Whippet Progress

So I was able to let the flathead go through a heat cycle so I could re-torque the head studs.  It's got a bit of blowby.  It needs to have a rebuild in the near future.  I will just baby it for the summer and maybe go through it next winter, otherwise it runs great.  Oil pressure stays at about 5 psi at idle and goes up to 20 at higher rpm.  Flatheads are known to have low pressure.  The temp stayed right around 180 so that was good. 

The V-man was digging the progress

I took a headlight bar I had and butchered it to fit.  It turned out pretty good, I just mounted it to the F-1 Shock Mounts.  The Headlights are a pair of 30-31 Ford Model A's with a sealed beam conversion.

I finally figured out that on a positive ground electrical system you need to positive ground your electric fuel pump as well.

For the shifter linkage I picked up some solid round bar.  I heated the ends of the two pieces I cut and bent them at 90 degrees.  This end goes through the hole on the shifter.

I then just strong armed the bars with a pipe bender to the shape they needed to clear each other and to smoothly shift through the gears.  Then I just drilled holes through the bars and slid them over the transmission shift levers.

I finally found a use for the vintage Hamms can I had laying around.  It's now the radiator overflow container.

I finished up the dash with the guages, switches and an ash tray for a smoking habit I don't have...I just thought it looked cool.

I also got the front toe board installed.

1929 Willys Whippet Mercury Flathead on Model A Frame

Recently I made the pedal linkage for the Whippet.  The pedals are from some kind of early Chevy that I found in a junk pile somewhere.  I used a clutch shaft from a 1946 Ford, I ordered it from Vanpelt sales but it is an OEM part.  The clutch is a bit hard to push in but it seems to work ok.  A 40’ Ford had longer pedals for a easier pedal ratio.

If I could give any advice on two carb setups for flatheads, it would be don't use the Edelbrock Super Dual.  I ended up having to offset the generator by using an Offy offset bracket that I got from Speedway Motors.  Then I had to invert one of the water necks and get a longer upper radiator hose to fit around the generator.  Then the inlet on the front carburetor is very tight to the side of the generator.

I made up these hose adapters for the lower radiator outlets to the water pumps.  I used 1x2 rectangular tubing and some round tubing because rubber hoses don't bend that sharp.

I ended up using an old dropped axle I had on the front.  I bought a Posies reverse arch front spring from Speedway, along with new perches and shackles.  I hate the cheap bushings they send with the shackles though, they shatter like glass if you are too rough on spring installation.

I used the Speedway complete brake line kit to run all the brake lines.  It worked well but I had a lot of left over brass parts that I paid for and didn't need, but they come in the kit.

I ran the front hard lines under the front crossmember.  I later put a T in the center.

I sourced this in-line 6 volt electric fuel pump from O'reilly auto parts.  I had a vintage Autopulse fuel pump installed because it looked cool but, apparently today's gas has alcohol in it and turns the rubber diaphrams of the vintage pump into silly putty, then sprays gas like a sprinkler.

I should be sponsored by Speedway or something, I got this poly 10 gallon tank from them as well.  On my last car I used an old steel tank.  It took me 2 days of cleaning the inside, then I had to seal it and wait a few more days to even test it, so this was way easier.

So last weekend I tried to fire the Flathead up but the rings wouldn't seal in the cylinders.  So I soaked them in Marvel Mystery Oil for a few days.  The oil makes the rings expand.  The oil also makes it smoke like crazy until it all burns off as you can see in the video.  I had to shut it down because I didn't have an oil pressure gauge or temp gauge.  Runs pretty good for an engine that sat in a truck seized up for about 30 years.

1929 Willy'sWhippet Model A Frame Construction Body

My original plan was to use this saginaw 3 speed transmission from a 57' Chevy with an Offy adapter that you can see in the picture. I would have then had to convert the rearend to an open driveline because it uses a torque tube from the factory. 

But I found a 1946 Ford 3 speed transmission for less than the cost of the open drive conversion kit and it makes it a bit more traditional in style.

The next group of pictures is the process of adding steel structure to the body and basically creating framing for the floor sheet metal to attach to.



I left the center open to allow travel of the torque tube under suspension compression.



I then framed a higher section to cover the open torque tube area.

There is one more stick to put in here but you get the idea.

Of course having the engine mocked up in place is essential to getting the rest of the car's proportion right.