Ognib

Thank you, Scott...always good to see you. Been watching your parts going on 10 thumbs project...very nice stuff, kudos!!!! I think these are Winters QC units. See what I can do about carving one of these with my current equipment.

Still got to do an oil pan & at that point, engine will be pretty much all roughed in & I can start dressing it all down together...make it fit. Need a plug of epoxy under the corner of the rocker box for it to set on.

Thanks Scott, appreciate that. There is a certain "charm" in working by hand & I enjoy the challenges & the results when I get it right. But it's hard to match the absolute precision of the digital age with hand work as witnessed by the fact that I have had to do multiple takes on some parts in order to achieve my desired results. Getting there. They are in 50 grit from the big belt sander & only semi finished. Hard to do finish work on it as the area being cut is facing down & I can't see the contact area...but it's quick for rough in. True up the lines & eliminate the scratches by hand. Couldn't resist going a bit boutique ish on the design...a little out of character for me, but what the heck.

Eyeball engineering in motion. While I'm hand shaping on the belt sander & getting it too hot to handle, I've got another one hanging on the fan cooling. It cools slower than it gets hot & the fan helps to accelerate the cycle.

Thanks, guys. David, pleased to meet you, thanks for looking. Scott, wondered if anyone would pick up on that...very astute of you. Actually, they were hot enough after sawing that probably would have blistered my fingers if I'd picked them up bare handed.

Couple pieces of scrap bar stock, hot off the band saw.

Everything's still fitted kinda loose...some burrs from the drilling to clean up...few more holes to drill... Had to see what it looks line in place though. Gotta get some more armature wire in couple different sizes to finish the water pump. Distributor can & will be moved a bit closer to the engine.

Re did the motor plate today. Didn't think far enough ahead when I did it first time & ended up with space conflictions when attempting to locate the water pump bases. That's better.

Kinda tricky sometimes getting all those pieces to clamp up accurately & securely for solder, isn't it?? Looks real good!

Fitting everything together. Shortening the tubes for a tighter fit.

Thanks for looking, Tom...appreciate it.

Still in the mood to mess with the engine so think I'll do the front cover & water pump. Want to get the engine set as far back as possible for front to rear weight bias. Going to move dist to the front with a Summers Bros style distributor mount but featuring more the style & design of the Comp Cam's item. Using a couple of washers to do a quick prototype for size considerations. These two look about right & gives good room for the water pump ports out of the block.

Thanks, guys. Tim, I'm almost too picky for my own good, sometimes. Can't "settle"...just keep doing it until it looks right to me.

Getting there. Headers, take three. #1, upper left, not bad on execution but like a basket of snakes...no continuity or flow of the design at all. #2, upper right, better on both execution & flow, but still not right...too much gap between first & second tube & no space between #3 & 4. That's prototyping for you. refining the design & layout & execution until it works. #3, on the jig...my only guarantee of success is my refusal to quit!

Ongoing mock ups It was a dark & lonely canyon road & like a giant black snake, it twisted & curled into the night...

Thanks, Mike...my pleasure.

Hey Lance, are you experiencing fracturing & breakage of the metal or just collapsing of the tube walls? If it's breaking my guess that your material is too hard an alloy...similar to the breakage problem I had earlier when trying to bend for the headers. My problem was solved by sourcing a softer material. I'm using rod because the radius I need for the headers is not the same as the radius on the benders I have. So to be able to bend around dowels & retain the shape, I just work with solid rod.

Learned some stuff on the first set yesterday. One thing is the short bending post that clamps to the jig vs freehand bending off jig. Really shortened the time & frustration factors on this second bundle. Will definitely be re-bending the first set...this attempt is so far superior as far as continuity & flow & fit from one tube to the next.

Thanks, Tim. The line you're seeing is the axle centerline for a stock 109" 32 wheelbase, laid down when I first set up the jig. After I decided to rake the grill shell, I also wanted the front tires out slightly in front of the grill...In order to accomplish that & keep the visual balance wanted...wheelbase has been extended 8" over stock @ 1:1

Thanks, Scott. I already cut the top 4" @ 1:1 back when I converter it from 5 to 3 window config. Just have to use the header system to fill the space & keep visual balance.

Hi Scott, good to see you...always enjoy your comments. Wild & unique, thanks, that's exactly what I want here. Don't want to build no cookie cutter car A couple of spots still need a bit of tweaking, but this is the basic config I wanted. Maby 80% satisfied at this point.

Thanks, really appreciate the comments. Yes, luthier going on 20 yrs now. Before that, 33 yrs in auto shops. Transferred the tubes location down to the platform so I could locate it accurately with the body off. Bent a couple of down & dirty hanger straps to hold it while I fit the header tubes to it. Later, when I'm doing the floor structure, I'll build a nice set & incorporate them into the overall design. Everything's in rough in right now...but gotta, gotta make sure everything fits now, before finishing.

Glad you stopped in, guys. Thanks for sharing your comments, much appreciated! It's our nature to seek the approval of our peers & reassuring to know that they view our design elements & work favorably. If it doesn't work out, Just one clean cut left the lower section intact...a strip of mat, 1/2 oz resin & 15 min it's back to the way it was. So far, I'm diggin it. The name aptly describes my attitude towards this build...not yer daddys 50's era hot rod deuce coupe...extreme in every dimension. Gotta fab a couple of mounting brackets for the dump tube, to hang it off the frame & then it'll be header time. I got 20 ft of soft alloy 1/4" armature wire...no more broken bends. Didn't lose any cabin space, as the floor will still set on top of the frame where it would have anyway.

It has been my plan from the git-go to re-shape the rear wheel house body line to fit around the tire. That with the removal of a section off the bottom of the body would give something like this. The more I think about it, I really like the idea of having all my chassis/frame work exposed to view. A sectioned hi-boy, if you will...with total body height unchanged. A bold styling stroke or lunacy...who knows... Previous