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Old 10-20-2019, 06:44 PM   #41
Ranchero50
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

So, this past Tuesday I took off work to get the RV moving forward. Pics of the process for your enjoyment...



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Old 10-20-2019, 06:49 PM   #42
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Lightbulb Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

So while waiting on a horizontal propane tank to show up I took a day to get back into the Speedster. I spent a couple hours today getting the kick panels and sub rails tweaked into position and went ahead and milled out a sheet of plywood for the floor.

Sketched out what I needed...


Drew it on the CAD program and plugged it into the mill...


And buggered the centerline so I had to run it twice.


Finally got to sit in it for a bit and I think this is really going to work out well.


I'm getting excited again. Hoping to have it driving by Christmas, maybe with a body.
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Old 10-25-2019, 09:41 PM   #43
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Spent the evening screwing around with the speedster, literally. #6 self tappers are undersized for a 1/8" rivet so I've been using them instead to mock up the parts. I do need to predrill the holes with a 3/32" (I think) drill bit. Gonna be hundreds of rivets installed by the time we are done.





Finally a shot from behind the wheel. Yes, a new wheel is on the list.


If I can find out how long the radiator support rods are I can decide how much I can lay the cowl / firewall back and still have them work.
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Old 10-26-2019, 08:37 AM   #44
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Googling around this morning it looks like 26' for the '28-31 and 32.5 for the '32-'36. That gives me a starting point at least. Looks like I'll need the later ones for my build.
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Old 11-03-2019, 01:15 PM   #45
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Made some more progress on the car this past week. Both toe board sub structures are complete and fitted in. I still need to make the triangle braces below them and for the toeboard itself. There's about six hours of work wrapped up in each structure but I'm really happy with how they turned out.







I wanted to get the E brake handle bracket finished and mounted but got called into work at 3am this morning so...

More to come
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Old 11-28-2019, 11:15 PM   #46
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

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Sorry for the delayed update, been busy with the car and life. Got the camper out of my hair and was able to get the E brake handle installed and have been working on the rear subframe and wood work. Each image is clickable to see the full sized version.





















Tonight's challenge has been to make a die to form the inside corner brackets for the under seat storage bin. I got it to work but ran out of phone battery to take some pics of the results.
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Old 11-29-2019, 05:13 AM   #47
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Wow! You are a very talented guy.

What you have created is something to be proud of.
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Old 11-29-2019, 07:58 AM   #48
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Ditto to that, you know what you are doing!
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Old 11-29-2019, 10:37 AM   #49
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Picture 2, were you making motor noises and imagining driving it?
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Old 11-29-2019, 11:30 AM   #50
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Very cool! All of your metal work looks great. the izuzu camper is very cool too!
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Old 11-29-2019, 09:17 PM   #51
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Gentlemen, thanks for the compliments. It's been a fun little project to bring together. And no, I don't know what I'm doing but I figure it out as I go and try to stay a bunch of steps ahead in the planning so I don't build myself into a corner. That's the secret to making it look like I DO know what I'm doing. As always the images are clickable for full sized ones.

So, a chunk of galvanized pipe and a 5/8" steel rod makes a nice radius.


That will look nice as an inside corner...


So I welded a flat to the pipe section and squeezed a 2" wide length of metal between them.


Followed by bending the top over to for the cap.


After some additional tweaking it fits pretty well.


I'll probably fit some 3/4" plywood over the lip to finish it. Each screw will be a rivet and during the final assembly I plan on silicone caulking the seams to help it be more weather tight.


And done this part well enough to move on to the next area...


One question, what is this radiator out of? It has the extra hood holders on the side and seems pretty thick.


For the rest of the day I installed the brake rods and played with the seating arrangements. And yes, a lot of time is spent making motor noises.
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Old 01-17-2020, 09:38 PM   #52
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OK, time for an update. This is a little out of sequence but it'll be ok. Spent a couple days getting the steering box sorted out and I'll post that in the next post.

I picked up a couple salvage sticks of 3/4" thin wall square tube and used a harbor freight three roller tubing bender to form the dash and rear structures. I found that the dash form board flipped upside down fit great for a seatback.


So I spent a couple days struggling with the seat back frame and ended up with a 3/4" EMT bender and was able to knock it out in about an hour... I also repurposed a floor brace that didn't fit as a frame hump cover with a chunk of 3/4" oak bolted in as a support. I'll mount the spare tire stand to it eventually.


This evening I fit some 1" x 2" box tubing to start the gas tank mounts and fit the seat back to sit flush onto one. I have a plan for a sheetmetal firewall between the seat and tank area eventually.


