Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Very cool Itoldyouso, I love it. It will be going leaps and bounds now. Great progress so far.
I would agree with you that if a person avoided the bling and stayed simple with alot of good used parts, $3000.00 could be very realistic IMHO. Your car is looking great, and worth every penny too!

Hi Don, finally got a chance to catch up on some of my reading tonight, the car is coming along great.

I too think you could have done it at your $3K target and still have had a VERY presentable, safe, and neat car.

Looking over your pictures one thing that really hit home to me is that you need to be congratulated for building a very high quality car on a "rat rod" budget (if that offends anybody my apologies for being blunt). A LOT of the work and time has very obviously been spent paying attention to details and taking the extra TIME required to make the components look "finished".

The major point is all this time consuming, dirty, aggravating, even boring work only really takes the time and willingness to do, not actually a lot of dollars (heck even though nice big tools make it go easier and quicker to do the vast majority could have been done by anyone with the desire and much simpler hand tools).

As far as my budget 64 Ford, it's still back burner until late winter early spring, but it's a good chance to keep an eye out for a radiator, distributor and a couple of other little pieces I'll need to finish it.

Thanks brickman.....I'm starting to get excited now that it is starting to look more like a car. I figure if I can continue tack welding parts on I can keep making progress, and then have my Kid do the final welding some night.

I'm also starting to feel more comfortable with grinders and welders now that I am doing it on a regular basis. I had been away from this stuff for so long I was really rusty.

Don

Thanks to you too, Mike. I know what you mean about all the little bits and pieces you need for your car. Boy, these things are made up of a lot of parts, aren't they?

Good luck with yours.


Don

Don,looks real nice.Wish I could be working on mine,but someday I'll have these plans and materials list done so I can get a building permit,then all I have left is the building part.[trying to add a bathroom upstairs,a 10 x36 deck with a roof over it]Keep up the good work,Hank

Not a problem Don, you are a great inspiration for myself and I am sure others that don't do this on an everyday basis.

The car is looking good and is really coming along nicely. Still hoping to see it and you at the Turkey Run!



Bob

Thanks again guys for the nice words and encouragement. And yes Bob, I want to meet you in Daytona in November. I hope a lot of the folks from here are there. It would be nice to shake each of your hands and be able to put faces with the typed words.

Now I think I'll head to the local scrap yard to see what kind of steel plates they have today. Sometimes they have nothing good and other times I can find some nice steel plate sections to make brackets and stuff out of. The price is usually pennies on the dollar too. Then I am going to head to the shop and try to get the rear axle hung.

Talk to you later.


Don

Went to the scrap yard, and they had absolutely nothing worth buying. There must be a high price being paid for steel right now, because everything there was crushed and bundled . The one piece I managed to find was a 3/8 inch thick piece of large angle iron, and I will be able to cut several of the brackets I need out of it. At least it was cheap, $ 6.83 for a 25 lb piece.

My goal today was to get started on the rear axle assembly, and I actually got further than I thought. By the end of the day the rear perches were permanently welded on and the spring main leaf hung off of it. I am using Speedways rear spring perch kits that are designed for Fords from 1932 to something or other. They mount the spring behind the axle about 6 inches, and drop the spring down pretty low, compared to mounting it on top, like a Model A does.

The brackets were designed for a 3 inch diameter axle housing, but the S10 type I am using is only 2 and 5/8 inches, so I had to pie cut the perches to reshape the part that welds onto the axle housing. After I did this I rewelded the cut sections and ground them smooth. I then tack welded the perches to the axle, and just about then my Kid showed up and I conned him into welding them on for good. We made a jig to hold the rear axle and perches in alignment to minimize warpage, and he kept moving from side to side to keep the heat down. They turned out real strong, and when I put the Model A main leaf back on it everything lined up great.

Tomorrow I am going to hang the rear radius rods and then the rear will be up on wheels pretty much. I also ordered the front axle kingpins from Speedway, and they should be here early next week. Then I can hang the spindles and set this thing up on wheels for the first time.

Here are some pix of the rear perches before welding, after welding, and then after they were welded to the rear axle.


Don

Today I started to wrap up the rear suspension. The only things left are to mount the radius rods and shocks. Last night we found out we had a little problem. The front rod end on the radius rods wound up dead smack in the middle of the tube crossmember for the transmission. We had wanted to pass a 3/4 OD DOM tube through both sides of the frame side rail and weld it in place, but that was not going to happen with the crossmember sitting right there.

