Canuck 289 scratch build

[PDUB]

Great work on both the rad and F4B! I plan to run an F4B on my temporary engine, until I collect the stamps for the Weber setup on a 289 Hipo. Supposedly it is not much of a performance improvement over the cast iron factory unit, but looks much better!

[old willy]

Yes I agree, I was not really going for the big performance upgrade, I am really trying to build another time machine So ya, really more about the looks.

I was just going to order a new Edelbrock 2121 but this one was going for super cheap, almost free to a good home, so how could I say no
The only thing I am concerned about is clearance with the hood but my latest mock up would indicate it should be OK, very close but OK.

If it really is an issue I will go with a stock cast one or the new lower profile Edelbrock one. Time will tell.........

Thanks for the encouragement, it's January in Canada and I need it

[Godabitibi]

Old Willy you are a MASTER.
I AM VERY IMPRESSED.
And believe me to impress me it has to be something serious.
I am myself a very tallented person according to my car friends and I ve done cars that appeared in pages of magazines but I would not have the courrage a patience to do what your doing with this project.
I'm totally in awe.
Too bad you're a bit far from me because I would visit you to see it.

Would you build a frame for me ? 🤣

[old willy]

Thanks for your kind words, those are the sort of things that help keep me going sometimes.

As for building for anybody else, time will tell.......

I started this project with the intention of it being my last "big one" as I have other interests and my time to do them will run out someday.
I really had not done any of this type of work for a long time, but as I go along I really do enjoy it, sometimes it is just as simple as stepping back and seeing some progress has been made, something exists where it did not before.

My focus for many years has mostly been working to make a home and family but as that daily grind sort of thing looks like it may actually wind down in the foreseeable future There could be room to build for others again.

But seriously, no promises are being made yet.

Again, thank you for your kind words, I will get another post up soon as work keeps progressing but I am always lagging behind with the updates.




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[old willy]

Well hello everybody,

It’s been a while again since I threw in an update, so here goes……..

The snow is melting and I am still working away on things, some parts are definitely going better than others but it’s all part of the “fun” I guess.

So after all the figuring and reworking on the cowl tube a couple of episodes back I finally got back around to the fiberglass parts I need to make. So I brought out what I previously created and after fixing a couple of dings in my trunk liner mould I waxed it up with some trusty old paste wax.



Then I applied a coat of PVA mould release and sprayed the gel coat and let it set up.
The PVA may seem like overkill, the wax should be enough and I did say this was a onetime mould. However I think the PVA also helps with the surface finish too, so long as it lays down nicely with no runs.



Then I layed it up with resin and cloth, adding some extra along the stiffeners. Also the area where the spare tire hold down attaches, I may add a reinforcing plate here too.



After curing I used a couple of wedges and the air nozzle to loosen it and off it popped!



I just had to test the fit with a wheel and tire…..Yep, fits nice.



I trimmed it up a bit and set it to the side for now, then on to the foot boxes…….

But first I really need to figure out some of the the interior, so I printed out the pieces for the floor section patterns and started building things up in CAD again.




The sharp eyed among you will notice that I have changed things a bit at the rear of the tunnel. This is because I need to accommodate the MDL offset shifter.
It really only raises it up just over an inch but that means changes at the rear and most importantly at the front where it meets the foot boxes, they need to be a little taller too.




I know I could just stick the shifter straight up like so many others but it is always one of the things I notice first when I see a picture of a 289 interior and I see the shifter is too far back and in the center of the tunnel, I just know it’s a modern 5 speed. But I really do want the T5 for cruising so this is the compromise I am making.

So after I was happy with the way that looked I got out the foot box moulds and modified / finished them.



Much filling and sanding later…..



Waxed and a coat of PVA release agent applied……..



Then gel coat…..



And fiberglass and resin layup…..



And then again, a couple of wedges and a bit of shop air applied and POP!



It was very satisfying, both parts came out of the moulds cleanly , The blue green is the PVA and it is meant to come out with the part, it washes off with water, great stuff, always works..

I trimmed the boxes up and checked the fit…..





Very nice, I think it looks a lot like the pictures I have seen in books and on line, the only references I have really.

So that’s it for now, Yes I have done more but again my posts are lagging behind just not as much.

Next time It will be back to fun metal fabricating and body stuff!

Cheers,
Hudson




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[PDUB]

Marvelous! It looks marvelous!

[old willy]

Well hello again,

Another long, overdue update here.

I am still beavering away on the roadster when I can and thought I would take another short time out on the project as it is summer and there are always other things I need/ must attend to.

I will try and keep things a bit more brief, this time too.

So after making the fiberglass parts I did fit up on the spare tyre well and then with some help dropped the body back on to try and get more serious about cutting and fitting things up.


As I said before I knew I needed to make some modifications around the cockpit area so it was time to get at it.

Again I am not really sure of the origins of this body my best guess is it is a Johnex, and that mould was made from an Aurora body ( modified) and the Aurora body mould was created from a mould off an early original 260 car….or so the story goes.
It’s all a bit complicated and I have not had the chance to examine either version to be sure but there are a few telltale signs I can discern from photos. Whatever the case, this is the body I have and it will work, with a bit of help.
So taking a cue from the drawing notes I created and added the door hinge mounts and straightened things out from there.
A new cowl tube was formed and the cowl area cut to clear the tube. I will reform the fiberglass in this area to match the tube for a more pleasing / correct shape than the body had before.



I then cut the rear area and tried moving it forward to more match the dimensions given in the drawings. In the end I think I will do the same as the front and form the new “glass” over the tube, but that’s a bit later. For now the cut piece was needed to help understand where the door opening needed to be.



So it I needed to start connecting the points together. The upper corners are quite tight and I did try to bend these without help but I knew that the thin wall ¾ tube would not allow that small a radius empty. So first I tried some sand but still no luck, I just can’t pack it tight enough so I needed some Cerrobend or “woods metal” something I learned abut way back when I was an apprentice. I finally located some from an alloy supply outfit on the west coast, too bad about the distance because it’s heavy stuff to ship but it really makes all the difference for this kind of thing.



The tube on the left is the sand filled one and the one on the right is the cerrobend filled one otherwise the exact same bender was used.

Really quite amazing stuff……

I fit up the windshield to its brackets ( no holes drilled yet ) and did a mock up of the soft top and offered up the side curtains I have to better determined what I needed to do about the door openings.




I am not 100 percent on the windshield rake right now but I do know what the door opening should be as taken from an original car and when I apply that figure to mine the side curtain lines up nicely so it was time to cut.

I just needed to ease things forward and wanted to keep the shape so a nice long cut and a series of relief cuts allowed me to move the rear edge forward a bit and keep a nice gentle curve.




Then I filled in the resulting gaps with some new fiberglass and rechecked things, it’s a bit crude at the moment but once things are properly framed I can grind out most of this and lay in some better glass work.



So being happy with the result for now I smoothed things out a bit, removed and boxed up the windscreen and top parts and decided it was time to figure out the doors.

OH BOY!

Stay tuned my friends.

Hudson






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