LFD's RPU build part 1

[rokcrln]

I am just in the parts collecting stage right now but I will be starting on the door jambs and door structures soon. One of the reasons for this build (besides just wanting too) is I am building a 3 window coupe from scratch and I need to dial in the door jambs. So I figure why not start building the bucks and jigs and use the first run of parts on the RPU since they will not be as perfect as the later sets will be. Plus a RPU is so much less work then the coupe since it will not have roll up windows, a roof, truck or fenders.

I already have a bare frame with title and pink for a 36 truck so I will use that for this build. Then for some trade work with a friend who is building a very nice 36 4 door sedan I got all his stock (but rebuilt) running gear that I will use as well. I built a cart for the 39 flat head and it fired right up so I found a radiator that I pulled out of a 51 F1 a few years back and set along the fence and to my surprise when I checked it today it worked great. I want to keep the wide 5 wheels but I will convert the brakes over to juice.

If any one has a cheap but good way of converting the brakes from mech. to juice I would really appreciate a link.

I will also change the stock trans over to a 5spd (S10 I think was the way to go) but leave the motor stock. It will be lowered but I have not yet decided on the best way to go about doing that yet.

Here are a few pics of the parts as well as a half scale of the RPU I am building for my son and mine will be very similar. Then here is one pic of the coupe as it gets ready for its jambs. I hope after this RPU is done I will drive it for a bit then I may sell it to fund the Coupe build but we will see.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[James(Western Canada)]

Kevin: I emailed you a link & a .pdf on an adaptor plate to mount t5 to flatty:)

Cheers!
James

[Peter Miles]

What does RPU stand for?

[kit]

If any one has a cheap but good way of converting the brakes from mech. to juice I would really appreciate a link.

Get a set of juice back plates the size to fit the drum, cut the old back plates down to being just a flange a conveniant way out from the attachment to axle holes, true it up on a lathe, machine the juice ones to match, weld them up.

[steve.murphy]

Pete,
RPU = Roadster Pick Up. Nice Project!
Cheers

[rokcrln]

Kevin: I emailed you a link & a .pdf on an adaptor plate to mount t5 to flatty:)

Cheers!
James
Thank you for that, I will check it out.

Get a set of juice back plates the size to fit the drum, cut the old back plates down to being just a flange a conveniant way out from the attachment to axle holes, true it up on a lathe, machine the juice ones to match, weld them up. Yep I have my parts guy doing some research on the right parts car for me!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Doug98105]

Kevin,

The brake conversion might be a really simple bolt on.

This is what I remember way, way back when I was in high school doing the conversion of a Model A (1930?). The later Fords('32 to '39) might be as easy, but I don't know for sure.

I got hydraulic backing plates from a pre-1949 Ford passenger car. The locating boss on the "A" spindles and rear axle was slightly smaller diameter than the locating hole of the newer brakes. The rod shops sold an inexpensive machined spacer ring to make the later plates fit. I recall having to elongate the mounting bolt holes. Other than what I've described it was a simple bolt on.

The brake drums are soemthing I don't remember. Either the "A" ones fit or I had to get those off the later model hydraulic brake car. If I used the later drums I know for sure they were a direct fit.

I grew up in a semi-rural area 70 miles south of Seattle. At that time there were wrecking yards everywhere with dirt cheap early Ford parts. It probably isn't that way in your area now, huh?

Doug

[Tisdelski]

Hi Kevin,

Put 40-48 juice brakes on it, or if you want bendix style brakes use 53-56 f100 brakes ( better, no need to keep readjusting).

great to see the new project.

Gary

[rokcrln]

http:Hi Kevin,

Put 40-48 juice brakes on it, or if you want bendix style brakes use 53-56 f100 brakes ( better, no need to keep readjusting).

great to see the new project.

Gary

Gary will work with my wide 5 lug drums?
I will try and post a video of the flaty running.
Thank you

Kevin
LFD Inc.
Click the pic
[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/th_MOV09616.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/?action=view&current=MOV09616.mp4)

[Tisdelski]

I`ll make sure this week when i go to my shop, I have a set of 40 brakes on my truck out there and a 36 rear with the wide five drum on it.

Gary

[Tisdelski]

Hi Kevin,

Worked in the garage all day didn`t make it to the shop but found this : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=553653

he`s using 39-48 backing plates with the wide 5

Gary

[DYCE]

Hi Kevin,

Put 40-48 juice brakes on it, or if you want bendix style brakes use 53-56 f100 brakes ( better, no need to keep readjusting).

great to see the new project.

