Thats good news , everyone at Kugel have always been top notch , great company to do business with, glad to hear they are making at painless as possible for you Greg

Wow now that is a beefy rear. Thats a Mark Williams rear correct.
Way overkill for that roadster.

Yeah but it ain't broken either! And I've seen that bad azz '32 fryin' tires for as long as a guy wants to keep his foot into it. That is a NICE roadster....

Now -- that little blue car.... Um..... not so much.


:rofl: :rofl:

I couldn't agree more.... Just top top notch in my book.


When I was in business -- things go sideways.... it's always HOW you handle it, not what actually happened... that is what is remembered. I will remember this as "Kugel is someone to buy from".

Good to hear Kugel's response. :thumbsup:

Sometimes projects need to be treated like infants, they don't always come out of the womb perfect. But with time, patience, and understanding they can be well worth the effort all said and done. The upside to vehicle projects is there's a usually a lot more foreplay involved.

'Foreplay'?? I'm still buying dinner!:mad:

After 40 some years of projects... I think I have a pretty good understanding of what it takes. It really isn't my first goat rodeo. I could make a list - but it would be over the limits of a post....

:unibrow:

Understood, but if you've had one worse than this one I commend you for your perseverance. :unibrow:

Oh yeah.... I can walk you back a few millennia when I was an early adopter of Accel DFI fuel injection... back when NOBODY knew anything including the morons that built the stuff....

And don't even get me going on the big block '67 Vette I had Walt Austin and his minions do a swap to a 502 with fuel injection....(I was busy with a whole house remodel and didn't want to tackle the job at that time) those idiots didn't even realize that EFI needed an electric fuel pump... and were surprised that a 502 block didn't have a place for a mechanical pump! They sued me when I refused to pay PART of the bill.... you know - for the part they screwed up... I counter sued and won... that took a year and cost far more than the "job" -- but I was determined not to pay idiots for doing idiot work. That car was tied up in court for over a year. I was okay with that.

:rofl: :faint: :wow:

I remember back when you were building that bubbletop slammed on Intros.........

The South of the Border Bubbler?


:thumbsup:

I'll show it for you this summer..I'm a sucker for a 32 :D

Greg thats not the drag racing Walt Austin is it ?

That would be one and the same.....

I agree with Rodger here. What is preventing the chassis on this car from Twisting ?? Nothing that I can see.

If the Chassis twists then the Center Section become the "Chassis-Brace" with the way that it is mounted. If you have a "Live Axle" under the car it would allow some twist vs. the rigid set up you have.

I think you need to take it to an actually Race Car Chassis Shop and have them look at the frame and see if they can find some weak links in it. You may have to put a hidden cage in this little beast to keep it from twisting.

I showed this to my chassis guy and he thought the same thing I did.

Good info!


The plan is to get this unit replaced and then this winter do a few tweaks and redo's. I really like the unit that is under "Stacked" -- Charley's sweet little '32. Or a proper Ford 9" but IRS version.

It may be from the chassis twisting that caused that center section to break. The bracing and brackets come from kugel with the rear end to weld to the chassis. Kugel should of figured out if its strong enough. They have sold a few of those rears, however no one has probably driven it like Greg. The center section would have to be pretty thin wall material if the grinding, sanding, and polishing made it weaker.

Is there that much chassis flex in a short wheelbase, lightweight car with street tires?

Not a chassis or suspension guy. Just trying to learn.

Greg just chrome out a 9 inch problem solved!:D

Yep, Chances are the wall thickness of the chassis is pretty thin. Most guys just cruise these cars and then there are guys like Greg well he abuses his cars like they should be.

Just my 2 cents when everyone is giving you spare change.

Upon further consideration, I don't think you have driven the car enough for it to be a chassis flex issue. But with you trying to see what the axle would stand a 2nd time, you might have snapped the housing under the load of that might Small Block Chevy you have in there. The rear axle is really just hanging there and the CV or U-joints will handle any misalignment pretty easy. My guess is that winters might have the same factory in China make their axles and cast their center sections. Currie makes a nice Independent suspension center section.

Or that tame looking small block with painted cylinder heads is really a Nascar Cup engine. And those super all weather tires might be really sticky.

Just a Question - who made the chassis

Is it one of them off the shelf chassis ??

I think you've made a very good point.... because I think we can all agree that it's not a matter of how much power the motor makes ---- it's much more a matter of a complete and utter lack of traction in this lightweight little roadster. It should be able to smoke the tires as long as a guy can stick his foot into it.... and not twist or torque ANYTHING.

Having said that -- the LEVERAGE provided by a very tall tire (31") is a lot... but really? They're friggin' RUN FLATS -- they're not performance anything...

Let's not forget that the case is "wubba" mounted (if you check the photos) so should never see enough twisting action to crack the case like that... and I think if I was twisting it up like a pretzel -- you'd see that much flex showing up in the bodywork.

I think were I'm at is that it's just a pretty show piece and not the kind of rear end that belongs in any car that I own...

Who knows.... and it isn't the same chassis I took in to SAR either! I had them cut it all apart and beef up all the suspension points...


The raw steel crossmember shown here is supplied with the rear end.....




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/CIMG5469.jpg



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/CIMG5468.jpg




I think it's probably standard .120 wall material....




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/CIMG5496.jpg

Those cute chrome links hanging down from the front of the diff should prevent any issues your having. I bet it's just the quality of the center section material.

Yeah --- and note the TOE LINKS!




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00521.jpg

Greg - The crack is parallel to the hanger mounts, which is a through bolt?

You can't say Toe Links - make me think of Camel Toe

Question. What besides the upper attach points is carrying lateral loading? If just those four points, you have nothing taking lateral or even diaginal loads. All those lower links is doing is supporting linear loads from acceleration or braking.

:pushbutto

Nut tin

Well -- The rear end is on it's way back to Kugel for a full "once over"....





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2220.jpg

Hey Greg...I was visiting Speedway last week. Look what was sitting in the lobby? If/when you're done w this one I bet they can build you a bullet proof rear end! :thumbsup:

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...-25-59_341.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...-25-49_825.jpg

Even apart it looks great. :thumbsup:



So ya got that goin for ya...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...-10_906med.jpg

Thanks Skip!

I really do love the little useless POS....


But this rear end has been a nightmare from the get go. First it was SAR overfilling it and taping it for a vent in the wrong place... then Tim was finally able to make the vent work (went to 1/2" tubing) so I didn't have gear lube puking out of it... Then the first set of stub axles... then the second set and now the cracked housing.

Now yesterday when I was under there I noticed that almost every weld seam in the polished SS exhaust has a hairline fracture. So that will have to be a complete re-do now as well.

When I'm at Thunderhill at the end of the month - I'll swing by Brizios and get a plan worked up = and drop it off in October. It will get a completely different rear end and an exhaust system with some V bands - and some flexibility built into it.

:lol:


She does have a nice lookin' tush. :yes:

The rest...I'm sorry to hear that. :(

Brief as it was, I'm happy for you that at least you got to drive it a little this year.

Wow the rear assembly is awesome even if it is a nightmare.

Now I want a 32 ford...

Funny John! If you're like me.... you've never seen a car you didn't want!


:cheers:

The rear is jewelry -- and everyone swear up and down this has never happened before -- and that it's a race rear end and blah blah blah -- but for me - it's been a headache since day one.

I hear that. I need to look the other way. I'm like Imelda Marcos at the Nordstrom shoe rack.

But what about a Pacer? Can anybody love one of those?

Yep! Jimi Day!


:woot: