Thanks man! I really love the color too! I learned that trick from a friend, I should have saved it for a Tech Week on here or something ha! I was getting real nervous when we were busting the rear tires off the wide five rims and re mounting them on the steel wheels because they have to be 40+ years old and are really cracked up! I'll let you know if he doesn't want em but see you at ROG with or without them!
Ok, I've got quite a bit to add to this thread for an update but I need to get the hang of the redesign first. I'm actually only posting on this because it took me awhile to find the thread again. Sorry for the useless bump...
Come on @Ford Mike, This stuff is supposed to be simple for us. We grew up with computers in hand... (I actually just wanted to test out the hashtag thingy with your name. Another useless bump)
I honestly thought that there were more pictures of what I've been up to on the roadster but looking back I guess most of it has just been tedious boring stuff to get it running. A few weeks back Texas Speed told me he had some pedals that could help my cause. I did quite a bit of looking at the pictures he sent me and I was sure they were F1 pedals, just what I needed! He was nice enough to send them straight to me so I could get this thing going, Thanks again Matt!! Well when they got here I realized something was up as they took a huge master cylinder. As it turns out they are F4 pedals, which doesn't really matter since I guess, since I needed to make all the linkage anyway haha! Well I had to modify the trans crossmember (big surprise there) in order for the gigantic master cylinder to fit. All of this was extremely time consuming because it was all done while everything was in the car. When I take the car back apart after the showdown everything will be done over. This pic is when we were deciding what to do for the clutch linkage. We decided on a setup similar to an F1 linkage. Again this is something I am not too happy with but I am planning on changing it up after the showdown. It works smooth but there is just something I don't like about it. The bolts were temporary, it has pins now. That clutch linkage was probably the hardest thing about building the car. Just a heads up to anyone thinking of building one of these cars, all of that headache can be avoided if you are just patient (unlike me) and find all of the right parts. Anyway, the car needed floors and I didn't have enough steel to make them so they are made out of wood for the time being. The gas pedal was an interesting challenge but a few guys pointed me in the right direction. I've got it all ironed out now and it works great. I also finish welded the drag link and bent it to clear the tire My buddy also found a smoking deal on what was supposed to be a "junky top" and side curtains. Well I always wanted a top but figured I'd never get the chance to buy a nice one so I went to look at this one. As it turns out it is an original top and side curtains with one rip in the middle of the top. It is in amazing shape and it was ridiculously cheap, heck thats the only reason I have it... Now I need a windshield!! The side curtains are not for a 28-29 but they are trimmed in the same color I decided to paint the car. Needless to say I will be modifying the body to fit the side curtains before painting the car. I have also recently scored a few more great pieces for the car but I won't be revealing what until after the showdown. Now its onto the final push to get this thing running for the showdown. See you Saturday!
Ok, its been awhile and as I'm sure many of you know it actually made it to the showdown. It wasn't much to look at but it was running and driving. Had an absolute blast and I can't thank Larry enough for letting me run on the track. I didn't get to take many pictures but here are some that others took of the roadster and I. This one was taken by "oldschoolking" on Instagram: And another by "phillyhillbilly52": And the last one I snapped of my buddy Tuki's car and mine at the end of the day But as promised, as soon as we got home I started taking the roadster apart. The first order of business was getting it a little lower. First step was this bitchin drop axle I got the week before the showdown. It went in real easy. Just had to bend the spindle arms a little. And it was totally worth it in my eyes, It really dropped the front down. Now I had to get the rear down. Now I really did my homework on lowering a model A with the spring over rearend and no frame step and everything seemed to point to a model T spring out back. We swapped out the reversed eye A spring for a T spring and there was no noticeable difference. Maybe 1" at most. But I was after a drop far more dramatic than that. I brainstormed with my buddy Tuki for quite awhile and he recommended I use the reversed eye A spring. I decided to take that advise but I had to start by making my reversed eye A spring a lot shorter. Unloaded the main leaf was 41" center to center, I had a T main leaf that was 45" center to center so I opted to de-arch my A main leaf. After I was done the main leaf was somewhere around 6" lower than it was when I started. Now with the drastic modification to the main leaf I also need to modify every leaf I put in the pack now. I tried out 4 or 5 leaves (I can't remember) in this pic and the car will be far too low. This is actually without the spring under load or the U bolts tightened up. I cant install the rear without cutting off the center bolt and I think I need to add one or two leaves into the pack first. Needless to say the drop is dramatic. I'm thinking it will be somewhere close to 5-6" lower in the back once everything goes together for good. I still need to add the leaves and cut the centerbolt to see for sure but I'm hoping to knock that out pretty soon. After thats all done and I'm actually happy with how the car sits it will be time to tear the body apart for paint.
So awesome! Congratulations bud. You made your goal. Now how hard it is to blow apart once you've driven it? haha
It's not hard at all believe it or not! I'm dreading all of the sheetmetal work on the body more than ripping it apart. I just think that in a few months everyone else will be seeing this badass car I've had in my head for 6 years! And hopefully they will be seeing it on the beach
I'd leave it together and drive it all summer. Blow it apart in fall, think Malcolms roadster. Either way, Congrats, the car is awesome!
I was really glad to see you driving it at the Showdown.... I can't wait to see how you finish it up! Keep up the great work! Zach
Such an awesome car. I loved the stance at the showdown but I can definitely see the Walker Morrison Roadster coming out now!
Thanks man! Oh and thanks for convincing me to run at the showdown, running around the track was one of the coolest things I've ever done! I brought your drums that day but totally forgot about them until I got home. Sorry about that man
I'm glad you had fun! Thanks for bringing the drums, it was such a busy day I didn't even think about them either. No big deal. Hopefully we'll cross paths in the not too distant future somewhere! Stop in if you're passing through Grantville any time.