Gary

The f100 brakes are self energizing as well. Nice job on the cab!!

[rokcrln]

Hi Kevin,

Worked in the garage all day didn`t make it to the shop but found this : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=553653

he`s using 39-48 backing plates with the wide 5

Gary
Gary thanks for the link I will read through it tonight.

The f100 brakes are self energizing as well. Nice job on the cab!!
I know what you mean I just need to see if they would work with the wide 5 set up.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

Well I had some time tonight but not enough to finish up the extra parts to make it complete. I still need the steering arms and mounting brackets then a bit more welding to cap and round things off. This will give you the idea of were it is going. It will have a mono leaf and wish bone arms but the suspension will be solid.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

I made a bit more progress tonight on the half size. My son and I walked over to the hardware store to get the rear diff mounting bolts then he helped me install it. He had to have the big wrench and made me hold the small one:(

Next I will work on body mounts and a new floor. This floor is about 1 1/2" above the frame so I figure I should make some more room while I have a chance. Judging from his size in the car I should get several more years out of it before he out grows it. After body mounts I will work on the front end and then the bed. Then I have to decide on the motor to mount out back for drive power before making the alum flat head V8 for up front.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[jvo]

Really nice deal Kevin. I wanted to get my sons involved and the time just passed me by. They are 29 and 37 now. They are just now beginning to be interested in hot rodding. ( I think that's because I told both of them all my tools would be given to my grandson, as he is the only one that is interested in working in the shop.)
Your son looks all grown up compared to last May when we were there. Can't wait to see this finished. Good luck.

Oh, and I still have dreams about those cookies that I got caught eating so many of.

[rokcrln]

Thanks and yes he is growing too fast. He really likes to be out in the shop but he is just a little young for most of what I do and with my ADD my shop is always a total mess. But I take the time and get him out their every now and then to work on his projects so he has a small sense of ownership in them.

It was fun having you guys come over last time so make sure you look me up on the next trip at least for dinner!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

More progress! I had 2 friends come by Saturday and I helped them make (2) 34 truck door skins 6" longer then stock for a project he is building.
Bill is 70 and is building the 34 truck and Jim is 77 and he is building a 3 window 51 Dodge. I then spent some time on Sunday on the RPU, I made the front sides, Grill buck and started a hood that I will need to start over on, 1 side is going to be too short for the bead and return lip.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Metalman Sweden]

Nice skins there, and cool stance the RPU have :)
AND I love to see the ol gents still have the go :D:D

I will follow this to see the result!

Greatings from Sweden!
// Per

[Tony Sanchez]

---Kevin, the rpu looks like it's comming along great. I still want to build one of those grill shell bucks.
---Tony

[rokcrln]

Played more with the grill shell buck today and it turned out well. I will make a few changes in the full size buck that I will start next week. I will spend more time getting it perfectly symmetrical and make sure all the take off angles flow just right. I also feel building a full size shell will be a bit easier then this small one but we will see. And for the record I have not spent any real time on metal finishing this one yet.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Tony Sanchez]

---I love the grill shell, the rpu looks great
---Tony

[anders nørgaard]

Beautiful Kevin :)
Tell us how you made it :cool: ;)

[rokcrln]

Beautiful Kevin :)
Tell us how you made it :cool: ;)

First off I got the idea of doing it this way from Ron Covell several years ago in a Magazine article as well as years later at a metal meet when he brought the buck for us to play with.

Ok I started with a buck that I made out of 1/2" round tube that I heated and bent to the desired shape. Then I made a very simple frame out of 1/2" x 1/2" 18g angle that I shrunk to fit the hood sides and top. Then I added a few pieces of the 1/2" tube as stand offs to hold the outer grill tube off the 1/2" angle and to add strength so I could use it as a hammer form as well.

Once I had the buck made I took some 3" wide strips of 19g AKDQ and put a 3/8" 90* edge on one side in my brake and then used my shrinker to shape it so it fit inside my 1/2" tube hoop. This will become the inner grill shell. Once it fit the buck close enough I clamped it in place with some Vise grips and scribed a line 1/4" out past the 1/2" grill tube and once it was trimmed I simply just hammer formed it into place. I did a right and a left and welded them in the center then set them aside.

