Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Thanks guys.

Mike, he actually had a BMW 2002 steering box in the first two versions of the car, setup as cowl steering. What he didn't like about it was that it complicated the inside of the firewall where your feet go and took up some valuable space there. So this time he wants one that is outside the cab entirely. It did work well there though and was easy to mount.

Don likes his 2 x 4 setup, but hasn't gotten enough miles on the car for us to dial it in yet. (He just got a new forged steering arm to replace the broken one, and we are redoing his entire brake setup, so the car is semi torn down) His carbs are running very rich right now to the point of blackening the plugs. I ran the same setup on my '27 and it was just about right, so we just need to fiddle some more with them once we get it back on the road. He and I are getting together Thursday night to work on it and hopefully get it off of jackstands for a change.

Brad, steal away! I get some of my best ideas by stealing them from other people. It was actually not too bad to make. First we made a masonite template of the front and rear portions so that we could get a nice pleasing shape that would dip below the pan. Then we cut a front and back piece out of 3/16 steel. We cut most of it on the bandsaw and used a metal cutting blade on a jigsaw to cut where the bandsaw wouldn't reach.

After that we punched holes in it with various sized holesaws and clamped the front and rear pieces onto a 2 x 3 inch piece of box tubing. The box tubing kept the pieces in alignment and also kept them from warping from welding. Then he and I hand bent the top piece out of 3/16 x 3 inch flat stock so that it would make the top "cap" of the crossmember. He left it sit up a little so that when he welded it all up he would have lots of weld to grind down and make the rounded edges you see in the pictures. He then removed the box tubing and finished welding it all underneath.

Finally, he just happened to have a pair of Pete and Jakes radius rod mounts that were the perfect size widthwise to use for the motor mount portions. He bought some 442 Olds engine mounts that these go to. All he had to do was shorten the P and J mounts and weld them onto the crossmember. He still has to weld the crossmember to the car, but is going to do that when he finishes boxing the frame.

Here are some better shots that might explain it more.

Don