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There
is still much work ahead of me. I will need to reinforce the frame rails. The
original frame consisted of a 1 ¾” x 1/8” round tube down each side connected
in the front and rear by a 2” round cross member. This is great for making the
car light but the frame is sure to fail with regular street use. I added an
additional 1 ½” x 1/8” round tube in a space tube design to each side. The two
cross member tubes at the steering box and the lower frame rails wrapping
around the back added a lot of tensional strength to the frame. At this time I
fabricated an engine cage that the bed mounts to. Originally the bed was just
bolted to the back of the body, which caused the back of the cab to break out.
I have repaired the body cracks and reinforced the top edge for additional
strength. While doing this I also replaced the mahogany dash that came with the
original kit, with a newer style tunneled dash from MAS.
All of the front radius rods and rear
hairpin traction bars had to be replaced because of the extreme rusting
conditions that had occurred over the years of neglect. The front radius rods
were fabricated from ¾” o.d. x .188”
wall D.O.M. tubing. The rear traction bars were made from 7/8” x .218 wall
D.O.M. tube. I also made a new tie rod and drag link from the ¾” tube. I
threaded the ends with right and left hand threads for easy adjustment. All of
the rod ends were replaced with new ones to assure that the car will handle
nicely.
I had to replace that horrible e-brake
handle so I mounted one from a Datsun 210. You see, I had Datsun parts left
over from a Morris Minor project from years ago. Never throw anything away!!!
To connect the e-brake handle I had to fabricate a crossbar link from side to
side to connect the cables to. Then I connected the brake handle via a piece of
linkage from there to the crossbar. This also allowed me to place the handle
behind the crossbar and push instead of pull the cables. With a short wheelbase
car you need to get a little creative.
I am going to run the gas tank that I
have for now but plan to build a much larger one in the future, when I have
more time.
At this point I have been working on
the car approximately six weeks and I still have a long way to go.
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