Got the rear stance ironed out. MUCH lower in the back, probably 5-6 inches. Got it all back together and took it for a little spin to get some picture of my much more "refined" roadster. Needless to say I am VERY happy with the new stance. So that leaves the next faze of the build... Getting the body nice enough to paint. I just happened on another 28 roadster this past weekend. It was in a farm auction and I ended up getting it for basically nothing at all but I am absolutely floored by how nice the quarters and wood are on this car. I snapped some pictures of the areas on the new car that are real bad on my roadster for reference. I plan to repair the original floor panels from the 28 roadster and putting them in my 29. I also plan on swapping all the original wood, seat mounts, and rumble seat fixtures to my car. I am debating cutting the whole front off of the 28 quarters and putting them on my car too seeing as the back of the quarter panels were completely destroyed by the previous owner. Now I just need to pull the body off my car and start welding
Dang it. TWO '28-'29 roadster bodies? Everyone's ending up with spare roadster bodies and I'm over here giddy over scoring a complete rear A spring pack for $10.. Awesome score.
And as promised, a little insight on de-arching a spring. A few guys have asked me what exactly I did to the rear spring in my car to get it lowered without and frame modifications so I snapped a few pictures and thought up a little write up for the process. It was pretty self explanatory at first, my reversed eye model A main leaf is in front (before modifications) and a stock model T main leaf is behind. As you can see the model A leaf was far too narrow to provide and any sort of comfortable ride let alone any suspension drop. Now my rear setup is a spring over 36 ford rear with stock model A spring hangers welded on, this leaves the eyes of the spring perches at 47" or so. The eyes of the stock model T main leaf were right at 45" and the reversed eye A spring were at 41". My goal was to de-arch the reversed eye model A spring to somewhere around 45" center to center while not under load. To do this I first traced the outline of both springs on the floor with a piece of soap stone so I could compare and see my progress as I went along. I snapped these pictures for an example because I didn't take pictures of me actually de-arching my spring so use your imagination. This is a stock T main leaf which I am using for the example pictures. The idea is if your main leaf is under 45" center to center you are basically flattening out the bend section of the spring and moving the eyes up closer to the top. Now I measured on my spring around 11 or so inches (just before the start of the bend on the spring) from the eye on the BOTTOM side and started to mark some lines. Now I made a series of lines each one inch apart. The reason for making the lines on the bottom of the spring is so you can see them when you are pressing the spring into shape. Then I just used our trusty harbor freight pipe bender (which sucks at bending pipe) Just use the marks made on the spring to guide you and make sure the cylinder used to put the pressure on the spring is in the middle of the leaf. Then put some pressure on the leaf, not enough to break it in half but enough to actually do something. If you go easy on it you can always bend it more, If you bend it too much it is an absolute pain in the ass to unbend it (ask me how I know...). Depending on how much you bend the main leaf you will also need to bend every other leaf in the spring pack to fit the main leaf. I had to modify every leaf in the pack under my roadster. I'm trying to think of a few tips I found out the hard way. Stay away from the very end and the center bolt hole when the bending spring, they will break, then you'll be out of luck unless you have a mountain of leaf springs handy. Also take your time doing this, if you rush you'll probably screw something up. I think it took me about 10 hours to get the main leaf right, then another 3 or so hours a piece for the other 5-6 leaves. Its not rocket science but it does get your stock A reeaaalllll low pretty easy
Man, I'd be happy with a $10 A spring pack! haha Nice score Mike! You've got a sweet little roadster coming together and a spare body to boot. Life is good man.
WOW, another body! Maybe you can build a full blown race car out of that one! Whats up with the cowl on it? looks awfully tall between the windshield posts?
Not sure what I'm gonna do with the new body, but I've got some ideas. It does look a little odd in the pictures but I think its just the inside dash rail that makes it look weird
5 or 6, I cant remember which and I also had to make two spacers for the bottom so the u bolts would clamp down
Mike, great build. Thanks for posting it. Do you have any pics of what the rear spring looks like when all together and with it mounted in the car? Also, have you driven it yet, how does it ride? Is it soft? I am looking to get another 2-3" out of my reverse eye without cutting up my frame as well. My car is a Tudor and I believe a little heavier, not sure how it would ride with two kids in the back.
Mike... Congrats on the 'new' body...Great score. The stance looks perfect...I'm a fan of 'T' rear springs, but have a slightly different mod to change length. Big question here: The engine paint you used: Looks like authentic Henry engine/trans color. I ordered a quart from a Ford resto site, but it was an Irish Kelly green! Wrong! The seller said "That's what they're all usin'," Where did you get yours? (it's SO right!)
I dont think I have any pictures of the spring on the rear but not in the car, sorry about that. It rides pretty good, its a little on the soft side but I left a few leaves out. A tudor is a little heavier but I can't imagine its that much heavier. If you do the same thing I did I recommend keeping all the leaves in your spring and you should be fine. I would like to put a rumble seat in this car and I am almost positive it will be bottomed out with someone in the back. Oh well haha! I will get you a shot of the rear in the car for reference tomorrow when I get it back together. Farm auctions are the best!! You never know what cool old stuff is going to be there and most of the time it goes fairly cheap. Lets just say I paid more for the front tires on my roadster than I did for the whole new roadster... To tell you the truth, I have no idea where mine was from. I got two rattle cans of engine paint in a box of model A junk we bought years ago. I'll see if there is a can left floating around. I didnt have enough paint to paint the trans or intake but the rest of the engine looks great. My guess is its model A engine paint haha
The Jalopy Journal
