I could not sit idle, have a new project

[RockHillWill]

After completeing the Model a restoration, my wife said I could not retire and not have a project of some sort. She was right, and this is what I have started now.

I have seen some very nice examples of metal shaping, and this will be my first attempt at a 'real' project in that regard. It is going to be able to fit on a stock Model A frame with no welding. It is the plan to learn to gas weld aluminum (Henrob ?) and polish the body, with the current idea of using copper rivets to fasten the aluminum panels to the steel substructure.

I wanted to build a speedster, but the width of a standard Model A was not appealing, so I made some layouts in SolidWorks and this is what I am going to start with. It was a little hard to get the dimensions so that both driver and passenger would fit in the standard wheel base, but this is what I have come up with.

I had to do some additional work to get the driver to be able to steer from the center of the chassis, so I devised the double rows of RC40 chain to offset the steering shafts. I have adjusted the sprockets so that the chain links are 'half-lapped' with each other, and there seems to be NO discernable backlash in this design.

The modifications to the steering and the pedal arraingements are preliminary designs, as it is my intention to attempt to build an aluminum body, not so much an entire car. At this juncture, I plan to use 3003H14 for the skin, a Henrob torch (I have a gas setup as well). I have not decided on the filler metal rod at this point in time. I want to use semi-tubular rivits to attach the body to the sub structure.

BodySweep2.jpg

3wc22 001.jpg

3wc22 002.jpg

3wc22 003.jpg

3wc22 004.jpg

3wc22 005.jpg

3wc22 009.jpg

[blgitn]

That's a cool project; kind of like a fighter plane! It will be fun watching as you progress. Thanks!

R/ Roger.

[Jim Parker Toronto]

Wow, very interesting concept! Good luck and keep us informed please.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Bring it with you when we all go to Huntsville so we can help make scrap metal with you!!

.

[flexiheep]

Cool looking project, I been working on a speedster design in my head for years, neat to see the two person seating. Keep us updated, or let us know where the updates are.

My newest mental plan is working out a 4 seat speedster so the 2 kids can go along too.....

[2manycars]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

How about one of these for your offset steering?
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steer-...nish,6254.html

[RockHillWill]

2Many: At $700, that is why I didn't use that device. So far, I have $26 in the setup shown. Wife seems to be tracking the costs on this project for some reason. I got away with it on the Panel Delivery, LOL

Vince: LMAO!

[flexiheep]

Originally Posted by fordgarage

They call it a Phaeton!

But...but.....but that would be easy and make sense.......

[RockHillWill]

Hey, 'Flexi' I too thought of several ways to do what you described, and that was what was so funny to me. I was thinking of different ways to make a four seat speedster as well, so when Vince said 'Phaeton', I fell on my butt laughing at how easy it was for me to veer off with my imagination.

If you proceed to build something like that, I will be happy to help or share experiences with you.

[Jim Huseby]

There was a favorite book of mine and my children in the middle 70's called "Cars and Trucks and Thing that Go" by Richard Scary. He had a tasteful and unbridled imagination for fantasy cars and classic cars. One of them was the tandem "two-seater pencil car". I need to find that book again and possibly adopt (steal) one or two his ideas. www.olympic-speedsters.com

[1931 flamingo]

I remember reading richard scary's books to both kids.
Paul in CT

[RockHillWill]

Jim, thanks for the link. I had seen it before, but had lost the 'address'.

Thank you!

[flexiheep]

Originally Posted by 1931 flamingo

I remember reading richard scary's books to both kids.
Paul in CT

I can probably date myself by saying I spent hours as a kids with his books, and now am reading them to my kids..... Definitely an imagination to come up with all that he did.

[flexiheep]

Originally Posted by RockHillWill

Hey, 'Flexi' I too thought of several ways to do what you described, and that was what was so funny to me. I was thinking of different ways to make a four seat speedster as well, so when Vince said 'Phaeton', I fell on my butt laughing at how easy it was for me to veer off with my imagination.

If you proceed to build something like that, I will be happy to help or share experiences with you.

I'll keep you in mind when I start working on it, sadly I have to finish up a Jeep project and then repair my coupe after it was hit by a drunk driver and put on it's side. Will be a while until I get to the Speedster project. I am thinking more of a boat tail look, almost a 30's indy car type thing over a Phaeton. But we shall see what happens in the future.

[RockHillWill]

I have made a prelimanary layout for the wooden buck to make the grille shell.

RadShellR.jpg

NoseBuck.jpg

[Wick]

Will,nice work..some real good ideas I see. Look forward to seeing you at Hershey in 8 weeks and hear more about your Speedster.
Wick

[Hunter]

Hi Will,

I think you should change your name from RockHillWill to RockHillOverAchiever!! You never cease to maze me - Hunter

[RockHillWill]

Hey Hunter:

I don't feel like an over achiever, only that I get bored quickly, LOL.

Here is the finished nose buck. I sent .dxf files to the waterjet guy today.

NoseBuck2.jpg

[Jack '29 Sport Coupe]

In your first sentence you indicated that your wife stated that you needed a project. What I want to know is where in the heck did you find her!!!! I want a wife like that.
Most wives that I know would hand you a "honey do" list and THAT would be your new project. She's a keeper!

Jack

[RockHillWill]

I think it works like this, here at my house.

The first thing on the wife's honey do list is 'stay out of the house', LOL

Anything else around the house she will let me do in the order that I want.

Truth be known, I have a terrific wife. She is my best friend, will help in the shop if I need her. She does most of the sandblasting around here and some of the painting as well as some diss-assembly work and the sorting of bolts and hardware.

If I am short a few bucks, she will even 'kick in' on occassion, and has always been my greatest supporter and puts up with all my 'lists' and 'proceedure sheets', etc. We need to work on her sense of humor a little, though, LOL

[Ray in La Mesa]

I've got a great Model A wife too!! We met in the local club. She still has her first car, a "31 coupe, bought with baby sitting money in high school. I'm the "fleet' mechanic for her two A's and my two A's plus "her" '68 Roadrunner, my '70 VW van. I help her with her other hobbies and she helps me with mine, when we're not doing "A" stuff together. LIFE IS GREAT!

[RockHillWill]

Just a minor update.

I have finished the layout for the buck to make the rear deck for this thing. Drawings will go to the water jet guy in the morning, I hope.

TailSkin.jpg

TailBuck.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Here is a few pics of current progress.
I am trying to bet some of the work done on this project before Ethan goes back to school. I try to work most of the day, as I got way behind with the Panel project, but late in the afternoon, we have been working on the speedster.

We have the steel vertical water jetted pieces installed and today we welded up the removeable horizontal supports.

The wood came back from the water jet guy this afternoon and we got the front radiator shroud buck assembled. It took both of us a total of 4 minutes to screw the pieces together. I love that water jet! The wood was .573 to .577" thick and I made the intersecting slots at .580" wide. They all slid together, and were screwed in place with no glue required, and it is removeable for changes if needed.

The rear tail section lower metal form needs to be changed to more closely match the shape of the wooden buck. It's contour was developed from the SolidWorks program, and I did a poor job of estimating the contour.

At this point, I expect to make all the panels below the horizontal supports to be bolted to the frame structure and most of the panels above the horizontal supports will be removeable with 'Dzus' fasteners that I had left over from working at Indy a number of years ago. I should have enough for this project.

This design is admittedly quite simple, but it is my first attempt at an entire project that is from scratch, as opposed to doing repair and restoration work that I have been accustomed to. I have not worked with aluminum body panels before and that is the primary reason for this first effort.


3wc27 004.jpg

3wc27 005.jpg

3wc27 007.jpg

3wc27 012.jpg

3wc27 015.jpg

[Bick in New Zealand]

Will, I am not familiar with 'water jetting' is it some sort of cutting device?

[RockHillWill]

Good evening Bick.

It is like a tracer torch or an fast oxy-acetylene torch.

It is a VERY high pressure water flow thu a small nozzle and is accompanied by fine grains of sand and / or other material / abrasive. The thing that I like the most about it is the fact that it has a very narrow 'curf' angle that can result a very small differance in tolerance from the top of a part to the bottom. It is not so important for sheet metal parts, but for thicker parts this can be quite an advantage.

The convenient thing for me is that I really like to make drawings and once a drawing is made in a CAD type program, the drawing can be saved as a .dxf (or similar) file extension and emailed to the water jet 'guy' and he can put that file directly into the water jet software program, and it will 'spit out' a part very quickly.

