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1959 Chevy truck frame for Bruce

Bruce had bought a kit from Morrison A&M for his truck and had done the majority of the installation himself. He didn’t realize just how much work those universal kits take to install. So he contacted us to check his work and if it was good to TIG weld everything in place. When he dropped it off, we discussed what had been done and what needed to be done. The frame still needed boxing plates for the front and for the rear plates to be final welded. I offered to build a tubular crossmember system just like the ones we built for our frames and Bruce went for it.

Brian and I set off on a metal flinging frenzy of crossmember removal, cutting, grinding and tube bending. A bit more measuring and I placed the engine and trans then fabricated a nifty set of engine mounts that clear the steering rack and pinion. Thirty plus hours later, we had this!



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Fab-table fab

Been a busy few months here, this spring has been interesting for sure.

We had been without a large fab table since Adam pulled up stakes last year. The small setup table had been good enough for the last year but now we have new jobs coming in and the need for a new table was paramount. I prefer a larger flat sheet table with threaded holes for attaching fixtures and clamping down components, the last table had random holes that fit the individual fixtures I built, the new one has a grid for more universal measurement and hold downs.

I started off by deciding exactly how large I wanted it to be. My last table was 4X16 foot and was perfect for building narrow classic truck frames. It was a bit narrow for some of the other cars we were contracted to build. This new table is 5X12 and only 20″ off the floor. The deck is 1/2″ A36 steel and reasonably flat and the frame is made from 8″X 1/4″ channel iron.

Here is a few drawings of what I intended to build.

 

While waiting for the steel to show, I plasma cut all the legs and cut all the gusset tubing and reinforcing materials.

Just as I wrapped up the cutting and the new top and beams showed up and got to cutting the beams into the correct lengths and then cut forklift holes for moving in the future and a series of “keyholes” in the side beams to attach different fixtures or just chain binders for straightening, repair or just holding down unruly frames and assemblies.

With all the parts cut and prepped, the layout begins and the sub assemblies get welded up and test fit.

Now the real assembly begins, I started by squaring one end and inserting the end gusset tubing and welded it solid.

I then installed the first of the two center support beams, squared it, diagonally measured it and welded it in place. Then moved to the second support beam and did the same procedure.

Last was the other end beam and gusset. It went in surprisingly well, only needing a bit of tension to take the twist out of the side beams. Of course I diagonally measured each cell of the frame as I went and also checked for squareness overall. It was square to less than 1/16″.

Frame done and square I installed the center leg and support then the four perimeter legs. Rolled it over and welded everything from the top.

Quick coat of paint and install the swivel feet, level the frame and put it in it’s final resting place.

The table top was placed on the frame and as luck would have it, my plate was very flat. Only minor waves which was a bit of a surprise. Instead of welding the top to the frame I decided to bolt it down with flat head hardware tapped into the frame. Four holes on each of the end beams and the two center beams hold it in place nicely. I also scored a heavy centerline mark in the surface to aid in building and fabricating.

The last task before put into use was to drill and tap 168 1/2-13 holes in the table surface.

 

Now the fun begins! Building new fixtureing and tooling. But at least we have a solid base to work from now.

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Just gimme some traction!

Kevin brought his pro-built ’32 Roadster to us to solve a traction issue.

He had the car built a few years back by another shop here in town. When they set up the car they used common street rod parts but set them up at a ride height they were not intended to be used at. The rear was set up with a triangulated four link and Aldan coil overs. Even with sticky slicks, he couldn’t get decent 60′ times due to the tires dancing and skipping around.

We set the car up on the rack and started measuring things and found he had -65% anti-squat! It’s a wonder he could drag race this car at all. We even tried doing a smokey burn out but could barely leave black marks on the pavement. Notice the exhaust getting pinched between the lower bar and the frame.

We discussed our options and Kevin decided to ditch the under car exhaust for a cone/lakes header arrangement and that freed up the under side for our favorite, the torque arm. I crunched some numbers and determined we needed to shorten the rear links and also raise them about 2″ from their original mounts. With the 39″ long fabricated torque arm and new lower mounts (plus a new panhard) we were able to deliver a 138% positive anti-squat!

Kevin took the car out for a test drive and was very pleased at how much more controlled the car felt. The dancing deuce is no more!

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Machine tool repair and rebuilding

I was given a derelict, Italian made cold saw by a very generous customer who owns an aviation repair shop. He could no longer use the machine as the guard was broken. I sat on it for years  and finally got the thing wired up to see if it even worked, it works just fine except for the coolant pump which seized up and is very obsolete. Without coolant the very expensive blades do not last at all.

I finally had enough of a lull in customer work to put some work on this machine. The guard was held on with a plastic collar. This collar has to have a quick release to make changing the cutting blade easier and it had to be fairly compact to maximize the cutting area of the blade. I found a grinder guard with a nice over-center release mechanism I could re-purpose and put in a day of labor and head scratching to build this aluminum collar with a double jointed hinge that works very well.

