When we asked our 16 year old daughter where she would like to have our last vacation as a family before she goes off to college, she said the UK. So I suggested we go over when the VHRA will be running on Pendine. that met with agreement, so I tried my luck and asked if I could run at Pendine! That also met with agreement!!!! So a plan was hatched, a tight budget set, so I am up n runnin Never being one to take the easy path, I have decided to build a car here, ship it to the UK, run Pendine, and then leave it there and my buddy Chris will sell it for me. I am hoping to make enough to cover the cost of the car and shipping. Twenty two years ago I did the same thing.... only in reverse. I built a bright orange Hi-boy Anglia in the UK, shipped it to South Carolina, and took four months driving across the USA going from hot rod event to hot rod event, ending up at Bonneville. I met the love of my life, moved "over here" and we have been happily married for the last twenty one years! Enough of all that, down to the car. I bought a running, driving, 1930 chassis off the Ford Barn and I bought back some rough 1925 T roadster sheetmetal I had previously sold. So I now have the makings of a pre-war 'Gow Job". The idea is to build it as it would have been by some young guy in the late '30s, early '40s, using the tools and techniques of the time. I will be using a Mig not Gas for any welding, and will use my Plasma cutter for any brackets, as its been a long time since I was "some young guy"!! First job was to remove the running board brackets, as I kept cracking my shins on them every time I walked past! Next was to lower the front end. I am taking out some of the leaves out of the pack, and reversing the main leaf. No hot rod parts will be bought in the making of this car! Just home made engineering. So today I pulled out the front spring, tore down the spring pack, using some big G-clamps and my home made spring spreader. I then drew lines every 1 1/2" to put in my press to reverse the eyes. I marked the arch of the spring on the garage floor, so I can copy it . Thats where I am at for the moment. Stay tuned! Cheers, Stewart.
If I had 1/2 your ambition, I would do that, only I would trade the car I took over for my old RPU. I'm sure Steve would go for that!
Going to the homeland for some fish and chips????!!!! Sounds cool....I gotta keep an eye on this. If you need anything let me know...Hershey is coming up Clark
Very cool plan . I hope the vacation goes as planned - it will be a memory maker . About 10 years ago , my dad hatched the plan to do a vacation to England . We piloted a canal boat across the midlands for 10 days ... it was an awesome vacation . Nothing like driving a hotrod , but very cool , lol !
I am an Instructor at a community college teaching high school students. I don't think "young man" would be adjectives they would use to describe me! I'm 56 years old!
I'm watching this with interest....I'm hoping to take my 36 coupe that I bought via this very site to pendine
I just read a article about Pendine, sounds like a cool trip. I asked my daughters the same question, about where they wanted to go, so I will be in Vegas this Christmas.
So, I managed to get a couple of hours in this afternoon. Re-arched the front spring to create the reversed eyes. I couldn't manage to get any pictures of the process, a bit hard to hold the spring, pump the handle on the press, AND take pictures! I am reducing the number of springs in the pack to 6, down from 10. Going to sand down the edges of the ends of the leaves so they will ride against each other smoothly. I assembled the pack to work out the new holes in the spring clamps, and the length of the through bolt. I noticed that at some time in the cars past that someone had welded a plate on the top of the front cross-member. I am assuming there were some cracks in it. The welds have been dressed, it looks well done, so I think I will leave it. Also noticed all the rivets have been replaced with bolts, so maybe they took the cross-member out to weld it. Ordered tyres from Coker, should see them middle of next week. I have to work to a very tight budget, so no spending money on parts if I don't need to. I am using the "If its not broken, don't fix it" adage. So with that in mind, I have to work out a detailed plan, and stick to it! I have to be able to sell this at the end of Pendine so I am looking to put parts on that will make it more sellable (is that even a word!). It has to be reliable, and start easily. So first decision, change to 12 volts. It didn't come with a battery, so no extra expense there. Change the distributor to a FSI unit with electronic ignition and centrifugal advance. This unit come comes with a 12 volt coil. Its not cheap, but I have heard nothing but praise for it. As the car will be driven on the boat by someone other than me it will make starting easier. Not decided on the generator or starter yet. The carb needs a full rebuild, so I am going to buy a new Stromberg 97. I will modify the existing intake manifold to suit. this will also make the starting easier for someone else. The rod brakes are staying. They look in newish condition, and changing to juice brakes would only cost more money and time. There are some big ticket items there I know, but I think they will make the car easier to drive, more reliable, and easier to start/drive for a non car guy dock worker. So, that's the plan. Still got some other issues to work out but will think about those whilst I'm working on the other stuff. Cheers, Stewart.
Very nicely done crossmember "repair". Looks more like it was done to raise spring seating thus lowering front of car inch or so? Nice goal you have for project! Earl
I had that thought too, but when I felt inside the cross-member, the original steel is still there. Cheers, Stewart.
So, with the main leaf re-arched effectively reversing the eyes, it was on to reassembly. Before the spring pack could go back together a couple more steps need to be taken. As I am removing some leaves from the pack, the spring clamps need to be modified. You can cut, shorten, and then re-weld, but I decided to just weld up the original hole, and then drill a new one. With that done, the ends of the leaves needed smoothing out. Basically you are removing any sharp edges which have a tendency to dig into the leaf below. doing this makes it easier for the leaves to move against each other, and smooth out the ride. I also tend to remove any sharp edges on anything I make, just so it holds paint better, as paint tends to pull back from a sharp edge living it thinner. So a quick swipe over with the sander took off the sharp edges on the tops of the ends of the leaves. I cleaned up the shackles, and made sure the grease zerts allowed grease through. Everything got re-greased and reassembled. I put in a new socket head bolt to hold the leaves together, clamped the leaves together, and installed it back on the car. For a total of 5 hours work and $1.59 for a new bolt, the front end is now lowered 2 1/8". In other builds for other people I would have just bought a new main leaf with reversed eyes as it would be cheaper than the time to re-arch the spring. With this build though, I am on a very strict budget, so if I can modify rather than spend, then that's the way to go. In the process, it feels like I am doing what some young guy would have done in the late '30s when he had very little money and Speed Shops were a thing of the future. That wraps up the front suspension. Next is to lower the rear suspension, fit rear shocks, and narrow the frame rails to better fit the turtle deck. Stay tuned. Cheers, Stewart.
