10/28/12 Phase II continues

This is the second time I've tried to post to this blog, today. I can assure you that my car building knowledge has to be better than my computer knowledge.

If you opened this blog prior to 1:00 pm you were able to see my post from early this morning, if you are opening after 1:00 you will be seeing only this post, since the first one was deleted. Musta been a gremlin.
I've made some progress in the past few days although hunting season has competed for some of my time.

This picture is one of the areas for deer hunting although the moose have invaded and there are very few deer.

A picture of our deer camp with the three tents and outdoor living area.



Mike L has great Internet service. Wow, only in America



Dinner is about to be served



Comfortable seating along with stainless steel wine goblet




We do allow some non hunters but they have to be experienced in splitting wood with an ax.




As I mentioned in my last post I still had to add the vent hose to the fuel system. This is the blue hose in this picture. The only part that still needs to be completed is the addition of fuel.

The red cable on the right side is connected to a charging lug which will be beneath the rear bumper. This will be used for charging the battery during the winter and for jump starting other peoples cars.




 Since the engine has been installed on the frame it is a lot more convenient to paint the firewall prior to installing  the body on the frame.




This picture shows the firewall prior to any paint. Take note of the two 3" welds on each side of the firewall.




The firewall has now been painted and clear coat added. Only problem is the waves in the clear coat. This can really be seen when looking at the reflection of the roof line of the house.




Here is the next picture after the painted firewall has been sanded with 2000 grit paper. Now look where the 3" welds were.



At this point half of the firewall has been buffed with a wool wheel and rubbing compound.



Rubbing compound complete, polishing and wax still to go.




Most of the waves have been removed but it looks like I may need to sand one more time and proceed with the rubbing and polishing compounds again. Not too bad for a firewall and this can be considered practice for the final body paint and polishing.




Here is that same square from the last post, although more parts have now been added. Any ideas what it is? It will be necessary to think out of the box to come up with the correct answer.



I not too sure about you but I'm ready for this political season to end.



10/2/12 Entering Phase II

I've finally graduated from the entry level work, fabrication, to what I call Phase II, start of the finishing. Not sure how I've gotten here but it must have something to do with my filing a grievance with the union boss. I simply felt they owed me something cuz I've been at it for over a year.

I've also added a test question this post.



How will this be used in the overall scheme of things?



This photo shows the seam sealer (the grey lines) that's been applied to the bottom of the body. Seam sealers are used by the car manufacturers to keep water, wind, dirt out of the interior of most cars.

Here is my frame after getting it back from the powder coater. Originally, I was going to use some type of paint on the frame but the local powder coater basically offered me a similar price as painting so I decided to go with the powder coat. The plus of powder coating is the almost complete seal over the metal. It is rather like a plastic coating over everything. The negative, is that it has to be ground away if you are going to weld tabs or make repairs.

Speaking of repairs, aircraft inspectors frown on the use of powder coating on a lot of parts. I can remember years ago when I wanted to powder coat some of my Mooney landing gear parts. I was told that should stress cracks develop in the base metal or welds, they can not be seen under powder coating but are visible under normal paint. Since powder coating is similar to a plastic finish the cracks would not become visible until they have propagated to a major problem.

Since I don't plan on having this car off the ground I'm not planning on the needing of a landing gear.

Rear suspension installed



Front suspension installed




More front suspension




Gas tank and filters installed. The vent line from the top of the tank to the rollover valve hasn't been installed but will eventually go from the large brass circle (brass fitting just above the blue fitting) to the small round silver fitting attached to the bar going from frame rail to frame rail.

This photo shows the fuel  regulator/filter right in the center, also attached to the black bar. The fuel pump has already been installed inside the fuel tank and will develop high pressure. In the neighborhood of 90psi. Since there is no return fuel line on the LS3 engines some say that a return line isn't even needed. But then again there are some experts who say the regulator/filter is needed. Therefore it's easier to install it now and remove later than the reverse.

This regulator will allow 58psi to reach the engine with the additional fuel returning to the tank, through the short braided stainless steel return line.




The orange cap is the top to another fuel filter which also has a low pressure disconnect switch for the fuel system. Should there ever be a catastrophe failure in the fuel line this valve senses low pressure and will turn off the power to the fuel pump.

The main battery cable (red) and the conduit for the electrical wires have also been installed.




This is the transmission cooler. I will have an override switch to turn the fan off during the winter.




This is a better picture of the fuel tank and plumbing. You can also see some of the wiring which will be used for charging the electrical system during the winter. I think I will run another battery cable back here (in place of the red wire) so I can use these connections for jump starting, if need be.



The stainless steel brake lines are now installed to the rear wheels



Here is a picture of the proportioning valve to the rear wheels and the master cylinder and booster. The proportioning valve allows the brake pressure to the rear wheels to be adjusted.




As I have been very busy with my hobby so has Lonna, Linda S and Judy R. I'll let you guess who the other two are.



9/12/12 Finishing Touch on Fab Work and Move on to Phase #2, applying some paint.

Howdy, It's been a while since I did a post. This is due to the fact I've been doing some of the same type work on the 33, as mentioned in my previous post, which is still trying to make sure the gaps between the hood, engine side covers, inner fender panels, rear deck cover or tonneau cover, doors and body are all correct. Cut and weld, add some spacers etc. Didn't want to bore you with the same old stuff.

But we've also been doing other things this summer that have eaten into our time. A camping trip with our sons and their families, car shows which were absolutely necessary this year since I've been trying to sell our 37 Ford and a little work around our home. 



Success, it's been sold



ZZ4, 350, TPI



Tacoma Dome "Mild to Wild"




Just for fun.






