The Humber Speedster Project - Update # 3

Welcome to the third Speedster Build Update, this one is mostly about finishing the seat up to upholstery stage, which it is now. I picked it up yesterday from the upholsterers with the foam in place as I had to sit it in the Humber to see if the foam was the right thickness and angle. I’m very glad I did, because the position I had calculated was about 150 mm (6”) too far forward.

Seat in position with mocked up sides.

In that position, I had full travel of the clutch and brake pedals, but was pinned in by the steering wheel. I had a sneaking suspicion I would have to lengthen the pedals while I was initially setting out the floor, not a big job really, just another one on the list.  I am very pleased about how the seat has come up, having absolutely no experience in building one. It is a little snug, but I was limited in size by the width of the chassis. I asked the upholsterer if he can shave a little off the side foam pieces, (well at least we won’t slide around in it ;-)

                                                                                         

Seat ribs in & reinforced with fibreglass, ready for ply back rests.

Although all the recent build time has been taken up by the seat, and running board mounted battery box, (photos in the next update), I have been farming other parts out for repair or replacement.  I want to do as much of this project myself, but there are some jobs I’m just not tooled up to do. The hubcaps were one of these items. Two came with the car, one in sound condition with bad chrome, and one completely bent out of shape and beyond repair. Luckily there is a metal spinning company not far from home so I had them make up a mandrel, (form), based on the good hubcap and made me up five new ones. Not a cheap exercise, but the only way around it – it would appear that 1932 Humber hubcaps are made of ‘Unobtainium’ and cannot be found.

Ply back rests and base in.

The other item I outsourced was the assembly of the radiator, definitely a specialist’s job. I had the top and bottom tanks and another lucky find in the parts boxes, a brand new radiator core!  The assembly of these wasn’t as straight forward as I had thought - isn’t it always the way! The bottom tank was full of cracks which had to be repaired, and the new core had to be modified as it didn’t fit either tank correctly. Phil from ‘Cor Cooling’ did a great job, and I’m sure it will work a treat and outlast me.

Final sheet steel sides will follow seat contour and will have entry cut away.

Forward view to under dash. Note technical supports for c/board template ;-)

New brass hubcaps.

Another issue was the missing radiator cap and mascot. I figured these would be made out of the same material as the hubcaps, so after a week of scouring the internet in several countries I went looking for alternatives from other makes of cars around the same era. I should have realised Humber did not play well with others, therefore the size and thread on the cap only exists in the Humber world, in particular the late ‘20’s to the early ’30’s. So after having a new cap, (a plug really), machined up - what to do for a mascot? I then remembered a mascot from a car my father owned before I was born - a 1936 Chrysler Airstream. I had safely tucked it away years ago, but where?  After much searching I found it and fitted it to the new cap, a mix of class and sentimentality, perfect! Dad would have been pleased, he loved that old Chrysler.

As I now had five brass hubcaps and a brass radiator cap I started thinking about their final finish and decided against having them chromed and getting the radiator cowl and headlights re-chromed. My thinking was; as I was trying to make the car look like it was built between 1910 and 1915, brass would have used more than chrome, and would therefore help with the illusion of it being an older vehicle. Just yesterday I took the cowl and headlight buckets & rims to an electroplater who specialises in brass. They will strip off the old patchy chrome plating and I can repair any imperfections, then they’ll polish them.

The Humber Speedster Project - Update #2

Today my boys and I, and a mate of theirs, drove to Toowoomba, about 2 hrs west, to the Darling Downs Veteran & Vintage Motor Club’s annual Swap Meet, their 42^nd this year. I hadn’t been since 2012, so was absolutely blown away by the increase in numbers this year - not so impressed by the traffic jam that saw us cover the last 5 km to the Toowoomba Show Grounds in an hour!  Anyway, after we got through the gate, we had a short pow wow about who was going with who.  My son Liam, and friend who had travelled with us, are both Army mad, so it was decided they would troll the stalls looking for ANYTHING army, and Callum, (my other son, they’re 15 yo twins), came with me – Good boy, I needed a pack horse ;-)  I was on a mission this swap meet - I had a shopping list and some cash burning a hole in my pocket. I usually start meandering through the rows of car parts, brica-brac and other detritus from just near the entry, working my way uphill to the Vendors pavilion, but this time I went straight to the top, the Vendors shed. I wanted to score certain new items early then relax and peruse the old shit ;-) Besides, with Toowoomba Swap being pretty big, I wanted to get the uphill walking done first, before my legs started to make me feel old. I checked my list and headed for the various vendors - some were a gold mine, others struck out, so I moved onto the private stalls with trays and boxes of every automotive part imaginable. Here I found some new old stock parts that the vendors couldn’t supply. Callum and I tried to methodically cover as much ground as possible, and some other gems were uncovered and crossed off my list. We caught up with the other two who were very keen to show off their purchases, all military in origin of course, then they decided that all the boys would head off together, which really suited me. I work better alone ;-)  We agreed to meet outside the burger stand in an hour, so off I went and found my best purchase of the day, a set of front and rear mudguards – brilliant for the Humber, just brilliant! The ones I have just aren't right, too rounded for the look I;m going for.