I used to live in Swansea, near Pendine. You can spend weeks and weeks around that area and never run out of amazing things to see. I'm sure you'll find a buyer in the UK for the car to save shipping it back. That would finance the while trip too. Ed
Hey Stewart mine is on it's way to Brackley as we speak. Maybe our T's will be seen together at pendine! That would be very cool. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Well, thought it best that I bring this back from the dead. I have made little progress over the past couple of months. I had not felt too good. A couple of years ago cancer came came knocking, and whilst I was busy working in the garage some bugger let it in. Good for me the surgeon cut out all the tumour, and some of my stomach for good measure. So I had been cancer free for 3 1/2 years. I have scans every 6 months, and lo and behold at my last scan, the shit is back, and again I don't know which bugger let it back in! At least it explains why I felt like crap, it could have been something serious like I was gettin old. Anyway, I am scheduled to have my spleen removed in a couple of weeks, and then we will start over again. In the meantime Erik, my faithful Hot Rod Apprentice, decided WE were going to get back on the Beach Bum, and he wasn't taking any "I don't feel well" for an answer! So, last week we got back to work. The turtle deck on a '23-'25 T is 32" wide, so the rear of the A rails need to be narrowed. For whatever reason the rear crossmember in my frame had been bolted in, not rivetted. I suppose it had been replaced like the front one at some time. So we pie-cut the rails, removed the rear crossmember, pulled the rails together so they were parallel at 32", and welded the rear crossmember back in. In the meantime Dale, a workmate offered to paint the frame. So today Erik and me removed the frame from the running gear. We had one "Oh Shit" moment, lifting the frame with the engine and trans balanced on a floor jack and axle stand. Erik took one for the team, and grabbed the engine before it fell off the jack. He's not very clever, but he can lift 'eavy fings! Thank you Erik So the frame will go off to be painted, I will get sliced open and bits removed, and then I will supervise whilst Erik puts the running gear back into the frame. Recovery is going to be 3-4 months with no pushin, pullin, or liftin. Oh and as a side line, me and Hannah, my daughter, got tatoos. Hers says "Be Brave" mine says something similar, just more in my own way. See picture below So there won't be much progress for a month or so, until I am off the drugs, back teaching, and then back in the garage. Although if you ask my students they think I'm on drugs when I am teaching! Cheers, Stewart.
Hey Stewart......you keep fighting and rest when you're told. I had two heart attacks two years ago this month and just as I was feeling up to going back to work I went to docs with a rash at my navel.......doc in hospital told me he wasn't looking forward to operating cos I might die but he had to cos I had a strangulated hernia that was gonna kill me if he didn't. I'm still here on the right side of the dirt.....if you don't make pendine try the hayride....all the best....Bob in Scotland....and yes I remember your Anglia and the mag feature
Bob, You have a better memory than mine, if you remember those articles about my old Pop! I have had to learn to slow down and act my age! Great idea about the Hayride, I had never considered it before, just been jealous from over here . It was just that with Pendine being the site of the worlds first official motor race and all that. Hallowed Ground like. We will see what happens. Cheers, Stewart.
Sort of forgot about the work I had started on the body. The body panels I bought were rough, I knew what I was buying and the price reflected it. They were cheap! Early Ts have no steel inner structure, it was all wood. I have just the sheet metal, no wood. So the body just flops around. So where to start? I bought a 5' x 4' sheet of plywood and screwed it to a cart. I then marked the centre-line and a grid out on the board. I started with the firewall because it is the thickest and so has the most structural integrity. I modified the stock brackets and screwed it to the board. Then the cowl top was bolted to the firewall. The left hand body side was for a low cowl, and was not in the best of shape with some creases and rust through. I came across an unused Howells touring side panel. It was a low cowl as well, but again it was cheap! The firewall and cowl top are high cowl. So I used the Howells piece patched into the original side and added some metal to the cowl side to mate up with the cowl top. I screwed it to the board. I then used the front of the rear door opening left from the touring part to repair the drivers door opening. The right side rear corner piece was full of mud and dents, so I used a torch to remove the mud, and straightened out the creases. That's where I am at with it at the moment. The right rear corner is ready to be welded to the door surrounding and screwed to the board. This will have to wait for awhile until I am recovered. Some pictures to go with the ramblings.
Just found this on the web, not been on here for a long long time... any news on Limey Kid and his build? would sure like to shake his hand if he ever makes it to pendine.... hoping to get my 23T roadster bodied A onto the sand for the 3rd time in 2016...
We were planning to come over in 2016 for pendine. As Neil has just announced the dates. The Sunday of Pendine is my daughters graduation ceremony. So it now looks like we won't come over til 2017 . The frame and running gear got crated up and sent to the UK. My buddy, Chris Howell and his son, Dan have bought it. I kept the roadster body, but sent various sheet metal panels for Dan to make a body out of. Dan hopes to be running it in 2016 as a speedster of some sort. Cheers, Stewart
The Jalopy Journal