With the mechanical pump being obsolete, I could have repaired it but chose to install a more modern electric coolant tank and foot pedal switch. I drilled and tapped the base for a fitting in the back of the original sump and fabricated a new tray to mount the new Little Giant sump pump. I then enclosed the front and sides of the cabinet with 0.060″ aluminum panels held on by Dzus fasteners in case I need to get access to the pump. The panels should keep the majority of the dirt and grime that makes my “dirty room” what it is.

Notice the small foot switch inside the cabinet. I sourced that from Mc Master Carr for $25.00.

The original cover for the coolant reservoir was broken and filthy. I tried to save it but gave up and sliced up a section of 1/4″ aluminum and machined the sump tray on one side and punched a few holes in it to mimic the stock cover. Also needed to make some hardware to hold it down tight.


And it’s ready for service!

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1931 Model A build up: Front Suspension

Last left off with the frame fab, we have done a ton since.

This HAMB thread covers quite a bit of the progress: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404411

This is one of those things that gets overlooked in the details. The aftermarket has come up with some stellar components and some not so stellar. But when you use high volume production parts, your car will look just like everyone elses. This car does use SoCal hair pins and a SoCal forged heavy beam axle but that’s about where it all ends.

This car runs the spring behind the axle, what is commonly known as “suicide” and requires special batwings or hair pins to mount the spring and carry the entire load of the front of the car. Not one to skimp out we cut and machined a nice pair for this car. Our initial mock up was using the supplied SoCal stainless steel pieces. Very nice with a shock mount integrated. Just not the parts we really wanted.

With a way to attach the spring to the axle, we needed to attach the hair pins to the frame. The shape of the frame plus the location gave us a few different options. Most people would weld a tube or bung into the frame to attach a HEIM or bushing to. We opted for stainless steel tie rod ends from So Cal and fabricated this nifty little plate that cancels the angle between the frame and hair pin.

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Studebaker stampeede


Howdy folks! Been busy as all get out with Studebakers last week. We had a 1955 Commander post coupe in for a suspension upgrade and rare 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo in for an engine swap that may turn out to be a fairly serious build.

The 55 was really straightforward. We had previously build a clip for Mr. Desenberg’s 1960 Hawk and realized we had made a mistake in pushing the suspension too far up int the chassis causing problems installing the engine. A problem with the GT I will get to in a minute. I pulled up all my Alibre’ drawings and revised them to not only correct this issue but also refined the design and now we have a production capable clip. The installation took us about 14 hours in total from remove the front sheet metal, saw off the original suspension and install the new suspension. We included a set of our tubular control arms, Granada brake upgrade and power steering rack all for $4000.00.

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Studebaker clip

Mr. Metivier picked up his car just after we took in the rare Gran Turismo. Nice car on the outside. Someone had swapped the stock front sheetmetal for the older and cooler IMHO 53-54 sheetmetal. Brought in by our good customer, www.steeldreamz.com they were looking to swap out the really low mile small block Chevrolet engine and transmission for a more modern LS series and four speed automatic. As is our normal practice to do such a thing we removed the front sheet metal to get better access to the frame. This gives us more room to work and perform a more professional job. Doing this uncovered the previous owners work. They had installed a Fatman Fabrications front subframe. Due to design of this suspension clip, engine installation is nearly impossible without cutting the floor out and building a new trans tunnel and rebuilding the firewall. Sure it gets the car really low without dropped spindles but if it were designed with more forethought, similar results could have been achieved and made engine installation much easier.

This shows just how much of the inner fender needed to be cut away just to clear the upper control arms.

suspension into the right side inner fender

Rather than cut into the body further the installer decided to modify the suspension. Path of least resistance for him I am sure. However this created an entirely new problem, bumpsteer. Not only was the crossmember cut and dropped the rack and pinion was mounted lower off thick straps. Dangerous and crude, very nice combination.

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We are still waiting for input from the customer on this one. He want’s to replace his Mercedes Benz daily driver with this car. This is something we can do for him, just not with this mess of a front end.

What is desired is a car that will drive very well, handle and brake and last as a new car would. What we would very much like to do is replace the Fatman clip with our kit. Our tubular control arms which are not only stronger but upgrade the ball joints and use OEM rubber control arm bushings for a much better ride without the polyurethane squeak and harshness. A set of Bilstein shocks and matched springs. A Flaming River variable assist rack and pinion would definitely set off the steering feel. And if there is any budget left, we would really like to rebuild the rear suspension with a torque arm system and Bilstein coil overs in the rear.

Here’s the links to the pictures:

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb93/ELpolacko/1953-1962%20Studebaker%20Hawk/1955%20Commander%20Metivier/

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb93/ELpolacko/1953-1962%20Studebaker%20Hawk/1962%20Studebaker%20GT%20Fatman%20Fab%20repair/

I am going to try and make this blog a weekly thing, so, until then. Adios!

Steve