Then I decided to do the outer shell in 4 pieces Top, bottom and both sides. I started with the top and had to shrink the front edge lots with my shrinker and wheeled it between shrink sessions to get the shape I was going for. Once it fit I also scribed it a 1/4" past the grill tube and repeated the process 3 more times until the shell was ready to weld up.

This shell was done fast and not perfect at all but good enough for this Tot-Rod. I will be starting the full size buck for my future car body I have plans to build and this next buck will be perfect. I will take good step by step pics of the full process and also show a step by step of a shell being made. Their are also several things to take into account when making the buck that I learned with this one that I will share on the next.

I almost forgot that after I had the shell all welded up I trimmed the back side and put in a step for the hood and sides to sit into. I did this with my bead roller.

Well I hope this made some sense to you all.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

Then today I had to put some time into a customers truck so I can get it finished and then I can focus more time to my full size builds that I have been designing for years now it seems.

I mad some inner fender panels (sorry for the bad pics) and went to the pick-N-pull for a hood latch. I found some off VW's (mid 90's) that had a nice cable pull and looked to be well made. Cost about $14 a set. I still have some finish work and welding to do but for today I designed the set up and have it all working well. This is a 41 Chevy Pu and this hood started off life as a butterfly style.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[anders nørgaard]

Kevin,
THIS is what MM is all about. Sharpening Skills and Sharing Information.
Thank you very much for sharing :) :) :)

[rokcrln]

Small progress, I was able to get 1 side of the hood made during the Santa cruz MM and finished it up this week after work. I then took it to a small car show last night and it was a hit. I also did a quick front bumper.
More to come some day but I sure can see a full size version in the not so far future!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Truckntran Bill]

That is soooo sweet. You may want to look into a secondary emergency latch release on that VW latch, for some reason we had to replace a LOT of cables on those. Or at least make the latch accessible to someone with th eknowhow to release it in case the cable goes.. We were dealing with poor college student cars at the time so it might have just been deferred maintenance and lack of lubrication causing it too.

[Rick (madera)]

The hood came out real nice Kevin!:)

[Overkill]

Looks great. How did you get that lump out that you were battling at the meet?

[oldgoaly]

Boy that is gonna be the best sidewalk cruiser in the world!!!! Git-R-Dun!!!!

[rokcrln]

The hood came out real nice Kevin!:)
Thanks Rick.
Looks great. How did you get that lump out that you were battling at the meet? I did a bit more wheel work when I got home as well as putting a 90* bend at the center line of the hood and the side bead. It still is not 100% what I would want for a full size version but real close and my son likes it!

Boy that is gonna be the best sidewalk cruiser in the world!!!! Git-R-Dun!!!! Yea I am starting to look for a Lark old person cart for the 24V controls. Then I need to figure out a small ring and pinion set up so I can do cowl steering.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[iNVision]

Kevin,

You take the RPU to car shows once completed and it's gonna be every kids dream to own one. Great work!

[Overkill]

"real close and my son likes it!" as do we all.

[rokcrln]

Bringing this back from the almost dead. It has been a bit since I have had time to play out in the shop but as of 2 weeks ago I finished the last customer build that I will be doing so now I can focus on our family projects. So I asked my son if he wanted to work in the shop with my cleaning and he said yes. Then he said what if after we clean we work on my hot rod. So what else could I do but work on his rod.

So we put it up on stands so I could get to it better and we pulled the tires off and then the rear diff. I have since rebuilt the diff and have sent the rims off to the powder coater and once they come back I will mount the new tires that we bought for it. I finally found a set of tires with a dirt track looking tread and in the correct half scale size for this build. The rear will be 32" and 27" for the front. Now with the right size tires I can start on the bed and then get to finishing up the tig welding and fine tuning. I built the other side of the hood that I started at the santa cruz metal meet and it turned out great. I will be doing an inner structure and cowl mounted hinges.

Then I will be on the look out for a scooter for the 24V system to get this thing on the road.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rick (madera)]

Looks Great Kevin!
the shop looks real clean too:D

[Hotrod1932]

Man Kevin that is PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rokcrln]

So my sons 5th birthday is in July and I would like to have this finished for him before he gets any bigger. So I have the new tires mounted on the powder coated rims and today I made the headlight mounts for the Harley driving lights I picked up last month. I need to do a test fit with Taylor this week so I can get the floor and seat taken care of and then start on the bed and drivetrain.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rick (madera)]

Wow! The head lights look perfect. The "TOTROD" is looking sweet!

