The Cal-look Lounge

    Here are a few pictures of my latest project while my NSU is been build. This body is from a 1929 Briggs / Murray the front cowl was narrowed by 3" inches or more so that we could fit the Duval windshield. The floor section is from a 1931[attachment=1]Ford Roadster that I have to do a pie cut to fit the body. I had to cut 6" inches from the center and 9" from the side to make this panel fit the body. I use two rear doors for the extra width on each side from the doors back to give me more room so that I can fit comfortably. The back panel use for this project came from a Ford Phaton which is the back of a front seat and I had to cut 3 inches from the center so it will look appropriate to the body. Once I have the floor board made to fit the body I will weld the body to the floor board as well. Next I will install the engine and transmission together and install it on the frame and have a few braces made to support the assembly together. Here are a few pictures of the project so far.

 Thanks
 Frenchy

   Some more pictures showing the progress.

   Frenchy

   And a few more.

   Frenchy

    Few more pictures as of today where I am with this project. Next weekend I will be welding the floor panel than have it fit to the body and see how it will look than make some adjustment.

  Thanks
  Frenchy

Windshield could stand to loose a couple inches ;)

Looking good!

     Zach

     I was thinking the same thing. I will have to look at it when I have the body done and do a rendition with the windshield chop.

    Frenchy

You have to see it built completer first. But from what I can see right now, the windshield looks perfect!

I don't like that chopped look on a roadster, takes away from the lines of the body and puts it in a different era than the rods I like to see. However since this will be a tub (with truck bed?) it could end up looking totally different. So, curious to see the progression.

    Thank You for your comments I am planning only the tub with no bed. I will be posting more pictures as I go along.

    Frenchy

Hey Frenchy, your '32 just popped up on Pelican Porsche Forums :P

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/661815-time-fess-up-i-went-over-dark-side-2.html#post6592320

   Thanks Bill for posting

   I know of the guy that took the picture nice guy for sure we talked for a while that day. He has himself a nice Hot Rod as seen on an earlier post.

   Thanks
   Frenchy

Hey Frenchy looking good. You might get a kick out of this....I found my 27' Hup at an estate sale last year, original Florida car, it had been taken apart for a rebuild and left for 30 years....I put it back together and buffed it out, been driving it ever since.  Eric

    Thanks for sharing your pictures this car is cool. I notice on the right side it has the compartment for a set of golf clubs way cool.

    Frenchy

   Here a few more pictures of where I am with this project I had to slow down a bit due to the heat here in Arizona from 112 to 118 degrees hard to step in the garage and do some work.

 Frenchy

    Here a few more.

 Frenchy

    Here I have a few pictures showing where I am with this project. After I get done with this one I may have to start on the NSU when it returns from my friends shop.
   

    Thanks
     Frenchy

    A few more. I am not the best welder in town but I am learning and enjoying as I go along.

    Frenchy

Looking good Frenchy.  You are fortunate to have such a talented son who is as enthusiastic about these projects as you are.  Will you be doing your before Bug-O-Rama get together again for the fall BUG-O-RAMA? Will plan on being there if you are. Can't wait to see your progress.

Rick Mortensen

Rick

We are planning for the get together on November 10th so I told Marc today I need to have the car as a roller. next week order the tires and get the body done and in primer than proceed to the chassis engine mounts,trans and steering column.

 Frenchy

   Once I have the body all fabricated my son and I are going to build a removable top for it see pictures below. These pictures are from a car we seen at the Grand National Roadster Show this past year and I like the look of the roof. I was thinking that maybe I can try to fit a Ghia roof with some modifications otherwise we will build our own roof.
  
   Frenchy

Very cool car!

A lot I could comment positively on.
Now I take for granted it will have 3 liter Pauter with a large supercharger on top or similar?

 Actually this one will have a 1953 Mercury Flathead V8 with dual Strombergs carburetors. Three speed Mercury transmission I will be posting pictures as soon as I start on the engine this will be next year sometime as I am concentrating on getting the body build.

Frenchy

What is the length you will need for your removable top Frenchy??? I was looking at it and saw a 850 Fiat hardtop looking kinda right

   It measure driver side to passenger side 46 inches wide and 39 inches from the windshield to the back of the cab. I want to have the side windows to look like the Porsche Speedster very small with a split rear window.
  Thanks
  Frenchy

    Here a few pictures of the radiator shell and grill I received yesterday in the mail. Also my Coker tires bias ply black wall.

