Another newbie...

Welcome, James. You're off to a great start and as someone that enjoys the building process I think you'll have fun with this one. You're quite a ways further along than me but you've still got some fun ahead of you. What is the name of the color on there? I thought for a second it was grey but now I'm seeing aquamarine.

~Bryan

NICE SAND RAIL

VERY Nice sand rail, James! Best of luck on your Speedster project. Hope you keep us posted  with pics as your car develops! 

Welcome to the Madness!!!

James looks like you've got the skills to complete the Speedster.  Good looking job on your rail.

Pete

Welcome to the Madness!!!

rc helicopter

Sand Rails are soooooo cool. Someday, I'd love to be involved in a Baha-- just to be around the cars.

Building these cars is an illness with no known cure......

Building these cars is an illness with no known cure......I just bought a Harley to get my mind off of Speedsters for a while......Will be lising most of my excess parts in classified this weekend

So put the body on the sand rail and you will have something really cool.

I wonder about a speedy with on a 4-wheel Jeep? Way high up.

Thanks for the comments!  I really did love the sand rail, but it was time for a new project.  When the new owner came to look at it, I didn't really expect to sell it.  But he drove it, offered my asking price and then drove away in it.  I almost cried.  Lol.

The next day I put a down payment on the Speedster.  My wife was glad that I didn't let the money burn a hole in my pocket! 

Alan, I will be checking classifieds in case you post something that I need.

FYI "It has a really nice pan that has rectangular tubing along the sides and flat sheet metal in the pan area." is normal on all FF/CMC.  The heavy rear end does tend to sag but is a simple fix (Search here for CMC butt sag). If you didn't get build manual - they are available for printing/download at the Reference Library for contributing members.  I like the grey. 

Thanks for the info on the pan.  I have already dealt with the butt sag.  I hauled the car 700 miles on a trailer, across some really rough highways in Oklahoma.  When I got home I noticed the rear end was floppy, not good.  So, I researched the butt sag problem on this forum.

I drilled out the rivets, used bolts, aluminum flat bar and epoxy to sandwich the fiberglass sidewalls to the 2x2 frame.  Then I noticed the 2x2 frame flexed more than I liked.  So, I built tie bars with threaded rod ends and connected the rear ends of the 2x2 frame to an upright support that I added inside the door column area.  I was able to tension the tie bars individually to adjust door gaps and the rear is very rigid now.

My current project is cutting and re-fiberglassing the area for the steering column.  I am building an authentic looking steering column using a Nardi wheel. 

My next issue to address is getting the rear wheels to fit under the fender wells. I got a set of 4 bolt, chrome Mangels with the deal.  They are 5 1/2" wheels off of a VS.  The rear passenger wheel has clearance, but the driver's side does not.  There is a 1 inch difference between the face of the hubs to the inner lip of the fenders when measured from side to side.  My current thought is to try to shift the body on the frame approx. 1/2 inch, then use different offset wheels or 4 1/2" wheels on the rear.

Once the two above issues are resolved, I am removing the body to refurbish and paint the pan. 

James- If the car is a swingaxle, earlier axles and tubes from about '60 or '61 to 1966 (I think) are shorter; '67 are about 1"(?) longer and '68 and newer are another 5/8 or 3/4". You can narrow irs trailing arms 1" for more fender clearance as well; driver's side (I think) type 3 automatic axles are the right length and you'll need 2.

Mine is IRS.  I have considered narrowing the trailing arms, however the cost of the new axles is more than a new set of wheels and a lot more work!

A machine shop can cut (lathe) the center welds from the back side of the wheel, then move the center the needed 1" and reweld it w/o any face chrome damage.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Empi lists a brand left side type 3 auto new axle/cv joint assembly in their catalog; you just have to find the dealer that will sell you 2. I was under the impression that they weren't that expensive, and it's one of the few things from Empi I would spend my money on. Al

Alan, I have thought about that.  I work for an engineering company and we have a sister company that is a full blown machine shop.  Several years ago, I cut apart some golf cart wheels and widened them by welding in a rolled ring.

My question/concern is how true does an automobile wheel need to run?  There must be specs on allowable runout, but I have not been able to locate anything yet.

True as possible and very easy to do with a dial indicator against the rim while the rim is lathe turned.... I have done this a number of times, you do need to be careful with the welds being about the same at each point as to minimize balancing with wheel weights.

the runout allowed on most factory wheels is 1/8".