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Old 05-08-2009, 08:42 PM
Kerry Pinkerton's Avatar
Kerry Pinkerton Kerry Pinkerton is offline
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Near Huntsville, Alabama. Just south of the Tennessee line off I65
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Default The Art Deco Imperial Project - Part 21

THE ART DECO ROADSTER PROJECT
9/18/08
Btw, here is a link to a YouTube video of the test drive.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...88186465&hl=en
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty Comstock
...Does your tranny cover have shape, or is it a simple roll?


The original one was pretty simple but there was a TON of wasted space. I started cutting and slicing early on but knew I just needed to start over. This one actually has quite a bit of shape and will have several different tapers and transitions.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty Comstock
...Is the car going to be road worthy at MM08? I'd like a ride


Should be. Probably won't be legal so we won't be able to go anywhere except around the closed up loop. We'll see. I've got the paperwork to apply for a VIN and my Title Lady told me I could register it for whatever I wanted so it's going to be a 1939 Art Deco Imperial. No title for pre 76 and no inspection required.
Quote:
Welcome back Kerry and nice job on the car. Do you have any protection for the gas tanks if the driveshaft disconnects at the rear?


There are two hoops that keep the driveshaft in place but I'm going to make a 1/8" steel shield over the Ujoint since it's so close to the tank.
9/19/08
Here is another thing off the gotta have to drive list...an Emergency brake.

I wanted a hand lever and someone on the HAMB suggested a VW handle. Lewis Gillies is a VW guy and got me one free. A local VW place had new cables and for 5 bucks I got a shortening kit...basically a threaded end with a set screw to lock the cable down.



The VWs have cab les that run lengthwise through the floor and mine needed to come straight up from the bottom so I took some of scrap housing and welded some short ends to the bottom of the lever so it would have a even curve without kinking the cable. I may make a permanent spreader to hold the housing apart but it works fine without it.



The VW housing is only about 2' long although the cables come in various lengths. (that's why there is a shortening kit...) I needed a way to terminate the end of the cable so I made a tab, welded it to the gas tank angle, punched a hole, and tapped the end of the cable for a 7/16 nut.



The Corvette rears have a hook on the end of the actuator arm and to my surprise the VWs was the same. I had to modify the end of the cable by cutting of the end of the old Corvette housing and welding it to the VW end so it would fit in the Corvette bracket.



Took me about a day to figure all this out but it works great. The handle is mounted to the driveshaft hump sheetmetal which will be a more or less permanent part of the inner structure.

The floor pans will go in separately as will the new tranny hump. The tranny hump will have to come out in order to pull the engine/tranny.

9/20/08
Well, no good idea goes unpunished. Now my seats are too tight... So I either need to move the ebrake handle or get new seats.....((&%$###@@%$&*(
9/25/08 Bennett came over Tuesday and the FIRST thing we did was go for a drive.



Bennett was grinning more than I was!



Even got my long suffering wife out for a trip around the neighborhood.



Then it was time to get to work. We designed and built a scattershield that surrounds the rear U Joinyt and protects the fuel tanks in the unlikely circumstance that the U Joint exploded. It bolts in to the chassis and with some careful design, the fuel tanks will actually still come in and out as well as the driveshaft.



Here is the top view. The rear firewall goes in front of it.

I also relocated the Ebrake to the top of the tunnel so now the seats fit again. Still not sure I don't want a more retro seat but after some spirited driving with no seat belts, those side bolsters feel pretty good!



We also made ramps to get the car in the box trailer and made sure it doesn't drag. Tomorrow we'll install some D rings to tie it down and load the trailer.
9/25/08 Quote:
Kerry,
While the 318 may have been more powerful and throatier, there is nothing that beats the sound of a "split six". That motor may have been a pain in the butt at times,but it sounds like it was worth it. Thanks for taking us for a spin.



The 318 was about 200 hp. I'm thinking the SIX is closer to 275-300

It REALLY starts to pull around 3000 rpm. And I agree....nothing sounds like a hot six with split headers.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...88186465&hl=en

You kind of have to listen for it in the bad video but Kris had a great comment about the time I hit second gear...
9/29/08
The sheet metal has been off the car for several months and I haven't seen it at a distance. At Pat Groovers MetalMeet we were able to hang the sheet metal on it outside and get far away (Note the high tech support for the fender and nose!)

At this point I was able to verify that the basic lines were what I was seeing in my head. BIG GRINS!!!

Originally, my plan for Pat's meet was to make the inner fender panels. After talking over various options, I decided to wait on the inner panels for several reasons:

1- I'm not sure that I'll stay with the rear tires currently on the car.
2- With inner fenders in place metalfinishing the skins will be impossible

Sooooo, I'm coming up with bracketry to support the fenders without the inner panels.



With that decision out of the way, Bob Baisden and Bennett Chapman started finishing the decklid that was started at MM07. We had pulled a flexible shape pattern of a bondo buck and that was used extensively. Then it got down to sanding to find low spots and either bumping them up or wheeling them up.



In short order, they had the decklid laying down nicely. It was wonderful to be able to drive the car outside so we could see it fully.
Monique, my aluminum girlfriend, makes a great test dummy...





Humm...needs something...how about a faired headrest?



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