Made Easier With ESAB

Jerry Uttrachi’s love affair with hot rods began in the late 1950s. While he was still in high school, he built a 1941 Ford Opera Coupe, using a 1/8” over-bored 1951 Olds engine that he built in his basement.

Jerry entered the welding field in 1963 and went on to become vice president at ESAB Welding & Cutting Products. He learned a good bit about welding along the way, eventually becoming the 2007 president of the American Welding Society after his retirement from ESAB. In 1999, some 40 years after building his first car, he decided to try his hand again at building a hot rod. This time, he wanted to build a “street rod” with all the features he had dreamed about over the years. “Having small block Chevy’s in a number of cars, it was time for a Big Block,” Uttrachi said. “A 1934 Sedan allowed the room I needed for the Pro Street Chassis and 502/502 engine combination I desired.” And so began the assembly of the motor in his garage.

“A Chevy ZZ 502/502 crate motor is the surest and in the long run, the most economical way to get a high performance big block,” Uttrachi explained. “A four-bolt main block, a high lift roller cam, 3/8” OD pushrods, forged crank, forged pistons, forged 4340 connecting rods with 7/16” bolts, oval port aluminum heads, CNC port matched aluminum manifold, Holley 850 carburetor, aluminum water pump, geared starter, etc….  all come in some 30 boxes packed in a crate! The crate fit in my GMC Sonoma—but just barely!”

Chevy says in their promotional piece for the engine: “Some assembly required.” They weren’t kidding. Assembling the engine required a calibrated torque wrench in addition to standard tools. Keeping the engine in the shipping crate base made it easy to work on and transport when finished. “Adjusting the rocker arms/lifters and tightening all of the bolts to the proper torque values in the proper sequence were the only critical tasks,” Uttrachi said.

The next step was the disassembly of the chassis for priming and painting. Uttrachi welded pipe stubs to the frame where the roll bar would be inserted after the interior was completed. After an epoxy primer, the chassis was wet sanded in preparation for the two-tone paint that matched the body colors. All the chassis moving parts were painted dark silver, with stationary parts in light silver. Coil-overs at all four corners incorporateadjustable shocks that can be changed from soft to maximum control with the turn of a knob. The front and rear anti-roll bars use heim joints for a rock-solid feel and quick response. “The chassis detail was so good it was a shame to cover it up!”Uttrachi notes.

S & W Race Cars supplied the 0.134” wall x 1-3/4” tubing for the roll bar. They shipped two bends and straight lengths that were cut and welded together using an ID-sized tube as an alignment bar and weld backing. The cross brace ends were made in a drill press with a hole saw to provide the proper fit. All welds were made with ESAB .030-diameter Spoolarc Easy Grind MIG wire and a Tri-Mix shielding gas (90% Argon, 8% CO₂ and 2% Oxygen). Spoolarc Easy Grind is a fully deoxidized wire designed to weld over moderate levels of rust and paint commonly found in auto body repair work. Easy Grind produces welds that easily exceed the tensile requirements of ER70S class wires. “The ESAB Easy Grind wire produces strong welds that can be ground to a smooth finish when needed where needed,” Uttrachi notes. The wire is produced in small diameters that are appropriate for the lower current welding machines commonly used in body shops. Despite allowing for some weld shrinkage, Uttrachi discovered that the distance between legs was 3/16 in. too short!

Fortunately, Uttrachi’s welding knowledge provided him with an answer. He used a technique known as “arc straightening,” in which a properly placed arc weld bead can be used to spread the bottom of the bar. As the bead heats and cools, it pulls the material in by a consistent amount. For every degree that steel is heated or cooled, it expands or shrinks .0000065 inches/inch. “That doesn’t sound like much, but cooling down from the melting point of 2800º F., this produces a  .018 “ shrinkage for every one inch heated,” Uttrachi explains.  “Do that a few times near the cross brace and the movement at the end of the bar will be 3/16” (0.187).

Five weld beads later, the 3/16” shortfall was eliminated. The excess weld metal used for the “arc straightening” was then ground off. All other welds were also ground to provide smooth transitions. Primed, the roll bar was brought to Gibbon Fiberglass where it fit perfectly into the frame stubs.

