The "Rice Rod" - '31 Model A pickup with a 2JZ

Not much left on the Lexus! Definitely hit the budget re-coup limit and then some.

I also picked up some frame steel. I'm using 2x3 1/8" thick rectangular tubing. I wanted 11 gage, which would have been a little thinner and lighter, but 1/8" was all they had. I plan to build a stronger body structure with 1" square tubing. I'm going for about a 3" channel, which will completely hide the frame under the body.

But first, there is a whole lotta rust to cut out. Basically the whole bottom 2 inches, which means the original bottom frame needs to go.

Here's a bucket of original Henry Ford steel. A surprising amount was also wood, which has aged nicely over 80 years and burns with a delightful aroma when the angle grinder gets too close.

Also, I apologize for the photo quality. My phone camera lens got busted up so there's dust all up in it. Getting a replacement soon.

More apologies about the terrible photos. My new phone should arrive soon.

Got more cutting done. I didn't know you could remove the gas tanks on these until about 20 seconds before the pictures were taken. I decided against keeping the fuel stored 6 inches about my lap, so I cut the tank part out to make room for brake/clutch cylinders and reservoirs and electronics. My gas tank will go in the trunk.

Why is this thing so darn heavy? Oh what's this...

It's full of dirt! This tank and baffle might make a nice gardening flower pot. After all, this body literally was garden art in someone's front yard.

This part is awesome...the fuel gauge still works! All it needed was some WD-40. You can't tell in this photo, but you can still read the numbers through the glass.

New phone arrives tonight. I want to share some better pictures of the fuel gauge because it's just the coolest thing ever.

They make a special tool for removing that fuel gauge. I had one, but I'm not sure if I still do. They are difficult to remove without it.

Those gauges are really cool!

maschinenbau wrote: Here's a bucket of original Henry Ford steel. A surprising amount was also wood, which has aged nicely over 80 years and burns with a delightful aroma when the angle grinder gets too close.

And Ford used less wood in their construction than their competitors, like say, Chevrolet. It's a big part of why there are more Fords that survived from that era than Chevys, because they used less wood in the structure to rot away

For the radiator, you could mount it trophy truck style in the bed with big dual puller fans and it should cool fine, just have to have it at an angle to use the airflow in the bed

Better pictures of the fuel gauge now that I have a camera again

A friend came by and took the Lexus rear subframe in exchange for borrowing his air compressor for sandblasting. He has a Chump Car SC300 (see the "Wrexus" thread around here), so he needed a backup suspension in case of a wreck. Now the Lexus is REALLY stripped down! Almost time to scrap it.

I only want to blast the interior of the Ford shell, where I can't reach with my grinder. Then do all welding, framing, and patching, followed by POR-15 on the interior side. I will straighten out and patch the exterior panels, but leave the natural patina for now.

I have been leaning towards the rear radiator idea, because then I can re-use the Lexus on. I will also put the Lexus fuel tank back there, which is one of the last parts to remove before scrap time.

Gaunt596 wrote: For the radiator, you could mount it trophy truck style in the bed with big dual puller fans and it should cool fine, just have to have it at an angle to use the airflow in the bed

Was discussed heavily on the last page

I like that fuel gauge. My father owned a Luscombe 8A with that style of gauge in it at one point, although it was mounted behind the passengers and pilots heads oddly. Engineering from that era was pretty inventive.

I was out of town all week, so little progress was made. But I think I am ready to scrap the Lexus shell. The only things left are the dashboard, random wiring, and the HVAC. Everything else is sold or about to be sold. No subframes, no wheels, no nothing! Just a shell with a clean title. I will try to use everything I can from the Lexus, including the fuel tank and lines, e-brake mechanism, pedals, master cylinders, parts of the steering column, etc.

I would like to keep the cluster, at least at first, so I have a free tach and speedometer. However I can't get the complete harness out without removing the HVAC, which is the biggest PITA. Are cluster gauges pretty simple to hack and wire up? The back looks like a pretty complicated board, but I bet there is a way. I will be using the stock ECU with only bare minimum to run the engine.

Can you just hack the HVAC apart to get the wiring out?

I would try to get the wiring out. If nothing else cut in the middle and pull either side out if you can.

Chances are the BCM runs the cluster so you would need the wiring intact.

Get that dash and hvac ouT! It's fun. It only took me a few hours to strip the whole dash and hvac out of an accord. They're pretty modular and if you're not concerned about reassembly ... there are readily available shortcuts.

At best I would salvage the heater core and blower motor to put heat in the rod. I am just tired of this thing taking up valuable DD garage space, and windshield scraping season is fast approaching.

...Okay fine I'll remove it

I just meant so you could save the wiring.

BTW I'm off on Sundays and most Mondays and I live essentially in Greenwood if you want some help. I'll be free some throughout the winter after the Daytona is done.

Cut the dash in half, should come out easy that way!

In reply to minivan_racer:

Awesome, I could always use some help! Do you have a long flat trailer I could borrow? Need to get the shell to the scrap yard somehow.

If you're scrapping the shell, maybe cut out the sheet metal everywhere that those other components (gas tank, pedals) mount to. That way you've got a piece to weld into the Model A instead of having to remake all of those bits.

maschinenbau wrote: In reply to minivan_racer: Awesome, I could always use some help! Do you have a long flat trailer I could borrow? Need to get the shell to the scrap yard somehow.

That I do not. I'll PM you my number.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: If you're scrapping the shell, maybe cut out the sheet metal everywhere that those other components (gas tank, pedals) mount to. That way you've got a piece to weld into the Model A instead of having to remake all of those bits.

This is what finally prompted me to just do a body swap on my wagon. Making all those points, and making them line up right would have added tons of time.

If nothing else, you might at least want to make up a jig or two to get your subframe pickup points square before you off it.

minivan_racer wrote:

maschinenbau wrote: In reply to minivan_racer: Awesome, I could always use some help! Do you have a long flat trailer I could borrow? Need to get the shell to the scrap yard somehow.

That I do not. I'll PM you my number.

I know a guy that has one but the truck that typically pulls it needs the diff yanked. He's just on the other side of town.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: If you're scrapping the shell, maybe cut out the sheet metal everywhere that those other components (gas tank, pedals) mount to. That way you've got a piece to weld into the Model A instead of having to remake all of those bits.

This makes a lot of sense.

I wonder how much of the exterior sheet metal could be used for patches on the Ford body.

I will admit to taking measurements of the sunroof glass for use as a rear window in the Ford I might cut the quarter panels off the Lexus since I had two separate craigslist buyers interested in them, and worst case I use it for patching.

Okay, I removed the HVAC and it wasn't that bad. This job goes quick when you "accidentally" crack the dash in three places. Oops... but hey now I have a free heater core and blower motor, both of which I know work!

The heater core can mount to its stock location relative to the engine. The engine won't even know it has been swapped!

I have also gathered the sandblasting equipment, which I'll use to clean up the rust on the inside of the Ford shell so I can weld in some more structure.

Wait wait, heat on a crazy swapped challenge car? What's this?