Big ol' 1/8 '32 Roadster, Channeled: As of 4/2/18, she's going to be 1:1.

[cobraman]

Coming right along. Stick with it ! : )

[Cato]

Ya nailed it good Bill.

[dino246gt]

Man I'm loivn this thing! Very cool old school!

[Ace-Garageguy]

 Glad youse guys are liking it.  

The front tire mods are coming along nicely. I put in several rings of .030" stock to reduce the ID of the hard plastic whitewall insert to fit the wire wheels I'm using, and then started the fill process using my old trusty Bondo "professional" 2-part glazing putty.

One difficulty with zeeing '32 frame rails is that the resulting zig-zag mess after 'welding' the stacked parts back together isn't very pretty. I fix this (on real cars too) by cutting and welding in 'finishers' to smooth out the curves.

Then, "boxing plates" get fabbed from sheet stock (again, just like a real car) to close the rails off on the inside. Besides making everything look neat, this adds tremendously to the rigidity of the frame.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is the rear crossmember, salvaged from the gluebomb chassis. I had to cut the ends off to get it out of the frame (half a tube of glue), and even though I've narrowed the frame a tick to be able to channel the body over it, I've added material to the ends of the crossmember so I'll have something to fit and fill gaps when I put it back in where it will have to go to carry the rear spring correctly.

We'll be using the quick-change from the big Deuce kit (it will be modified), so we need to figure out where the crossmember needs to go back in to get the spring in the right place. Once again, just like a real hot-rod build.

We have a fair idea of where the axle has to go to get the stance we want, so we're using a carpy axle from the gluebomb glued to notches in the inner fenders to check location.

Mocking up again, and checking the wheelbase relative to the rear axle centerline, with the body positioned (and glued lightly) correctly on the frame.

With the rear tires on the car, the tail was a tad low, and the front axle ended up slightly too far forward. (The wheelbase on a '32 Ford is supposed to be 106". Even though I will lengthen it slightly on this car, I like to start with things in the right places FIRST, and then go on to modify.)

It took a little juggling and re-positioning of the axle to get the right rear height and wheelbase. Taking the time to get things right at this stage will pay off in the end, with a killer stance and just-right proportions (things that a lot of rushed builds often miss).

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great update. Thank you for detail process for doing the frame. Looking forward to more. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great update. Thank you for detail process for doing the frame. Looking forward to more. 

Glad you're enjoying it, Bob.  

[Cato]

School's in session ! Learn how the pros do it here.

Bill wanna collaborate on the next Rolls I slice and dice?

[Ace-Garageguy]

The hood is getting its hinge slot filled to look like a one-piece custom unit, quite common on rods of all periods. I also almost always kick the bottom of the radiator shells on '32 Fords slightly forward a tick. Without doing this, non-fendered cars usually look (to me) like they're about to trip on their tongues. This is accomplished initially by adding material to the radiator shell where it contacts the corners of the hood.

The gluebomb front axle lost the little buttons that function as kingpins when I disassembled it, owing to a little extra glue applied by the previous owner. Guess he wanted to make sure it didn't come apart at 400MPH. Anyway, I'm drilling out the axle ends to accept real brass kingpins to make assembly of the backing plates easier and more prototypical, and to make the entire front end more stable and less jiggly.

The underside of the glooey rear crossmember needed the locating holes for the rear spring drilled out, as they'd also snapped off in place due to way excess solvent melt. I opened them up to fit the locating pins on a virgin spring nice and tight. This will be important a little later.

A clean non-buggered rear spring is now mounted to the crossmember...

...and test-fitted to a clean, non-buggered axle along with the old QC center section. The NEW axle and spring will function as a fixture to insure the rear crossmember goes in exactly the right place to give us the ride-height and axle location we decided on earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bill wanna collaborate on the next Rolls I slice and dice?

 Sounds like fun. 

Edited October 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

I added a tubular rear crossmember to stabilize the rails and provide a rear mount for the trunk floor. The rear main (spring-carrying) crossmember is going in next, so we need something to keep the rear of the rails square and prevent them from spreading.

