Thread: I couldn't build it for $3 K either!

Tweet

Thought I would show a few pictures of the front spring mounts since all this was done before I started this thread.

The springs have 2 tie bolts that serve as locating dowels and keep them from slipping sideways in the mounts. The extra hole in the middle was where the original tie bolt was located. I use it now just to hold the springs under the frame during assembly.

I did make a small modification while I had it apart this time. The rear clamp bolts are probably the highest loaded pieces in the front end as they are in tension add carry the wieght of the car. This is aggrivated by the fact that the springs act like levers, increasing the load. The bolts are technically more than strong enough, but I thought a little added safety would be a good idea.

I tapped some 1/2' thick pieces for a 1/2" bolt. These were welded inside the frame at the rear of the spring mounts.

I added a small tab to the rear off the lower spring plate for this bolt. A spacer goes between the frame and lower plate. This allows the 1/2" bolt to be torqued properly and serve as an independent back-up to the other bolts.

I've been skipping around some lately. I have several small projects that need to be finished.

I sort of built built myself into a corner where an alternator is concerned. When I built the frame, I wanted the front crossmember back far enough that it wouldn't interfere with the radiator. I actually got it a little too far back. It doesn't effect the rad, but it kept me from using a low mounted full size alternator. I really wanted to keep the top of the engine clean.

I flirted with the idea of a top mounted generator for a while just for a nostalgic look, but wasn't too thrilled with that. The one I had on hand is only 30 amps as were most of the common units "back in the day"(40 amps was about max). Also, I've driven cars with generators and while they work OK, alternators will maintain much more constant voltage. I've also read that the constant arcing inside the old mechanical voltage regulators can sometimes play havoc with sensitive modern electronics.

The 30 amp limit was enough to make me want to go with something else. We have a local guy that is very good on repairing alternators and starters and I knew he had a bunch of old stuff, so I went to see him about finding a bigger generator. While I was there I spied several small Nippondenso alternators.

Now I'm certainly not the first person to "discover" mini alternators as they've been for sale for a long time. I looked at them in the catalogs, but I didn't actually know how small they are and I don't like the idea of not being able to find a replacement locally(or on the road) if one fails.

What I wound up with is a 50 amp unit from a 92 Suzuki Swift. This thing fit with room to spare where a small GM alternator would just barely squeeze in. I used a V-belt pulley from another Denso unit that went on a small tractor since the Suzuki unit had a flat belt. I had to modify the spacer under the pulley by thinning it up a little, but it works good now. If I need one on the road, I would need to find a way to swap pulleys on the replacement, but that would probably be quicker than waiting on a replacement from Summit(or someone else). A few seconds with an impact wrench and that's done.

The brackets worked out pretty good. I mocked the lower bracket up out of scrap before making a pattern for the flame cutter. The bracket is 5/8" thick mainly because I didn't have a piece of 1/2" big enough. The sleeve is 7/8" OD with a 5/16" hole.

Some nice tight clearances. Good mods to fit just right! With a just a little less room, it would be like some of the italian cars I worked on as a kid!

Originally Posted by stovens

With a just a little less room, it would be like some of the italian cars I worked on as a kid!

Those 1500 Goldwings have some pretty tight places too!

Thanks BTW!

Mike

Man, you do nice work! Also, that alternator & brackets is one neat setup! That bracket will never give up from vibration & fatigue and the simplicity is attractive. I'll bet you could sell a bunch of those right here...

Thanks guys.

Ya'll have done this so much more than I have. I'm flattered!

Mike

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

Those 1500 Goldwings have some pretty tight places too!

Thanks BTW!

Mike

I know, I fixed up a goldwing. The wiring harness in the fairing was a real challenge, let alone some of the other areas on the bike!

A quick note on the small ND alternator for those that don't have a buddy in the business, you can get one with a V belt pulley from Kubota, probably other similar tractors too. This has become a very common alternator on many rice rockets. I got one last year for my '33 on ebay, they're often listed as "mini-alternators".

