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

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Who needs money, I think eating regularly is highly overrated anyway. My ex-wife and I were talking the other day and she was saying she is hesitating to buy a new condo because she wants to save the money for the kids for when something happens to her. I told her I am leaving them my inheritance in steel and fiberglass. As usual, she didn't see the humor in that comment.

Don

I always worry over that! I have some nice old tools, a harley and now the truck, all of value to the right person. To the wrong person they equal junk , but to the affectionato their very valuable. So if I pass before her, they'll go to the highest bidder at a steal! She just doesn't see the value in these things!
Vice versa, if she goes first her ceramic figurines, knitting supplies, etc.. would be sold for a huge loss!
Our legacy lasts only as long as there is someone to appreciate it! Luckily for you Don, both of your boys will inherit your passion, good memories, and an automotive legacy( much more valuable than cash in my opinion!)

Time for another update and this time I have pictures!

I got the new rearend installed. The new setup doesn't look much different than the old one, but does have a few changes. I lowered the bag mounts an 1 1/2" and lowered the bar mounts by about the same amount.

The bag mounts were modified because I noticed that when the mounted hieght of the bags was increased the suspension seemed to be more compliant. With the old setup this raised the back of the car and screwed up the rake.

The bar mounts were lowered to level them up. The angle of the bars relative to the ground at ride height effects roll steer in the rearend. Keeping the bars level should give neutral roll steer. I added an extra set of holes for a little adjustability.

I added extra holes for the lower shock mounts. Since the shocks serve as the lower stops for the suspension(to keep the bags from over-extending) I wanted some adjustment.

I also got the driveshaft finished. All 12" of it.

I also fabbed a brace for the brake pedal. It probably didn't really need it, but it couldn't hurt and proved to be a good place to mount the brake light switch. The switch is activated by an arm on an adjustable sleeve. This allows me to adjust where the switch turns on.

Why would that be so important? This car is going to have cruise control. I have a hydraulic switch on my 46 and it takes a pretty good tap on the brakes to get the cruise to disengage. That may be OK on a heavy car. but I don't want to get that rough with the brakes on a light car like this. With this mechanical switch setup I can have the cruise drop out with just a tiny bump on the brake pedal.

BTW The pics were taken with the frame upside down.

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!