Greg's 29 A-V8 - pt 1

This summer we finally woke up 

the longest hibernating project,

temporarily nicknamed the Sharpie Roadster.

Can you figure out why?

I couldn't believe parts for this

were collected back in the Ventura era,

over 7 years ago.

Greg has been more than patient,

watching other projects take precedence.

The body was unplanned yard art.

The kids think it's normal to have these lying around.

Finally the time had come.

Why did it take so long?

A 7-8 year patina had aged earlier work

to match the body.

It seemed like yesterday 

when these boxing plates were welded and slotted.

Our house yard seemed empty without this.

First thing was to organize the infrastructure.

The shop is a crude work space,

and each project dials it in a little bit more.

Jaxon hung up a chain hoist.

Good thing he doesn't mind heights.

Now the body could be lifted and dropped singlehandedly.

Rumor had it a framing table was coming,

so in the meantime the body was hammered out.

The passenger side is a little squashed.

Now this is the lap of luxury.

No more jackstands and crouching down.

A heavy duty monster!

Definitely worth the wait.

Now where to start?

Up and down the body went.

Measuring and remeasuring,

the table made it easier to square up the rails.

This front crossmember had been waiting a long time!

One of the first versions whittled from 2x3 square tubing.

A model A crossmber will be used out back.

This will have 1936 wishbones,

adding 8" to the spring distances.

I went for a 1" shorter than stock 1932 wheelbase at 105",

a couple inches longer than a stock model A.

The track nose will fill in that length.

This framing table better be straight!

Out came the mockup flathead 

and 1949 overdrive transmission.

Basically the same running gear in Chief.

Now for the exciting part.

I had modified a '48 Ford front crossmember 

for the center x-member in Chief.

An idea was sketched out to mimic production styling,

but not look like basic tubing.

You can imagine how long this took,

but it's almost exactly what I was hoping for.

The tranny mount pad 

has a thicker reinforcement plate,

and open space to bolt straight through.

The rectangular tubing has a tendency to warp when cut,

so bolts and nuts were used to keep it's shape.

The crossmember was trimmed to fit,

and only tacked in to place.

There will be front and rear diagonals added,

and big holes cut out of the open area,

so it may be necessary to remove it later.

Next up are the front motor mounts,

firewall...body mounting...radiator...

Stoked to make some progress!

TP