Dad-bud builds a rod

[Dad-bud]

OK, where to start?
Bit of a newbie to this forum.
I've kinda stayed on the perimeter of the hot rodding world due to lots of excuses - kids growing up, work commitments, lack of talent and skills, shortage of money.
I've now retired and with the extra time, find that I have no more excuses not to finally build myself a car.
First thing, I don't want to just pay someone else to build me a car - I might not have much skills but I have always been willing to learn and I want to have a go.
The other part of the reason for not wanting to pay someone else is that I am tight.
I'd rather put some money into buying decent tools and try - even if it takes a couple of times.
My plan is for a reliable and safe rod that I am happy to drive. I'm not particularly taken with anyone's idea of fashion but I do like the look of 'traditional style' cars.
I don't care if others don't like my car - I don't plan on building it for anyone else but me, so any and all compromises I make will be ones I have to live with.
Many people start out with a lower cost car - something they can afford to get into - you know, like a 38 4-door something but my idea is that if I'm going to be putting money into a car, it might as well be the type of car I want. That's a highboy roadster.
(OK, I've tried attaching a picture here to show what I'm hoping to end up with (kinda) but nothing is showing - I may need help here guys)
(anyway, back to the story)
Brave? ................. Stupid?
Time will tell.
Now for the compromises to begin - I'm nearly 6'6"/197cm tall and around 20 stone/130kg - yeah, that's right, I'm a good average sized kinda guy. I know I'm just a little taller than the average person in the 30's so the first important thing is that I can sit IN the car and not ON the car - to do that, I need to have enough legroom so my legs can lie out fairly straight - that means a Model A is unlikely to suit. A 32 Ford is closer and is one of the pinnacle cars of the sport of rodding but they've got pretty small doors and not a lot of legroom. 34 roadsters are beautiful but $$$$$$$.
So, not knowing what I can or can't do, why not go for broke? I'm going to have a go at building the body as well.
What have I got to lose? Some time and/or some money. Time, I've got plenty of - I'm retired now. $$$$? - it's just going to be some metal. Worst case is that I have to throw away everything and start again.
Anyway, time to submit my first post and see if I can attach an image, otherwise, things are going to get awfully wordy.
(Fingers crossed)

[Mudgy]

Hello mate,
Welcome to Ozrodders.
It might help us to know what state you're from, so engineering guidelines applicable could be forwarded to/shared with you.
I remember a mate from western NSW telling me (a tall fella too) he was "hunched like a dog rooting a cricket ball" when he went for a spin in a rod.
Kinda good to know your ergonomics first then !

Take your time, and have fun. The day you stop learning is the day you turn up your toes mate.

Plenty of experienced people here to guide you. I know I need them !

Cheers, Mudgy

[Tyrant]

I'm liking the look , Good luck and keep us posted.

[Dad-bud]

Ah f^&*()!
OK, so first mistake I've made. I wrote up my next post and hit submit but ............................. (%*^%*&)%&*)^%&*)!) It seems to have disappeared into the ether. (Trying to remember what I said)
OK, about the pic I posted in post #1 - it's a look that really appeals to me for the following reasons:
1. Wheel n tyre combo is a little unusual - it's not the big n littles you would expect on a traditional build - it's more big n bigs, but it appeals to me.
2. The body isn't a 32 Ford (or any other kind of Ford as far as I can tell) but the car looks HOT as hell to me. That tells me I can use (or try to recreate) a roadster body that will suit.
3. I like the long bonnet look - my earliest plan was to use a BA Falcon six - they're mostly bulletproof and cheap and easy to find plus they can be made to make stupid power with a turbo. I've gone a different way with my engine/trans combo but the long bonnet look still appeals.
4. The body doesn't have doors - I thought about trying for that look but realised that there will have to be a couple of other people able to get in and out to drive it for registration, so............ doors it is.
5. I kinda like the aero-cowling behind the drivers head, but that's a bit wanky so while I won't be doing that, a good chance there'll be a roll bar.
OK, so where did I start?
Chassis rails.
And chassis rails need some frame horns, so set about making some.
(I just found out what happened to my previous draft of this post - my photo attachment was too big - they've gotta be <256KB - OK, so shrink all pics - let's try).

[Dad-bud]

Cut frame horn from side of 100x50 (pic below)

Thanks to the couple of guys who have replied so far.

BTW, I'm in Perth - I'll try to update my details so it shows.

More pics to follow.

[Dad-bud]

Kept the top and bottom flanges

[Dad-bud]

Grind them all together so they come out the same (well, that was the hope anyway)

[Dad-bud]

OK, so they were all ground down to shape and bevelled for welding back in

[Dad-bud]

Lots of little pie-cuts in the top and bottom flanges and plenty of clamps and hitting with my range of hammers to shape the flanges to match the horn shapes.

[Dad-bud]

I feel this may be taking too long with this much detail, but hey, I'm a detail kinda guy - let me know your thoughts.

[Dad-bud]

Continued shaping the frame rails to taper down

[Dad-bud]

Keep working top and bottom flanges - tacking it all together as we go.

[Dad-bud]

Ended up with both rails shaped and tacked - best of all is that each rail matches the other - I thought that might be a bit important.

[CHOPPED EK]

hey DB
great intro mate
i like your passion
its what keeps us rodders motivated
good comment about building the car for you
its a rule i stick by
looking forward to seeing your dream come to reality
if you happen to come to the hotrod show next weekend you can get heaps of motivation and ideas
not to mention advise
i will be floating around with a commitee shirt on WAHRP
will have my name on it
come say hello
iv got my 32 on display there and my mobile number is on the sign in front of the car
paul

[Dad-bud]

I'm basing the chassis layout on a stretched version of a 32 Ford chassis - plans taken from Wescotts.
My plan is to make the body a couple of inches wider and taller than a stock body (I've got to have something to work from or to)
As the chassis rails are being made from 100x50, so they're shorter than the 32 rails which are 6" deep, there's my 2" in body height, so the chassis steps up to match the lower surface of a 32 chassis. (That made sense in my head as I was thinking it - I'm not sure that has translated into the preceding sentence - hope so).