My Son and I sat down and thought about various ways to solve the problem, and after a few minutes he said "We're thinking exactly backwards on this. Why don't we just drill a hole dead center on the crossmember and put a grade 8 bolt (5/8 inch diameter) out through the hole. We can weld it on the inside and put a plate around it on the outside to spread the load."

It was the perfect solution, because now the radius rod mounts to the strongest part of the frame (right where the transmission mount is) and by reinforcing it with a piece of 3/8 thick flat stock it will be very strong. Luckily, we hadn't welded the transmission crossmember in yet. We are waiting to see if we need to rotate it up or down to get the engine angle at 3 degrees once the car is sitting on wheels.

So today I drilled a 5/8 hole in the side frame rail and removed the crossmember and slid the bolt from the inside out. I then made up a 2 inch x 6 inch flat piece of steel, 3/8 thick. I punched a 7/8 inch hole in the center so that we can run a bead all around the bolt. The plate will be fully welded around its circumferance, making the radius rod mount thick in that area.

The radius rods I am using are aftermarket ones I bought on Ebay about a year ago. They are PSI, I think, and chromed. That is my dilemma, they are so nicely chromed that I really don't want to sandblast them so I can paint them the same as the front set, and yet I don't want to chrome the front ones. I'll have to figure this one out. As for cost of the radius rods, I don't know what to claim for that. I waited up until 2:30 when these closed on Ebay one night, and won them and a whole bunch of other stuff the guy had for $ 200.00. I sold of the Vega steering box for $ 130.00, and used the Spal fan on my Jeep, and gave the chrome shocks to my Son for his '29, so I guess I have $ 70.00 in them.

I had to quit for today because I need to pick up some 3/8 steel plate to mount the rear of the radius rods to the axle. The piece I bought yesterday at the scrap yard just isn't going to work.

Here are a couple of pictures of the rear mounts I did today.

Thanks for looking.


Don

Finally got the bucket up on wheels tonight. Well, sort of, kind of up on wheels. I decided to pirate the front brake/ wheel assemblies of of my '27, since it hasn't moved in 6 years, and will probably not get redone for another 6. Plus, I installed brand new Cokers on the front just before the last trip I took it on, to Daytona, and there is no sense having these just sitting there, rotting away.

I pulled the kingpins and installed everything, the spindles, backing plates, Buick drums and wheels and tires. I turned them around from side to side, because I need the steering arms out in front to clear the wishbones and spring perch. I will dismantle them and move the parts back to the proper side when I paint the suspension parts.

Doing this moved the timetable, and my budget ahead a lot, and finally gives me a look at what the car should look like. The frame still will settle down another inch in the front, probably, but at least I can start checking final clearances.

Friday AM I am going to hit the metal supply house and buy some 3/8 plate to do the rear radius rod mounts, so hopefully the rear suspension will be all done by Sunday evening. Then I can order my front drag link and start building the mount for the steering box.

This thing might make it to Daytona yet!!


Here are the latest pictures.(Oh, I'll figure some way to factor in the freeby front brakes and tires to keep it honest)

Don

Don
I don't know much about these cars but since you put the wheels on it the engine seems high. Is that the look you were going for?? If you were to lower it (the engine) would you get more leg room?? No offence, Just asking as I have never built one of these and was thinking about doing one after my 53. Have you picked out the seats yet?

Originally Posted by cffisher

Don
I don't know much about these cars but since you put the wheels on it the engine seems high. Is that the look you were going for?? If you were to lower it (the engine) would you get more leg room?? No offence, Just asking as I have never built one of these and was thinking about doing one after my 53. Have you picked out the seats yet?

No offense taken. Yeah, it is a little high, and that is partially by design, and partially to get some oil pan clearance. The frame will end up being only about 5 inches off the ground, so the engine had to go high so the pan would not be hitting every speed bump I cross. And, I started to really like the (Oh-oh, here it comes, that dreaded R word ) lakes modifieds that some rat rodders are building. If you look at the picture below, that is what I was shooting for, except I just can't bring myself to brush paint it with Rustoleum red and splatter mud all over it.

As for seats, I am going to have the backrest built to conform to the curve of the rear part of the body, and have two small pads made up for either side of the driveshaft, to sit on. I want this thing in the weeds, and don't want to sit too high in the saddle myself.

I plan to run either 4 individual exhaust zoomie type pipes per side, or a megaphone/ limefire type with baffles in each one, so that should visually lower the engine somewhat. I admit it will not be your average T bucket, but I have one of those to build, I wanted this one to be a little cartoonish, like the picture below. (the babe is optional )

Thanks for asking.

Don

Is she the reason for the pad on the passenger side

An old man can only hope.

Don