The Roofus Special

[Flipper_1938]

I also tried it slid forward and rearward to see what grabbed me. (The gray piece in the pic is the 2x3 crossmember I tried. I tried it mound on top of the upper frame rails and also from the bottom side of the upper frame rails...it just looked wrong)

Forward

Rearward

I liked it best slid to the rear.

 

[Flipper_1938]

So now that I had an idea of how the spring was going to be attached, I neede to sort out where everything else was going to be.

The radiator is a pretty important piece...so I threw it into the mock-up.

Just adding the radiator made it look more like a car.

...But the radiator that far back just didn't look right.

 

[Flipper_1938]

I scooted the motor forward so that the radiator was right behind the leaf spring ....where it would be if I do the upright grill shell like a Rally.

 

[Flipper_1938]

What do you know? The motor is back ahead of the "firewall" again. ....where it was last year!

Foot room is much nicer....again!

Just to make sure that moving the radiator closer to the spring didn't change which perch location looked best...I mocked stuff up the other ways again.

Rearward still looks best to me.

 

[Flipper_1938]

So now that I know where the radiator goes. Time to try and squeeze in the rack.

The good thing about the wide spring crossmember is that I think I can hide the rack and pinion under it.

The rack needs to go 3.5 inches forward of where it is pictured here. It will pretty much be under the radiator.

proposed cut outs

from the side

Now the REALLY fun part. Trying to figure out how to put it all together where I can pull the steering back out at a later date if I have to.

The original idea was to mount the rack on its own crossmember and the bolt the spring crossmember over the rack.

Then I thought about mounting the rack to the underside of the spring crossmember and bolting both down as a unit.

Now I'm trying tofigure out how to fish the rack into the crossmember if the crossmeber was welded in (I really want to weld it so that I can gusset up to the upper framerails next to the radiator).



That's where I am for now. I still have some more thinking to do.

 

[Flipper_1938]

Oops. I forgot to post the pics with the a-arms in the mock up.

and the passenger side arm turned upside down as a pretend upper a-arm

 

[Flipper_1938]

And a few more "car" pics.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Some impressive stuff Flipper! I really dig what your doing - the whole creative process and all.

I like the whole front end layout - from the pics, I like the mount centered under the spring, but it probably looks way different in person. Great choice for a crossmember - it's all about the curves!

It looks like your radiator/motor is kinda high compared to the rear section? Might just be the picture, but will you get the slight slope on the hood you want with them placed where they are? If you drop the motor, will you have room to drop the rad too?

 

[Flipper_1938]

With the crossmember centered, there is more interference with the rear edge of the crossmember and the rack. Rack would end up being more exposed after the crossmember would get frimmed for clearance (might be hidden by bodywork anyways in the end?...not sure yet)

I think the radiator can come down one or two inches without much trouble. Much more and I'd need a shorter radiator.

 

[hotrod preacher]

lookin good--always amazes me to see the thought you put into the build process flipper, [cl[cl


and i'm sure i'm not the only one who saw that 'lil coupe hangin in the rafters behind the roofus project

 

[pistolpete]

The good thing about the wide spring crossmember is that I think I can hide the rack and pinion under it.

I think it would look good mounted there aswell. I was thinking that when you had it mocked up for the spring mount, that it would look real clean tucked up under the mount.

Cant' wait to see the finished product on this, really cool build.

 

[Flipper_1938]

lookin good--always amazes me to see the thought you put into the build process flipper,

If I did less thinking and more building, I'd be done by now

 

[jfg455]

just read through all of the pages. Nice work with what you have laying around. That is true hot rodding at it's best. keep it up! I also agree that the lines on your flat bed look 'right'. Makes me rethink the plans for our families 50 GMC 2 1/2 ton. hum....

 

[Flipper_1938]

just read through all of the pages. Nice work with what you have laying around. That is true hot rodding at it's best. keep it up! ...

Inspiration can be found in a pile of junk. Sometimes, you can put it together with a good imagination and invent something.

-Thomas Edison

 

[rainman]

Flipper what about cutting the middle out of the spring perch to narrow it? Then center it under spring. Just an idea.

 

[Flipper_1938]

Flipper what about cutting the middle out of the spring perch to narrow it? Then center it under spring. Just an idea.

When I originally saved the 4x4 crossmember, my intent was to narow it and make a rear buggy spring crossmember where the spring mounts in the channel underneath.

Having a wide crossmember is not really a bad thing. It will help brace the lower framerail against braking loads (rear a-arm attachment point will be driven inwards, front mount pulled outwards). If I narrow it, I will have to add more bracing.

Plus it hides the only part on the car that is obviously not period correct (Toyota Tercel rack and pinion). I'm not real fond of the idea of it hanging out in the open, .....even if it is a wonderful piece of machinery.

 

[Flipper_1938]

Looking at the car where it is now, the body looks long.

Out of curiosity, I measured the model A from the firewall to the center of the rear wheel well and compared the same measurement on roofus....would you believe the A model is about a foot longer?

 

[rainman]

I can see what you mean by using it to hide some things. In the pics sometimes I kind of thought it looked long but I always figured it was the smallish diameter tires and wheels. BTW I think moving the engine back forward was right on. Looks Great.

 

[Flipper_1938]

I can see what you mean by using it to hide some things. In the pics sometimes I kind of thought it looked long but I always figured it was the smallish diameter tires and wheels. BTW I think moving the engine back forward was right on. Looks Great.

If i was going to fab a crossmember from scratch, I don't think that I would ever have tought to go that wide with it. I think I just got luck with this existing piece of metal.

Yeah, I can see going into debt for wheels if it keeps going good. I think big wheels would help the proportions a lot. The 15's may work ok with tall tires though. Have to see it on the ground first.

I fought hard against moving the motor (racecars are supposed to have as much set back as the rules allow!). ...but it does look best with the radiator up where it belongs.

 

[jfg455]

I wonder if a set of 19" MG TC wires would fit the hubs? or maybe relace the jag center to a bigger hoop? Just some thoughts