The water jet can cut out many different types of material with VERY close accuracy, and there is MINIMAL rework or modifications to do once the part has been cut. I was able to get the holes for the wood screws water jetted in place, c so that all we had to do was countersink for the wood screw and fasten them in place.

[JeffM]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Wow, great project. Im keen to do an A Speedster someday, and your "inline" style is a different approach. I like it, and look forward to watching your build.
Ive also been keen on the water jet for making parts, but not sure if anyone down here has one. Ive seen them on some of those silly car and bike building shows, with impressive results.

[RockHillWill]

We got the rear buck pieces together and used the base of it to fit the rear frame structure components. We could form the bottom 'rails' around the outer edge of the wood because the aluminum panel with have a step/character line when it gets to that point, but the upper structure will have to match the contour of the wood, so it was fitted below the wood panel so that it will have the same shape.

This buck was a little more involved with the offset joints, so it took longer to assemble than the front. This rear buck took Ethan and I a little more than 20 minutes to assemble, including the wood screws. These pieces fit so closely that glue is not needed. The tapering of the edges, etc, is going to take some additional time to do. I can see that coming.

This is my first attempt at building bucks, (other than the Model A fenderwell) so am still learning 'stuff'. The lateral metal supports hold the contours untill the panels are in place.

The aluminum 'firewall' was also cut on the waterjet. We added a 'joggle' around the perimeter and cut the hole for the steering column and used the Rotex punch to put holes around the edges.

3wc28 002.jpg

3wc29 003.jpg

3wc29 006.jpg

3wc29 007.jpg

3wc29 010.jpg

3wc30 002.jpg

3wc30 004.jpg

[takomaned]

I got home from work yesterday and found a note on the fridge from my wife. She wrote "This is not working. I'll be staying at my Mom"s." I opened the door and the light came on. The beer was cold. I'm not sure what she's talking about. Anybody have any ideas?

[Kohnke Rebabbitting]

Originally Posted by takomaned

I got home from work yesterday and found a note on the fridge from my wife. She wrote "This is not working. I'll be staying at my Mom"s." I opened the door and the light came on. The beer was cold. I'm not sure what she's talking about. Anybody have any ideas?

Check your instruction Book that came with Her!

[James Rogers]

Will, I went and did some bench racing with a fellow you might know from days gone by. I stopped in at Precision Performance Products Company (PPPC) in Arden,NC just up from Banjo's old shop. Figure it out? Leo Jackson. Nice guy, just like all the NASCAR people I have ever met.

[RockHillWill]

Leo and his brother Richard always had nice 'stuff', fast motors and clean equipment. I bought things from them on occassion. My memories are that they were both great guys.

[RockHillWill]

Weekend work on speedster went well. The wife and a friend from Charlotte came down and we spent some time in the shop working on the firewall and the headlight buckets.

The headlights and assorted exterior items are scheduled to be copper plated. Currently looking for period tail lights that will be stand alone mounted at rear of frame rails. Probably will make the grill front guard copper plated as well.

Firewall was cut at the water jet guys place, pe-fit to the firewall bulkhead, beads were run with Stan Fulton made dies and installed with the help of the talented wife, with #10 cad plated carriage type bolts that look like rivets. Rivets were scuttled when I realized how many times I may have to remove to re-fit the panels.


3wc29 017.jpg

3wc32 002.jpg

3wc32 003.jpg

3wc32 004.jpg

3wc32 005.jpg

3wc32 009.jpg

[msmaron]

totally fascinating

[RockHillWill]

I have just gotten the wood pieces for the gas tank buck back from the waterjet guy and have started on building the gas tank. It will be made from .100 #3003H14 aluminum. Probably welded with #1100 filler rod.

This buck is much simpler than the other two that I just finished for the nose and the tail. I am making the tank in two external pieces and four internal pieces (baffles). The outside will be made of the front, bottom and rear in one "U" shaped piece and the LS, top and RS piece also in a "U" shape, but turned 90 degrees to the other. I have radiused the edges of the buck at the welding 'seam' so that the seam joints will be butt welded rather that corner welded.

The inside has inter-locking baffles with pass-thru holes at the bottom for levelizing the gas content. The filler nozzle and the gas gauge will go in the center forward 'cubicle', and the gas will exit the tank at the right front corner thru a large OD aluminum welding bung with 3/8" NPT threads.

The tank is mounted at the rear of the car just under the rear body panel, and the gas will be gravity fed just like the original Model A setup, with the fuel line going to the front firewall, then to the sediment bowl and then to the two updraft carburetors.


3wc39 001.jpg

3wc38 007.jpg

3wc40 001.jpg

3wc40 002.jpg

3wc40 006.jpg

3wc40 009.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Been away at a metal shaping gathering and got some work done on the aluminum body work. These are some picture of the progress on the upper tail section panel. It still needs to be welded together and then have the finish work done. Been busy getting ready for Hershey

3wc42 004.jpg

3wc42 030.jpg

3wc42 032.jpg

3wc42 035.jpg

3wc42 036.jpg

3wc42 037.jpg

3wc42 049.jpg.

[RockHillWill]

Additional pics of work done on nose buck panels.

OOPS!, forgot to attach pictures,

[RockHillWill]

Here are pics on nose panels.

[RockHillWill]

Maybe, this time.

First picture is of an Eckhold Piccolo machine that was used to 'tip' shrink the corners inward onto themselves.

No slip rolls were available, so I inserted a go-cart tire into the upper holder of a smaller english wheel and rolled the sides and corners with it, then smoothed the curves in a larger, more rigid english wheel.

As with the rear body panels, the parts still have to be welded together and metal finished.

3wc42 017.jpg

3wc42 041.jpg

3wc42 042.jpg

3wc42 044.jpg

3wc42 045.jpg

3wc42 046.jpg

3wc42 047.jpg

[Pickupman]

Looking Good Will!

[Bick in New Zealand]

Fantastic work Will, keep'm coming, it is great to see the progress you are making.

[RockHillWill]

I have been doing some more work on the outer body panels and and have installed some of the floor pans, but in looking at the metal shaping that will bve required for the front and rear body sections, I felt that I needed to have a post shrinker for getting into the corners of the panels, so I have been working on this design for making a machine to use the smaller 40mm Eckold shrinking die sets.

I intend to waterjet the side panels, get a motor from a scrap yard (that I found this afternoon, with just the right gearbox), a few bearings around the shop and a couple of pulleys brings me to this drawing that I have been working on the two days.

Initial layout results in 94 strokes per minute, initial 3/16" die opening and an adjustable down feed handle. The handle is pushed up at the rear by a hardened 4140 'cam' with a 5/8" offset making an 1-1/4" stroke at the rear. The bottom of the arm is fitted with a 1/4" thick replaceable brass gib plate. The front die holder is made so that you can use either 40mm or the larger Eckold dies as well as the Marchant dies. The adaptors shown are identicle to the ones I made for my marchant to use the smaller Eckold 40mm dies.

I am gaining in enthusiasm for being able to shrink in a small area, and was unhappy with the wider Marchant shrinking dies, as well as the wide areas at the dies, so I put in a taller pedestal.

I got way behind working on the Model A Panel truck, so work on this machine may be quite slow, but I hope to complete it in the next few months, money and time permitting.


PowShrinkAssy1.jpg

PowShrinkAssy2.jpg

PowShrinkAssy3.jpg

PowShrinkAssy5.jpg

PowShrinkAssy6.jpg

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

The next time we talk we can go into details on this machine but isn't this basically an "electric-powered" kick shrinker?

[RockHillWill]

Yes, that is the intent. I used the kick shrinker and stretcher at Kerry Dixieland meet and that's what prompted the thinking, as opposed to making an Eckold style machine with the flywheel machine.

[kenparker]

I luv du enginenewity of the speedster builders. ken

[PeteVS]

I'd like to recommend a solid spacer between the two halves of the steering columns. Probably something with a turnbuckle device to set the chain tension. Otherwise, tension on the chain when you steer will pull the two shafts together making a mess?

[RockHillWill]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

We have been making some small progress between customer work and machine building. Ethan is here and that makes a lot of things go faster. We have been adding the body mounting flanges to the edges of the bulkheads, drilling the panel mounting holes and finishing the .100" 3003 aluminum floor pans and firewall and practicing our bead forming and aluminum TIG welding. Getting started on the intake runners and the exhaust system.