After a long two hour drive home with all the boys asleep, we arrived home with our booty, as the pictures below show. The mudguards are perfect ! A couple of days work to get them up to scratch, but perfect for the job.

The seat taking shape.

The circa 1915 mud guards sitting in place.

The left hand rear guard.

My haul below - running board brackets, new front bump stop rubbers, two gas shock absorbers for the rear and the makings for the sparkplug leads. Oh, and some new old stock neoprene bushes for the front shocks. One happy camper ;-)

My haul ;-)

The Humber Speedster Project - Update #1

I realized after mocking up the body in cardboard that I need to have the seat finished to be able to position in and get the right curve line for the side entry.  Easy ! I’ll just knock up the seat frame and get it upholstered later.  On reflection I found it wasn’t so easy - building a seat frame that will allow for the upholstery thickness, then be in the correct position on the car so I can reach, and have full depression travel of the clutch pedal AND be comfortable, AND be fairly snug, (remember there are no sides or roof on this car, so one will need some feeling of security!) Therefore the depth of the seat must be correct, the height of the seat must be correct, the height of the sides and back rest must be correct.  Are you getting the picture?!

I’ll have to admit it was really testing me…..where to begin, where to begin?  So I began by making the base by gluing together two sheets of 17 mm form ply, this would give it a good strong base, cut to fit the shape of the rear of the body. After this point I really only had a vague idea. OK, well I can't procrastinate any longer... I decided to cut the side panels, install them, then work out what to do from there ;-)  I marked out the coordinates on a sheet of form ply then ask my darling, talented and artistic wife to help me with the curvature of the sides. (I had a basic idea from looking at many, many pictures on the net of other Speedster seats, but just wasn’t sure of the right one to suit the previous requirements, and aesthetics).  I taped an electrical lead across the lines I’d drawn, then stood back – Svenja looked, then said try that curve there, that one a little deeper here, and Voila, a shape is borne!

Out came the trusty jig saw, (oh, by the way if anyone knows how to get these little buggers to cut a straight vertical cut let me know, will you? ;-) The shape was cut and tested on my son sitting in the ‘estimated’ right position – looked good to me. The shape was transferred to the other side and cut again. I had a little heart attack when I thought I’d cut it wrong then realized it’s a 3D shape - the rear curve goes inwards behind the occupants back/shoulder.

Kerfing; the trick to get wood to bend on slow or fast angles.  http://youtu.be/TYfRyt6OQkY   I made saw cuts ½” (12mm) apart, about a millimeter under the outter surface, about 12 in 6” or 150mm. These allowed me to mold the ply to the curve, with curved blocks behind them to keep them in place. A couple of the ‘Kerfs’ did break by my rough handling, so I taped them up and continued, these won’t be seen so it’s no biggie. 

The 1st side in place.

Kerfing detail

LHS rear section added.

My Compressed Air Dryer

Since buying a cabinet sand blaster early in 2012 I have been very unhappy with its performance; the silicone suction tube, (that lifts the grit from the bed to the blast gun), regularly sucked shut and the nozzle blocked up, it seemed every five minutes. I replaced the silicone tube with a reinforced plastic type, but the nozzle still blocked with damp grit. After some investigation on the Interweb I found it is a common problem especially in humid climates, and as the average year round humidity in Brisbane is approximately 80%, it was going to be an ongoing problem – so a solution had to be found. There are many and various commercial compressed air dryers available – at a cost, (the decent ones around the $300 - $400). My compressor did come with a combined oil/water & pressure regulator bolted to the frame, but as I was to lean from my Interweb investigation apart from regulating the pressure it did nothing else. As many of us are aware air increases in temperature when it’s compressed, so the humidity in the air remains as a vapour because as it’s above ‘Dew point”    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point  So a way to cool the air down, cheaply, had to be found!