With the dash formed and steering box rebuilt I needed to machine and fit a clamp to hold the column solid.


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Old 01-17-2020, 09:59 PM   #53
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Lightbulb Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Steering column redo... As I mentioned before, the steering column was cracked and the lever detents were worn smooth. I lucked into a good tube from an early car at Hershey so I decided to graft it into the original seven tooth box. After measuring the total length at 43" I lopped off the bad parts:



And clamped the bare box in the mill,


So I could find the center of the shaft bore using a coaxial indicator.


I then used some basic math to figure the tool path and programmed it into the mill in G code:


And this magic happened: The black crustiness on the inside is from the original welding (forging?) process.


With a little fine tuning we ended up with this fitment:


Being cheap / poor I bought the repop 30-31 levers (they were $20 cheaper) and shortened them to fit my column before adding new levers. Fitting the levers was to worst part of the job.


Reassembled the box with the original parts (it was in remarkably good shape other than the ancient lube. I did install the tube versus the felt seal for the light switch shaft. The top bushing got replaced as well.




And finished up. Note that I left the weld stand proud on purpose to show those who would know that "something" interesting was done here. I filled it with a combination of 140 weight gear oil and poly EM grease. No leaks.


And that was that.
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Old 01-17-2020, 10:14 PM   #54
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Lightbulb Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Last week or so I decided to tackle the E brake and get it working while waiting to run to Bratton's for steering box bits.

Body out of the way Notice where the handle is in relation to the shifter. I had to move it back to get it out from under the dash.


A chunk of scrap steel in the mill magically turning into an adjustable rod end.


This is the rod for a side mount setup. I cut the old end off, threaded the shaft for 5/16"-24tpi and fit the rod end.


And installed in place. Pretty tight fit but it works and works well. Can't say that for the service brakes however (shakes fist in rage).


Finally a shot of the firewall with most of the parts connected. The starter rod needed extended an inch or so. Only bummer is the timing rod is just rubbing the head nut. Also note that the steering rod ends have been rebuilt with new cups and seals.


Once I get the fuel system installed I'm going to run out of reasons not to start this thing (or at least try)
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Old 01-18-2020, 02:12 PM   #55
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Looks like your moving along. You mentioned when you where forming the firewall that you had a problem with cracking. What grade of aluminum are you using? And are you annealing the areas where you're doing the shaping? 1000 or 3000 will work nicely for body panels. 5000 can be hard to work with. All of these can be annealed. Hope this helps. JP
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Old 01-18-2020, 10:17 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinbasher View Post
Looks like your moving along. You mentioned when you where forming the firewall that you had a problem with cracking. What grade of aluminum are you using? And are you annealing the areas where you're doing the shaping? 1000 or 3000 will work nicely for body panels. 5000 can be hard to work with. All of these can be annealed. Hope this helps. JP
It was hard and I got too aggressive at the breaks for the bends and it cracked. I have one sheet of 3003 down in the shed and need at least one more. I'm using scraps of 6061 for the flat areas.

Spent today getting the gas tank mounted and welding up the back of the body loop. Used some oak to stiffen the gas tank mounting tubes...


Rear hoop is formed and welded in place.


Went ahead and mocked up the spare tire (rim) to figure out what I can do with the metal frame and skin.


Front 1/4 view shows how much the body narrows at the tail. I'll add some deco style outriggers to the frame corners once the skin is on.


Note: each picture is clickable for the full sized version. Good times.
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Old 05-03-2020, 06:58 PM   #57
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Time flies when you are having fun.











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Old 05-03-2020, 07:02 PM   #58
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Lightbulb Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

This has been a fun project. I'm learning a ton about forming metal and hope to have a cool toy once finished. The pics are clickable to see the full sized versions.







I'm still looking for a speedometer, B would be nice or maybe a '33-40 car one. It needs to have the trip meter though since I won't have a fuel gauge.
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Old 05-04-2020, 01:31 AM   #59
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

Looks like it'll be pretty solid when finished.
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Old 05-04-2020, 04:35 PM   #60
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Default Re: Newbie '29 Speedster project, the good the bad and even the ugly (maybe)

I like your floorboards. Did you forget to leave access for the battery?

I had to replace my battery recently and it’s a PIA removing the rubber mat and the floorboard. You can enlarge the stock narrow access hole and the suppliers sell a larger plate so you can take the battery out without having to take out the floor board but you can use some sheet metal to cover the hole.

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