1930s Era Champ Car - new project

Slot head, not Phillips.

 

You got 'er 64DODGE 440, like the body-to-frame attacment bolts. Only I may use Locktite to keep them tite.
(Fun fact: When my boys were tots they used to call slotted screws "flat twosies" to differentiate between Phillips heads. So that's what the family still calls them.)
Flat Twosies it is.

 

Every little incremental gain in parts acquisition demands a little note. Today I went to an auction of a welding lab and picked up a collection of crimp-on terminals and a 12 foot length of heavy duty #1 gauge welding cable to use for battery cables. I got it for a pittance. I like welding cables for several reasons:

The finely stranded wire carries more current
It is very pliable to make for easier routing.
The insulation is resistant to high temps.

I staked a lug on one end to connect to the master ON/OFF switch.

 

A few more details got done on the shifter / console.
Four SPST switches came in and got mounted. I made a copper buss bar that connected all the fuse sockets.
The reverse lockout and reverse arm were cut and bent to their correct size.




The reverse lockout with the gear shift in the R position:


When they are mounted on the trans they are hardly noticeable, which is what I want, yet accessible by the driver.

 

Looking good!

 

I wired up the console module. In addition to the other switches I installed a momentary toggle switch for the starter motor. I also installed a horn pushbutton that is powered off a separate (red w/white dot) feed. That feed will bypass the inside master cutoff switch (blue #12 gauge feed), being only armed through the exterior master shut off switch (Bozo's nose). That way I can see if the exterior switch is armed with a tap of the horn. Still need a voltage gauge and labels on the fuses.

(Tech Tip: SBChevy valve stem seals make good wire loom organizers.)

 

Now that's a tip worth stealing again!

 

Avert your gaze! I decided on an illuminated digital, non-traditional volt meter. I did not think an analog trad gauge would be visible tucked up in there so the one I put in will be more easily viewed.

I mounted the kill button directly below the steering wheel because there was no other place on the panel that was easily reached in a critical situation. Now its time to mount the dash panel. But to do that I will have to smooth outthe cowl sheet metal imperfections so I won't have to smear on gobs of filler, and then make a halo to attach the gauge panel. After that decide on traditional looking tach, oil pressure and temp gauges - that's all.

 

So is that a repurposed MI 15 sign? Just curious...

 

SPEED LIMIT 15 being overlapped with a park entrance sign.
Damn hoodlums!

 

Well then, it's an appropriate repurposing of old sheetmetal. And it should be able to exceed 15 mph in its new use...

 

Just to be clear: I do not steal road signs while they are in service.

 

There was that time 5 decades ago involving road sign posts, a mid 50s sedan and a cutting torch. But I'm much better now...

2x2 eighth inch wall square tubing, just piled there in one of my mother's fields. A highway contractor was using the field to get equipment and supplies off the road during reconstruction of the highway by her house. You know it's really easy to build a square cornered roll cage in those 50s sedans. Never made it to the track however. Bought an already built and running 57 Chevy instead. And was it fugly!

 

I now have to address mounting the dash panel. This presents a dilema on how to make the flange that the dash screws into.

A) Do I cut it out of a piece of flat sheet stock? This would mean lots of band sawing or plasma cutting with most of the blank stock being scrapped.

OR

b) Do I figure out a way to bend flat strip stock on edge, to follow the curvature of the cowl section? This saves material and cutting time but means building some single-use tooling.

I decided to see if I can get strip stock to bend on edge. Starting with an old tractor gear I made an arbor and bushed the gear hub to fit the DiAcro bender. This will be the bending die. Then I milled a slot in a scrap piece of 1/2" thick aluminum to use as a shoe to hold the strip stock. I made a pivot shaft for the shoe and by a happy accident I discovered the left over tail serves as a ratcheting mechanism, so I can feed-and-pull, feed-and-pull, forming a gentle curve. I made a curved sample piece to confirm proof of concept. Tomorrow I will try to bend a piece of 1/16" thick 4130 strip into the correct arc to fit the car.