Street Rod Builder Magazine happened to be doing a story about Gibbon Fiberglass and took a photo of the car in this stage of construction for their January 2001 issue.

The car still needed a great deal of work underneath and on the interior. A “Stereo Wall” replaced a back seat. This included a bottom frame and subwoofer box; a rear panel to hold all the wiring, relays, fuse panels and terminal strips for most of the rear wiring; and a support for the power amps (280 watts each) and CD player. A front panel houses the sub woofer, main speakers, four tweeters, AM/FM radio with remote door/window control and a remote-controlled CD player. The alarm, electronic antenna and door/window remote are also housed in the rear.

The complex maze of wires, fuse panels, relays and stereo components in the rear would not be possible to integrate without excellent wire diagrams. Several terminal strips and fuse blocks help reduce the confusion. One set is used only for constant 12 volts, another for only ignition-switched 12 volts. High amperage relays are used for fog/backup lights, fuel pump and to power the ignition-switched fuse block and terminal switch. All the power for the stereo components comes from these fuses.

To assure that the seats were secured properly, 2” x 3/16” steel bars were cut and welded to bolt directly to the frame at the edges and accept the seat bolts through the floor. A similar bar was made for the front seat bolts. Pieces were tacked in the car to assure alignment and then a full penetration weld was made from both sides. Again, the ESAB .030-diameter Spoolarc Easy Grind MIG wire and a Tri-Mix shielding gas were used.  Uttrachi notes that the 0.030-inch diameter wire operating at higher current is preferred over 0.023-inch diameter wire for 3/16 inch thick material as compared to body sheet.

A Bola 3” stainless street rod exhaust system was fabricated from mufflers, pipes, bends and clamps supplied with the kit.  The cut and MIG tack-welded parts were TIG welded for the butt joints. In the rear, hangers were made to support the system. A stainless steel band clamp was used to connect the stainless steel pipes to the steel header collector. The mufflers and pipe tip slip joints were MIGwelded to create a leak-proof system. “The Tri-Mix Argon-CO₂ - oxygen shielding gas with an 0.030” diameter ESAB Arcaloy 308LSi wire does a great job of MIG welding stainless,” Uttrachi says.

The design for the nerf bar front bumper came from the 1950s.  Since there would be no chrome on the car, Uttrachi decided to make the bumpers from stainless steel. The design was drafted using French curves and a large radius compass. Randy Stone, a friend and retired ESAB employee owns a fabrication shop that uses an ESAB CM-260 plasma cutting machine. Randy developed a digital program for the shape and made the metal template on his cutting machine as a check. He then cut two pieces from 1/2”-thick stainless. The stainless was then polished to a chrome-like finish.  Cobalt drill bits and machining lubricant were used to drill the mounting holes in the stainless steel.

The dash detail theme was based on an oval shape. Phillips Rod and Custom in Florida provided air-conditioning duct outlets and oval dome light. The oval rear view mirror came from Valley Auto Accessories. The oval dash switch panels were fabricated from 1/8” aluminum and prepared with a mat finish. The oval air-conditioner control panel was provided by Vintage Air. The billet/leather steering wheel from Billet Specialties was based on a pattern similar to the car’s Centerline, Warrior wheel design.

As a finishing touch, 1934 Ford Cowl lights were converted to stop/tail/directional lights using red lenses. The light support brackets that attach to the stainless bumper were made by cutting stainless sheet with an ESAB manual plasma cutter employing a PT-31 torch. “The PT-31 Plasma torch allows a simple drag approach so a scribed line can be easily followed, even by an occasional user,” says Uttrachi.

The parts were MIG welded with the 0.030” diameter ESAB Arcaloy 308LSi wire and the Tri- Mix gas. The welds were ground smooth and the brackets polished. Rear fog/back-up lights were added and are visible under the stainless bumper.  They are triggered with the shifter in reverse or with a dash switch. The 55 watt halogen bulbs make the car very visible in poor weather.

The car has now accumulated 3000 miles, primarily attending car shows in South Carolina. Uttrachi has shown the car at 24 shows and has won 24 trophies including the Mayor’s Trophy at a car show in Darlington, South Carolina in 2006. “The quality of construction is the key attribute that gets the judge’s votes,” Uttrachi says. “ESAB MIG welding and plasma cutting equipment were a big help in achieving this high quality.”