Some very neat stuff there Mike. I love the way you did the brake switch, simple but pretty inventive.

Don

Thanks guys.

Bob is right. I think the pulley I used was from a Kubota. I saw ND alternators from tractors that were even smaller than the one I used. I was told they have one that uses permanent magnets on the rotor and is self-energizing like a motorcycle alternator. The amp rating goes way down on the smaller units though.

Mike

After seeing the nerf bars that JR and Don and his son built, I started thinking that one would look good on my car. So here's my take on 'em.

JR used pipe and a pipe bender and Don used solid rod and heat. I used a slightly different method to make mine. Actually, I used a little of both methods. I filled my pipe(1/2" Sch 40) with dry sand and used heat to roll it around a quickie jig tacked down to my welding table. I used a single long piece of pipe. This meant that I only had one butt joint to weld up and finish.

A word of warning is in order! This method can be VERY dangerous! If the sand has ANY moisture in it then steam will be generated when the heat is applied and the pipe can blow out causing SERIOUS burns! Don't use this method if you don't know exactly how it's done! Find someone who has done it and get them to show you how to do it safely. PLEASE!

Once you learn how, you'll find that you can bend tubing almost as well as a mandrel bender, though. The pipes on my jig are 4 1/2" OD(2 1/4" radius) and that's a pretty tight for a 180 degree bend in 1/2" pipe, but I've actually bent it even tighter with the heat and sand method.

I used 4 1/2" because that's the OD(more or less) of the 50 Pontiac taillights I wanted to use. My intention was to mount one in each end of the nerf, but I found that 2 in each end actually looked better(to me at least).

One thing that is wrong with these little T's is that there is just no room to carry anything! With 2 people on board, there is less room for cargo in my T than on my Goldwing motorcycle! If you run a small fuel tank, you might be able to squeeze a little freight in the bed, but not much.

I want to drive this car, at least to weekend shows and have been pondering this problem for a while. You can always pull a trailer, but I would hate to drag a trailer everywhere I went! That kind of defeats the purpose of having a little roadster.

What I'm going to try is a removable rack like the ones that are sold for SUV's. I'm going to either fab up a small one or cut a store bought one down to T size. All I really need is room for an overnight bag, a couple of collapsible chairs and maybe a small cooler.

I didn't want a trailer hitch sticking out all the time though.

My solution was to hide the reciever for the hitch behind the tag. If I get hassled by the cops about removing the tag, I can always add a reciever to the rear of the rack and just transfer it when the rack is in place.

I'm pretty sure I 've seen the tag mount trick somewhere before, so I sure ain't gonna take credit for it.

At any rate, if the rack idea doesn't work at least I have a trailer hitch.

The hitch reciever was cut down from a Harbor Freight drop hitch unit that I caught on sale. All the correct size tubing for the various parts came out of this hitch kit and it had the pin, too. It was all cheaper than I could have bought it all for.

Rightn now the hitch is just clamped on the frame. When I tear it all down for final paint, I'll bolt it in with crush sleeves in the frame.

Nice looking nerf bar! And I agree, it looks cool with dual lights.

As far as removing your plate; how about a flip-up (or down) arrangement of some sort. On my son's sedan, he used the license plate holder off of an old Nova to hide his gas filler. Your plate might not be visible with the trailer in place, but at least it would still be attached... Just a thought.

I, too, have been thinking about some sort of small "luggage rack" that I can attach/ detach on my turtle deck. There's an old saying: "great minds think alike!"

I'll keep an eye out for the flip down tag mount. I've probably walked past dozens of them at the old back woods junk yard I used to go to and never figured I'd need one.

Harbor Freight has an aluminum cargo rack that might be fairly easy to cut down. Should be light weight too.

Got the brake plumbing finished today. I'm getting down to the very last fab stuff. Feels good.

Mike

I definately like the double lights. It just fills the space nicely! Nice write up on the fabrication process too! I love this site for posts just like yours. Steve.