brian: No, this was the first I had ever seen these. I was going to build my own version of the same thing. I bumped up to a 3/8 diameter sized one, with 5-10 lbs of push on it. I have nothing to judge that by, but it seems a good starting point. Plus, combined with the internal one in the 350. it should be ok, I hope.
That's what is great about these forums, there is such a large pool of info and experience to draw from.
Don
Don,
could you post some good pics plz. im having a hard time tring to figure out how to lock into at least park and drive... the way i set mine up it changes gears very easy..
Thanks
Harmon
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHEVYBOY
Harmon: I am sharing that same concern you are mention, so I may actually add some sort of small, second lever at the bottom to act as a reverse/park lock out. I can just see me swatting a mosquito at 80mph and hitting the shifter instead.:eek: :eek: :eek:
I just want to be sure it isn't a pain to operate in daily driving. I will let you know how the detents work first, though.
Don
If you put down the beer...............that won't happen so much!:3dSMILE:Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoldyouso
Isn't that how you know something is about to happen to a redneck, when he says "here, hold my beer and watch this.":LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
Thats when you" wake up BaaBaa Cause he ain't gona beleave this":eek:
Alright guys---listen up. You've all seen the ball in the end of a Heim end (thats a sherical rod end to those who didn't know.) So---instead of a plain pivot bearing or bushing at the point where the shift lever pivots, use a "self aligning ball bushing"--thats another part that is commercially available, thru McMaster Carr.--What does that do???---Well, it lets the shift lever swing a bit from side to side, as well as back and forth.---Why would you want to do that???---Well, if you put a fairly stout compression spring over the bolt which goes thru the pivot center, between the side of the shift lever and one side of the housing that holds the bolt in place, it will crowd the shift lever pivot up tight against the other side of the housing. This will get rid of the side to side movement, UNLESS YOU DELIBERATELY PULL THE SHIFT LEVER TO ONE SIDE. Now, on the side of the shift lever opposite from the pivot, you have two things---one is the short lever that connects to the linkage which goes over to the side of your transmission. The other---(here's the trick part) is a lock-out pin. In this case the lock-out gate is simply a radial slot in a peice of metal plate attached to the part of your lever support bracketry that doesn't move. The pin attached to the short end of your shift lever is only long enough to engage the plate by about 1/8". Under normal conditions, you can not move the shift lever, because the movement of that pin is restricted by the length of the lock-out slot. (or lock-out hole). If momma or the kid, or your big old knee hits the shift lever by accident, nothings going to move. If, however, you want to shift gears, you grip the knob on the shift lever and push it sideways, just a tad. (opposite to the side that the lock-out pin is on.) Since the shift lever can rotate sideways against the spring, it will cause the side opposite from the pivot point to swing the other way, thus pulling the lock pin out of the gate---you shift to whatever gear you want it to be in, then release the shift lever, and if you've built the slots in the lock-out plate correctly, the lock-out pin will go back into a hole at that point, and the spring will return the shift lever to its normal position (not cocked sideways).
Or----(there's always an "or")---you can do it like Lokar does. There shifter will only move back and forth---no sideways movement at all. Instead of their lockout plate with slots being arranged to one side of the shift lever, it sets directly in line with the lever. There is a spring loaded sprag (which is just good old engineering talk for a peice of metal that engages the teeth on a gear to prevent it from rotating) fitted into the lower part of the Lokar lever. This "sprag" is kept in contact with the "teeth" on the lockout gate, so that the shift lever can not be moved. When you push down the button in the top of a Lokar shifter, this in turn pushes a flexible peice of cable, (Lokar shifters are actually hollow centered like a tube). The other end of this flexible cable retracts the sprag from contact with the teeth on the lockout plate, and allows the shifter to move.---Simple, Huh???