Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[stovens]

Looks good to me too!

[ScooterCO]

Sooo glad you are back on this!
Really looking forward to you driving this cool build.

[J. Robinson]

OK, the last thing I did was build the alternator mount. With that in place I was able to put a belt on it to run the water pump. Problem was, I hadn't been able to plumb the radiator hoses yet because (1) the radiator is inside the nose and the cap is inaccessable, so (2) the car needs a remote filler. As with everything else on this engine choice, there is no commercially available solution, so I had to fabricate something...

The solution became apparent while I was roaming my local salvage yard (the place where I get most of my parts). I found a nifty little bolt-on filler assembly on a Nissan 300-Z. All I needed to do was fabricate a means to utilize it. On the right front corner of the engine there was a factory loop for hoisting the engine. Most of us usually take these off and trash 'em to clean up the looks of our engines, but I'm glad I hadn't done so yet. I used the hoist loop to make the bracket for my auxilary fill tank. The tank itself I made from a 4 inch piece of 2" x 3" x 14 gauge tubing. I drilled the holes to mount the filler assembly, welded 1/4-20 nuts inside, and capped the ends with pieces of 1/16 x 2 flat stock.

[J. Robinson]

After building the tank, I cut the (hoist loop) bracket to fit and welded it in place. This actually took a few trial fits to get everything in place where I could still connect the hoses and also close the hood without interference. Once the tank was mounted, I made a trip to the local parts store to find a useable upper hose. I needed an "S" shape to snake the hose around and give it enough length that it could flex when the engine moves under acceleration. I've been in the local Advance Auto Parts enough that they now let me search out my own hoses. After about 45 minutes of picking through their inventory, I found what looked like a good candidate. I could now determine where I needed the hose connections. I cut some 1 inch black iron pipe to fit the appropriate angles, hole-sawed the openings in the tank, and welded the pipe/hose connections in place. All that was left was to paint the tank, bolt it on for the final time, and connect the hoses. I ran out of time today, but tomorrow I'll fill the system and put "fire in the hole" again.

Of course this dumb ass program uploaded the pictures out of order again:mad:, but you all can figure it out from the text...

[34_40]

Neat solution! Can't wait 'til your drivin' it!

[rspears]

Yep, that's a neat little tank! You're lucky to have a salvage yard that allows you to roam around looking at stuff. The only ones around here who do that are a couple of "pick'n pull" lots. All the bigger places have front counters and sell parts by year & model, just like the box stores...

A tip on the pictures - once you upload them hit the "Preview Post" button to see how they're arranged (they'll likely be backwards/out of order). Then it's pretty easy to highlight & drag or cut & paste them into the right places, and even add text between frames if that helps. Thanks for taking time to post them!!

[stovens]

Nice solution Jim. Looks cool too! Nice to see this one getting closer to the road!

[J. Robinson]

A tip on the pictures - once you upload them hit the "Preview Post" button to see how they're arranged (they'll likely be backwards/out of order). Then it's pretty easy to highlight & drag or cut & paste them into the right places, and even add text between frames if that helps. Thanks for taking time to post them!!

Thanks, Roger. I didn't know you could do that. I'll try it. I'm almost computer illiterate; it's a miracle I can resize the pictures!

[deckofficer]

Jim,

I've been enjoying watching the birth of another Track-T Roadster. I too have a soft spot for the pioneers who raced the T back in the 30's.

[J. Robinson]

Wow, Bob, that's a nice looking T. Can we see some more pictures? What's under the louvered hood?

[deckofficer]

Sure Jim, as I've enjoyed your build.

From this picture you will see I've "massaged" the aluminum panel a bit with the bulge to allow clearance for the engine's Ram Horn exhaust manifold.


In the beginning the transmission was a M21 Muncie 4 speed.


But that was when I was running a 355 sbc circle track race engine. Later I built a 383 sbc for torque down low in the rpm band, gave up 100 hp on the high end to have 516 lb/ft @ 2800 on the low end.

That amount of torque would have made the Muncie short lived, so swapped in a Tremec TKO 600 5 speed with 0.64 5th gear.

With the massive torque so low in the rpm band, was able to gear it really tall for cruising and good mpg. Broke 30 mpg on a couple of trips. This picture is up hill in 5th and about 1025 rpm.


As much as I enjoyed the grunt of the 383 over the 355, I missed the high rpm zing of the 355, so the next engine gave that back to me. You probably won't have to go to the extremes I've had to in keeping the engine cool with a radiator that fits inside our track noses, but mine is a 3 core and 2 core married to the same tanks and then a custom fabbed fan shroud to pull as much air as possible through it.

[J. Robinson]

What can I say? NICE, NICE, NICE!! I love track T's and what a nice specimen you have built! Those old Muncie 4-speeds used to hold up fairly well behind some pretty beefy big-blocks in cars a lot heavier than your T, but the 5-speed is a nice upgrade anyway.

If I am unhappy with my 4-banger when I get this thing on the road, it will get replaced with a small-block. Lack of extra $$$ now that I'm retired will keep it mild-mannered, though. That 427 small-block must be a handful when you stomp the "loud pedal". I like it; I wish I could see it in person...

[J. Robinson]

Good news; I finally had the roadster running long enough to get the thermostat open and get the coolant circulating. The engine seems to run good, no smoke, and no unwanted noises. The bad news is it won't idle. I have checked for vacuum leaks and played with the timing to no avail. Apparently the old junkyard carburetor has an internal problem and will need a rebuild (or replacement).

With the engine in running order, I have reached the point where I need to keep tabs on what's happening internally, so I need to get the gauges mounted and working. That means I need to fabricate the dash panel! I could build another wood masterpiece like I did for my coupe, but this track-T is supposed to replicate an old race car and back in the days of the "Roaring Roadsters" the interiors were very spartan. Often, the cars only had an oil pressure gauge and some had no gauges at all! As the roadsters evolved more and more toward sprint cars and the engines became more radical and expensive, gauges became necessary, so dash panels of some sort became common. Certainly, a dash panel would be utilitarian and therefore made of steel or aluminum. Since the beginning of this build I have intended to make the dash from aluminum and engine turn it to match the firewall.

I began by making a pattern from my good old standby template material, poster board. This Dave Koorey body has a dash in it that is pretty narrow (measured vertically), so there is limited space for fitting the gauges. The problem here is compounded by the under-dash support structure that I built to accomodate the cowl steering; everything has to be mounted to the right of the steering column. Therefore, the gauges have to be clustered near the center of the dash panel. After a lot of cut & try fitting, taping my mistakes back together, and cutting again, I finally arrived at a shape I like. The first pic is the finished pattern taped in place. Next is the pattern being transferred to the back of the .063" aluminum (You can see all the taped mistakes on the back of the pattern here). the last pic is the aluminum panel with the gauges fit into it. These are Dolphin gauges; black face with curved glass similar to old-time Stewart Warners.

[rspears]

Very cool, and the cut & tape is why poster board is such a great tool!! Looking forward to how you accomplish the engine turning, to keep everything aligned & symmetrical. Always been intrigued by that design.

[Dave Severson]

Looks great Jim, getting anxious for the road test on this one I'd bet??????