Can't put it off much longer, will have to learn gas welding aluminum at some point to get the .060" body panels in shape to be mounted. Not many panels will require welding (on purpose, LOL). Primarily the panel just in front of the steering wheel, and the nose and tail sections.

3wc44 014.jpg

3wc57 008.jpg

3wc59 007.jpg

3wc68 003.jpg

3wc69 001.jpg

3wc71 008.jpg

3wc71 012.jpg


Here is a link to a few more pictures of the speedster:

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/Projects/Projects2.html

Click on either of the top two pictures at either side of the page.

[RockHillWill]

Been working sparsely lately, but have made some progress.

Have mad a wooden buck for the cowl section, made both lower rear quarter panels and making a tool to insert some custom louvers for the rear and the hood sides.

3wc80 011.jpg

3wc81 026.jpg

3wc81 031.jpg

3wc82 012.jpg

3wc82 016.jpg

3wc82 017.jpg

3wc82 024.jpg

3wc82 030.jpg

3wc84 004.jpg

3wc84 007.jpg

More details and pictures on website:

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/Projects/Projects2.html

click on either of the top two photo's.

[RockHillWill]

I spent 12 days last month at two metal shaping event, one in Huntsville, Alabama and one in southeast Minnesota. In Alabama I finally got all the panels to fit each other and TIG tack welded them together on the bucks that I had previously made. These pictures are an update on the progress on the cowl panel, the nose section and grill and the tail section.

The first pics show how the 'fixture' was made to put the 4" wide character line down the center. This character line will go from around the radiator cap, back over the entire length of the car to back around the gas filler neck.


These pictures are showing work done to tack weld the nose and tail section panels.

SANY0037.jpg

SANY0039.jpg

SANY0043.jpg

SANY0044.jpg

SANY0047.jpg

SANY0051.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Not smart enough to edit to add pictures on original post, so here are more pictures

kerry 045.jpg

SANY0011.jpg

SANY0012.jpg

SANY0024.jpg

SANY0025.jpg

SANY0026.jpg

SANY0028.jpg

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Do you suppose that you're working on a Land Speed Record car too is interfering with the completion of this speedster any??

BTW, your pix look great!!

[RockHillWill]

Brent, while I remain active in the land speed record body build, we both have been taking a step back to learn the nuances of gas welding aluminum panels. My speedster project has given me great impetus in accelerating my own learning curve in that area.

I have ordered a Meco Midget torch from the 'tinman' along with the smaller hoses to go with the small two stage regulators that I already have. While in Huntsville, I had an opportunity to use this setup and actually ran several 12" long beads with them and it gave me some additional confidence. After welding these panels, I hammered a 3/4" 'bump' in BOTH directions, I repeatedly ran them thru the planishing hammer and the English wheel and found NO cranks or any form of inclusions, giving me greater confidence in the ability to make aluminum panels for competitive and vibratory environments.

[RockHillWill]

Here are a few more pics as I have been fitting a few pieces to the chassis. I have also updated the website that has a lot more pictures of what is being done. here is a link.

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/Projec...dsterHome.html

SANY0004.jpg

d.jpg

e.jpg

T10.jpg

[old1928fordguy]

Hi Will, Here is some shots of one we had here at Berts,Thought this might be of interest to you. Pretty cool car,Enjoy Phil, Berts Model Anew speedster 021.jpg

new speedster 011.jpg

new speedster 019.jpg

new speedster 017.jpg

new speedster 014.jpg

new speedster 016.jpg

[old1928fordguy]

Here are a few more shots during mock up and build , Phil

[RockHillWill]

Hey Phil, thanks for the pictures and it's great to hear from you again.

Was this done at your guys shop? Local? Was there a place for the spare tire?

This builder sure did a nice job with the metal finishing. I hope mine turns out that nice when I am done. Gas welding the aluminum panels is my next 'concern' and I am getting close.

Thanks or the pictures. I saved them all.

[RockHillWill]

Have made substantial progress on gas welding the aluminum panels. They have been welded, dressed to shape and awaiting final fitting.

140622 018m.jpg

willy 003.jpg

willy 019.jpg

[Mitch//pa]

Will,
do you still have your website for things that you sell.
i misplaced the link
thanks

[RockHillWill]

Mitch, I do still have the website. I have been updating it recently as well. Thanks for asking.

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/Projects/Projects2.html

Click along the blue line at the top with what your interests are.

I have been sidetracked lately by some non-Model A vintage cars. I have been fortunate to acquire some restoration work on a 1929 Rolls Royce boat tail speedster and a 1935 Bugatti Stelvio by Gangloff. This week I will be traveling to do some 3D scanning of the '35 Bugatti in an attempt to make some wooden 'egg crate' bucks for making the fenders.

[Mitch//pa]

thanks much

[C26Pinelake]

Sounds like you are truly blessed with great talent and a tremendous wife ! Keep posting the pictures to let us enjoy your progress !
Wayne

[robert shreveport]

RockHillWill how do I see your pictures on Vbulletin.

[Mitch//pa]

yea the pics dont show up on an IPAD

[Purdy Swoft]

Thats a cool new avatar.

[Super88]

Interesting project and great wife!

[RockHillWill]

I don't know enough about computers to answer the questions regarding not being able to see them on an Ipad or on Vbullitin. I have always been able to see other pics on my computer.

Is the problem of not being able to see here on the Fordbarn or on my website?

[robert shreveport]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I can see anything here on Fordbarn since I am signed in. But no pictures you have on Vbulletin. Do I have to sign up somewhere for this?

[RockHillWill]

I do not know what the 'Vbulletin' is??? Are you talking about pictures here on the Fordbarn, or those on my website?

Often, here on the Fordbarn, when I click on a picture to see it larger, the black 'box' will not open to the larger picture unless I click again on the black 'box'.

[Jerry in Shasta]

Did you ever consider putting a older (no computer) Perkins diesel with transmission? Maybe one out of a London Taxi. The torque curve, rpm's and HP is about right for an "A"

Just a thought
JB

[RockHillWill]

I want to stay with a Model A motor as I had one that I could use for it. I did, along with Ralph Moody (of Holman-Moody) put a Perkins motor in a lightened Pinto and witnessed a test drive where we got 83 miles per gallon. It was subsequently bought by a large American Oil company and soon 'disappeared.'

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

yea the pics dont show up on an IPAD

They do on mine. I wonder if we are speaking about two different things?

Will, are y'all still over digitizing that RR body -or are y'all finished now?

[Mitch//pa]

brent i was logged in
clicked the pic link then logged in again and now they show

excellent work Will you have a talent that not many have
your a rare bird
what a beautiful speedster thanks for the pics

[RockHillWill]

Mitch, Glad you got it to work, I am not much good at computer 'issues'.

Brent: I just got back last night. The car we were 3D scanning is a 1935 Bugatti Type57, Serial#57314. The 3D scanning is a labor intensive job to prepare, more than the actual scanning and uses a HUGE amount of both RAM and hard drive. I just bought a new laptop to get the 16 GIG and 500 GIG hard drive to be able to work with the file size needed. We got separate scans of the fenders, grille and a few minor body panels that were easily captured and saved, but the full body scan (one side only) just about maxed out the computers speed and storage ability.

WillDans 013sm.jpg

SANY0071sm.jpg

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by RockHillWill

Mitch, Glad you got it to work, I am not much good at computer 'issues'.

Brent: I just got back last night. The car we were 3D scanning is a 1935 Bugatti Type57, Serial#57314. The 3D scanning is a labor intensive job to prepare, more than the actual scanning and uses a HUGE amount of both RAM and hard drive. I just bought a new laptop to get the 16 GIG and 500 GIG hard drive to be able to work with the file size needed. We got separate scans of the fenders, grille and a few minor body panels that were easily captured and saved, but the full body scan (one side only) just about maxed out the computers speed and storage ability.

You know, when you restored the pick-up and the panel, your education and winning Henry Awards on those two earned you the equivalent of a High School education, ....HOWEVER you are about to skip the Bachelors degree portion of college because you are now are working on obtaining your Masters degree with that car! Few people in this world have earned the right to even touch such a piece of art, whereas you have earned the right to be the Artist on such a project. Well done, Sir!!

[Hunter]

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting Will at his shop. Through his ingenuity and determination he has assembled/fabricated an amazing set of metal shaping/forming tools.

He also took a little time and shared with me some of his life stories through pictures, trophies, and old newspaper articles.

