Whippet Update

I had the chance to roll the Whippet out, take some pictures and take it for a test drive.

I just temporarily wired it to drive it.  I have a speedway wiring harness for it and am currently installing it.

Amazingly it drove very well and ran great.

Progress on the Whippet

I made a mount for the battery out of angle iron, I don't have a good picture but, it just follows the perimeter of the battery then has a clamp that goes over the top.

 It's been slow going on the Whippet lately but, I have been able to get a few things done.  The above picture shows the rear panel that I made to tie the rear together.  I made it from 18 gauge.  Its hard to do long bends without a brake but, if you take your time you can do it with some clamps, angle iron and hammer/dolly work.

This is just a shot of the inside of the panel.

I cut down the decklid to make it fit better and installed the taillights. 

I installed a piano hinge on the bottom of the decklid and got some spring latches for the top that I haven't mounted yet.  I am currently working on bleeding the brakes after installing all new brake components from Thompson's Garage and a new 48' ford style master cylinder from Speedway Motors. 

Till next time keep your ears and eyes open for hidden car treasure!

1929 Willy's Whippet, Ford Model A, Mercury Flathead,Frame Fabrication, Body Channelling, Pinion Angle, Firewall Reversal

Setting up the front suspension.  I am going to make what is called a "suicide perch" for the front axle.  If it were to fail the frame hits the ground, hence suicide.

Just a shot of how I connected the rear suspension and the rear frame section that I made.  The wheelbase is longer than a Model A and on a Model A the rear spring is directly above the rear axle.

I cut the frame horns off the Model A Frame and removed the front stock cross member, both items that easily get you a couple hundred bucks on ebay.  Money toward the project!

Here I set the pinion angle at +3 degrees for suspension compression under acceleration.

Here I have the body channelled 6 inches over the frame.

You can see the first part of the front spring perch welded on.  I later add bracing to it.

A closer view of the semi-finished suicide spring perch.  I made it tall to get the car low to the ground.

I removed the firewall to reverse it and give me the engine bay clearance I need.  Reversing is just flipping it around.

Here the firewall is reversed and welded in.  The hole in the side of the cowl is for the cowl steering which I will show later.  I cut the tops of the doors off, welded the doors shut, removed the windshield sun visor, and chopped the windshield frame about 3-1/2 inches.

I have the driver side door top folded over, you can see the original height on the passenger door waiting to be done.