Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Great Thread Guys...I love to sit back and listen to you guys work through this stuff...it's awesome! Don, Good Luck with the build...I hope that it's a ton of fun for you. I know what you mean when you say the kids start parenting us...I used an innapropriate descriptive word the other day and my daughter said "Mom, you don't have to swear to make a point"...uh...yeah, I do

Speedway rocks ...............

And Hell Yeah Jerilynne, I agree descriptive adjectives are often required to get the young peoples' attention As if they don't use them outside of our ear shot ...............

Kitz

Speedway DOES rock. You know, some places may have slightly higher quality on some things, but generally, I feel they really give a decent product at a very fair price. And, their shipping is unreal. I ordered my stuff on Monday, Thursday the UPS guy drops it off. I've used them for years, and have very few complaints.


Went to the shop today, and got a little more done. The Speedway front spring came in, so I wanted to get the brackets made to hang them on the wishbones. I don't remember this being done in the '50's, but currently, it is popular to mount the spring perch right to the wishbone, suicide style. Some people drill a hole in the wishbone for the perch, some people weld a tube to the wishbone to mount the spring shackle from, but I chose to mount the perch to a 3/8 inch gusset that we are going to weld to the bottom of the wishbone.

By doing this, it will drop the front end even lower, and also will reinforce the wishbone, which was never actually intended to take this load. I am using a '37 wishbone, as it is heavier and longer than the ones from a Model A.

The first picture is of the front of the unmodified wishbone.

The second picture is a blue template I made out of poster board.

The third picture is of the gusset I cut out of 2 inch wide X 3/8 inch thick flat stock, and a piece of that metal before cutting.

The fourth picture shows one finished gusset in place, with the perch (the chrome piece) in place. I drilled some holes to add a little detail to the piece, rather than leaving it plain.

The fifth picture shows the same thing from a different angle.

And, the 6th picture shows the mocked up front end, with the new, wider spring I got from Speedway.

Didn't get a whole lot done today, it was 95 degrees in the shop, but at least now my Son can weld the gussets to the wishbones, and I can get the front suspension started.

We won't be using this frame, but it will work ok for the mock up, because the new one we build will pretty much have the same dimensions.


How are some of you others coming on your budget cars?? We'd love to see some shots of those too.


Don

Woops. You can only post 5 pictures on one try, so here is picture number 6.


Also, we have burned up every 1 inch hole saw we own, so I am going to pick up a couple so I can punch the front axle full of holes. Maybe like 6 or 7 per side.


Don

Coming along there Don, and I found a motor today for mine- a "rebuildable" 350 from a friends kid for 100.00 bucks, I'll pick it up tomorrow.
I got batteries for the camara- it's broke- won't work and after 45 min.'s trying to explain to the little lady that it won't work, along with multiple demonstrations, we dug out the old 35mm, and guess what....it needs batteries- only a different kind than the ones in the digital ( which are new).
So pic.'s are coming- I got a scanner.
I am down to the ripping it all out stage of mine- I have removed the interior, and floormats. The front pans are gone so I measured up and went to find one complete with tunnel (a deeper tunnel) that would mate up with the 50. Found one in a S-10 that will work. Got it for hauling it and the bed off. I will cut it out tomorrow from the S-10 and set it aside. I have to get the el-camino chassis over to the shop so that I can do all the final measurements so that I can get it cut and sectioned. After that I will decide on channeling the body down over the frame- or just leaving it set stock ride height. (you know I'm going to do it). The rocker boxes are rotted away on the 50 so I will have to crossbrace the inner cabin before I can try to move it because it might collaspe- THEN I have to fix the rotten bead around the rear section where the factory clipped it on to keep the roof on it when I raise it.
I just want to ready the frame first before I pull it completely apart so that I can double check myself on the frame fit for core support, and firewall position.
More tomorrow........

Total to date 750.00

Amazing the free stuff that you can get, if you just ask, sometimes. You may have scored pretty good. S10 beds are a little pricey sometimes. The guys who bag them are always looking for new beds. (not sure why, but they are)

Delivery's are great as drivers. Lots of room to carry stuff that us roadster guys only dream about.

Anxious to see your pix.


Don

Yeah, you KNOW you are going to channel it. Another nice thing is that SB Chevy parts to rebuild are cheap, compared to the Fords that I play around with.

OK-what a pain in the butt here's some pic.'s :

and more from the crypt.....

one more time....

Wow, what a great project, awesome! I agree that Speedway really Rocks!

Hey Jim, pick up a 128meg memory stick and you can use my old Sony digital camera for your pics so ya don't have to mess with the scanner.
Larry M.

Hey thanks Larry- but 1 broken camara is enough for me...LOL ! Besides it gives me good reason to go get another one with all the bells & whistles.

OK- Quick update : I am starting to wonder if I can pull this one off, building the car to a safe hot rod under 3k I can do, building the hot rod engine could blow the budget.
I did pick up a set of 4030 domes, and rods today for 50 bucks- puts the build at 800. I still have to get timing chain, rings, bearings x 3,re-work the heads (ouch), I swapped a bumpstick I had for a carb.- 750 double pumper, still need to find an intake for it, re-work the block, oil pump, fuel pump, filters, oil x 2....man- it's gonna be close.
I got the frame for the swap from a 78 'Camino, and it's a factory 4 link set-up (sweet) and I will pull it over to the shop Monday- I stripped it at the yard, I will post some more pic.'s soon.....

i believe you can do it hambiskit, but if you don't you can say you gave it it a good try.

i believe you can do it hambiskit, but if you don't you can say you gave it it a good try.


That is the important thing, that you are trying. I agree that if you start adding some nice speed and dress up stuff, it can ruin the budget, but you have to build a car that you are proud to drive too. Sounds like you are coming along great, though.

As for mine, well there isn't much to report progress-wise over the last couple of weeks. I am still going to do it, but my Son and I decided if we are going to get his '29 and my '39 to Daytona in November, we had better start moving faster.Plus, he was building a '29 Fordor for his rod, but found a very nice '29 Tudor body about 600 miles from here, so we drove up last weekend and picked it up. He is knee deep in stripping that one down to take to the dippers, and I think it gives him a better shot at being done by November.

Here is a picture of the new one he picked up. He always wanted a tudor, and is going to build a little modified out of the Fordor. But he is having a hard time making the decision to cut the fordor up, as he has hundreds of hours of work in it.

Good luck on your builds, keep the $ 3 K torch alive.


Don