We determined earlier, with the nasty old axle, exactly where the axle has to go relative to the body and frame to get the stance we want. Little jigs were made up from styrene stock to insure the location of the axle was maintained precisely, and the NEW axle was swapped into the position the old axle had established.

This new axle, glued temporarily to the body, is now used as the fixture to align and glue in the main rear crossmember, with its spring attached.

The white pads on the ends of the black main crossmember (shown earlier) were carefully filed and fitted to let the assembly just slip between the rails...just tight enough to allow liquid glue to penetrate and 'weld' it in place as it's held by the axle / spring fixture. We are now guaranteed that the rear of the car will sit on the spring and suspension exactly as it did during the mockup phases.

Once everything has hardened up, the good axle will be removed again, and the inner wheel-wells hogged out to provide suspension working clearance, as they will no longer be necessary as fixtures. The car can then sit on its rear spring in the final position, while we make up the new shock mounts.

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Without doubt, the most fun part of any build for me is when I can step back for a bit and get a really good idea of what the final product is going to look like. This is where all the fiddling with the boring bits starts to pay off, and what I need to keep me interested. Taking photos at this point and hanging them over the bench seems to be just about the only way I can maintain the enthusiasm to complete all the niggly little things...and big things...that seem more like work.

I've mocked her up with a face, and stretched the wheelbase 1 scale inch to 107". I've also sectioned the grille shell about 2 scale inches, and decided to lay the windshield back pretty far. I'm usually pretty happy when I like a build from every angle, and sometimes it takes some adjustment to get the proportions and lines to satisfy me. I'll do a 'walk-around' to make sure I like all the different perspectives. I'm pretty happy at this point.

We still have very close to the same stance as the original mockup, but maybe just a tad lower in the rear, and a tick higher in front. The car, to me, now looks more agile and a little less drag-racer brutal.

High front 3/4 works.

Human-perspective front 3/4 works.

Slightly high side-rear works.

Human perspective rear 3/4 works.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy.   

 

[cobraman]

Sweet !!

[bobthehobbyguy]

Looks great. Keep up the good work. 

[LaughingIndian]

Thanks Bill. My winter project will be a 32 and watching your build makes me feel like I'm cheatin! 

seriously, great work. Beautiful design!

 

 

Edited October 18, 2016 by LaughingIndian

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sweet !!

 

Looks great. Keep up the good work. 

 

Thanks Bill. My winter project will be a 32 and watching your build makes me feel like I'm cheatin! 

seriously, great work. Beautiful design!

 

Thank you, gentlemen.   

Not a biggie today, just some greasy bits that have to be addressed.

First batch of chrome parts stripped with my old favorite Easy-Off oven-cleaner.

Then the first wire wheel set into a modified whitewall to check for fit. I need another .010" strip to tighten it up a hair. Also had to 'machine' a little off of the rim so she'd look like a real wheel and not a plastic toy.

The front of the sump in the oil pan had a non-correct slope, which also lost me about a scale inch or so of ground clearance. Hacked it out...

...and replaced the section with styrene stock.

Front axle with both ends drilled, brass kingpins in.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[peekay]

I really like the look. The wires and whitewalls and the stance - just right.

[landman]

Most interesting and inspiring Bill. If I knew where down two and then left is, I'd come down with an office chair to watch & learn.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I really like the look. The wires and whitewalls and the stance - just right.

 

Most interesting and inspiring Bill. If I knew where down two and then left is, I'd come down with an office chair to watch & learn.

Really glad you guys are enjoying it.   

The engine in this build is supposed to represent a 327 Chevy. As such, the block I'm starting with lacks the side mount bosses, but I'll be adding them before going much farther. They need to go in to determine the final engine placement, driveshaft length, and carb-base angle. The side of the block is supposed to look like this.

The heads I'm using are supposed to represent the famous old-school "double-hump" units, one version of which appeared on the 365 horse 327 fuelie engine. I just happen to have a set of real "462" heads on the bench in the big-car shop, picked up last year for a fantastic price (free). They will easily make 350HP with the right cam, headers and induction...plenty to be scary-fast in a sub-2000 pound car.

This is such a big model, I'll be going to the trouble of replicating the "double hump" casting marks that identify these things.

