Canuck 289 scratch build

[old willy]

.....

[old willy]

.....

[old willy]

Hey there,

Well, only time will tell when I come south again.

I do believe, or at least keep telling myself that this will be "the last one" but life has thrown me a curveball before.

It makes me think of a time 20+ years again when I had an offer to build race engines with a fellow in the beautiful state of Tennessee.....

The path not taken, hmmmmm, sometimes I wonder how my life would be now?
Just different I guess.

Cheers!

[old willy]

Ok then, still trying to get caught up here so here goes.

Silly me, spending time working on the project rather than tell my friends about it......

Now that I had the door openings established I needed to get some doors, my body came with a pair but I only wanted the outer skins so I stared cutting.




WOW, Ok I was not prepared for what was inside, I knew there was some metal involved but I was not expecting a gallon of Bondo, just gluing everything together!

What the heck is that all about? Is this normal?
I mean it’s not even short stand fiberglass filler it’s just regular Bondo and lots of it, some thin wall ¾ square tubing tacked together and gobs of filler, no wonder they were so heavy……

I wonder how much is inside the boot lid…..

Well I just want the skins so sadly? just toss the rest but honestly that’s some fairly crappy work hiding in there, wow, just, wow……

So I went ahead with fitting up the rest of the tubes around the door openings thus tying all the cockpit tubes together at last.



The up side of making the opening a bit shorter is I can now trim the skins to fit and fix the rather large panel gap that it had before.
And with that held in place I can step back and see the shape from the cowl tube, along the door and to the rear tube, looks OK so far.



Now I needed to “frame” the doors, so with much fussing and fitting the inner and outer shapes were created.



These have been the most challenging tubes to form so far. And I did need to do them in sections and splice the tubes back together again. Also fitting them to the existing body rather than what AC cars did way back when and fit the body to the framework……



I thought about a few different ways to do it but in the end I have decided to bond the skin to the frame with some modern 3M auto body panel adhesive and have created a steel flange around the door frame for that purpose as I have seen others do.
It also allows me to hold things in place for fitting with those handy old Clecos again. I will do the same for the bonnet and the boot frames.



So then onto hinges, I started by making the pieces straight off the drawings to see where that got me, fingers crossed……





I made up the latch mounts and added them as well.



Then the moment of truth…………



Well it opens….but not really enough

Unfortunate yes, but not entirely unexpected.

My best guess is it has to do with the thickness of the fiberglass body vs. the aluminum one and some variations in the frame work.

So after some trial and error with cardboard cut-out pieces I determined that the hinge point on the chassis needed to be more forward and more outboard. It’s amazing how much difference some 1/8ths of an inch can make.

I also needed to rework the front of the right hand door a bit to help with the opening, again those fractions of inches make all the difference sometimes.




The orange stuff is just some corrugated plastic board, it makes a really nice door gap spacing.

I also added some spacers under the door hinge and latch for fit up.




I had been watching a video of a guy doing the top and interior work on an AC Ace and when he went to add the leather door pockets it changed the spacing on the door hinge causing the door to protrude slightly from the body
This is easy enough to correct at the latch by shimming the striker but there is no way to adjust the hinge inwards other than bending it. He compromised by skiving the leather as thin as he could to minimize the issue but knowing this ahead of time I am trying to allow for it somewhat.
Not the kind of thing you want to deal with after final body work and paint….like he did…..

So there, working doors! Very happy with that, much, much to much fussing around but in the end so nice to have done.

So now that I have doors I want to use them…….

Till next time,
Hudson





.

[PDUB]

That's a labor of love, Hudson! Nice work!

[old willy]

Hello all!

So a pretty big moment in the shop…… I thought so...

Ok! So I have some working doors, well, I think they work, they open and close nicely. Open to a generous angle and don’t hit the body. But really how do they work?

The question was on my mind for a while so it was time to fit up some other stuff and find out.
So in with the foot boxes and pedals. In with the steering column and a quick dash mock up, then a seat, my seat.




Originally I was going to make the seat frames too as they are part of the drawing set but..... first off it’s a lot of tight radius bending and fit-up best done with patterns and jigs and secondly I was not having much luck finding anybody locally to pad them up and upholster them.

Honestly I really did not want to pay for someone to “learn” how to do it using up fairly expensive leather and shop time in the process.

Then there is the TIME issue, how long will it take me to make them vs. order from somebody else.

