Thread: The Roofus Special

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I stripped it down (body panels off and engine and trans removed) and rolled it on its side so I could weld up the bottom seams.




I love the fish shape that the body has



After I was done welding, I put the motor back.



I really need to figure out floor supports

Here is where I was on the front suspension. I-beam lower control arm parallel to the ground, transverse leaf spring just above that, and jag spindles.



The original plan when I started this build was somewhat parallel upper arm that attaches to the top of the frame rail.



I'm not really feeling it. It takes away from the swoop.

Attaching to the side of the frame helps a little.



The "way out there" alternative is the miller-ish, air-foil idea. Make a swoopy tube a-arm and shroud it in sheetmetal. The idea is to go under/around the frame rail with the upper arm. mounting point would be on the back side of the frame rail, up high. .....squint real hard and you might see it.

The mock-up pieces are just there to suggest ideas for the upper arms profile. Real arms will have triangulation.

The curved tube idea is based on this cars suspension. The air foil "axle" is really the upper control arm.





My version would be more of a "dropped axle" and would be made of steel instead of cast aluminum.

This car has the same style suspension on both ends (IFS, IRS and FWD in 1935!)

I started the morning by swapping in the new balljoints.





gotta cut the bolts down.



supporting the weight under the spindle shows what the extra leverage does to the spring rate. I gotta add some leaves back to the pack. The tire is going to be even farther outboard.



I shimmed the ride height back up and bolted the hub on to get a more realistic picture of the a-arm's environment

I was having a hard time explaining to dad what I wanted to do, so I broke out the posterboard. Think airplane wing as an upper a-arm.





it needs a ball joint pocket




slimmer pocket , more front to back shape

Scew it. I'l just use bailing wire!


I put the spring pack back to what I thought was stock only to find one more leaf afterwards (the one just above the clamps)


It did raise it up.


...still not sure what the upper arm is going to look like.

Thanks Ryan, I've learned something new today.


.

I worked on figuring out what it will take to get the upper a-arms attached to the frame.

I cut these from a piece of 2x4


so that I could do this


The idea is to mount the mercedes shafts on plates so that the arms can be bolted to the frame. The problem is that the frame is not square with the world...the rails are pinched.

The arms need to be mounted at an angle.


simple enough...in theory


now to make it pretty












make mirror image one too...
.

Next step will be to prep the front rails for the arms.

I'm seriously considering pulling the plug on this thing and using the jag parts on a model A coupe....

Hang in there it will come! Keep at it!

Glad to see an update, Flipper! I truly love seeing something coming together from cast away pieces & parts, and a little of the artist's eye influencing the process. Looking forward to more updates as you move forward on the build.

Well, I got a chance to go play this weekend.

I dug into a pile and pulled out some 1952 Mercedes front suspension pieces. They don't really work as is, but what else is new.



The cross shaft and spring bucket mount is what is interesting to me.










My a-arm kit...some assembly required.


Yes the wrench is part of the plan







Playing with parts














It should look something like this. ball joint bolts will be underneath




This is where I quit for the day.


Oh yeah, I might have also found the dash for the car. Honda lawn mower foot rests.



Driver side of dash


Passenger side

I realized I forgot to explain how cool the vintage mercedes pieces are and what the whole plan is... coppied from another board...

Originally Posted by dodgedartgt

Can you use those holes in the pivot shaft to mount the shaft like a GM part, so you can shim for caster / camber adjustments?

That is the beauty of using the Mercedes pieces. The pivot bushings are threaded in such a way that the arm can be moved front to back along the shaft.



The whole a-arm mount will be mounted on a plate that will bolt to the side of the frame and will be shimmable for camber changes.

I have a lot more welding and grinding to go to make it look presentable, but I think I finally found something that has that 30's high tech vibe that I was searching for....

Before I got too carried away, I decided to mark up the second batch of a-arm parts


I started on the angled piece this morning




figure out where to trim


trim


add some back?


transfer new cut lines


weld


grind


admire


grind some more (first arm)


grind some more (get rid of open end wrench shape...oh yeah, I welded on the corner pieces too)






start on the next one...

Flipper, do you really think a wrench is strong enough for an A-Arm, especially considering welding on it which is going to affect the hardness and strength?