When I first met Will a number of years ago at Hershey and listened to him, I have got to confess that I thought no person could have done all the things he said he has done over the years - NASCAR, movie making, knowing Bert Reynolds, building race cars for a movie, owning a stock car that Dale Earnhardt Senior drove, etc. Yet what you find when you get to know him is that he tends to substantially understate his achievements. My son and I attended a stock race driver's reunion near Chapel Hill a few years ago and as we walked around everyone knew Will and his contributions to the sport of racing.

He has truly led an exceptional life and is skilled beyond imagination. Thanks Will for the tour and the fabulous NC ribs that Peggy was so gracious to provide. At your suggestion my son and I visited and had a great time at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Thanks again Will!

Hunter

[RockHillWill]

I appreciate the kind words, guys, thanks.

Here are some updates on the exhaust system. We got the individual tubes cut and fit, then mated them to the tapered collector, and tack welded in place, pending the completion of the carburetor intake manifolds.

ExhaustAssy.jpg

willy1 027.jpg

willy1 029.jpg

willy1 033.jpg

willy1 035.jpg

willy1 040.jpg

willy1 042.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Been working most recently on the cockpit panels that go around the driver and passenger. I had the opening contour cut in a 'stitch' pattern on the water jet to maintain the panels 'alignment' while I was doing the shaping to fit the bulkhead contours. It is my intention to fit the panels to the bulkheads, then form a wire edge configuration, install a #9 gage wire, shape it to the contour and then rivet it around the openings. Then to cut out the 'stitched' area and hand form the opening edge around the wire edged forms giving me a 5-layer of materials to maintain the opening configuration and provide strength for getting in and out of the speedster. Some of the pictures show the SoldiWorks drawing of the closing die before the stems are welded and the side cut away. There is a 6" wide Pullmax die that results in a 'P' shaped section of metal. The lead in and exit ends of the 4 ft. long segments are poorly done in the die and will have to be cut off. I pre-formed a 135 degree edge on the panel to put the 'P' contour in because it was too small in width to maintain straightness and the formed edge made it MUCH easier to feed straight and push thru the die. Once the edging has been done, I will fit the ends of the panel to the bulkhead and then trim and install a joggled edge to make allowance for panel overlaps at each end. The panel rolls were done with the rubber tire in an old nglish wheel frame.

3wc110 057.jpg

BodyRingDie.jpg

cockpit1 002.jpg

cockpit1 003.jpg

SeatRing.jpg

ebayjuly14 001.jpg

cockpit1 005.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Been making more progress on the tooling that I am expecting to use to put more character lines in the speedster panels. These are some layout pictures that I have been making to be able to use a bead roller in the hand held position to be able to use on panels that are still attached to the car. It is similar to a tool that I saw in a Cass Nawrocki book. It's nothing more than a set of bead rolls powered by a 3/8" drive air ratchet

Pic1.JPG

Pic2.JPG

Pic3.JPG

Pic6.JPG

[RockHillWill]

I still have too many projects, but am whittling them down, so I can have more time to spend on Belfast, Tenn. project(s), but this weekend got some progress made on the Model A speedster. I got the rebuilt engine on the test run-in stand, the frame has been sandblasted and painted and I got some work done on the insert panel for the nose grill. I am aware that the colors for both the frame and the motor are not original Model A colors, but I have decided to paint these car items to match my old race car colors. Of particular interest to me this weekend was how nice the stretching dies work in my Carl Adams table top reciprocating machine works. Carl designed this machine in the mid '70's and has developed it as he was building MANY aluminum bodied sprint cars through the years. It has shrinking, stretching, doming dies and he has made some Pullmax style die sets over the years for his own use. Carl is a very quiet man, and you would never figure that he knows as much about metal shaping as he does. He wondered around in the background of the Redneck Roundup. The exposed edges of the stretched 'lips' in these photos shows that there is MINIMAL markings on the side of the lip that is facing the upper side of the lower die. I found it very nice, not to have to finish out this top side of the stretched area. This machine is so nice in this capacity, that I keep it set up just for linear stretching. It is not very noticeable in the picture that I took of the die set, but inserted into the bottom of the upper die is a small diameter 'rod' that runs front to rear. It is a few thousands on an inch lower at the rear of the die, so it hits a little harder in the rear, making smaller numbers of passes required to stretch a wider lip. I love it!

Speedo1 008.jpg

Speedo1 010.jpg

Speedo1 014.jpg

Speedo1 006.jpg

wc84 035.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Been quite busy on some other car restoration issues, but have been doing some work on the speedster as time permits. The motor has been run on the run-in stand, the frame has been powder coated and the motor has been installed in the frame. Have decided to rivet the aluminum panels to the body with aircraft processes involved. Copper anodized aluminum truss head rivets are going to be used. I have been finishing out the lower body panels for the final fit prior to the riveting, and have fitted the upper frame section with receptacles to use the Dzus fastening system for the upper body panels that I want to be able to remove.

miscWilly 009.jpg

miscWilly 010.jpg

Mar30 004.jpg

Mar30 003.jpg

Mar30 203.jpg

Mar30 002.jpg

Speedo1 004.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Just a small update: Powder coated wheels, hand fabricated/laminated steering wheel from white ash, machined hub from old '31 steering wheel. Hand made die for the louvers that will be at the lower rear of the body.

Dans2015 003.jpg

Dans2015 004.jpg

Dans2015 009bb.jpg

speed9 001.jpg

willy28 009.jpg

willy28 010.jpg

[Fred K-OR]

Wow! Looks like you are making progress.

[d.j. moordigian]

Will,

Have you run the engine with the independent runners for the carbs?
I tried it about 30 years ago and it seemed too run better with a balance tube..
I changed the size of the balance tube also for a better transition.

[RockHillWill]

DJ: I understand your concern for vacuum balance between inlet ports, as we went thru a similar 'thrash' with the stock cars, particularly with the exhaust and we felt like not only did the balance tube help, but both the diameter and the location made a noticeable difference. The closer to the exhaust port, we could get by with a somewhat smaller diameter because the pulse pressure was more significant. This balance tube concern was MUCH more sensitive when we ran the 180 degree headers because of the closer pulse cycles.

More to your point concerning the intake. I have an interest (more like a concern) that a balance tube might be required, or help, but I have absolutely NO experience with the small bore/port motors, and do not want to add a tube in the wrong place or size. In anticipation of the issue I went to GREAT lengths to flow each pair of ORIGINAL jets to a ready as close as I could read on the catch tube. I used matching pairs of upper and lower bodies and venturies. They were both rebuilt by Dave Cella, just before he passed away, and they were dyno tested within 6-minutes of each other to within 1/2 foot pounds of torque. [NOT on my motor!!!!].

The accelerator linkage will be joined, but I will have separate GAV adjustments and it is my intention to weld in vacuum ports at the outer edge of each intake runner as close as I can get to the manifold and monitor individual vacuum and make adjustments to make the vacuum be as close as I can to each other. In addition, I will 'index' the plugs and read the carbon trails on them, but his might be overkill on this motor design.

I am VERY interested in your thoughts on monitoring the vacuum to make a determination as to whether a balance tube is needed. What did you end up doing for your motor at that time? What are your suggestions for location and diameter???

I am making preparations for a metal shaping event, and this motor work will not be at the forefront of my efforts, but I am still very interested in your thoughts.

[RockHillWill]

DJ: Another thing that I am concerned about using an inlet balance tube is that unlike the exhaust system, the intake system uses the vacuum to move the inlet charge. By adding a balance tube at any location, or using a tube of any diameter, it will increase the inlet volume, and by maintaining the same inlet vacuum it would result in a slower acceleration of the fuel charge, resulting in less fuel to those cylinders. Your thoughts?

[RockHillWill]

Have recently finished riveting the floor and and firewall on the speedster.

rivetfloor 001.jpg

rivetfloor 003.jpg

rivetfloor 004.jpg

rivetfloor 005.jpg

rivetfloor 007.jpg

rivetfloor 009.jpg

rivetfloor 010.jpg

[BudP]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

So impressive! Such precision! Can hardly wait until she's rolling under power. Thanks for sharing the journey.

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by RockHillWill

DJ: Another thing that I am concerned about using an inlet balance tube is that unlike the exhaust system, the intake system uses the vacuum to move the inlet charge. By adding a balance tube at any location, or using a tube of any diameter, it will increase the inlet volume, and by maintaining the same inlet vacuum it would result in a slower acceleration of the fuel charge, resulting in less fuel to those cylinders. Your thoughts?

