Projects 1927 Roadster on 1931 chassis

I have turtle deck parts if you want to start piecing one together.

 

Their main attraction is they are somewhat local, I wouldn't have to ship anything.

I'm waiting for more info on a couple more or less complete ones but if they don't pan out I'll be getting in touch with you.

 

Great. I started collecting then found a complete one . I have a real nice d.s. 1/4, rain gutter and tulip sub panel.
Enjoying your build. Thanks

 

One with a V-8 and one with a banger, both on "A" frames.

 

One with a V-8 and one with a banger, both on "A" frames.

That little banger job is poifect. Is that in Mass? What's the story on it?

 

Mike, they are both cool!

 

4 banger-Mass. car built by Rick ( the "Cowboy")
V-8 - Mass. car built by "Blindowl"

 

I've been working on putting a rear spring together, or at least coming up with the plan for one. I've been going by a few things. First the info in Tardel's book. That's a little vague though - it says they took out the top three leaves... but the top leaf has the beveled edges. Did they remove that and bevel the new top? Or leave the top and take the next three? To confuse things more, in the last part of the book he says they ended up taking out a 4th leaf too. No mention of which one though. In any case, if he started with a roadster spring that means his rear spring has three functional leaves remaining.

I stumbled onto a thread on the Fordbarn forum that lists rear spring info: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62383



And finally various posts of what others have done, which seems to be all over the map.

So in the end I thought about it and decided that removing the short leaves would have the smallest effect on spring rate. But I also didn't want to leave too much length between the main leaf and the second one. The whole weight of the rear end is supported by one leaf thickness for that length.

All of which leads up to my current thought on what I'll try first. I'm starting with a pickup spring, which is "E" on the chart. What I've come up with is using leaf 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. The rest will be cut short and used as a spacer so the clamps still work. This means five functional leaves... compared to Tardel's three? It's easier to remove things later than add them back.

Here's what the spring will look like, top 5 leaves are what will remain. The main leaf will have reversed eyes, so the second leaf will have to be shortened. I thought about deleting it entirely but going from the main leaf to leaf three would result in too much "single leaf" length holding up the car.


In other news I had been seriously considering MGB shocks but comitted to tube shocks today when I ordered shock mounts and spring perches today. I'm having a bitch of a time removing the original perches and I'm thinking they probably won't be useable when I'm done anyway! I've seen a few threads on how to do it and have tried a couple things. I'm sure I'll get them eventually but so far they haven't budged. Patience...

 

What technics have you tried so far so we can try and offer something new. JW

 

On both my tourer and the coupe I cut away the kick board supports and used the stock clutch pedal. Picked up an AA handbrake to clear the stock tank in the coupe. I'll dig out some photos later or follow the link below...

 

I started with penetrating oil every day or two for about a week then blows from a big sledge. Moved on to heat and a sledge, then an air hammer, then to heat, candle wax, and trying to twist the perch. I eventualy heard a squeak/chirp while trying to twist it but had run out of time. I'll keep the heat/twist going when I can get back to it with maybe the air hammer mixed in for stress release. Mine, not the perch's...

I won't be using the stock kick board or heel board or whatever it's called either. Plan is to bend the stock pedals to work and to shorten the stock handbrake lever as needed? I haven't looked into how to do that yet but would imagine it won't be too difficult. I've seen floor mounted aftermarket levers if all else fails. When I started this I wanted to make everything era correct with a 1950 cut off date, but am relaxing my "rules" now. I don't know enough about things to be correct anyway, and the end goal is to have something fun to drive, impressing the rivet counters can wait until I have a clue as to what I'm doing.

I ended up ordering my reverse eye main leafs from Model A springs. Saves me a couple trips to Eaton (they wanted the old leaf to copy) and won't cost any more even with shipping. I have no idea how long those will take to show up but I've got a lot of work to do on the original leaves in the meantime so I doubt I'll be ready to use them any time soon anyway. According to USPS tracking my spindles were delivered to Okie Joe's so the axle should be getting underway in the near future too.

 

I bookmarked your thread a while back, mainly for the radiator treatment but other info too. Thanks!