Also if I wanted black seats that could have been a bit more “off the shelf” but me being me I didn’t want black… or red…

In the end I decided to order some from a maker who seemed to have a lot more experience……

I knew I was going to need them for fitting up and honestly ordered them way back in February of 2023 and well........
I am putting it down to lingering covid 19 supply and manpower issues but they took a really long time to arrive, much too long but as the old saying goes….what’s time to a pig…..

I did some preliminary fitting when they arrived and figured out the approximate heights and position in relation to the pedals and steering wheel.
Bit of a head scratcher there though, every time I would try and go from the gas pedal to the brake my leg would contact the steering wheel kind of a bit tight if you ask me.

However thanks to some good folks here I got some good measurements and realized my dash mock-up was too low and the wheel perhaps a bit too far to the right, but some other things I was afraid were wrong were Ok.

I came up with some seat mounts/ rails that I can adapt, then put the seats aside for a bit, but now…….

Ok, my burning question, with everything sort of in the right spots ( I think) how do you get in and out of this thing.
I tried putting my little 3 step stool up to the side of the car to get in and out and that just made me more worried…..

Am I building a car that I can’t get in and out of?

Did I get something really wrong here?

I tried watching some videos, car reviews and such just watching for the “trick” but it really was unclear if there is a “trick” to it.
Honestly I saw a video of a guy literally crawling out of a 427 ( with a top) onto the ground then getting up, to be fair he was a fairly round guy, but I don’t want to be THAT GUY

Saw another where a lanky young woman demonstrated just stepping over the door and slipping down behind the wheel, looked easy enough but that’s not really a practical answer for everybody is it?

So I figured the best way to know was…….. to take it off the jig and set it on its wheels

Oh boy, so then out with the engine, trans and diff unit.
On with all the suspension bits, held with my “theoretical ride height” spacers rather than the coil over units.

Then lift, remove the jig and ……holly crap….a flying car….well, flying chassis I guess……




I added the wheels, steering column ( still not 100% sure there), steering wheel and seat again, then the doors and wow, its…..much shorter now….
And really cool too, I even rolled it back and forth a bit…..I did refrain from making engine noises however



So then…..the big moment, the question of ingress and egress.




Yes it can be done! and it is so much better when you have the ground to stand on at the correct height and not trying to pivot off a step stool.

I tried to be casual about it, walk over open the door, get in, sit down and close the door, settle in a bit, grab the wheel.

Then open the door, figure out how to pivot, what to grab and get out and close the door.

I did this about ten times walking around the shop for a bit between tries and approaching from a different angle too I guess. After about 3 or 5 tries it started to feel more natural so I am very happy to report, yes I can get in and out of this car… comfortably…. That last part was the important part…comfortably…..not crawling on the floor

SO while I was sitting and getting a feel for the seat I also was getting a feel for the steering wheel height and lateral placement.

It seems Ok but if I can squeeze it a bit more to the left I would be happier but of course that will affect things on the dash ect. It’s all about the follow on with these changes. I am really trying to stick to the drawings as much as I can but….

So sadly after being on its own wheels for just a few hours, the chassis is back up on the jig for further work to be done, sure was cool to see it rolling a bit though.

So in the process of removing the suspension bits again I decided to shorten the steering rack input shaft as per the drawings, much as I tried I could not form a good enough spline with a straight knurl so I went with plan “B” and sectioned the shaft…. A lot




I left one end long a turned it down to a peg then drilled the other part to accept it with a nice tight fit.




After a nice weld, some clean up and final paint it won’t be too noticeable.

I also found a suitable short .750 X 48 spline shaft section that I am going to cut in half and using a similar process to weld to a center shaft section and make the intermediate steering shaft. However I will wait until I have the steering column exactly where I want it to make the final measurement.

So I will just keep building on till it’s done.
In other news....... I believe I might have tracked down a fellow here in Ontario to mould me a smooth (no scoop) hood skin. Apparently he has the old Johnex moulds and still makes bodies, and says he is happy to do just do a hood for me. I will let you know how it goes.

All for now, back to work.

Cheers,

Hudson
.
.
.
.
.

[PDUB]

...Hudson, we know you are lying! You did make brmm-brmm noises! Looks good on the ground!

[old willy]

Hello all,

Happy New Year to you,

I hope everybody enjoyed some down time to spend with friends and or family or just out in the garage, whatever makes you happy.

