1931 Chevy 4door into pickup.

Got my shifter made up. It ain't no bonehead but it'll work.

That's kool!

Thanks SF. I had cut the threaded portion off the old shifter cause its a weird thread and I don't have the taps for it a few months ago, found a piece of round stock that would work, drilled a hole into it using the lathe at work(all I have access to are the bits for using as a horizontal drill press), and welded the two pieces together. Finally got around to bending it today. I'm thinking I should have gone a bit lower but it works. It's still really heavy even with drilling all the holes in it. And the piston on top doesn't help much either. Decided to see if the tank I built would fit and alas, she doesn't so back to the drawing board. I've got an extra piece of 10ga that I think I'll make it out of. Measured everything up and it can only be 15" deep, 15" wide, and 24" long. Should be about 24 gallons if I go those dimensions. I may instead go 12x15x24 or even 12x12x24 just to give me a little more wiggle room between the frame and driveshaft. If that's the case it'll still be between 15 and 20 gallons. Looked at jeggs, summit, and speedway and none come close to the right dimensions.

Check out Tanks Inc. they have a lot of universal tanks.

I like the shifter! You can use a piece of aluminum tube for the shaft of your shifter if that steel is too heavy. There are a batch of places that sell aluminum twisted bar which would be cool too. It gives a pretty cool look without the weight. I kept discarding shifter ideas because I worried that they would be too heavy when I did mine. Of coarse mine's now an auto so it's a lot less important that it be light.

Thanks for the link Bruno but they don't even have any in the dimensions I need. They're all too long, too wide, too tall, etc. so anyhow, I started making my tank today. It's a lot heavier than most I'm sure. More like one you'd see in the bed of a ranch rig. Used the "scrap" piece of 10ga I had lying about. It was just enough to do the bottom and all 4 sides. Still need one more piece to make the top from but I also need to find a VW sending unit so I can determine where te baffles are going. I've had these old steel steps for a while and the grate of them is going to work perfectly for the baffles. Probably a bit overkill as the tank is on the small side but it'll keep the gauge accurate. Once I got the tank built, or at least the bottom, I drilled 2(one for supply and the other for return) 1-1/8" holes in the bottom front corner and welded in some bungs to accept 1/2" pipe thread. That way if I need to go larger I can and if it's too big I can always reduce it down. When I mount the tank I'll mount it at a slight incline so that I know I don't stave the engine of fuel. The worse thing you can do with these old Diesel engines is run them out of fuel. The fuel is what libricates the injection pump which is why we see so many Cummins diesels dead, people always starve them of fuel. Anyhow, here's a few pictures for y'all.



If it's welded on the outside, it's also welds on the inside. I do not want this baby to leak.


And the bungs.


Here's the "baffles". I'm gonna take them to work, sand blast them, and wash em up before I weld them into place. Worse thing for diesels, dirty fuel and clogged fuel lines.

Making great progress, at this rate you should be test driving before the snow flies.

DozerII said:

Making great progress, at this rate you should be test driving before the snow flies.

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I highly doubt that. Weathers been coolin off fast down here.

Rest of my brake lines came in today. So tomorrow I'll bleed the brakes and see if I have any leaks or if I need to replace all the wheel cylinders. Next month I'll order what I need for the oil system, air filters, fuel sender, and wiring harness. It's getting closer to the end but still plenty to do.

Got my brakes bled today. I'll give it a few days to see if anything starts to leak. So far, so good. Nice and firm pedal. Realized once they were bled that the pedal was a little too far from the seat and it was hard to reach, the clutch pedal is right where it needs to be though. So my solution was to cut the pedal off, take a piece of 3/4" pipe, notch the end of it, weld it to the brake arm, and weld the pedal to the extended part. Much better now. Amazing what another 1-1/2" will do for comfort. I've also decided that I'm going to go with a smaller steering wheel and a quick disconnect on this one bit I've gotta find the right wheel for it. I'm thinking one of those lightened aluminum style wheels. I think it'd tie everything in perfectly. Found an old foot pedal from some piece of machinery that I'll use as a throttle pedal. Figured its cast so can't weld anything to it so I filed down a flat spot on the sides, drilled some holes in it, and tapped it out for 5/16 bolts. I'll have to make a base plate and I think I've figured out how to convert the up and down movement into a back and forth movement to pull a throttle cable.

Here's the pedal I found.


And the tapped holes.

Love that pedal! nice find...

smallfoot said:

Love that pedal! nice find...

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^^^^^x's2^^^^^^

Torchie

Moe great progress JB love the pedal too. Hey are you around this weekend?

Thanks guys. I've had that pedal in the shop for I don't know how long. Can't even remember where I got it. I was gonna use it in the 33 but diced another route due to space constraints. Somehow I made it for in this smaller car.

I wont be home tomorrow Dozer, I'm headin down to great falls tomorrow for a car show with the 33 in tow. I'd drive it but I don't trust the spindle. But I'll be home all day Sunday and Monday.

Today I built my throttle pedal bracket and it'll work perfectly...I think. Used a piece of 1/8" for the base, some 1/4" for the sides, a old fishing rod holder(I've got like 10 of the things, a 5/16" bolt, and some skateboard bearings. She's one smooth operator. I bent the 1/8" plate up in the back for the wheel stop so the rod doesnt go back too far that will double as the bracket for the throttle cable and a pedal stop. I'll have to put a spring on it to keep the pedal from falling down as it's pretty heavy but that's not gonna be a problem. Once I get it installed i'll post some more pictures up. But for now, here's what I made.



Had to notch the back plate so the rod didnt hit prematurely.




And I still need to drill a hole in the "flag" but I'll have to do that once I get a throttle cable for it. Another thing to add to the build list.


Anyhow, I worked last night and have been up since 5 yesterday so you guys have a good day and I'll have a good "night."

Depending on the weather Sunday I was thinking about coming down in the Essex for a drive. Would be kinda cool to meet up and see your builds in person.

DozerII said:

Depending on the weather Sunday I was thinking about coming down in the Essex for a drive. Would be kinda cool to meet up and see your builds in person.

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That'd be cool bud. I'd love to check out your essex.

PM sent

Well, got to hang out with Dozer for a little while today and check out his essex. Very cool ride for sure. We talked for a while of the differences between building cars in Ca and the U.S. I gotta tell you this, you guys up there have way more obstacles to deal with then us down here. Anyhow, after he left I finished up the air system on the car and mounted the gas pedal. Decided to use my battery charger and air up the system. Had a few air leaks but nothing major. After that I went ahead and tested the solenoids to see how much pressure I need to get it to ride height. Car is so light that at 20psi it's maxed out on travel in the front. So ride height I have less than 10psi. I don't know if that's good or bad. Talking with Dozer on the way I have mine set up, Im probably gonna have to split the front. No big deal because I have a couple more solenoids I can use.

The pedal setup looks stout enough.

Looks like the rear has a bit of a leak somewhere but it doesn't leak off very fast so I don't think it's an issue. I'm really having a hard time figuring out what to do next. I'll be ordering my wiring harness and a few other parts on Thursday and then I can start tackling the wiring. I think I'll end up using the Mercedes radiator so that'll save me a load of money. Just gotta decide how I'll mount it. Maybe that's what I'll do next.