Demons of building

[Rat]

Still burning my brain-figurin how to do my build. I am trying to use as many parts from different makes of cars as possible.

So far my plan is a 1958 Austin Healey Sprite Body (Bugeye)
Ford 8.8 rear
Datsun 240 6 cylinder engine and trans
late 20's early 30's Ford front

What are the Demons of a build?
I am sure frame squareness is at the top
But are there other NO NOS ??

 

[Rat]

Also I am going to stretch the frame in front of cowl atleast 18"

 

[59imp]

sounds like an interresting start, prolly won't run into another one at the Walmart.

the only thing i can tell you is the more you plan before you start, the easier it is, ya you'll hit lots of bumps along the way, but it's not impossible. break things down into groups, frame, suspension, steering, driveline, body, etc... yes they all have to work togrther, but it's less overwhelming to look at one thing at a time. i'd sugest you start at the end and work backwards, the work you do on the first day effects what will happen on the last day, if that makes any sense.....

good luck.

 

[Rat]

trying to collect all the parts and actually I have started doing that from the rear forward.
I have the body.
I have the Ford 8.8 rear end
I have my ear to the ground for the Datsun drivetrain

How do you figure out where to start the front rake?

Also since I will be moving motor and the transmission forward 18" or so, I am trying to figure out how to bring the shifter back to driver position. I know my problem would be solved with A/T

 

[IAM-LDS-2]

Here is what worked for me,I had my front and rear suspension ,tires and my cab when I started . I built my frame to them as they are what controls the way it will sit ,ground clearance , etc. I built my mock up frame out of 2x4 wood , made sure the cab fit properly and that it had the look I was after . Also a 25-50 ft look is necessary as it doesnt always look as good from a distance as it does up close . Afer I had my wood mock up as perfect as I could get it ,I cut the steel ( 3/16 wall ) pieces to length and tacked them together making sure they were square etc. At that point I took the frame to a welding shop -as the size of our welder and our skill level were not up to the task of final welding - All the welder had too do was weld . He did the whole job in less than 2 hours and only charged me 100 bucks .From there it was cut - fit - weld - over and over.



9

 

[donsrods]

Well, as you already know, the Sprite has no frame originally, it is a unibody type. So I guess you are planning on building a whole new frame for it? I built a 60 Bugeye Sprite in about 1964 using what was then a brand new 289 Ford with Cobra goodies on it. Everything in the car is a tight fit, so that extra room you are planning out front will help a lot.

My suggestion would be to mock up the body, engine, and some tires to get the look you are after and then post some pictures so we can take a looksee at what you have.

Don

 

[R Pope]

Better photoshop it first and see what kind of goofy-looking thing you'll end up with! A four, V6 or even a V8 will fit without butchering the car. A Datsun four has the potential to scoot it along quite nicely, and it would still handle well in a corner.
I love Sprites, post some pics!

 

[Rat]

orignally I was going to flop it on a frame, but thinking twice about that now. Those cars have a 1/4 leaf four link system already design in the rear I can easily adapt an american rear too with a couple of weld ons.

They also have nice straight frames out the front that will be easy to extend and reinforce. So I bascally will just tighen up what I already have.

Does it matter if rear track is wider than the front track, or if the front track is wider than the rear track

Also with all fours fenderless, are you bombarded with road debris

 

[Cadman]

Might Look something like this....

Cadman

 

[Rat]

I have different ideas than that

1.Rear tires are going to sit completly outside the car, super wide
2. Installing a sheet metal cowl with flat firewall to the point that foot wells stop behind front tire
3. Straight front axle , simplier front end kinda like a T Bucket
4. skinney front tires will stick way out from body to match rears or maybe even futher
5.Small rake at the front frame at firewall

Basically I want all tires hanging away from body giving the car a square design (even tho it won't be a square)

High boy
T Bucket
Rat Rod
all in one

 

[BigIrish]

That looks alot cooler than I thought it would actually. I guess that body is narrow enough it looks ok with a 30s grill on it.

 

[Rat]

http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/1827871283.html
same car I believe, but for sale