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The Roofus Special

150K views 425 replies 50 participants last post by  MARTINSR 
#1 ·
What is the best thing you can do with a rotted out 1954 four door Caddillac?

Build a boat tail speedster!!!

First you gotta cut the roof off!



Then cut the skin free. ....and slice that down the middle



Then cut apart some old porch posts to recycle the free 1x1 tubing. Bend that into a shape that follows the curve of the roof. What the heck bend it so it makes the shape of a 30's Indy car.



Prop up half a roof and see what it looks like. Looks like the ROOFus Special to me.

 
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#227 ·
Roofus special.......

Hi,the build is looking good,i think i would make 3 reverse scoops to cover the rack,and tie rod ends.you could either weld them in,or make them up,cut the head off of an 1/8 inch bolt,weld bolt to scoop,drill maybe 3 holes for each scoop in the crossmember,then bolt the scoops in...but youre looking good the way you are...... :)
 
#228 ·
Looks like I might be able to get something done over the long weekend. It is supposed to be nice and cool.

I really need to light a fire under my *** and get rolling with this thing so that it is functional for next season!

I am also going to put more thought into the truck of this thing so that I can pack all of the necessary Bonneville supplies in there.
 
#230 ·
Flipper_1938 said:
Looks like I might be able to get something done over the long weekend. It is supposed to be nice and cool.

I really need to light a fire under my *** and get rolling with this thing so that it is functional for next season!
Yep, getting out there is always the hardest part. But damned if you don't just START, you don't want to stop! Isn't it funny that way?

Brian
 
#233 ·
Actually mounting the steering rack was one of things that I somewhat dreaded doing.

The arched front crossmember looked cool, but was not a very friendly location for clamping down the rack. But it was something that had to be done. ...so I did it.

The plan was to mount it with two clamps. One clamp would control front to back and sis to side posioning. The other would just be front to back.

Once again, the raw materials were junk from the barn. I think this piece of heavy wall tubing used to be a physical therapy machine that dad bought cheap at an auction (for the metal).





I decided to use 7/16 bolts for mounting it. He I am checking to see if I have room for these nuts. I ended up welding the nuts to the underside of the mounting bracket.


Here it is welded to the saddle that the rack tube rests in.


Now the other side of the saddle is tied to the crossmember


Even though this was some pretty heavy material, I gusseted one of the sides.
 
#234 ·
Same thing on the other side.







Now to start fabbing up the straps.

I started on the end that I just made the bases.



The other end of the straps will be secured by nuts and bolts through the flange of the crossmember.


just connect the dots.




...and then gusset the hell out of it so that the bends in the straps stay where they are supposed to be.


Other clamp done. Guset was done differently (clamp on this side is farther outboard...less ground clearance), but should be plenty beefy.






Boots look like crap.




But they are necessary


The spring should block out most of the view


Oh yeah, the u-bolts I bought were too small. They won't work :(
 
#235 ·
Time to start thinking about how to attach the spring to the control arm.

I currently have two ideas. The first is to cut the spring hangers off of the ford wishbones and then cut them apart so that the pivot can be rotated to the right orientation and the welded and ground to look like they were forged that way....and then welded to the top of the control arms. The gooseneck would be pointed up.

The ford parts look like this. The shackle part would be turned 90* or so.


The other idea is to fab up something like the t-bucket I saw at Bonneville. Not nearly as "old looking", but should be functional.



Anybody got any better ideas?
 
#237 ·
Went to the Pumpkin run today and hit the swap meet. I bought another set of square u-bolts. Hopefully these will work.

I also bought a gas tank of unknown origin. I'm guessing teens or twenties. it has a built in gas gauge (go to the back of car to check fuel level).

And a spare tire cover that I plan on cutting into cycle fenders.
 
#240 ·
Looks like I am going to get to work on the car this weekend. Not 100% sure what the next step should be.

I'm guessing that it should be to permanently mount the front crossmember and mount lower control arms. Once the arms are set, I should be able to plant my shackle hangers in the right spot.

That will probably tie up the whole weekend. If it doesn't, I will try and nail down the design for motor mounts and the path for the steering shaft....right now they look like they will be competing for the same space. I probably need to figure that out be fore I move to the upper control arm fab process.
 
#243 ·
**** happened and I did not make it to dad's house.

There was a wreck going the other direction. One of the cars crossed the centerline and I collided with them head on at 45 mph.

I don't have any broken bones or life threatening injuries, but I feel like I was thrown off of a 5 story building and landed in the grass.....I look ok, but everything hurts.

The little red car is screwed.







 
#245 ·
HOLY CRAP! And that little car did just what it was supposed to do, absorb energy to you didn't have to! Look at that LITTLE car, and you are ok! This is an example of what I preach that just because a late model car looks "worse" than an older car in an accident isn't a good thing! The late model car is designed to protect YOU and that little car did a fine job of that.

Hope you feel better today. :welcome:

Brian
 
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