Gray Goats Rod and Custom

So my wife and I went on a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary and while cruising antique stores found this wheel.  I wanted something different/unique/cool for the C bucket and ran across this vintage boat wheel.   No idea yet what it was from, and I know I'll need to make an adaptor but the center is steel and the rim is mahogany.  Another project in the progress but it will be different :)  

 So I set the body on the frame, even though is isn't quite time yet, I just wanted to see it and see how the body and grill looked together. As you can see above the grill shell is sitting too low and will need to move up to look right.  Not a bad thing as it will increase ground clearance and now I won't need to modify the grill shell. Well I just had to put the lights on there for fun.  There were already holes and I was just really curios to see how they would look. Grill to body alignment is really important so I wanted to make sure mine would be right. I raised the shell 1 1/2 " and as you can see from the tape stretched along the length the alignment seems just right.  Final alignment will be determined once she is on her wheels and the engine is in place.  More to come so stay tuned!

I included this one just for fun, below are the main accomplishments for the day, rear diagonal braces. Oh and I set the body in place just for fun This was more challenging than it appears at first since the side rails are not at 90 degrees.  The bottom angle is 45 degrees, but the sides are not.  I just marked it and cut it close, then ground it to fit before tacking it in place.

 All the available literature specifies a 5-7 degree positive angle compared to the frames top line with most recommending 5 degrees so that is what I will use on mine.  The question is how to hold the spring mount at 5 degrees, while being sure it is centered on the front tube.   So I found the center, double checked that the frame rails were level Then I made sure it was centered and made this contraption to hold it and have it adjustable. Adjusting the angle is as simple as turning the bolt until the angle finder reads 5 degrees.  Both the frame and mount angle were double checked with a digital level.

 So yesterday The front cross member found it's home, today I refilled the old gas bottles and bent and trimmed the frame rails around the cross member.  Double checking after all this heating and beating revealed that the frame was still square, measuring 114" from corner to corner.  A quick check with a digital level revealed the top edge of the frame is still dead level in every direction. This is how the day started  

 Brief entry today, the front frame horns were trimmed but alas, no gas in the torches so I couldn't bend the tabs down to trim and tack them.  The frame did measure exactly square and the digital level registered 0 degrees in every direction!  Not bad for a 3/4" particle board building table on an old 6' folding table.

Well progress continues on the 27 C Bucket.  Today the second bend was made in the frame rails at the firewall changing the taper so that the rails are the appropriate distance apart to allow the grill shell to fit in its design location.  As soon as time allows the front frame member will be made and tacked in.  At that point I'll be waiting for some custom cut rear frame horns I made patterns for.  Until then here are some shots of the frame as of today     

Today the front cross member went in!!!  It was a little more involved than expected but came out great. These two holes completely wore out a brand new hole cutter bit. The pipe cross member fits firmly between the frame rails and is level and square with the frame. The grill shell was placed back in the proper location and this is the result for today. It remains to be seen if the chin area of the grill shell will need to be trimmed on the bottom for sufficient ground clearance.  

 Well both frame rails are now tapered in the front and have their bends to make them follow the fire wall line While the rails now follow the cowl line by the time they reach the grill shell location they are to close together so another bend illustrated by the lines on the table will be made tomorrow  

 Ok I'm NOT a good welder but I can tack things together until someone who really knows what they are doing can finish it off! The taper runs from the firewall to the front suspension and the kick up is yet to be added to the rear.  Oh and as you'll notice the frame is now straight :)

 So over the last tow days various methods were employed to cut the almost 5' strips from each side of the 2x4 frame material necessary to produce the taper I desired.  Diamond blades in a skill saw and abrasive blades were tried but the steel kept pinching the blades.  I tried a scroll saw and that was ok but SLOW going and very hard to keep straight cuts for almost 5 feet.   Finally I resorted to cut off wheels in my grinder and with proper care was able to achieve very nice lines. The rail on the right is finished and ready to weld.  As you can see the seam is straight and plenty tight for a good weld.  The C clamp and the two bar clamps hole the top of the rail straight against another piece of steel in preparation for tack welding. How necessary are all the clamps? This is what happened after cutting the wedge from side one and making the first cut on side two.  The 2" outside edges moved toward each other 1 3/4"!

 Further work on the frame today.  Started by clamping the left and right rails together and marking them for the vertical angle cuts necessary to follow the body lines. Clamping them together for marking eliminates possible side to side errors assuring a mirror image left to right. Just for fun I set the grill shell in position and measured to get an approximation of the difference between the height of the grill and the height of the firewall I'll start cutting tomorrow but before I did I made cardboard templates the same width as the fame rails and cut the angle in them to be sure the resulting joint would keep the frame within the layout lines.  The results.... PERFECT :)!

So the layout has begun, Because the body is not standard neither is the frame, and it requires a special custom frame where nothing is at a 90 degree angle.  Even the rear end which appears to be 90 degrees has a small angle between the rear cross member and the side rails.   A second angle brings the side rails closer together from the front door frame to the front cowl edge.  From there forward a small angle back outward will keep the side rails the appropriate distance apart for the late 30s grill shell.  More to follow so stay tuned!   

  The main steel is here, I picked up some 2x4 tubing, a 2” forward section and a front perch from Ron Pope Motor sports.   All were waiting on now is some custom cut curved rear plates that will be explained in greater detail

  Well here she is! fresh from the mold the4 first C Bucket roadster.  Though the side lines may look crooked they are in fact straight and the 27 Chevrolet fire wall details are crisp and clear. It won't be long now and the frame will be under construction.   We already have the front suspension, engine and quite a few other components so hopefully construction will speed up moving forward.