[Overkill]

Hope you bring it to Santa Cruz again.

[rokcrln]

Hope you bring it to Santa Cruz again.

No I will be traveling light this year as I am taking my family down to Monterrey for a week after the meet and can't be hauling it all around.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

I was in the shop tonight figuring out my motor, controller and battery space when I decided to do some quick bed mock up. I think I found the profile I like so now I will start playing with panels and see where it will go. The rear of the bed below the tailgate will have a little swoop to it that will follow the wheel opening king of like the side shot shows. Not sire if the tail gate will open of be molded into the bed but I have time to figure that one out. It will have mini tubs that will cover about 1/3 of the rear tire.

I will be running a 24V system with a 24V 500w 3000rpm motor along with a reversible controller. With the tire size and the 20:1 RP in the diff he will be able to do 6.2 MPH with a 1:1 motor to diff ratio and should get about 2hrs of run time. If we can fit the group 31 batteries then his run time will be even more.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rick (madera)]

I was going to say that you needed more clearence around the tire. The I saw that it was just sitting on it. Looking better every time you post.

[rokcrln]

Been working on the RPU for the last few weekends and I am making good progress. I have the steering, body mounts, gas pedal all complete. My steering column is made from the bottom end of a HEI distributor I had laying around. I then took my sons current shoe size and traced it for the gas pedal in aluminum and made a mount so it will operate the thumb throttle for the speed control. The pedal mount has 4 mounting positions for growth. I will finish up the firewall this week and get started on the final bed sides Saturday and mount the motor and electrical Sunday along with the aluminum bench seat. Then if all goes well he will have his first drive the following weekend on his 5th birthday!

Then after that as time allows I will make a banjo steering wheel and at least one operable door (at my sons request ).

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

Getting close! I spent about 25hrs this weekend on the RPU and it will be ready for my son to drive it on the 9th for his 5th birthday. It will not have paint or interior but drive all the same. I got the electrical system done and batteries mounted (them suckers are about 60lbs each!) and I took it for a shake down run of about 1+ miles and everything worked well and the system went from 26.1V down to 25.7V during that mile run. I will work on the rest of the seat, rear rail of the cab and bed this week.

Best part is as soon as this is done then I get to work on my coupe!!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[anders nørgaard]

This is really going to be a cool ride Kevin! http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif :D

Looking forward to seeing some progress on the Coupe too!! :D :D :D

[jvo]

Pretty impressive. I wanted to do that for my grandson, but I never got started, let alone finished. Oh well, he is nine now, and I just gave him a bunch of books on hot rodding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[rokcrln]

My biggest concern was that he would grow to fast to fit it before I got around to finishing it. Well I found out yester Ivan sit on the back of the can and drive just fine so no more worries other than my wife not letting me take it out my self.

Kevin
Lfd inc.

[iNVision]

Great updates Kevin! He's gonna have an absolute blast running around in this ride. :D:D

[mindover]

That looks superb. I started building a little T bucket for my oldest daughter when she was little got the body and chassis done but she grew so much! did it again but never got it done.I thought OK I will get it done for the youngest then - she just had her prom - still no T bucket. I never found the time to finish it. Good to see you getting the RPU close to being done.

David

[Tin Head]

That's looking great Kevin. Can I ask a couple question on the build. What's the wheelbase and where did the differential come from.

[rokcrln]

That's looking great Kevin. Can I ask a couple question on the build. What's the wheelbase and where did the differential come from.

Thanks guys it has been a lot of fun building this and my son should really enjoy all the attention at the car shows and I might as well a bit.

The wheel base is 52" if I remember right. It is half of what my full size is set up for and I think that was 104" 2" over a stock 36 chassis, or maybe it was 112" stock so I am 114" and his is 57" I don't know, getting old sucks they say your memory is the first to go but I don't recall that happening yet.

