Author Topic: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster  (Read 46566 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline maguromic

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1736
    • http://www.barringtontea.com
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2011, 12:38:25 PM »
John,

On that Liberty box, are you going to use the shifter or are you are going to air shift it? 

Tony
“If you haven’t seen the future, you are not going fast enough”

Offline Rex Schimmer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2625
  • Only time and money prevent completion!
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2011, 12:41:22 PM »
Pretty obvious from the picture that you have picked up a welding torch and some fabrication skills also design. Great looking frame and a great start to what is looking to be a great build. What is your background?

Rex
Rex

Not much matters and the rest doesn't matter at all.

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2011, 03:25:26 PM »
Rex;
I was a metal fabricator for Dan Gurney's All American Racers during the Toyota GTP days. Those cars were built entirely in house so it was a great time doing the fabrication. As I mentioned earlier on this build diary, even thou I was into racing, I wasn't a hot rod guy. That first trip to Bonneville changed that forever!

The one thing I realized during the building of this car, is that land speed racing is one of the last forms of motorsports where an average guy can build a car himself and compete. Building a race car is not one big project. It's a thousand or more SMALL projects, or should I say problems, that need to be overcome.  And when you solve these individual problems by innovative thinking, trial and error, or just dumb luck, it is a great feeling of accomplishment.

Offline 38flattie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2169
    • http://www.flatcadracing.org/
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #18 on: March 30, 2011, 03:26:21 PM »
Very nice craftsmanship, and a super cool build! :cheers:
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead. -- RFC 1925

You can't make a race horse out of a pig. But if you work hard enough at it you can make a mighty fast pig. - Bob Akin

http://www.flatcadracing.org/
http://youtu.be/89rVb497_4c

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #19 on: March 30, 2011, 03:31:52 PM »
Tony;
I'm going to use the manual shifter this year. For Bonneville, I think it will be fine. El Mirage might be a different story. For my first trip to Speedweek, I want to try to eliminate any items on the car that might be problematic, in other words, keep it as simple as possible!

Offline Skip Pipes

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 268
  • I hate being bipolar, its awesome!
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2011, 01:53:16 AM »
Hi John,

I’m always surprised at how difficult it is to build “a supposedly simple” racecar. But the brutal truth is it’s a challenge to make the design comprises necessary to pull it all together into a successful racecar/work of art.

Incredibility well done!

Skip Pipes
Skip's Garage
Builder of the SUNBEAM ALPINE Police Interceptor

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2011, 07:12:58 AM »
Skip;
It's a Little after 3:30 AM and I'm in the shop. My minds going like it's on a record setting run. Have you been there, done that? I know you have. Pretty cool having two new roadster builds 5 miles apart.

When I started the frame, I didn't want the floor and step pan brackets permanent to the frame as I wanted to be able to remove them to prevent rust between them, so they were drilled, tapped and bolted on. I powder coated the frame. I know there have been some comments on Landracing.com recently about P/C. If my car was an off road car or truck, I wouldn't P/C the frame. A landspeed car probably sees more stress going in and out of the trailer then it sees on a GOOD run. A BAD run, on the other hand... well we won't worry about that yet. I was worried about P/C build up on both frame and floor/step pan mounting angles requiring all the mounting holes to be opened or filed, so I had the mounting angles coated with a process called Ion Vapor Deposition (IVD). It is a vacuum plating process that deposits pure aluminum on nearly any metal. It has very high corrosion resistance and is .001".002" in thickness. A good friend of mine, Tim Connell, of Connell Chevrolet here in Costa Mesa has it done for me by Embee, Inc in Santa Ana. He has been a great help and enthusiastic supporter in this build. The picture below shows the coated angles, and also the exhaust as it snakes thru the frame.