I found two on the net, one I have made and installed, see pic below, the other uses a condenser coil from an obsolete wall air conditioner, with the refrigerant flushed out with paint thinners, methylated spirits & water then blown out with air. Fitted with a fan or placed in the refrigerator to cool the air. The fridge method would be good if you are going to use the air for spray painting. It’s piped up between the compressor head/s outlet before the air receiver, an oil/water trap fitted, (I would use an automatic one for this task myself in case I forgot to drain it), then piped back into the air receiver. This type of air cooler/dryer will also reduce moisture accumulating in the receiver.

The one I chose to use is made up of 2 x 3 m (10’) lengths of 32 mm (11/4”) galvanized pipe, threaded both ends. These are assembled in a skinny upside down shape using 2 x elbows and 1 x nipple at the top, then a ‘Tee’ fitting screwed to each pipe end at the bottom. Reducers are then screwed into the ‘Tee’s’ outlets –1/14” to ½’ in each bottom outlet. On the side outlets a 11/4” to 3/8” or ¼”epending on the size of the fittings you use for the inlet and outlet. (I used 10 mm (3/8”) Nitto fittings). From the now reduced 11/4” to ½” pipe threads on the bottom outlet I screwed in a 15mm (½’) galvanized pipe stub 150mm (6”) long, with the 15mm (1/2’) ball valves screwed on each – these will be used to drain the water out of each pipe column. Or use whatever valves you have on hand.

In the outlet side of the ‘Tee’s’ I reduced to ½” and added another ‘Tee’ so I could screw in a pressure gauge. (I had one on the outlet of the compressor but it was small and hard to read, and I had a spare larger one). I reduced the outlet of the ½” Tee down to 3/8” and fitted a female Nitto fitting which self-seals when disconnected from a compressor hose. I made up a couple of clamps from 3/8” threaded bar which went through 25mm x 25mm box section (1”x1”) and tightened with nuts. I chose 3/8” threaded bar at it would have to be pulled pretty tight to hold up about 10 kg (22lbs) of pipe. The box section was left with enough length to weld to one of the shed posts.

On testing the sand blaster worked better than before, with zero moisture. Another thing I picked up from the articles on the net was to occasionally block the blaster gun nozzle with your gloved hand and slowly pull trigger, this will force the compressed air back down the grit pick up line and dislodge any obstructions. I do it when I feel the gun is not picking up enough grit – it works! I’d been blasting for about 30 minutes and slowly opened the drain valve on the inlet pipe column it had indeed condensed some of the water which was blown out. I bought all the pipe and fittings for this ‘condenser’ because I couldn’t find any scrap or old fittings and it cost me about A$150 all up, but I’m sure an enterprising person could do it cheaper. Now the obligatory Safety Warning – Anything under pressure can be dangerous, don’t use dodgy pipe of fittings that may rupture under pressure. When you first test your master piece DO IT SLOWLY, and only pressurize in stages. – from a distance if possible.

The Humber Speedster Project

For a number of years I have wanted a pre 1920’s, (Veteran) speedster, but a number of issues prevented me from obtaining one. (1) Veteran Speedsters are few and far between here in Australia. (2) The technology of their era does not lend itself to driving on the modern roads – they generally won’t do over 50 Kph, and if they do stopping is a major issue ;-)  So most of the ones you see at car shows are trailered to and from site. (3) A vehicle suitable had not presented itself. UNTIL late last year I was talking to a friend, (and fellow car nut), who said he might have a donor car that would suit. He had bought a 1932 Humber a few years earlier, which had been stripped down to a rolling chassis to be made into ‘a two seater speedster’, but not finished  - exactly what I had in mind. The previous owner had done a lot of work; rebuilt the engine, differential, brakes and suspension – I had lucked out!  About two weeks after visiting my friend to check out the Humber it arrived at my place one rolling chassis and ten boxes of parts. The Humber has a 3.5 lt 6 cylinder engine, four speed transmission and cable brakes. I've decided to upgrade some of the systems - ignition, cooling, and fuel, plus improve the horse power a little by adding an Eaton M112 Supercharger. My main aim is to build a fun car that will do highway speeds and turn heads. I was intending to upgrade the cable brakes to hydraulic, but from the research I've done cable brakes are quite good so will see how they go. Just on a side note: The engine is an IOE design - 'Intake over Exhaust'. It has a large intake valve in the head, and exhaust valve in the block. So it's a hybrid side valve / Over head valve, it will be very interesting to see how it performs.