Myself, I had a nice blend and yes it did involve some time in the wired woodshed, progress, progress

SO first I wanted to report that I did pick up a nice fresh hood skin molding, sans scoop, for my project.
I was trying to work out having a relative pick it up for me when they were in the area but I was just not going to work out so my wife and I turned it into a nice day trip to Nappanee, Ontario.

We picked up the hood from a nice fellow named Marty Broeders who was one of the original guys involved with Johnex cobras along with the chassis supplier ( CSC) and John Leliever.

Marty was the guy who did all the molds and bodies, and still has the molds in his yard and shop.
He is involved in making other stuff these days, drag car and boat stuff but recently did a coupe body for someone and has a roadster chassis on a jig in the shop. I also had a look at his own in very nice in progress coupe project on the hoist.

A really great and interesting guy, I wish we had met sooner and I hope our paths cross again someday.



I tried the hood skin on my body when I got home, I had him just leave it rough around the edges. It will need a bit of work to get a better body gap but so will the boot lid. I like it, and think it is more in line with what I had in mind for this car.

So in other breaking news

I got down to really working on the brake system, yes I had figured out the rotors and pedal stuff and had some thoughts about the other bits but I decided that while everything else was out of the way and the suspension and hubs were on the chassis I should try and deal with it.

I mocked up some stuff with the parts and pieces I already had and then made another order from Moss for the other stuff I needed.

I am trying to keep this simple and kind of period correct so weird British stuff was the order of the day.

First up the front calipers, I am running the MGB uprights and MGBV8 rotors; they fit without any modifications and look correct too.
The main difference is they are thicker than the regular MGB rotor so that might have a bit of an advantage as far as heating up and holding their shape.

So after a bit of searching and coming up empty (MGbV8 calipers are NLA) figure I have 2 options, first a modified stock MGB caliper and second, some other possibly Triumph? caliper and a custom mounting.
I am really trying to stick to readily available stock type parts and honesty MGB brake pads are easily available and in several flavors.

So currently I have decided to go with option one. The MGB caliper needs a bit of extra clearance to make the thicker rotor happier and a minor adjustment to bring it back to center on the rotor and both were accomplished with my little mill, easier said than done but I am very happy with the fit.





I am sure some among you are going to tell me this will not work, and you may be right .

I know the current trend is to use huge vented rotors and big willwood calipers but really this is just a road car not a race car so I am not really concerned about rotors overheating, brake pads gassing, fade etc.

Check the specs yourself, the 289 is about the same size and weight as an MGB and their brake disc / drum brake combo was adequate for them, not great, but adequate .
Yes the 289 has more power but that only applies to acceleration, kinetic energy is what factors in when we talk about braking and that is about the same.

So I am going to try this combo and see if it works, as it was explained to me years ago,
"the biggest limiting factor in most brake systems is the tires….. if you can lock up the wheels the problem is not with the brakes."

Now if a find I can’t reliably stop the car and/or lock the wheels I do have a problem .
At which time I will look at either different bigger calipers or possibly one of the MGB /Willwood rotor and brake kits but to be honest I really don’t like the look of them.

The rear end is a bit more straight forward, I think. The uprights and hubs are from a 95 Cougar ( T bird/ Lincoln) so I am sticking with off the shelf Ford parts back there. The rotors are solid, from a 2000ish Taurus and in the end I am using the Cougar calipers with a couple of spacers.
Nice and easy ( I hope) , The rotors more closely match the era of the car (solid) and the combo is more than adequate for this car, the 95 Cougar was a bit of a pig at about 3600 pounds!
My real concern is too much brake power in the rear but until I test it I won’t know for sure. If I need to I can possibly adjust the swept area or add an adjustable proportioning valve inline.

So with the 4 corners sorted for now, I need to run some lines, first I figured out where I needed to anchor the flex lines I had selected and then route the hard lines between the various parts.








I have tried to keep the distribution points somewhat accurate and then concerned myself with the lines not interfering with anything else, being adequately supported and looking neat!




I just love the look of those old style British fittings!

You probably noticed I also ran the clutch line while I was at it, same rules applied.

So that’s it for now, I will post again soon.

Stay warm my friends!

Hudson
.
.
.
.

.
.