The first time I tried too chock down the balance tube was on a 1275
Sprite / Midget for SCCA. It had a stock BMC manifold with SU's and killed
the "low speed" drive-abilty. I started opening up the holes in the tube till
we had a happy balance. He also ran auto-cross's which really showed the
problem..

The second time was in a restricted class. Short track paved stock cars,
ported iron 2 barrel intakes(Brzezinski) with a Holley 350 2 barrel. I made the Aluminum adapter (2")and and match ported it both ways. Same thing.
I ended up cutting a transfer slot on the top side of the adapter too improve the low speed,...like your coming down for the first "Green". Hell,
I even "fudged" and put a 500 baseplate and reworked under the venturi
too match things up.

I've noticed it in the Weber set-ups (4 carbs on a downdraft) in Can-Am
before fuel injection. Also in the Hilborn type manifolds (alky) in the
Super Modifieds.

Sooo,..this got me thinking. The 4 cam Ford Indy engines, gas or alky,
ran a booster venturi,...which I'm sure was there for the low speed part
of the RPM range...need a photo? Remember, some of those cars ran
2 speed Halibrand's at Indy!

I think it needs the pulse from the other manifold at low speeds..

I know your worried about it being "lazy",...I'd think about the "double
venturi" from the E-28 carbs...that could hop it up some on the bottom
end? This would be after you run a base line with what you have.

Balance tube..?...how about a spacer(s) between the carbs and the
manifolds,with a tube,...just too see if it changes anything ?

Dudley

[RockHillWill]

Spacer between the manifolds is a GREAT idea. Could change the size as well. To increase inlet acceleration at lower speeds, I have considered 'filling' the inside of the runners at the 90 degree bend. Thanks for your input!

[d.j. moordigian]

Uhhh,.....what are you doing with a Jag head in the shop ?

I've worked on those for 45 years,....have one sitting around here trying too figure
out how to mate it to an A. The bore spacing is a little to far off , I think..

[RockHillWill]

Man you sure have good eyes! What picture do you see a Jag head in? The reason for the Jag motor is a long one. One of the reasons that I have not been around much Model A 'stuff' lately is that I have gotten a little burned out with the Model A restoration routine and wanted to try something different, particularly aluminum body fabrication. As a result, I met a gentleman in Tennessee that is restoring a 1935 Type 57 Bugatti Stelvio. (Apparently it is quite rare, because one night while we were working on it the owner called to say that he had just turned down 1.2 million dollars for it and it is still not finished being restored). This Bugatti is made up entirely of aluminum and the panels are all gas welded together, totally different from the Model A, obviously. One thing led to another and when the owner gave the restorer permission to 3D scan the car so that an entire new body could be made, I got heavily involved with the scanning and the 3D development work. The body has been scanned and I have already made the wooden 'egg crate' bucks for the rear fenders, the grille, steering when and other panels, and I am finishing the front fenders at this time.

Once the body had been scanned, the chassis needed to be developed, and I am doing that in SolidWorks. It has been decided to use a Jaguar 3.8/4.2 motor to power the new car, and I needed a 3D scan of the motor to mate with the new chassis and the scanned body, so I acquired an old motor and restored it to the configuration that we will be using, and made a 3D drawing of it in SolidWorks.

The pictures are roughly in the sequence that work is being done. The car that is being restored, the scanning of the car, building of the bucks, SolidWorks layouts, etc. Sorry, kind of a long winded answer.

Bug1.jpg

Bug2.jpg

Bug3.jpg

Bug4.jpg

Bug5.jpg

Bug6.jpg

Bug7.jpg

Bug8.jpg

Bug9.jpg

Bug10.jpg

Bug11.jpg

[d.j. moordigian]

Upper right hand corner..

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by RockHillWill

Spacer between the manifolds is a GREAT idea. Could change the size as well. To increase inlet acceleration at lower speeds, I have considered 'filling' the inside of the runners at the 90 degree bend. Thanks for your input!

More thinking....

You could have used a muffler bend,....same affect as filling to form the "D",
but that looks like crap !
Step the tubing ! The same size you have now at the carb..then, before
the radius go down one size all the way to the block. It will have a reversion
dam at the edge of the port.

But the thing I keep coming back too.........it's a flat head ! Lots of twists
and turns to fill the cylinder.

For my hopped upped B, I was going to make a manifold for some SU's, when I get to that point..

[RockHillWill]

DJ: I did not consider the muffler 'bends' but agree it would not look 'racey'. I understand the 'step' runners, but actually built these intake runners out of left over exhaust tubing.

I do not intend to run this speedster hard, it actually was more a reason to encounter aluminum panel forming and gas welding.

Thanks for your input, it's clear to see that you know 'stuff'.

[RockHillWill]

This project has taken a back seat to some other projects, but I get a little done once in a while. Here is some updates on the steering wheel and a pair of ducts that I made to vent the rear of the lower body.

June2815 013.jpg

willy2 001.jpg

10June15 007.jpg

willy2 042.jpg

willy2 043.jpg

[RockHillWill]

I finally got the hand held bead roller finished. I have shown the test bead as a simple character line bead, but I am making a set of rollers to put the outside edge bead in the Model A fender. Progress is slow as the effort to help my friend, Jim Hery with his Bugatti and Delage projects have been VERY time consuming. He called two days ago, and has commitments to take both the Bugatti and the Delage to Concourse deElegance shows at Amelia Island and one some where in Texas next year. The Bugatti owner is communication with the folks at Pebble beach for the Bugatti.

The bead roller works extremely well, but is heavier than I was expecting it to be. I need a larger knob diameter on the adjuster as the one I made originally is too small in diameter and adjusting it while in use is pretty hard to turn. At the Oblong metal meet, I trimmed the wire edge pieces and the driver and passenger cover panels and hope to be mounting the body to the chassis today, if the rain lightens up.

NewTool 001.jpg

NewTool 002.jpg

NewTool 003.jpg

NewTool 004.jpg

NewTool 014.jpg

NewTool 015.jpg

NewTool 016.jpg

[hardtimes]

Hey Will,
Thanks for sharing. Wow, you have some awesome ideas/skills !
I thought that this was a TWO person (seat) car. Did you finish the two seat speedster ? Hm, maybe confusing your work with someone else ?

[RockHillWill]

Had some great friends over today, Paul Crosby (the Redneck Roundup cook) and Charles Camp, both longtime Model A 'guys', that helped me finally get the aluminum body attached to the chassis.

Mr. 'hardtimes', this is a two seater, but the passenger sits behind the driver. It is more apparent when I have the upper body panels in place.

speedsterSat 001.jpg

speedsterSat 002.jpg

speedsterSat 003.jpg

speedsterSat 004.jpg

speedsterSat 006.jpg

speedsterSat 007.jpg

speedsterSat 017.jpg

[hardtimes]

Thanks for the reminder, as these pictures bring back recollection ! Awesome project, and my favorite color !!!

[Charlville]

Excellent project, keep em coming

[RockHillWill]

With all else that is going on, progress on the speedster has almost come to a stop. I am anticipating that some work might get done during the Redneck Roundup. Here are some of the recent update pics.

SatMorn 005.jpg

SatMorn 004.jpg

SatMorn 003.jpg

SatMorn 006.jpg

SatMorn 009.jpg

SatMorn 002.jpg

[1Tudoor]

Never became attracted to these speedsters until I got on this site & as a 77 yr old motor head , I'm beginning to appreciate them & as well your project .
Working w/ rivets & sheet metal I see you have an adequate supply of cleco fasteners .
I don't use mine much anymore but as w/ any tool , they will become useless when I do . Look forward to your progress & good luck w/ the Henrob .

[RockHillWill]

Work on the speedster is often sporadic, but I got a great deal of help on it during the Redneck Roundup. Jim Hery and Per, especially were helpful. Patman, Steve Greenwood and other kicked in on several occasions as well.

Here is a link to a YouTube video posted by Per. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMLWopalmUM

RS1 016.jpg

RS1 017.jpg

Speedster01 004.jpg

Speedster01 010.jpg

Sun-1 016.jpg

Sun-1 017.jpg

Sun-1 018.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Here are some photos showing the sequence of the recently completed steering wheel for the speedster.

SpeedsterRing3.jpg

SpStrgAssy3.jpg

SPEEDY 001.jpg

willy2 001.jpg

Strg2.jpg

[Mafman]

Beautiful work, Will!

