my 1932 datsun replica build

I was thinking not long ago, your car is totally what would have constituted a "Special" back in the '40s and '50s. I think "JoeyM's '32 Datsun Special" sounds pretty cool haha.

It does sound cool, but I don't want to be pompous....we'll see how it runs before we decide how "special" it is.

screwed around with the steering a little bit this evening. I was going to buy one of these lower steering mounts, but someone pointed out to me that it is $30 for a muffler hanger and two pieces of angle iron.

So now I'm going to fabricate my own ghetto version, and probably save $5.00 in the process. Sometimes I think I'm an idiot.

Dad came up with a better design for the lower steering mount. We removed a section from a piece of exhaust tubing, leaving a u-shaped channel that the column will sit in. We'll hold it in place with one of these muffler clamps. The tubing-channel is currently tacked to a piece of angle iron that is tacked to a chassis member that supports the cowl. I started tacking the upper steering mount together, but still have quite a bit to do. I won't finish weld any of this until both dad and I have sat behind the wheel and we're both satisfied with the driving position.(it is a lot easier to adjust angles when things are just tacked together.)

I'll post photos of the setup after I have everything tacked together and the cowl off for easy access during welding/photography.

I like hood straps, but the only ones I had seen before were long straps that spanned the entire hood of the car. Because of that, I had given up on the idea of hood straps. (legit ones are expensive, and DIYing would not save much money because leather bits that size are also expensive.) Then, last night, I saw this car, with it's little hood straps That's a lot shorter distance, and there are a lot of options. I may swing by goodwill to see if I can find some matching belts. If not, I can always go the harbor freight route. At $8/belt, these fit a GRM price

BTW, I've been thinking about this.....

Max_Archer wrote: your car is totally what would have constituted a "Special" back in the '40s and '50s.

....and I'm not sure I understand what set of features makes a hot rod a 'special'. If anybody knows, please share.

finally made it back into garage. just cut a length of 2" angle iron and ground the rust off it, then wiped it down with phosphoric acid. I'm waiting for it to dry but that will end up being used as part of the left-side of the upper end steering mount. If I get lucky I will be able to tack it all together before the weekend is over.

Edit. For the first time ever, the steering wheel is sitting in place, supported only by the brackets that I think will be used for the final mounting. Tons of welding left to finish that, but not until after dad has sat in the car and given it his seal of approval.

My parents came over to check out the steering. Here's dad, trying it out.

Both Mom and Dad dislike the position of the pedals. (I made the transmission tunnel too wide, and the pedals are shifted to the left; left foot braking will be a necessity.) I expect that it will need to be driven in the manner of a kart.

They were fine with the wheel height, although dad wanted the wheel further away. I'll see what I can do about that, but the important part is that the vertical supports were good. I've now welded them solid.

partway done. The sloped pieces of angle iron that support everything are welded to the chassis. (One side is complete and ground flat - so the wooden dash can sit against it- but the other needs some gussets added.) The horizontal plate that bolts to the column has been cut to fit and the captive nuts have been welded in place.

I still need to play with the final wheel position before I weld it all together.

feeling a bit like a kid before christmas......fedex says my steering coupler and related bits are in orlando, waiting to be delivered.

Yup, Christmas in July (i.e. my steering shaft, heim joint and coupler are here)

I just had something cool happen. I drove out to the driveshaft shop that had built the shaft for this car. (I wanted to talk to them about splining the end of ^^^the steering shaft.) As I walked in the door, the first thing the guy behind the counter said was "pennyanteracing." I haven't dealt with him since May of 2011, but he remembered the website for my build. I was really flattered.

[...and yes, I realize that it's also REALLY good business on his part to remember things like that about his customers.]

The welder just ran out of wire as I was tacking that flat plate into place. The important upshot here is that the steering position has been finalized. Now, I need to change the wire, and have the shaft cut down and splined, redo the bottom of the windshield, add steel plates to the chassis in places that I think I'll need to mount things (the firewall is too thin, and would probably tear/warp.)

Steering is welded in solid. Not my prettiest welds, but they'll hold.

all that's left here is getting the shaft cut down and splined.