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #22 on: March 31, 2011, 07:51:09 AM »
No matter how long, or how much you scratch your head to avoid boxing yourself in the corner, you still sometimes do! At the rear of the frame, I realized the lower 4 bar would be resting hard on the very top edge of frame in droop. With the weight of rear end and springs on coil over shocks extended, it would probably bend the 4130 .06 wall 4 bar tube. In addition, I found I wouldn't be able to get shocks on unless I compressed springs (pain in the ars). So I notched the top of the frame for clearance. I  realized this would take some structure away from a critical junction. I was always going to just cap the end of chassis so I could run a rag thru it yearly for cleaning and a little rust preventative. So I machined an aluminum block that slid nicely inside this rectangular frame member, and drilled and tapped into not only the inboard surface of the tube, but the frame upright as well. And, the aluminum block makes for the ideal mounting of the end plate.   Like I said, it's not a BIG project, just lots of LITTLE problems!

Offline Drewfus

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 38
    • http://www.smv.com.au
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #23 on: April 03, 2011, 06:32:32 AM »
if the fab work is a guide to the rest of the build then I'm impressed, lookin forward to seeing more as it takes shape.

As a side note though....the hoops that join the main cage, right or wrong I think they are supposed to have plate gussets....? I note that you've added the trimmed bars to effectively create a gusset, but from memory these, if built to the book, should be plate....am I dreaming?

Regardless, looking forward to seeing more,

Drewfus :-)
"Build it small, Drive it BIG"

Offline Tzoom

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 137
  • All revved up with no place to go - Meatloaf 1977
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #24 on: April 03, 2011, 10:39:26 AM »
The one thing I realized during the building of this car, is that land speed racing is one of the last forms of motorsports where an average guy can build a car himself and compete. Building a race car is not one big project. It's a thousand or more SMALL projects, or should I say problems, that need to be overcome.  And when you solve these individual problems by innovative thinking, trial and error, or just dumb luck, it is a great feeling of accomplishment.

Words of wisdom that could inspire.  I had similar feelings when I built my first street rod.  I think I will take these words, put them on a sign and hang it in my shop.   
Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games --- Ernest Hemingway

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #25 on: April 03, 2011, 11:11:37 AM »
Drewfus:
The roll cage gussets I used were approved by both Lee Kennedy, SCTA Car Technical Committee Chair, and Steve Davies, SCTA Car Chief Inspector. These gussets are formed and used for this specific purpose, to reinforce tube junctions. It's just my opinion, but plate gussets are not very attractive, and, no matter how much you chamfer or radius the edges, you still have a straight "blade" of material in cockpit.

One of the things I did during the build of this car was ask thousands of questions. I am fortunate that minutes from my house, there is a wealth of landspeed knowledge. This group, lead by salty veteran and grand puba Jack Underwood, along with his merry men, meet daily in a secret hideout known as "Jack's Garage". They have helped me immensely. I have called Russ Eyres numerous times to help me understand some of the grey areas in the rulebook (grey areas in the rulebook?). He was always eager to help me. I've called Mike Cook several times, and he always took the time to help a newcomer to the sport. Steve Davies has answered questions and even came to my shop to look at car to make sure I was pointed in the right direction.

After my first Bonneville experience, if I could have bought a book titled "How a Newbie Gets Started in Landspeed Racing and Wants to Build His Own Car", I would have paid a thousand dollars for it. Not only would it have saved me hundreds of hours in time, it would have saved me that much in scrap material!
John
« Last Edit: April 03, 2011, 11:13:46 AM by jww36 »

Offline maguromic

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1736
    • http://www.barringtontea.com
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #26 on: April 03, 2011, 01:19:24 PM »
John, The detail on your chassis is amazing!!! Looking forward to your next update.  :cheers: Tony
“If you haven’t seen the future, you are not going fast enough”

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #27 on: April 03, 2011, 03:15:15 PM »
Thanks all for your complements. Anyone is capable of doing this. You just got to be a little crazy, work hard, and not compromise your efforts.

I put in a little extra effort in trying to seal the cockpit from El Mirage dust. Picture is of closure panels around bell housing, trans, and drive shaft cover.

Offline jww36

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #28 on: April 03, 2011, 03:17:11 PM »
Closure panels

Offline gotzy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 72
Re: 1934 Ford Gas Roadster
« Reply #29 on: April 03, 2011, 05:53:14 PM »

A little extra effort, that's an insane finish, sure you not off to Pomona for the GNRS?

Got any close ups of your gussets and comments from the SCTA on their acceptance?

You Socal boys really do have it easy as far as nipping round the corner for some LSR exprience....