A New Interference Issue

12-21-2012  A new and interesting challenge has arisen.  If you examine the back side of the hood sides, there are two features you'll notice.  There is an angle iron stiffener welded to the side near its lower edge.  The latch mechanism consists of a rod that extends the length of the hood with offset latches at each end and a simple linkage in the middle that is moved by the hood handle.  The rod rotates to engage or disengage the latch plates at the front and rear of the hood.  Here's a picture:

The problem we have encountered is that the handle assembly is right up against the valve cover on the passenger's side when the hood is secured.  In addition, the torsion rod part of the hood mechanism barely clears the front of the valve cover.  Check this out:

   

Dan has already come up with a recommended solution that we have discussed (Color me surprised!).  We'll probably move the control handle downwards and to the rear on both hood sides, keeping them symmetrical, and drop the entire latching assembly by a couple of inches to eliminate the interference.  Stay tuned!

Blisters III

11-20-2012 -- And here's what the blister looks like clamped in place:

Needless to say, I'm very pleased with the way this project is proceeding...

Blisters II

11-15-2012 -- The blisters are being crafted!  I went out to the shop today at lunchtime and Dan was well along with the first of the blisters.  He started by creating cardboard patterns delineating the outer edge and the "fold" line where the flange transitions to the bulge.  He then made a frame to hold the flat sheet of steel while he hammers it into shape, using cardboard gauges to measure the depth.  The cardboard gauge will also ensure that the blisters on each side of the car will be identical.

Blisters - Step I

11-13-2012 -- The Blisters

Monday (Veteran's Day) I went to Chattanooga with the Shady Boys to visit Coker Tire and pick up Daniel's new tires for his Model T speedster.  When I arrived at the shop, I realized that Dan has started making the "blisters" that will enable the sides of the hood to clear the valve covers on the engine.  He first stabilized the position of the louvers by fastening a piece of steel behind the ones he needs to cut.  Then he scribed the teardrop shape he believes is needed onto the louvers and flat portion below the louvers and started cutting.  Naturally, as you would expect from this fine craftsman, every scrap is saved and labeled.  He will form a dish-shaped blister from a flat egg-shaped piece of steel and eventually that will get welded into the cut-out area and smoothed in.  Here are some pictures:

 

Lookin' Like a Car

11-7-2012 - The hood is now completely assembled and mounted!  Dan needed to put it in place in order to determine the exact location and size required for the "blisters" that will clear the forward corners of the valve covers on the engine.  The really good news is that the alignment is now close enough that we will not need to do any further body work on the cowl.  It's really looking more and more like a car:

An Issue with the Hood

And now, 11-2-2012, a new challenge has emerged.  It's always a challenge; never a problem.  Dan has placed one side of the hood top in place, attaching the hood hinge in the location where it belongs.  He used this side of the hood to determine the correct location of the radiator shell, since the hood is the rigid piece that alligns with both the cowl section and the radiator shell.  Once he had the hood piece mounted, it became apparent that the rear edge does not perfectly align with the embossed edge of the cowl section on which it rests.  It will be interesting to see Dan's approach to solving this challenge:

Hood Work

Friday, 26 October, 2012 -- I went out to Dan and Deron's today to check on status.  Dan has been working on the hood top panels to detect and repair any irregularities.  Here is the driver's side as it is being worked on:

The channel around the opening for the vent has some minor corrosion, but is remarkably intact considering its age.  Dan plans to clean it real well and prime it with epoxy primer.  There's no need to replace any metal as it's not rusted through anywhere and it gets covered over with a rubber gasket that the vent cover compresses to seal out weather when the vent is closed.