 

Edited October 22, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Cato]

I get the nostalgia Bill but wouldn't a set of AFR 185's pull near 280 cfm? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I get the nostalgia Bill but wouldn't a set of AFR 185's pull near 280 cfm? 

 Sure, for $1500 per pair vs free for the humpers.

The old Corvette FI heads will make plenty of power for what this thing is supposed to be, and probably more power than it can really benefit from anyway. Handling and braking won't be very good with big slicks in the rear and 14" bias-ply tires up front, so even at 350 HP, it's overkill. It's also enough to snap axles in a real vintage QC rear end that's still using old Ford flathead V8 shafts...and nicely explode the '39 Ford top-shift gearbox represented in the model (which currently has the wrong tailshaft housing).

And like I said, that much power in an 1800 pound car (my target weight for the real one) should get the job done. I figure a real solid high 11-second car (if the trans and rear end stay together).

This is also supposed to be (and the real one will be) a low-buck hot-rod like the good old days, where the object wasn't about how much money you could throw at a rig, but how much you could get out of as little as possible. Will there be quicker cars on the street? Sure...but not a lot, and certainly not many built mostly out of "obsolete junk".

I've got plenty of decent 350 blocks, and a 307 crank will give me a large-journal 327, a fast-revving little engine with plenty of torque for a very light car. And cheap...relatively. That leaves me more cash to put into forged pistons, non-snapping axles and a nice 5-speed overdrive gearbox (junkyard), too (I may or may not build a late-model trans for this model, probably not). 

[Cato]

 Sure, for $1500 per pair vs free for the humpers.

The old Corvette FI heads will make plenty of power for what this thing is supposed to be, and probably more power than it can really benefit from anyway. Handling and braking won't be very good with big slicks in the rear and 14" bias-ply tires up front, so even at 350 HP, it's overkill. It's also enough to snap axles in a real vintage QC rear end that's still using old Ford flathead V8 shafts...and nicely explode the '39 Ford top-shift gearbox represented in the model (which currently has the wrong tailshaft housing).

All very valid (and humorous !  ) points. Great way to build fun on the cheap.

I can tell you that 550HP in 2650 pounds runs those 11's, carves apexes and doesn't break stuff. But is like a blunderbuss in comparison.

[Zoom]

Looks very nice and the photos of the details are excellent.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looks very nice and the photos of the details are excellent.

 Thank you.

Right about now, it's necessary to assemble the rear wheels so I can get the required dimension for the rear axle. I like my tires to fit close to the body, with just enough room for suspension movement. The only way to get this right is to assemble the parts that will actually be used, in order to get the exact axle width. The rear wheels on this are made up from scavenged bits. Here, I've started to remove the stepped ring from the American-style centers, to allow the polished rims to fit closer. The centers will be stripped and shot with a lightly textured dark metalizer, to simulate as-cast magnesium.

This shot shows the previously cut-down outer rims, also having been stripped and sanded with 2000 grit paper, wet. They are seen here just after being shot with "aluminum plate" buffing metalizer. Shot WET, 3 coats, like I usually do. Looks like silver paint, no?

The rear brake drums will have to be assembled too. Previously stripped, they were shot with SEM self-etching black primer. This will be the final finish for these parts.

The front spindles and backing plates got assembled with the kingpins in place to keep the bushings aligned.

After they set up, fit was tested on the front axle, and the ends shaved slightly to allow free steering action.

I'm quite happy with the initial effect of the polished rims and lightly textured centers. (The rims were allowed to dry for a couple hours and polished lightly)

They give the rear of the car look I was after.  

At some point, the plan is to turn some new outer rims that capture more of the look of the early Americans. These are early first-generation American mags with no lip on the outer part of the rim, which I personally prefer. The outer rim is tapered and stepped, which my current outer rims fail to portray correctly.

                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bernard Kron]

Here's hoping that your typically elegant design sensibility finds completion in this fine looking channeled rod. Perhaps the large scale and increased detail makes this project seem closer to your vocation. For some that would be negative, denying them of the escapism which can be a purpose of a hobby, but I'm speculating that in your case it may serve as motivation. In the meantime, so far so very good!