The rear diff is out of a lawn tractor/riding mower and so are the front spindles and the steering shaft and bottom gear. All else is fab'ed as well as several mods to the parts used. I started off wanting to do a quick build on this to just get it done and move onto the full size project. Then I decided that if it was worth doing that I might as well give it my all and I started with building miniature body mounts with faux rivets, gusset plates, through frame exhaust holes (for battery cables) and so on. I plan on spending most of the 4th working on the bed sides and rear gate. I picked up some really neat tail lights made for custom choppers that have a hot rod look, brake and tail bulbs so they will shine when the head lights are on and then light when he hits the brakes. Yes their is a single disk brake on the rear diff that I still need to un freeze and get working and then build linkage and a pedal. Then on to hours of body fitment and finishing. My son is growing on the idea to leave the body metal finished and just detailing the frame and interior. More pics to come. and I will get some video on his birthdays maiden voyage.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

Made some progress on the bed sides today. I had to add an extension to the passenger side to get the gap to the 1/4" I was after. I guess the body is off about 3/16" side to side so I decided to fix the panel because I know it would bug me if I didn't. I have not figured out the back end yet but I am sure I will get it sorted out on sunday before the unveil monday night.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rokcrln]

Well it is ready for its test drive by Taylor tomorrow for his 5th birthday. I finished the remainder of the body fab today and all thats left to build will be the bed mounts and the bed tub it self so he can haul the cooler around or any swap meet parts for Dad! I also need to build the wind shield then tear it all down and finish the welding and then metal finish the whole thing as we are going to leave the body bare steel and just have the interior done and the frame Powder coated to match the rims.
I will try and post a video of tomorrows events and then we have our local car show here in Winters Tuesday night so I will let him drive it over their and show it off. Should be a blast.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Tony Sanchez]

---Kevin, the RPU looks fantastic. Taylor will probably remember this car show the rest of his life time. Hope you post some photos of the car show.
---Tony

[Tisdelski]

Congrats Kevin.

[anders nørgaard]

Congrats Kevin.

... and Happy Birthday Taylor! :newyear:

[bobadame]

Very, very cool.

[oldgoaly]

Kevin, awesome job! your going to have one super happy son! and well that looks like something to hang on too for the grand kids! and the great grand kids!

[rokcrln]

Lets try this and see if it works!
http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/?action=view&current=taylorsride.mp4

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rick (madera)]

Wow! That was great:D

[jlrussell4]

That was great. Taylor has to be the happiest kid in California today!!!

[Jinx]

i didn't imagine it to be that big! That is the coolest toy in the world :)

[oldgoaly]

I'm impressed how well he drives, Joel would have been pedal to the metal and why is that tree or building have to be there..... :eek: Great thread!

[Metalman Sweden]

Wow! Cool build and a really cool driver :-)

Thanks for shareing this nice stuff!

// Per

[Carbuilder]

Kevin great job.

[iNVision]

Hat's off to you Kevin!! Thats absolutely amazing and your son controls the hotrod really well!! ::D:D

You've created one heck of a toy...hmmm toy? maybe not the right word here. A toy is one of those ken and barbie jeeps... This would truly devastate one of those things :lol: It's really akin to a scaled down version of the hotrods we drive.

Thanks for sharing your journey.:newyear:

[rokcrln]

Well no progress but we are enjoying the RPU even with out it being all complete yet. I went to a car last saturday in Napa Ca. and their was a great turn out, over 400 cars pre registered and the weather was nice. At any given time their were people checking out Taylors little RPU as well as his 51 ford F1 but every 15-20 minutes all of a sudden a crowd of 10-15 people would be around his RPU then part ways to check out other cars. Taylors F1 got an award for "Rattiest Rod" and he was so excited to get his very first trophy.

Also Denise Gage was at the show doing what he does and checking out all the cars so when I saw him in the parking lot across the street I just had to go over and say Hi and ask if was interested in seeing something different. He said "sure whats you got" and I think I only got as far as saying that I was building my son a 1/2 size RPU and Denise says "oh the all steel electric, we already got some shots of that one". I thought that was cool and asked if I could bother him for a pic for me and for my son who was at a friends B-day party.
Not to mention I had a blast diving it around down town Napa!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[NOHOME]

You need to buy and wire in one of those gizmos that you plug into the power outlet (formerly known as cigarette lighters) on your car that makes the snarly V8 noises.


Any kid would kill for that car.

Pete

[rokcrln]

Do you have a link or name of this product because it would be so easy to wire that into the key switch that is their now.

Kevin
LFD inc.
You need to buy and wire in one of those gizmos that you plug into the power outlet (formerly known as cigarette lighters) on your car that makes the snarly V8 noises.


Any kid would kill for that car.

Pete

[iadr]

Its called the "Sound Racer V8" but it's a ways from working.

It takes 'static' in the system from the alternator to figure RPM, and plays through the stereo of the vehicle... so as you can guess, not a "plug in" for this application.