[RockHillWill]

Thanks, James. I live in Rock Hill, S.C.. Work goes slow on this project as being retired is not all that it is cracked up to be, regarding having a lot of time to do things. PM me if you would like to stop by for a visit. I will give you directions. Call first as I travel frequently.

[RockHillWill]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Progress is going painfully slow to suit me, but many 'things' seem to require fun time lately, but did get around to finishing the left side of the speedster hood that included some louvers based on a YouTube video by Per - Metalman Sweden.

I took the real panel and a practice panel to the water jet guy and had him use my drawing to layout and cut the starter 'slots'. It made a good line up possible, but I have previously used a 4" 'zip' wheel, and I actually think that works better.

JuneWilly 004.jpg

today 001.jpg

today 003.jpg

today 013.jpg

today 026.jpg

today 027.jpg

today 028.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Have been getting a little more done recently on the hood area. Am currently working on the cockpit area.


Phone1 007.jpg

Phone1 008.jpg

SundayAft 023.jpg

SundayAft 025.jpg

SundayAft 026.jpg

SundayAft 029.jpg

SundayEve 001.jpg

[C26Pinelake]

With the time if took for you to post 54 posts on one thread you could have had the project finished haha ! Wayne.

[George Miller]

Very nice work.

[RockHillWill]

A little bit more each week, now it seems. The seat work was done several months ago. The sides of the top panels were rolled by using a rubber go kart tire in the wheeling machine. The upper and lower frames for the seats are from '30-'31 Model a Tudor seats. The narrow slots in the upper panels are slots that I had the water jet guy make in the panels so the panels would hold their shape from end to end while rolling. When they are fitted and held in place, I will cut that area out so that the wire edgings can be installed.
The 3" thick seat cushion foam was cut an a water jet machine.


June2815 006.jpg

June2815 005.jpg

June2815 004.jpg

Fixtures 016.jpg

Fixtures 011.jpg

Fixtures 012.jpg

Fixtures 014.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Finally got the entire body is enclosed. Still some detailing and fitting required, most minor, but I view this as a milestone on this project. Now that the panels are fitted, the area inside the 'stitched' area will be cut out and wire edging installed.

fullskin 004.jpg

fullskin 008.jpg

fullskin 009.jpg

fullskin 010.jpg

fullskin 012.jpg

fullskin 014.jpg

fullskin 017.jpg

[Mafman]

Well done Will! If I ever get the Plan finished at work, I've got to get down your way and see it!

[RockHillWill]

These new English wheeling machines have just arrived from Australia. The gentleman the I import these from is scheduled to teach metal shaping classes again this year in the US.

This is the wheeling machine that I have been waiting for to help do the final finishing of some of the body panels on the speedster. I will also be using this machine to build the aluminum Model A fenders, once the bucks are completed.

Each class that peter has taught at our shop has included numerous tips and tricks for restoration work on the Model A's.

ewheelday1 012.jpg

ewheelday1 019.jpg

ewheelday2 003.jpg

ewheelday2 007.jpg

ewheelday2 008.jpg

ewheelday2 011.jpg

ewheelday2 012.jpg

[MrBruce]

Looks like it's evolving Will. Need to make another trip soon? I will email you the info we discussed last week. Back from Wisconsin so can start to get things done again.

[Wick]

Love the progress Will.

[Ed Saniewski]

Will, Was the Blue wheel painted special for you?

[RockHillWill]

Good morning, Ed.

Yes, it was. Peter was especially happy with the way the sales of his wheels were being received here in the US, and wanted to show his appreciation for the assistance that I was providing. I just took names and collected the money and gave him a destination to send them to. In appreciation, he sent me that 'special' wheel, painted Ford Racing Blue. He also does some race car work in Australia, and that has become his favorite racing color. He also autographed the inside of the upper wheel and just in front of the back bone . He also added a full set of the 'Aussie' upper wheel and lower anvils. He is a very kind and generous man. It is no wonder he is so well thought of around the world.

For those folks that are interested in this type of work, we are in the planning stages to host him again this year for his US tour of metal shaping classes. When the schedule is completed, I will attempt to post it here, as his classes lend themselves very well to the amateur and pro Model A restorers.

[RockHillWill]

Bob Kalenda came down from Grand Rapids, Michigan this week to lend a hand in prepping the speedster to get it wired up, detailed and running. We have been making a secondary bracket to run the fan, separate from the normal method of using the fan on the water pump. The radiator is lowere and the upper water neck got in the way of the fan, so we are making a shaft just below to spin the fan. The work Bob is doing on the wiring is extremely well done and organized, and I love the way it looks. He has integrated the original Model A wiring schematic with the requirements needed for the different gauges that I am using. The dual carburetors are creating some challenges. We have determined the way to jointly choke both carbs at the same time, but the high speed enrichment will be done separately with small hand knobs. A new battery has been installed and the cable are in place.

A visit to the Front Row Motorsports shop revealed the J. D. McDuffey paint job for the upcoming 'throwback' race in Darlington.


BobK1 006.jpg

BobK1 008.jpg

BobK1 009.jpg

BobK1 012.jpg

BobK1 014.jpg

BobK1 002.jpg

BobK1 003.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Bob Kolenda was down for the week and was VERY instrumental in bringing the speedster much closer to actually being a viable car. He did all the instrumentation, wiring, plumbing and detail fabrication to bring it to the point where we got the motor started on Saturday. The pictures loaded a little bit out of order. We spent the earlier part of the week visiting some local points of interest and acquiring the myriad of detailed parts that are needed when running down the check list that is at the end of a long project. many futtings, bolts, etc and the occasional hamburger required many trips, but on Saturday we finally got to 'light' this thing up. The motor had not been turned over in many months, so we had to 'lubricate' the cylinders. There was quite a bit of the lubricant still in the cylinders, and when it finally 'lit', it looked there was a familiar Australian metal shaper ( the one that uses a torch to shrink aluminum.... ) doing the work. This car has no muffler, and when it started, it belched flames and fire from the header, sending smoke throughout the shop and it is rumored that there is no worry about mosquitos for the rest of the summer here in York County, South Carolina. John Kluttz, a well known Model A engine builder, happened to arrive at the shop shortly prior to starting the motor, and minimized the time it may have taken to sort out any 'issues'. Because I had installed dual carbs, I had installed gauges to monitor vacuum and the small oil pressure among other gauges. Bob was very adept at mating the two carbs in a manner that we can accelerate them at the same time and choke them simultaneously, but we will have to adjust the GAV separately. Because I had to lower the radiator to lower the nose, you can see that we had to make a 'jackshaft' to turn the fan. We cut a generator pulley and welded it to the water pump shaft to drive the fan mounted below the water pump. I cut another generator pullet to fit that shaft. It has been a long time since I have had this much fun. Many thanks to Bob Kolenda!!

BobK1 008.jpg

BobK1 010.jpg

BobK2 004.jpg

BobK2 007.jpg

BobK2 013.jpg

BobK2 018.jpg

BobK2 032.jpg

BobK2 050.jpg

BobK2 056.jpg

BobK1 001.jpg

BobK1 002.jpg

BobK1 003.jpg

BobK1 004.jpg

BobK1 005.jpg

BobK1 006.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Another small step.

Finishing up the modifications required when I lowered the stock Model A radiator to fit under the hood line. Doing so was going to make the fan blades cut thru the upper radiator hose. The intent of this build was to get some metal shaping practice with aluminum panels and to do so as it might have been done by someone in the early 1930's, and I could not determine that electric 6-volt automotive fans were available during that time. That meant a mechanical solution and I chose to use a fan mounted to a 'jackshaft', made from another water pump, located more to the center of the radiator core, and make it belt driven. It is slightly offset to clear the standard Model A fan belt, making the full size Model A fan close to the modified lower radiator hose arrangement. Multiple 'steps' to avoid interference seems to have been accomplished. I made a three piece mounting bracket attaching to the water pump and the timing chain cover and welded it together. Then I machined the center out of a generator pulley and welded it to a standard water pump pulley that I machined the outer components off of. The tension for the jackshaft pulley is accomplished by changing the shims under the fan shaft bearings.