[1795]

Willy,

I wouldn't worry too much over the solid rotor issue. Huge vented rotors and calipers with massive breaking are really impressive and do work well, but remember the original cobras all had solid rotors and managed to stop when they needed to! Hell, because I am racing my FIA as original. I still race with solid rotor Girlings and Girling calipers and they do work, albeit I had to add some additional cooling to them to limit brake fade, but again we are talking in race situations where you are braking hard repeatedly and creating a lot of heat in those rotors. So, unless you intend to behave like a teenager and push the car to the limits on the road, scaring the hell out of everyone on the road with you and putting everyones life and limb at risk, don't worry about it.

If a moose jumps the road in front of you and you can't stop in time , just duck your head and you'll go underneath it anyways!

Nice work and attempt at keeping things looking period correct.

Jim

[old willy]

Greetings from Sandcroft Acre,

Hope everybody is having a fine version of winter where ever they are in the world. We here in central Ontario have had a very white one for sure, more snow than I have seen in years so lots of clean up but, hey it’s the winter, in Canada….what did you expect?

So more a bit more about brakes, my situation is unique and for all my wants to keep things as original as possible, I am making changes based on my budget and other factors.
I will put my solutions forward as simply one way to do things in hopes it might help someone else figure something out on their project. As I said before I have learned so much from many others here and just want to give back to the community.

So then, my rear suspension is not stock and yet I am trying to keep it within the confines of the original suspension with fairly good success, it is fairly tight in there but so far so good.
As I stated last time I am going with off the shelf Ford parts in the rear. The original Tbird/Cougar calipers are fairly compact and like a lot of newer stuff have the parking brake built in.
Good and bad really. I did think about adding a disk to the input yoke of the diff and a spot caliper but again its fairly tight in there so…..

The original ( girling? ) rear calipers had the parking brake assembly mounted off the bottom of the caliper, the cable pulled 90 degrees to the side and mostly kept everything out of the way.
The Ford calipers cables pull more towards the rear and rely on longer looping cables that need space to make to turn that I really don’t have.
After much head scratching and test fitting I came up with the idea to flip the caliper to put the cable pull at the top then create a curved cable guide that brings the cable out at almost 90 degrees to the caliper. It is made from a piece of curved ½” tubing with a nylon sleeve inside to reduce friction, a washer stopper and a larger sleeve to hold the original cable end.



This looked good and keeps the cable out of the way of most everything. Ok for now….

Then onto my other hurdle……. the lever assembly.

The 2 issues here are I am not using a perfect replica of the original handle it is actually intended for a big Healey but very similar. Much easier to get and with my slight tunnel modifications it might fit better? Also it was well priced so if I did need to modify it I wouldn’t feel so bad.

The other main issue is that I moved the transmission cross member ahead by 1.75” but need/want to keep the brake handle in the same location.
As you can see there is not much room for the cable attaching parts……hmmmm



My initial though was that I could notch the cross member for clearance and create a different cable attachment and adjustment.
It was going to be too ugly and too complicated so after much more head scratching and some mock ups I decided that a good old fashioned bell crank was the answer.



With this I can move the cable attaching point back to its original location and through the magic of ratios get the correct cable pull length too. After working it out with a full size drawing showing the relationship between all the relevant parts I made the mounting plate and bell crank pivot. Then the bell crank, the new lever arm and the link.

The rest of the parts are basically the stock parts from the drawings. I had only tacked the main mounting piece to the frame because I did not know what I was going to do, that allowed me to remove it and fit / weld the pieces and check and adjust things till I was happy.





Then I decided to get a bit fancy and shorten the cables, they are the longer of the 2 Cougar/ T-bird stock cables. I carefully removed the original end then trimmed the outer sleeve to the correct length and reused the nice sealed factory end fitting.

Then time for the inner. I went back to my old lathe and turned up some new ends, threaded them ¼-28 for original type adjuster nuts and filed some little wrench flats.




I then reinstalled all the pieces, slid the cables in and figured out the correct length.

Then just pull out the cable assemblies and swage on the ends. As always easier said than done…..



Reassemble and test…



Everything seems to work correctly and I really like the fact the cables are still plastic coated and mostly sealed from dirt and water so should last a long time

So with that behind me, I hope, I though now would also be a good time to install a hard fuel line. I really could not find much info on what the original cars had so I just went with I did what I though was best, bent to fit up tight and out of sight and properly supported from where the tank outlet will be and ending somewhere ahead of the engine mount, to be trimmed off later.




And like the main brake line it will need to be installed before anything else around it

So that’s it for now, There will be more soon as I am trying to keep my nose to the grind stone and work on the car and post updates when I can.

Be happy and stay warm my friends, spring is just around the corner

Cheers,
Hudson






.