Dan has also started to evaluate the situation with the hood side panels.  I originally elected to go with a 241 Hemi in the hopes that it might fit within the confines of the stock hood on a Model PB Plymouth.  This is not the case.  Even the "baby" hemi is too wide and extends past the plane of the hood sides when closed.  So Dan has covered the valve covers with protective tape as he assesses how big a "blister" we need in the panels and exactly where they need to go:

 

 

More Reassembly

9-22-2012  Both front fenders are now mounted on the car, along with the mud shield that fits below the radiator shell.  Dan says this piece, which I acquired from Andrew Edler, might need a little massaging to fit perfectly, but I expected that.  It's very close to being perfect.  Here's what it looks like -- with plywood (a pattern for the glass) in the windshield frame:

Clearing the Exhaust Headers

9-13-2012  I went out to visit the shop.  Dan is working hard to get the left front fender finished.  It's basically a good sound fender, but it has a lot of surface irregularities -- high and low spots.  He also showed me an article he had seen and copied that describes how an Australian chap built the blisters on the sides of his hood to clear the valve covers of a V-8 engine.  We'll be facing that in the near future.  We also discussed how far back to cut the right fender where it barely misses the exhaust header.  Interestingly, this situation only exists on the passenger side of the engine.  When you look at the clearance on each side, it's obvious that the engine is offset to that side, even though the centerline of the crankshaft is along the centerline of the car.

Front Fender Adventures

9-1-2012  As Dan cleaned up the front fenders, it became evident that they required a fair amount of work.  The right front fender appeared to have been damaged at the factory, crudely repaired, and leaded over to cover up the damage.  It was in the area of complex curvature on the innermost side of the edge where the fender bolts to the running board.  The design of that end of the fender is very poor.  Looking at the underside of the fender, you can see an ell-shaped flange that was welded to the sheet metal.  The problem is that it is fabricated in such a way that it creates a pocket within which dirt and moisture will naturally accumulate.  It was an invitation to rust.  I had noticed that as I found front fenders over the years, they were always rusty in this area (usually rusted through).  And if you look at this picture, it's clear why that happens:

And the whole area near the flange that bolts to the running board had been malformed and required "major surgery."  Here, you can see that Dan has cut the fender in a couple of areas and welded a proper patch.  He is shrinking the area marked by X's and will subsequently weld the cuts back together.  The objective is to have the fender fit the frame accurately where it fastens, fit the running board and align with it, and be free of crude patches and gobs of lead.

You can click on the image to see it in more detail.

And here the fender is finished and remounted on the car.  The vertical joint now lines up perfectly with the splash apron and the horizontal flange on the rear of the fender fits exactly to the running board.

In the meantime, Dan has started working on the left front fender to smooth out a few wrinkles.  He covers the entire surface with felt tipped magic marker dye.  Then, very patiently, he goes over every millimeter of the surface with a flat file or a sanding sheet fastened to a hard flat surface.  This reveals any low spots, even those that you wouldn't see until you got a glossy finish on the metal, and then it's too late to fix.  Here you can see the left front fender in progress:

Windshield Alignment

This week (7-17-2012), Dan got the windshield assembly aligned and assembled and was able to set the top in place.  This is all part of the "pre-assembly" process to make sure everything fits and that no parts are missing.  Next, we'll tear it all back down to resume work on the chassis.

Shrinking the Rear Fenders

7-5-2012:  A few weeks ago when Dan attached the rear fenders to the body, he pointed out to me that previous work had stretched the metal enough to cause a bulge in the beaded edge on both rear fenders.  You can see the problem in the image on the right.  Dan asked me to be patient while he researched the best way to shrink the steel to bring the edge back into a straight line.  At first he thought the best technique might be heating the affected area of the fender to red hot and quenching it with a wet rag.  That works but tends to embrittle the metal and can lead to cracking.  The technique he finally used was to heat the metal to just shy of red hot and quench it with a blast of compressed air.  He repeated this process, occasionally dressing up the surface with a hammer and dolly, until it was straight.  It worked!  I never cease to be amazed at what these metal artisans can do with a torch and a few simple tools.  It's all about knowing how to use them.  Here are the results:

Gas Tanks

One day, Dan Shady asks me if I have "the gas tank" for this car.  I tell him, "I think I may have a couple, or maybe even three.  I stored them upstairs in the garden shed years ago.  I'll check."