BobK1 010.jpg

BobK2 006.jpg

BobK2 054.jpg

SatSpeed 005.jpg

SatSpeed 007.jpg

SatSpeed 012.jpg

SatSpeed 017.jpg

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Cool piece! Didn't think of it until after I just saw that, but I have a couple of those aftermarket Model-A leakless water pumps that I could have donated. Just machine the impellers off the back of the shaft and it would have been era-perfect. Make a plate with slotted holes and the two lower holes countersunk where you could use a couple of 2-tooth steering box eccentrics at the bottom of the backside to tension the belt, and the two bolts at the top to lock it down, ...and you would have been set.

On second thought, what you have done looks awesome!!

[RockHillWill]

I gave that a try, Brent, but alignment of the upper and lower pulleys did not work out for me, and by not securing the bottom of the slotted plate, belt tension was difficult to hold.

[RockHillWill]

As always too many projects, too little time. Retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be. I have picked and filed the nose, finished the floor pan, installed the throttle linkage and modified the starter to use a starter solenoid form an old Ford 8N tractor, because the foot operated starter rod was interfering with the chains used to offset the steering shaft/column.

FunSun 005.jpg

FunSun 006.jpg

FunSun 009.jpg

FunSun 014.jpg

FunSun 013.jpg

FunSun 012.jpg

FunSun 010.jpg

[RockHillWill]

One more small step on the project. I got a set of friction shocks mounted in the vein of a 'racing/sporty' approach to this car. The bolt hole was correct but the arms were the same length, making arm 'modifications' necessary to account for the different arm lengths needed. I cut the shock mounts from some rear end housings and milled out the end of the arms to make the 'corrections'. A spacer was required at the rear to account for the lack of shock arm offset. Shock links to be installed shortly.

[RockHillWill]

Just another small step. Finally got the seats back from the upholstery shop. The color is not exactly what I wanted, but it was free, some left over material, and it greatly reduced the costs. It is my intention to make the speedster look like a moderately skilled individual built this car in about 1932, and am trying to avoid any visual appearance of anything that looks like 'current'. The seat mounts are already in the car, and they have both been 'pre-fit'.

seats 002.jpg

seats 003.jpg

seats 004.jpg

seats 005.jpg

seats 006.jpg

seats 007.jpg

[Rex_A_Lott]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

The little steps add up...much faster than no steps. Thanks for posting the pics.

[C26Pinelake]

You did not sit idle, you made 65 posts on this thread! Wayne

[jhowes]

I may be the dumb one on the block, but what are the coils of copper tubing all about and why are there copper lines going into the intake manifold from a "T" in the copper? Jack

[RockHillWill]

I started this project as a means to work on aluminum 'stuff' as my previous job/hobbies were centered around all steel projects, so some of the mechanical 'stuff' gets relegated to the back burner. Bob Kolenda, a fellow member of the Allmetalshaping website offered to lend a hand and came down from Michigan for a week to give me a hand. Bob does maintenance and restoration work for the guy who's an owner of the Miami Heat basketball team and the Detroit Redwings hockey farm team. As such he works on some high-end cars and approaches his work in a more upscale manner than I am used to from working on Model A's. LOL! He did most all of the dash work and wiring and I just gave him free range on how he wanted to do it, and that is why some of the things on the speedster are a little 'different'.

The tubing at the intake runners is going to be used to monitor vacuum, for use in adjusting the dual carbs, I just haven't acquired a second vacuum gauge yet, The lower tubing is for monitoring the oil pressure.

[RockHillWill]

Another small step. The Bugatti project and 'farm' issues keep me very busy. I finished the offset steering setup. There are two separate chains offset some degree that makes the links not in the same position as they round the sprockets to minimize slack in the setup. The sprockets are fastened to the shafts by drilling and tapping the shafts in line with the set screws so that the longer set screws go thru both the sprocket and thru the shafts. There are eight total. The chains are kept parallel and in line by using a 'plastic' piece that was cut on a water jet to maintain the center distance between the shafts, both in tension and in compression. Bushings at the top and bottom of the steering shaft provide a smooth feel when turning and minimize any side load to the top of the shaft that extends upward from the steering box.

Sunday22 011.jpg

Sunday22 013.jpg

Sunday22 015.jpg

[elwood]

Nice work,

[RockHillWill]

Bob Kolenda made another trip down to try and get me over the hump and get this project completed. Among many others, he has been MOST instrumental in keeping me motivated, providing encouragement and taught me many things that I would not have learned if not for his help and guidance. He is extremely talented and is very patient, detail oriented and a very good welder as well. He has been so quiet at the Redneck Roundup and at Dan's meets that you would never know the extent of his talents. Pull him aside sometimes and get him to tell you about his involvement with the Aston Martin factory in England and the Aston Martin DB5 that is being restored.

We finalized a few motor details, hooking up some dual linkages for the dual carbs, using some parts that Bob made and cadmium plated for me. I cleaned up a few out of alignment character lines, and Bob detailed the gas tank, coated the interior and modified the mechanical fuel sending unit and began the wiring. We got the metal pieces that had been previously had wire beading done and trimmed them to width. I had made a second set of the 'step-cut' water jet panels to simulate the top body contour so that I could pre-stretch them to match the contour on the body panel. Bob welded the segments together and they were then formed to the top body panels and holes drilled for the rivet's. 5/8" tape was installed at the edge of the compartment openings to set the wired strips back enough to allow for the aluminum to be 'rolled' over them to complete the safety edge around the perimeter of the driver and passenger openings. They were match welded, detailed and ground, and we took them to the powder coater this afternoon and will be able to pick them out tomorrow mid day.They will be powder coated semi gloss black and installed with aluminum rivets, prior to the overlapping process, giving an edge appeal to these openings. The surrounds were stretched to fit the gauges using Carl Adam's 'Shrink Positive' machine that I have modified to be a dedicated linear stretch station. Over stretching was corrected using the later built of my shrinking machine as it is docile and predictable. The plan is to anneal the aluminum, install the powder coated surrounds with rivets, then cut out the interior sections prior to the secondary wire edging process.

We determined the surface condition of the aluminum body. I will DA up to 220, block up to 400, then dial it back a little with green scotch bright. Tests today make me decide that was the finish I want prior to polishing the stripes down the side and across the top. I am wanting to look like a period race car, not a high end restoration.

We got the grill surround metal finished and match drilled the holes and look forward to starting some riveting in the morning. I have made a small temporary cowl mounted gas tank to test run the motor before plumbing the gas tank at the rear, using a shut off valve in the line near the driver. The windshield and the steering wheel work is completed and ready to install.

miscwBob 005.jpg

miscwBob 008.jpg

miscwBob 020.jpg

miscwBob 021.jpg

miscwBob 037.jpg

miscwBob 029.jpg

miscwBob 034.jpg

[RockHillWill]

More pics of the speedster project with Bob Kolenda. We were fortunate to get overnight processing of the two surround fabrications for the mere cost of four assorted fresh made donuts. We decided to make a test panel/process out of an earlier panel that I had labeled a 'learning' project. It wasn't finished as nicely as the powder coated pieces, but served the purpose of evaluating fit of the surround to the panel cutout and the remaining tab that is to be turned over the previous wire edged 'strip'. We annealed the panel, trimmed the excess interior portion away and began turning the remaining aluminum portion over the black surround test piece.

Before hammering over the aluminum, Bob measured the existing (slightly) variable extension, so that we can more accurately trim the aluminum prior to the forming. The area at the curves is not the same as at the straight section and we are trying to account for that. So far, we have been able to keep the aluminum tight against the surround piece. We used a contoured wooden mallet backed up by a piece of scrap white oak setting against the top of the rivet heads. Once we got half way around it was very strong on it's own.

We began to metal finish the 4 main side panels and plan to be ready to rivet them on some time tomorrow. Bob did a lot of detail work at the ends of the character line and we finally decided on a process that gave the difference of reflectivity that am looking for. Bob did a nice job of working that all out. It was very similar to the advice given me by Jim Hery, and I could not be happier with what we have come up with.

The surround pieces were sheered here in the shop and we used the P7 and the 'P' die set to form them in four foot sections. They were trimmed again with the Beverly shear to a constant width after inserting a #9 wire and setting them with tool that I made for the P5. I think that they turned out quite nice, straight and uniform in width. Thanks for all your help.