 

After bending the panel anchor strip edgewise into a curve it soon became evident that I had to come up with a way to fix it if I overbent it. I used a chunk of aluminum with a slot milled in it and used it to hold the strip after locking it in the groove with a piece of square key. The hydraulic press could then press out some of the curvature.

 

The hoop has its final shape. Tomorrow I will MIG stitch it on to the cowl. I'm a little nervous about burn-through of the cowl so I chose MIG over TIG for that reason. Besides, some welds are upside down (overhead) and I don't have good access to do that with TIG. I may go back over the MIG welds with TIG, to knock the weld beads down out of sight.
Then I need to figure out how to precisely drill and tap the panel and the flange.

 

I almost forgot about seat belt mounting points. I had to move a couple of things around to make room. The driver's side required I make a little wowoose in the fuel line. The passenger's side required I move the hand brake return spring anchor. The instructions for the harness said to locate the attaching point 2.5" ahead of the seat and backrest juncture.


The instrument panel mounting flange is spot welded on and even though it only has spot welds at this point it feels rock solid. I only burned through the skin in one spot - it will be easy to fix. The panel fits good.



WooHoo! Its time to order a gauge pack.

 

Nice! But who reads instructions?

 

...only when my life is at stake.

 

With the addition of seat belts the seat pan also required some mods. I added slots with rolled edges to prevent belt abrasion.





Except for adding Dzus buttons for attachment and upholstery the pan is done.

 

That 1st picture reminds me of someone! Oh well what can I say...

Looking good.

 

Just rereading, looking for the hood strap spring kit you used. Bookmarked it. Then decided to continue on, looking for more ideas to plaigerize. Came to this post, and have to say I'm with you on that thought. You nailed it exactly. It's time for us all to start using up those "Someday " items, because we're not going to get younger.

I've been working on the Whatever project for years, making stuff as I dreamt it up. It's coming along okay. And now I've started planning Sonny, son of the Whatever project. It's not that well defined yet (hey the Whatever has been gestating for decades), but I hope to be a little bit faster with Sonny. And it's getting all of those saved for posterity parts. Ratrodder might be finishing it, but who knows...

 

The hood now needs some serious attention. I put too much crown in it at one point and it work hardened, making it hard to shrink. So I built a bonfire and annealed it a few hours. I selected a sweep that has about an inch of curvature in it and I'll try to get it back close to that crown, while keeping the sides flat.

 

The Santa Summit brought me some champ car bling. Classic S/W Winged Logo Tach and gauges. Sometimes I install the gauges where nominal gauge headings are straight up; i.e., the tach needle would be pointing straight up at 6000 RPM; the oil pressure needle would be point straight up at 60 PSI; the temperature gauge needle would be pointing straight up at 200*F. Which way do you think would present well? Logos straight or needles straight up?

 

Logos straight with a red line on the panel at 6000 RPM, 60 PSI, and 200F

 

Needles at nominal straight up. Quicker to know the readings are where you want them. That's what we did in the modified. Jim could only get a quick glance at the gauges maybe 1 time per lap max. So it was easy to get the readings that way.

 

For example:




1932 Studebaker Indy car build - Speedsters - Antique Automobile Club of America - Discussion Forums (aaca.org)

 

Those are all beautiful examples Mike. I struggled with the gauge placement too. In order to be able to read them easily with my hands on the steering I'm putting them inside the steering wheel arc. I will add a low oil pressure warning light above the steering wheel sight line. And place the steering wheel spokes at 45 degrees from TDC.


PS: Look at the screwdriver slots on the last picture Mike. Notice that all the slots on the flat twosie screw heads are aligned horizontally? Attention to detail, even though the AutoMeter logo on the gauges is a little too modern. Now I'm sounding a little OC.

 

Like this?




Look closely at the inspection cover fasteners in the lower left corner. you can see the slots are arranged in a vertical orientation, a 45 degree angle on the corner fastener and then all horizontal along the horisontal fasteners with a very nice "S" pattern safety wire installation ( by none other than yours truly). Too bad you can't see the entire inspection cover but you get the idea.

 

OCD! But I love it!