Frenchy

   A few more pictures of my progress. Next we will be working on the inside reinforcing under the cowl with braces.
Thanks


Frenchy

Grill looks good, not what I was expecting you to go for. Was thinking more a track nose.

Looks good.  The right tires really make these nostalgic type hot rods.   ;D

I too thought you would do a rounded track T type nose, but of course the deuce grill looks great too

   I have a few updates on my project moving forward. Added the front quarter braces and rear cab braces welded to the sub floor. Also the doors gap are pretty good but I will be adjusting theses doors once I fabricate the door sil area.

Frenchy

  I was trying to see what I would have to do on the dash to fit the top piece so that it would look ok. I was looking to make the top piece but would be a problem for the contour. After looking at the dash with my son we told ourself possibly the dash from a VW bus may have the same contour. I located a dash that was just for parts took it and made a template with cardboard to see. Here are the results when your brain is thinking.

Frenchy

   Here are the latest pictures from this past weekend did all of the cuts to make the top dash piece fit and the cross brace from the bus.

Frenchy

    Here a few more pictures.

Frenchy

   A little more progress from this past weekend. Figured out the location for my engine mounts and the center brace for the transmission mount as well. Next weekend we will be adding various brace across the frame for better support and " Z " the chassis at the rear to set up the rear end and suspension. Here a few pictures to show.

Thanks
Frenchy
[attachment=1][attachment=1]

    Here a few more pictures from this past weekend.

Frenchy

    I modified the frame by boxing in the sides to have the frame much stronger than originally made. Took a while for the box plates to fit around the front engine mounts nicely. Same for the rear box plates to fit nicely around the frame edges once welded in than I will grind out the welds by rounding them off. Next I will be posting pictures of the transmission mount and the cross braces welded to give it more support. And at last we will be cutting the back end of the frame and raising it up to fit the rear end and installing the body back on to see how far up it will have to be sitting.

Thanks
Frenchy

Looking good Frenchy.  The welds are even looking good! Nice work.

Rick Mortensen

    Thanks Rick moving along with the project. In the next few weeks weld all of the box plates and the center braces.

Frenchy

I saw a rod recently with a boxed chassis that didn't look boxed at first glance. The boxing plates had been set inside the chassis rails by 15mm or so instead of flush with the outside. Just a simple visual trick but it really worked!

  It is better to have the box set on the outside edges with a 45 degree to give you the room to add the welds on this edge making it stronger than you can grind the radius making it clean look.

Frenchy

    Here a few pictures of the progress from this past week. We now have a rolling chassis.

   Frenchy

    Here a few more. Next we will be adding the rear shocks and the front as well. The steering box was installed.

Frenchy

Very cool Frenchy.  How much are you channeling the body over the frame rails (if any)?

Rick Mortensen

   Rick no channeling here just the body on top of the frame. So far so good we are doing most of it at Marc's shop.

Frenchy

    I do not want to take all of the credit my son Marc was doing most of the welding on the chassis and he is very anal about the welds and how he wants it to look. So I step aside and let him go at it.

Frenchy

    Here a few updates on the project. This past weekend we had to do some trimming in the cross member brace to fit my Hurst shifter and the linkage to the transmission also the template is showing the additional plate to go around the shifter area. We also had to extend the shifter plate to the right so it would be positioned in the center of the transmission.

Frenchy

    A few more

 Frenchy

Lookin' good Frenchy!
I'm surprised that yer able to row through all the gears without the shifter extension hitting the crossmember. Nice work!

Mark

     Mark

     We have it about 1 inch and it is working well. It was a bit difficult to have it just right.

Frenchy

When yer ready to calibrate your speedometer, let me know if you need a different "driven gear" for the trans. I have several different colors (indicating the ratio) left over from when I did my truck. If I have what you need, it's yours!

   I appreciate the offer.

Frenchy

   After doing some modifications on the center brace to make the shifter area looking presentable my son did not like the way it look so we decided to cut the original center brace and make our own with a solid piece and making it fit better than the original one. Here are pictures showing cutting it off and grinding all the rivets holding the center brace. Next I will be posting the new brace.

Thanks
Frenchy

I had a friend help me and make my rear upper shock mount. The one on the right is the original one I had and was too short.