8 way power seats



 Now on to the project at hand.

The fit of the tonneau cover had to be improved. The leading edge gap had to be reduced about 5/16" and gap at the lower edge had to be reduced about 1/8".

Here is an older photo showing the gap between the inner fender panel and the body prior to any refit.



After many many hours of work the inner fender panels are now fitting the body. It is very important to get the body in this exact position during the final assembly and to keep the body in this position so this gap doesn't change.

As can be seen in this photo, the hole for the cowl light, which was just above the beltline on the body between the door and the hood, has been filled. I thought it would be better to see the car finished without the cowl light installed because the door handles, rearview mirrors and the cowl lights would all be located in a very small area. Three items in one small area may give a rather cluttered look. Therefore, the cowl lights are on hold for time being. They can always be added at a later time since the backings (heavier steel plates) are now installed and the light placements can easily be see from under the dash.



Here is an example of what I'm talking about. Although, I'd never place the mirror and the cowl lites this close together, you get the point. The placement of the mirror on the cowl is desirable since it eliminates any movement of the mirror when closing the doors. I tried to do this but with the American Speed 33 body the mirror ended up centered behind the windshield post on the passenger side. Since this car is going to be a driver the passenger mirror is essential for safety. Let's hear it for Ralph Nader.



 

Finally, it's time to take the car apart, for what I'm hoping is the last time. You can see that the spot welds around the engine compartment have been filled with weld and the seam between the firewall and the cowl has been completely welded closed. This should help keep dust and fumes from entering the cabin. Just doing my part for cleaner air, thank you very much Al Gore.



Now, completely taken apart the frame is getting some final improvements. In the center of the frame where the x braces come together you can see where I had to raise the lateral cross member to allow for the extra large transmission yoke. Since I had to enlarge this opening, cutting into the top cross member instead of the lower also allows me to raise the transmission for greater ground clearance.



I've added a piece of angle iron to each side of the frame, at the rear. This angle iron will have an adjustment bolt which will also be attached to the rear body mounts. The body will be entirely rubber mounted and any movement of the body to the rear, during extreme acceleration, will cause that gap, up front,  between the body and the inner fender panel to enlarge. This bolt will aid in prevention of rear body movement and allow for small readjustments of the body forward or to the rear during the final placement of the body on the frame.




Finally, Phase #2. Apply some paint.



Will, not all is paint. Some will be powder coated.

6/26/2012 Hood Fitting

I'm continuing to do the fitting of the hood. I bought it from the same company who sold me the engine side covers. Having to redo this purchase I would surely do more homework.

There are only a couple suppliers of these parts in the USA, and I'm not too sure if the other suppliers  have better products but I would advise everyone else to look into the very fine details. They might all be the same, but at this point I am having to do a lot of metal working which seems to be excessive. 


 OK boys and girls, for the test question, why did I split the hood on both sides at the curve (added 1/4" in these splits) rather than one cut in the center at the top, and just add 1/2"? Some answers were spot on. The welding of a flat panel, such as the top of the hood, will result in some distortion of the metal which is almost impossible to eliminate. By splitting on the curve this distortion is somewhat controlled, but more importantly the final body work is much easier to complete on a curve.


If you recall from my last post, I had to split the side of the hood and add a small piece on each side so the belt lines of the hood would match the belt lines of the body.  Here is what it looks like after being welded.

After adding 1/4" the top of the belt line of the body and hood are now aligned.






In this picture you can see the 2"wide strip of 1/8"  metal that is curved around the top of the cowl. This will be welded top the underside of the hood for added strength and stability.




Here is another picture from the drivers side showing the reinforcing strip.




Another picture from above.




After removing the hood and turning it upside down, I was able to place the reinforcing strip in position for tack welding.




With some added clamps the final stich welding can take place. Since this reinforcing strip is 1/8" thick there shouldn't be any distortion of the hood, if clamped.



Back to this belt line thing......and after the reinforcing strip has been added.

 Ed R, Tom S and Gary D came over to see the progress so far. Gary D. happens to have built many top quality show cars over the years and currently owns about 15. Therefore he knows what he talks about and within seconds he's zeros in on the belt line. You know, by now I'm feeling rather good that the top lines are straight as an arrow. He then drops the bomb and asks how I'm going to align the bottom of this stupid thing. He didn't call it a stupid thing but that's the nicest thing I'm calling it by now.  

Hood belt line about 1"



Body belt line about 1.25" Seems to be needing about 1/4" in there somewhere.



I split the belt line going forward about 15" with a plasma cutter and then add the necessary 1/4". Now the top and bottom lines are in alignment.



Since the back of the hood is now completed I will need to make the spacing around the front correct. This is a one piece hood, which is not standard for 1933 cars. They had a two piece hood with a hinge down the center. The front of the hinge would end where the tail of the greyhound is. You could open either side of these hoods, or both, to work on the engines of these cars. With the hinge running down the center, the hood panels would not interfere, while opening, with the optional greyhound.

I like the greyhound but chose to go with a one piece hood that opens from either side, for ease of installation, believe it or not.. But herein lies a problem. I'm told that you can't have both, a hound and a one piece hood because the hood will hit the dog when tilting the hood into the open position.

Why can't I remove the dog just prior to opening the hood and also at night when traveling and parked at a hotel? Yep, it can be done.




I made a quarter turn reciever for the dog and the standard cap, which is shown here. I can quarter turn the dog, remove it, and replace it with this cap at any time. I'll  have to take a few more pictures to show how this works.




This picture shows another use for a black Houghton golf towel, as an engine cover. It also shows the radiator cap after the hood has been opened.