Projects My "You didn't build that" 27 T Roadster build thread

Thanks guys, I damaged two tendons on my left thumb an nicked the bone on thumb and index finger, the cut off disc nearly came out the inside of my hand. Six weeks off work and not much will be happening on the T for a wee while, BUGGA!!
Man you are making some good progress Eric... im excited about that. JW

 

Hell Jeremy, sounds like you were extremely lucky with the hand injury. I know how quick these things happen and I have had too many cut off discs catch and disintegrate while in use in confined spots. These ultra thin discs are actually great for cutting a nice fine cut but man, they are dangerous when it all goes so wrong. You take care of yourself and enjoy your extended recovery time and I know you will get bored and want to try doing some workshop time.

 

Thanks Marc, still don't know how it got me as I had both hand on it. JW

 

Glad you're doing alright brother! The pictures looked like pretty serious damage was likely. Don't know if it cheers you up any, but the glass is in.

 

That cheers me up just fine, the way that glass sits gives the car a whole new level of coolness.........vintage like....maybe kind of, you know. JW

 

I always loved the racers and gow jobs from the mid-to-late 30's. I don't know if this is "correct" or not, but it evokes that era in my mind.

 

That must be it. JW

 

Dang Jeremy, hate to hear of that kind of stuff. Amazing how fast those things happen. I have acquired most of my serious injuries from falling down. Shattered my elbow in '89, that one took six months to heal and I lost about 15 degrees of extension from it. Heal well, we're sending you lots of good thoughts.

 

Well hear come the weekend Eric and hope to see some more cool progress, man its getting close. JW

 

Well Eric, I went ahead and did it, I listed all my wheels and tires for sale. Since they are all brand new and damned expensive, I won't be giving them away at garage sale prices.
However if someone wants to save a little on the $ exchange and shipping, they might sell.

If they do I'll order up the 16" wheels and Excelsiors.
We shall see....

 

Dang! That looks slick!

 

Jeremy!! Hope you can heal up sooner rather than later! I had one come apart and lodge itself above my full faceshield into my forehead a few years ago. Best place really--you know there is very little inside there that is worth anything.....

 

Went up to Bob's tonight and accomplished a little more. I ran out of electrical connectors last time so I bought more and finished tying the lights and ground on the dash together.



Had to make some major adjustments to my original wiring plans. I had built the trunk upholstery panel and door for the fuse panel and was pretty proud of it, but it just wasn't very practical. I had planned to run a Centech fuse box and do all of my own wiring but decided it would just be quicker to use a Rebel kit I had bought several years ago.

I wanted to keep it in the trunk, but still accessible. With the cowl vent, heater, stereo, etc. under the dash there was just no room there. Well, no room if I ever needed to access it again! Because of the length (or lack thereof) of the wires I decided to mount it as far forward as possible in the trunk, but it still had to "look right" and be functional.

I decided to switch the gas tank to the right and battery to the left, putting the fuse panel above the battery. Bob made a cool little bracket to mount everything.





The door hinges down and can be removed from the hinges, then the whole panel can be pulled out to work on. The fuse box and voltage regulator will be mounted to the inside of the door. The outside will be upholstered.

So I began stringing wires...



I knew I'd have to lengthen the dash portion of the harness, just not this much!



Yeah, those are the ends of the dashboard group hanging in front of the rear tire. Looks like I need six to eight feet of 28 different colors and gauges. "Hello? Rebel? I need some stuff."

 

Damn I love progress. Thanks ''House'', and I know theres plenty up there to damage. Stitches out on the 7th. JW

 

Sorry to hear about the hand - did something similar with a craft knife. Timely warning to me to wear heavy leather gloves when using a cutting disk.

Don't bother buying more coloured wires - get some multi-connector boxes and 50 metres of plain red wire. Cut a couple of feet off the end of the wires you have and wire in an extension with a connector at each end - being sure that you have continuity with the right coloured wire. Have done this before in a similar situation. Works well.

 

Yup, the ends matching are all that matters and the center part of the wiring can be wrapped up and nobody will know.

 

Thanks guys, I definitely considered that. I may still go that route.

 

Your wiring sure is tidy, then again its all tidy. JW

 

Hit a car show this morning with the black roadster. Saw a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while.

Drove it up to Bob's and worked on the car for a few hours. Mounted the new fuse panel and built some small spacers for the gas tank.





Fitted the gas tank...



And bolted it down.



The door is removable so I can bring the wiring toward the back and make it easier to work on.



And the heater hoses are a done.

 

Whoops, removable door...

 

Oh man, you ain't seen nothin' yet, I'm OCD about my wiring! Being a phone and network guy for the past 26 years has taught me it's much easier to troubleshoot a PERFECT wiring job than one that's anywhere between almost perfect and a total mess! Besides, it doesn't take any longer to do it right than to do it sloppy.

 

Bob sent pics earlier. Mirrors and polished wingnuts on.





Sorry for posting all of these silly little details, but this is the point where everything is going on for the final time and it's pretty exciting.

 

Pretty exciting is right!! I have the same style mirrors on my 37 Willys, I like them.
Small details...... nothing small about adding a huge piece of personality to the build. JW

 

I'm so picky about stuff like this. Took me a few months to decide on which mirrors to run because I couldn't find any I liked. These came from Parr.

 

Mine are made in NZ in the 60's, and the ones I will use on my T will most likely be the same as Larry used except longer. I just lifted the body of the chassis, now its really in bits. I have to devise ways of doing stuff on it using one hand.JW

 

Wow Jeremy. That sucks, but you will heal. Makes you think about what we take for granted when using our hands.
Especially those cut off wheels. Take care, Mark.

 

Sorry Eric. I forgot to add,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,love that windshield. Mark.

 

Eric, you may need to put that pic of my hand up here as a reminder to be careful. JW

 

No Eric, please don't
Seeing that on the other thread is enough for me.