Love it. Joey is really going to make this happen, regardless of how much time it takes.

friedgreencorrado wrote: Love it. Joey is really going to make this happen, regardless of how much time it takes.

I'm a bit like a glacier.....slow, but difficult to stop.

(Will admit, though, that I'm sick of hearing non-car people say, "That's not done yet?!?" It's fine if you guys do it, but someone who will never fabricate anything has no business whining about the pace of making an entire car.)

JoeyM wrote: BTW, I've been thinking about this.....

Max_Archer wrote: your car is totally what would have constituted a "Special" back in the '40s and '50s.

....and I'm not sure I understand what set of features makes a hot rod a 'special'. If anybody knows, please share.

I don't think there's really a definitive definition. (That sounds really awkward...) In my mind, a hot rod has a chopped up stock body, while a special has an entirely new homebuilt body, which is what this is.

are you going to cut the air covers down to make them flat? they look a little rough as it is.

lnlogauge wrote: are you going to cut the air covers down to make them flat? they look a little rough as it is.

I haven't fabricated the front one yet, but, yes, I'll definitely do that on both of them. I would not want to leave the cover untrimmed, anyway......right now it partially obscures the filter element. I'll get back around to that later....probably after I finish the steering (i.e. after the shaft is splined and installed.)

BTW, I just got back from HF with four of the tool belts to use for hood straps. Being a cheapskate, I winced at the $8.00x4 price, but that's still a lot cheaper than $179 hood straps

OK, I'm really having trouble finding anybody to spline the shaft to fit a datsun column. I'm now thinking about going the other direction....having a drive shaft shop put a differently splined female end onto the end of the steering column. (i.e. replace the part below the U-joint)

The short version is that I cannot work on the steering this weekend. I may be able to do a little to the chassis behind the cowl

Max_Archer wrote:

JoeyM wrote: BTW, I've been thinking about this.....

Max_Archer wrote: your car is totally what would have constituted a "Special" back in the '40s and '50s.

....and I'm not sure I understand what set of features makes a hot rod a 'special'. If anybody knows, please share.

I don't think there's really a definitive definition. (That sounds really awkward...) In my mind, a hot rod has a chopped up stock body, while a special has an entirely new homebuilt body, which is what this is.

Sounds much more plausible than what I'd always heard: The term comes from '30s-`50s Indycars and means home-built & largely unsponsored instead of a factory effort. I think you should go with Max on this one.

OK, then we'll say the car is a "special" and that I'm a little "special" for taking on a task like this.

I've been thinking of other things to do since I cannot work on the steering. I may go back to a few places where the sheet metal is not adequately riveted in place and fix that.

Spent the whole weekend grading, so I didn't get to do anything on the car.

I did look at a $10K 1930 chevy ('glass fenders, tin body) and pay attention to how the pedals were set up. That may have given me a few workable solutions for Dad's pedal woes.

Plan:
1) finish steering
2) pull pedals out of car
3) have dad sit in car and take measurements to figure out what we need to do with pedals
4) ?????
5) profit

I just picked up my steering column....I could not find anyone to cut splines in the shaft, but a local shop cut the splines off the end of the column, cut the shaft to length, and turned a bushing to hold them together snugly. I need to install it, rotate everything (...so the steering wheel will be straight ahead when the wheel is straight ahead) and mark where stuff belongs. Then I'll take it back to the local shop for them to weld it up pretty and be on my way

I'll post photos later on.

Here you can see the bushing he fabricated to hold the shaft into the end of the column. He did a great job. It is a nice, tight fit. (It holds the shaft tightly enough to pick the column up by the shaft.)

The idea here is that this will allow me to get the steering wheel level and the tires straight, and then move the shaft as needed. I can slip the shaft in or out a few millimeters, and rotate it so the end aligns with the steering rack's end. then I'll mark it for welding.

If we didn't allow this last minute adjustment, it would be possible to weld the column up and create a situation where the tires are straight while the wheel is turned at a significant angle. (...because of the double D. Splined ends are more forgiving that way.) It would be a pain to have to drive that way.