Well, today (6-23-2012) I checked.  Here's what I found:

So now, I guess I'll take them down to Shady's this week.  We can determine which one is in the best shape.  I'll take the sending units out of the ones I don't use, clean up the tanks, and sell all of them on eBay over the next few weeks.  I promise you'll never see 5 Model PB Plymouth gas tanks in one location ever again!  And I have no clue where I got all 5 of these fairly rare items.

Rumble Seat Steps

20 June 2012 - A few weeks ago, Dan showed me a strange observation.  Under the passenger side rear fender, there were some extra holes in the body that weren't mirrored in the driver's side.  We concluded that there must have been some kind of reinforcement at each of the locations where the step plates are located for climbing into the rumble seat.  I wrote to my friend Andrew Edler in California, owner of several Model PB Plymouths to inquire about these holes.  Sure enough, Andrew responded by sending us a tracing of each of two different braces along with the side profile to show how the heavy gauge sheet metal was formed.  Then, this weekend, I got to see another Model PB Plymouth sport roadster.  There are two braces, one for each step, exactly as Andrew had drawn them:

  

  

... and now, in early July, 2012, Dan has acquired the 1/8" steel stock and is fabricating the braces:

And, Voila!!!  The pieces are completed and installed.

Rubber Pieces

6 June 2012 - I have ordered the rubber components that we need from Lynn Steele.  This will include the little hard rubber bumpers that cushion the door when it closes.  These are little half-round pieces that fit in preformed recesses in the door jambs.

 

Vun-Vun Day!!!

 Today was Vun-Vun day.  I got to sit in the car, and go "Vun-Vun."  Can't wait 'til I have a steering wheel and pedals to play with!  

Of Motor Mounts and Things

There are several items that need to be crafted from scratch when building a hot rod.  On this car, the motor mounts that supported the original 4-cylinder engine and tiny 3-speed transmission are far different from those needed for a V-8 engine and a modern 5-speed transmission.  The clutch linkage has to be designed and fabricated that ties the original clutch pedal to the new clutch.  Likewise, a master cylinder has to be acquired that will meet the needs of the car and fit within the limited space available, considering exhaust headers, starter location, available mounting surfaces, steering mechanism, etc.  Then a linkage has to be designed tying the original brake pedal to the new master cylinder.  And finally, a transverse fixture has to be designed to keep the engine and transmission from twisting too much as torque is applied to the drive shaft.  On the original 4-cylinder setup, this was accomplished by a leaf spring that extended from the bottom of the transmission to a snubber on the passenger-side frame rail.  Below are pictures of the fabrications that Deron Shady devised for each of these challenges.

Motor Mounts:

Front Motor Mount

Click on image to enlarge.

 

Rear Motor Mounts (connecting saddle passes under transmission)

 

Clutch Linkage:

Master Cylinder and Brake Linkage:

Torsion Stabilizer:

Looking toward front on passenger's side:                                              Looking toward rear, underneath engine:

  

Floorboards!

May 22, 2012 - Dan has now crafted the floorboards that will cover the transmission and provide a place for feet.  He has also built the panel that supports the bottom of the seat.  Originally, there would have been a steel plate covering a square hole under the driver's seat.  This would have been the location of the battery.  We'll be putting the battery elsewhere so one of the two exhaust pipes can pass under the driver's seat on its way to the rear of the car.   These floor panels are made of a high-grade 3/4" plywood and are recessed in the framing that Dan had already made.  They are held in place with screws and special recessed floorboard washers. 

Hidden Door Hinges

 

 The ability to have doors with no visible hinges is made possible by these very cleverly designed invisible hinges.  When I acquired the car, these were very "tired" but Dan has restored them to like-new condition.  When I see hardware items like this, I am extremely grateful that they were with the car.  I can't imagine searching for some of these hard-to-find bits and pieces!