 

I had a problem with perch bolt removal (1979) on an axle I really wanted to use, had it cherry red and in a press with 25 tons on it.......it ended up in the dumpster at work.
Sometimes they don't come out. JW

 

Oh it will come out. I haven't gotten all that serious yet. Bigger torches and serious presses are available at work if ti goes that far. Drills may be involved but the perches will come out. The only part I really "have" to save is the wishbone but I'd prefer to have a useable axle too, even if it's replacement is already ordered. The perch replacements are already in hand so the originals had better straighten up and fly right or things will not work out well for them.

 

That's the spirit!! I like ''Will" come out, not ''Should'' come out.....you have removed all doubt. JW

 

If y'need anything specific just drop me a line.

 

Drill it. The metal is nice , not too hard. I spent 4 hrs with a torch and press with no results and 45 min with the drill . Done.

 

Thanks, I had already bookmarked your thread too...

So... I ordered springs from A-springs .com http://www.a-springs.com/products.html on the 21st. Sent the order the old fashioned way, USPS snail mail. I took some days off the project, figuringno big deal, I'd get back to it on Friday and have the old leaves ready when the main leaves showed up.

NOPE. I got home from work today and found them waiting for me by the door! 9 days from mailing the order to receiving the parts, and there was a holiday in there to boot? Sweet. So far I'm pretty happy with A Springs!



I guess it's time to get busy on this thing again. I did order some chassis paint for it this afternoon (Master Series) so I'll be ready with that when the axle shows up anyway.

 

Cool project, I'll be watching.

My '26 is on an A frame, previous owner built some real nice subrails/mounts into the body and also ran a spring-behind '40 rear so my wheelbase couldn't be moved easily, so I'm running a modified 23-25 turtle deck. It's widened and notched for my gas tank, but there's no wheelwell in it so I didn't have to worry about it. Plus they're dirt cheap, I bought this one with lid off of Craigslist for $60.





Shitty garage pics but you get the idea, the gas tank top shows through that big hole between the trunk lid and the back of the body.

I have a poorly updated build thread on it too if there's anything in there you could use.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/26-t-roadster-build-thread.851873/

 

I just followed your link and there's another thread bookmarked, thanks. I've been trying to figure out headlight and upper shock mounts for the front, that gives me something to think about. Grills too, but I've already more or less ruled out a '32 because it seems everybody's doing it. Well, the cost too. Ok, it's mostly the cost. Actually it's all cost, I just use the "everybody's doing it" as an excuse. They're popular cuz they look good! Well to be a little more serious, I'd want to cut it down and I don't trust my miniscule skills enough yet to start chopping on a '32 shell and haven't gotten to the point I'm comfy using a fiberglass fake yet.

I've been starting to question my choice to go with wire wheels too, your chassis pics make me wonder even more. I like the silver too but have committed to black.

 

Success! The perches are now lying silently on the floor, defeated, cooling off from our battle.

The passenger side went first. Lots of heating, twisting, pounding, heating, wax, drilling, heating, twisting, etc etc... I drilled to about 3/4 of the way through the axle and put it back in the vice, holding the perch. As I heated it up I could hear things pop once in a while but still when I tried to twist, nothing other than flexing the bench and moving the vice.

I drilled to where I thought I was through the axle, then slid a punch down into the hole. Smacked that with a sledge and tah dah, felt movement. Hit it again. And again... and it finally gave up. One down.

Next was the driver's side. I clamped the perch in the vice, heated it, put wax on it, heated it some more, etc... and then tried twisting. It moved so easily I though it had slipped in the vice, but no. It was loose. So I put it down on the floor, hit with with the sledge, and out it came, no damage done. Apparently when it saw the passenger side eventually succumb to my authority it decided not to put up much of a fight...



Yesterday I stopped by Tractor Supply and bought some EZ Slip for the springs. Last night I ordered a bunch of new abrasive supplies so I can get busy rehabbing the springs next weekend. 4 days off. Use it or lose it vacation time, I've got 9 more work days this month. Oh yeah...

