I don't know what the temperature got to today, but it was hot. Probably cracked 100, but I didn't want to look and get discouraged from working in the garage. To cool things down a little bit, I threw a wet cloth over my box fan to make an improvised evaporative cooler.
Although I probably put in 8-10 hours today, between lunch, dinner, and visiting my uncle to borrow a hole saw, unfortunately, all that work doesn't translate to much visually, either in person when I showed my girlfriend tonight, or in the images below. Nevertheless, in the interest in of documenting this build for myself, and others who may be able to get helpful tips from my work, here goes:
Spent the day continuing to drill and bolt in the Tardel K-member. The instructions make it look and seem easier than I'm encountering. I think one thing is the instructions refer to it with some of the holes drilled. Mine only had the transmission mounting holes drilled. For all the others, I'm having to measure (twice), mark, center-punch, drill once with a small bit, and then drill again with a 21/64" for the 5/16 x 3/4 fine (SAE) thread Ford bolts I'm using. Drilling through isn't the easiest, either, because although I have a good drill - correction - apparently, a great drill! (Milwaukee 75th Anniversary 1/2" Magnum #0234-75), I have pipe cleaner arms, and have to really lay into the drill to get through the thick repop and Ford steel, so I oil the bit as I go, to avoid burning it.
So, all I got done today were the bolts on the top
the top two against the face of the crossmember
and installed the pedal assembly! (Yay! This was a big deal; it wasn't at all easy to measure and square up)
First, I had to drill a hole in the left leg of the K-member to allow the pedal shaft to poke through. I measured maybe once less time than I should have because, while it fit, I could have centered it better. Oh well, no one will see it, and it fits, so what's the difference. Drilling the hole was not easy, since I tried using my cheapo Chinese Harbor Freight hole saw kit and - although you probably can't see it in the image - got about halfway through the leg by the time I ground the points on the hole saw to useless nubs.
This prompted a trip to visit my uncle and borrow his American-made one, which was handed down to him by his car mentor. It went through like butter.
Once I did that, I was able to clamp and check the pedal box to ensure it is square and level in at least two axes:
Yaw
And Roll
and bolted solidly in the third (pitch). Here's what it looked like after I reassembled the pedal assembly to confirm everything fit like it should, before I finish drilling and bolting up the rest of the pedal assembly and K-member.
Here's a couple pictures with the bare transmission case installed, showing how tight everything is in these Model A frames when installing a flathead.
I'm using a '33-'34 Ford pedal assembly (probably 1933, since its part number is 40-XXXX, rather than 40A-XXXX, which is 1934), by the way, instead of the often-used '32 pedal assembly. They're easier to find, and are nearly identical. I couldn't tell you the differences, as I must confess that I had Keith Tardel modify mine to work a rear-mounted '39 master cylinder, when he built the '32 frame that will go under the Model A Roadster Pickup on my back deck (the next project!).
And, for kicks, I grabbed the '40 pickup steering column that I'll be using and mocked up the steering height. Here you can see me test fitting things (you'll have to imagine me making vroom vroom noises as I "shifted" through the gears!).
Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll finish off the pedal assembly, K-member, and start on the motor mounts.
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