Frenchy

A few changes from the weekend my son did not like the cross brace and we decided to cut it off and build a new one that would fit better and been able to install the hurst shifter see pictures.

Frenchy

We worked on the project last night and this is what we did. Made the trans mount to fit near the linkage area. The last two pictures showing the two bolts where the plate will be welded in to the brace.

Frenchy

Are  you putting a Splitty dash in that!! boy, that will drive the hot rodders insane! Love it.

Just helped a friend put his track T together. He did most of the work, thrashing everynight afterwork for about a month to get it to Pendine sands last weekend for the first VHRA speed trails. He wanted to keep it all pre 40,Original rails, 36 rear I think, 39 flattie, 3 speedfloor shift, tub is a bit of phaeton and some fabrication. Its a bit 'raw' but ran 84mph
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/neilswheels/VHRA%20Pendine%20Sands%202013/DSC03323_zps652456f7.jpg) (http://s603.photobucket.com/user/neilswheels/media/VHRA%20Pendine%20Sands%202013/DSC03323_zps652456f7.jpg.html)

Looking forward to more updates.

   Slowly but shurely we are making progress on this one. See pictures where we are as of today.

Frenchy

 I brought the car home this past weekend from my son's shop to start installing the brake lines,fuel lines, installing the steering column and figure out the pedal     assembly etc ...Here are a few pictures. I also have the oval fuel tank on order from the Hot Rod shop.

Thanks
Frenchy

   One more front shot.

Frenchy

Very cool, mon ami!  8)

I got a pair of front shocks and I did not like the look of the dust cover so I decided to cut the dust cover off which gives a better look also if you polish the stainless shaft looks better they will be painted gloss black.

Had the chance to work on my project for the last 3 days or so. Ran the brake lines through the frame from the front to the rear. The rear brake line to some time to figure out the best way for routing. Also the clutch cylinder and the brake pedals modifications for the proper angle of the pads. Also made the hoop for the driveshaft for clearance of the body. Fuel line was routed as well and will be going along the frame to the rear where the fuel tank will be installed on top of the buggy spring frame. The brake and fuel lines will be painted black the only detail will be the fittings they will be polished.We modified the pedals so that the steering column would fit better between them and not rubbing against it.The hoop will be trimmed at the bottom to fit evenly with the bar.I still need a yoke for the trans which has 16 splines so I can have a driveshaft made to fit

Thanks

Frenchy

A bit more progress this past week did the fuel lines and finish the rear brake line to the frame with a flexible rubber line. All of the fuel lines will have a compressed ring to join the rubber hose. All of the brake and fuel lines will be painted gloss black and the brakets will be polished. I also started to work on the firewall. The brass fitting also will be polished.

Thanks
Frenchy

I would STRONGLY recommend you not use that plastic Facet fuel pump.

   Have you had issues with them let me know.

Frenchy

When I worked for NAPA I used to warranty them all the time. They would leak everywhere. Is your car better then a plastic fuel pump?

Made some progress on the 31 project yesterday. We made our firewall from various other firewall to fit because originally the body was narrowed 6 inches so the Duval windshield would look appropriate to the body lines. Next I will make the rest of the firewall once I have the template made. Inside the body I had to cut part of the floor board for the driveshaft hoop to fit.

Frenchy

  One more the driveshaft hoop.

Frenchy

       I did accomplish a lot these past few days the firewall was the main area I wanted to get done and was able to fit the steering column as well. I have my parts   from Speedway arriving this afternoon and wanted the firewall completed.

Thanks
Frenchy

A few updates the firewall is done also installed the Beehive oil filter I will have to modify the bracket so the filter is level because of the firewall is at an angle. Also made the wood floor for the inside of the car with 3/4 plywood that will be painted black with a rubber mat sitting on top. The seats I bought at Bass Pro shop and they will be redone in black with gold stiching with the V8 logo in the center also in gold. The body will be done in flat black with the Duval windshield polish brass the engine will be painted in gold close match to the windshield frame. The headlight buckets are going and be gloss black and the headlight rings in brass the fuel tank is the oval style and will be painted gloss black with the brass straps. Dash panel gloss black with the gold style gauges. I will be posting more pictures as I move along.

Thanks
Frenchy

    Here a few more.

Frenchy