I’ve set myself a deadline of June 30^th 2014 to have it on the road, hopefully ;-) It should be close. I’ve started to collect a lot of the parts needed, but still have a lot to do.  Over the Christmas break I started on the firewall, toe board and floor, these have been cut to shape and temporarily fitted. I’ll post photos as the build progresses.

As it arrived. The mud guards are from an early Morris.

View from the back on arrival day.

My friend had given me some 1936 Morris body panels to try out.

                                                 

They just didn't suit the look I was going for.

Front View of Floor & Firewall

                                                       

Body template started 13/1/14

                                                                                                                                                                      

Update

Hello my Blog followers, both of you ;-)  It’s been quite a while since I last posted, October 2012 in fact, for many reasons, work commitments, personal ups and downs, and just life in general.

My 14 year old twin boys came to live with Svenja and I in January  2013, so this was a major change to our lives. But it has all worked out well, with the boys more than fitting in; they love living with us, and we love having them here.  I did have reservations about the whole Stepmother thing, even though Svenja had always got on really well with them on their holidays with us, but a live in situation is something else. It gladdens my old heart to see them getting closer each day ;-) I also have a 16 Year old daughter who elected to stay in the country about 2.5 hour’s drive north west of us.

We also had a sad life lesson when a close friend betrayed both of us in different ways, but a huge betrayal none the less. We now realise that the person in question has mental issues, and is an expert manipulator. Both Svenja and I feel used and very foolish for being taken in, but it has made us stronger and realise we are each other’s anchor in the sea of life. We have removed this person from our lives, and will be now very wary about letting anyone else get so close to us – sad really, but once bitten twice shy.

So with the history lesson over, it’s on to what projects have been happening. I built a new studio for Svenja between December ’12 and April ’13, which she has already filled to the brim with her creations.

We sold our 1962 Studebaker Hawk, 1963 Studebaker Avanti, and one of our 1941 Buicks, just too many cars and not enough room or time. When you have to back three cars out of the shed to give you work space – you have too many ;-)

About five years ago, while visiting a restaurant with a wood fired pizza oven we said that we’d love to have one in the back yard, but never followed up the idea until the middle of last year. I said I’d finally build one in the a dead corner of our court yard, so the research and sourcing of materials began – thank God for the Internet !

I decided to take lots of photos so as to make it a sort of ‘instruction manual’ for anyone else who wanted to build one.  I consulted with Svenja as to what it would end up looking like we couldn’t have ‘just’ an ordinary pizza oven, not in our house! The dome construction was pretty traditional, which was where I was going to stop, but after Svenja saw an oven with a dragon form on the chimney with smoke coming out its nostrils well what can I say, a dragon it was to be. However, after more research, and with the architectural lines the smoke box had taken the dragon idea was canned, so I went for a ‘Steampunk, Art Deco’ look.  Now most of you are aware my wife Svenja, is a very creative Textile Artist, having won international awards in the ‘World of Wearable’ art show in Welling ton NZ. So, to demonstrate how creative I could be I set about making the oven look something like a cross between a boiler, atomic reactor and power station. ‘What did I get myself into’, I often asked, but the end result was worth all the work, and it cooks really great pizzas.

The dead corner of the court yard begging for a Pizza Oven

The frame in with the floor pavers layed.

The entry arch and first layer done.

The dome taking shape.

The finishing point in sight.

The smoke box started.

The insulation layed over the dome.

Completed with a coat of Iron Sulphate to give it a weathered look

These were the first pizzas cooked for my twin boys 15th birthday party.  This was before it was finished. Yum !

Click on this link to see the 'Official Opening Video". Oh, and turn up your speakers ;-)

http://s911.photobucket.com/user/Aussie_Hawk/media/PizzaOvenOpening211213_zpsdca2a3ae.mp4.html?sort=6&o=1