BobWednesday2 005.jpg

BobWednesday 002.jpg

BobWednesday 003.jpg

BobWednesday 011.jpg

BobWednesday 010.jpg

BobWednesday 006.jpg

BobWednesday 007.jpg

[RockHillWill]

More progress, this time on the side body panels. We are finally installing some rivets! Bob did a large amount of work detailing the panels and them metal finishing them to the vision that I described to him, and it turned out to be a GREAT job. He is shown using a home made hammer that was made for me by Mike Yurko a few years back. In one of the pictures, I am using a tool to de-burr rivet holes that was made for me by Billy Jack in Minnesota at one of Dan Pate's meet. Bob crawled around and under the car with the backing buck and I rolled back and forth with the rivet gun and it got to be smooth process after a while. Learning a lot about riveting.


BobThursday 003.jpg

BobThursday 004.jpg

BobThursday 006.jpg

BobThursday 007.jpg

BobThursday 008.jpg

BobThursday 009.jpg

BobThursday 014.jpg

[RockHillWill]

A few more things completed today. We got the foot kick board installed at the pedals, fastened in the last of the four side panels, ran the fuel line and the wires for the sending unit, installed the fuel shut off valve, finished some interior rework, inserted the grill in the front nose inset, and finished installing the rear tail vent covers and started to metal finish the upper panels in preparation for the installation of the surrounds in the morning.

My wife can be great help and has been involved and supportive of all my projects.

BobFriday 003.jpg

BobFriday 005.jpg

BobFriday 011.jpg

BobFriday 012.jpg

BobFriday 014.jpg

BobFriday 019.jpg

BobFriday 021.jpg

BobFriday 023.jpg

BobFriday 024.jpg

BobFriday 025.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Saturday was Bob's last day here in Rock Hill. What a talent. Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you. He is one smart and talented guy. It's clear where Mallory gets her 'smarts' He did all the metal finishing and it stepped up the appearance of the speedster as a result. Things that I would have said were good enough, he took the extra time to complete in a more professional manner, much in the manner of Jim Hery, Kent White, Per and Peter Tommasini. These guys have taught me more about metal shaping with their attitude than with their displays of accomplishments.

We got the surrounds in place and the edging done on the front one. I bought more than 900 rivets since I started with the floor pans and only have a few left. My wife Peggy held the bucking bar on most of them. She has been a great helper throughout this project as well as the Model A restorations, and I am hopeful that she will remain supportive and helpful for the upcoming Humvee project. Note the cute little 'spring retainer' that Bob made after I asked if we could make the gas gage wire be taunt where it runs along the fuel line protective sleeve. Where the removable panels fit the body I joggled the edges of the adjacent panel and installed them with countersunk rivets. Towards the end of the day, we installed a temporary gas tank, rolled that rascal to the rear of the shop and opened the back door and lit the fuse. Bob brought a multiple carburetor adjusting tool to help tune the multiple carbs, and with the long tail pipe on it, there was a deep, mellow rumble that is rather distinctive. Note the dry floor after 20 minutes of rubbing and 20 minutes of cooling off. The sound is not like any of my other Model A's. Man, I LOVE that 'shee...t', The sound, the smell and the minute floor vibration winds me up. I'm gonna be hard to handle for a few days, LOL!

THANKS BOB KOLENDA!!!!!!!!

BobSat 007.jpg

BobSat 009.jpg

BobSat 012.jpg

BobSat 015.jpg

BobSat 017.jpg

BobSat 021.jpg

BobSat 029.jpg

BobSat 037.jpg

BobSat 038.jpg

BobSat 040.jpg

BobSat 044.jpg

BobSat 052.jpg

BobSat 054.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Another small step. I finished the tail section, mounted the seats, installed the steering wheel and prepped the logos for riveting. They are a different size than the body rivets and am awaiting their arrival. I used marine glue to add six pads around the perimeter of the wooden buck and used wood screws to attach the panel to so I could mount it to a post dollie stand. I used some Model A floorboard washers to adapt the larger recess for the dzus fasteners to the wood screws. Worked great. Will be heading to Jims and then to Oblong in a few minutes. There will be one of Peter's wheeling machines available for demonstration and testing.


wc2 018.jpg

wc2 021.jpg

wc2 024.jpg

wc2 025.jpg

wc2 027.jpg

wc2 028.jpg

wc2 031.jpg

[Synchro909]

I'm very impressed by your workmanship. Congratulations.

[Rex_A_Lott]

I think you'd have a lot of fun taking the speedster down to Mason's in November. You and Cotton could set up together.
Nice work

[George Miller]

Out standing work.

[RockHillWill]

Continuing small step - maybe someday this thing will be done. Retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be. At any rate a little more got done. No matter how hard I try, the Bugatti build and the interest in the new M1026 Humvee project is diluting the work on the speedster. Jim Hery was a big help on making the correct 'fit' at the hood and the cowl. We had a long discussion on how it should look. Jim won that discussion on how it should look, but I damn near had to break his arm to see it my way on how we were going to do it, LOL. I like how it turned out. Thanks Jim. Several months ago, I had to remake the hood as the character line did not match well at the rear. I have added the grab bar between the driver and passenger compartment and riveted the emblems at the side of the body. Cotton Eubanks was of great help when installing the strengthening surround at the headers. I began metal shaping the nose several months ago and was having trouble matching the contours of the grill with that of the nose because they shared a radius. Jim suggested temporarily attaching them together to do the finish work on the nose and it has been working well. Those bolts will be replaced with rivets.

WCMonday 029.jpg

WCMonday 030.jpg

WCMonday 018.jpg

WCMonday 021.jpg

WCMonday 022.jpg

WCMonday 024.jpg

WCMonday 025.jpg

WCMonday 026.jpg

WCMonday 028.jpg

AussyWheels 008.jpg

[henry's 31]

All I can say is WOW! Incredible detail and workmanship! Thanks for sharing.

[RockHillWill]

More small steps. I am enthused little more these days as I need to get this done and out of the way for the upcoming Redneck Roundup. Not likely to happen, but it is good motivation. I got the gas tank installed and set into place so that it fits the opening in the tail section, polished the top 'stripe', ran the gas line, installed the fuel shutoff switch and fabricated the battery hold down bracket. I made the GAV so that I can adjust the dual carbs individually, but they remain hard to do once the exhaust header gets hot. Got the seats detailed and mounted, battery compartment is complete with the exception of installing a non conductive base to the bottom of the cover. (aluminum floor pans).

The gas tank had previously been coated and it turned out very nice. Put about a quart of gas in the new tank (no leaks), checked fuel flow to both carbs and decided to start it up again for a more sustained test of the carburetors having reset the timing. I left the choke on too long and over flowed both carbs. Got it running, but fouled at least one plug, but kept it running to make as many carb settings as possible before it ran out of gas. The long tail pipe makes the 'popping' aggravating. At this point, I feel that I have detailed everything from the tail section to the firewall. The motor ran very cool throughout this test. A little more metal finishing, a change of sparkplugs and a better way of adjusting the idle while running and I will be on the home stretch on this project.

[Ed Saniewski]

Will, Do you know what the gas tank was coated with?

[RockHillWill]

Ed, I do not remember at this time. A friend of mine from Grand Rapids, Michigan did it for me. I will make an attempt to find the can or get in touch with him


Regards, Will

[40 Deluxe]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Doesn't seem that you could adjust the carbs properly with fouled plugs! Why not stop and put a new set in? Otherwise, it seems like time wasted as it will have to be done over anyway.

[RockHillWill]

Too bad you were not here to help. You could have mowed our grass as well.
I spent the time checking for leaks at the gas tank, and along the 8ft of gas line and the shut off valve. We also adjusted the throttle linkage where it connects the dual carbs and where it goes thru the firewall, checked vacuum connections, and the starting position of the modified timing adjustment controls.


There was a small loop that had to be installed in the fuel line right at the exit of the gas tank, and we put in a measured amount of fuel and wanted to run it dry to be able to measure how much that loop consumed of the amount of gas.


At one time I had over 144,000 pounds of used Model A parts, but as of this morning, not one new spark plug in the joint.

How did you test the fuel delivery system in the speedster that you built?

[RockHillWill]

Ed, I looked up the info on the gas tank sealer. It was provided to me from a friend in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who's employer owns the Miami Heat basketball team and the farm team for the Detroit Red Ring Hockey team and has a very large collection of both vintage and contemporary sports cars. I have been working with him on a vintage Mercedes Gull Wing hood restoration. It is called Phenol Novolac Epoxy from Caswell. I have not used it before, but my friend mentioned that they have been using it for several years with no issues. Here is a link.


http://www.caswellplating.com/epoxy-...nk-sealer.html