EDIT: And while I was typing that, the Master Series primer and paint I ordered showed up. I also realized I was mistaken when I said I had nine more workdays this month. What a maroon I am. I actually have TEN more workdays.

 

Good for you Craig... Probably one of the most difficult jobs for the home builder .. DONE!
Good that your persistence paid off.
Part of building these things is the tremendous feeling of accomplishment after successfully doing what seems to be the impossible. Carry on!

 

It seems a lot of '26/27 projects are showing up around here today so I'll toss a little update out too. Safety in numbers and all that, though all the V8s are making me doubt my choice to stick with the banger!

It did feel good to get the perches out. They had a huge potential to become gumption traps (was it Pirsig who called them that?) and I'm trying to avoid that sort of stuff with this. I had a glitch on a bike project stall me for four years once... I'm getting too old for that sort of thing!

This week's task was getting the front spring reworked. Wow, what a dirty job. I wore a cheap dust mask the first day while wire brushing rust off the leaves and still my nose was black with who knows what when I stopped. The next day I wore a decent one, I was pretty amazed at how black it was at the end of the day. Anyway, between the rust removal, rounding the ends, and grinding the areas smooth where the upper leaves dug into the lower leaves, the shop was a wreck.

I still have to hit the leaves for the final clean up before I paint them but the major work is done. I think that makes me even happier than getting the perches out. Hopefully I'll get the bottoms painted with "EZ Slip" tomorrow.

I didn't take many pictures. Here's a basic comparison of what I was working with. Ground, wire brushed, and pre-cleanup. I ground the ends round freehand on a belt sander. They aren't perfect but then neither were the angle cuts. I think the rear spring will be easier, it's in better shape and will only be five leaves.



Honestly if I had to do it again I might start with a new spring. I'd still have to take it apart and tweak the ends of the leaves but everythign would be in better shape and I wouldn't have had to deal with the rust and all the resulting dust. Seriously, it was an amazingly dirty job.

 

And where would the fun be in using new parts when you have cool originals on hand that just need a little TLC. JW

 

Nice work on your T. My T was the 1st hotrod I built. Started it when I was 17.
It's on an A frame. Would have done things differently if i had the chance. T bodies are small and I would have recessed a seat and floor pan below the body subrails. Think about it if you are tall. Built this before the Internet and digital cameras. But a do have a build picture album if there is any info needed, let me know.
Turned this...


Into this...

 

I used to buy all my Glasurit paint from a Ducati dealer in Athens, OH. Will be watching, I like this, and your can-do attitude.

 

Thought you guys might get a chuckle out of this one. Vintage 1960, 30 A chassis and power train, 27 front half of a touring, home made PU box, rear wheel are re-drilled Chevy (They had good tires). Fuel supply via a vacuumn fuel pump on the firewall.



Never registered but lots of miles put on it driving the back roads. Cops weren't a problem, if we saw him we would cut through the fields, he wouldn't follow with his nice new Olds 88.

Canuck

 

I'm pretty sure I bought a tank pad for my 996 at that dealership while on a trip many years ago. IIRC they did a lot of paintwork? Warranty and custom stuff?

So this week's update isn't as much about tasks as it is about parts. And choices. I've been making good use of the ads here lately!

On Friday I picked up a couple F1 steering boxes/columns. One of them has the flange cut off already, and is missing the, um, outer housing or whatever it's called? But it turns very easily and smooth. The other has had the threads for the steering wheel nut cut off and feels bone dry, but the box is uncut. The cut up verison made sense since I'm considering a column shifter and will likely cut the flange anyway. The uncut box made sense cuz it's uncut, and I've thought about using a wheel that would require some shaft mods anyway. I figure I'll get at least one good unit out of them and maybe two depending on how custom I go.

On Saturday I bought a (used) pitman arm for an F1. I think the ad was about five minutes old. Should ship out on Monday. Why the heck are new replacement arms for the F1 so much more expensive than for a Model A?

And tonight I bought some headlights. I'm not sure what they are, they look like Guide 682 but they have no markings on them. Doesn't really matter unless I need parts I suppose. The trim rings are decent but would need to be replated if I want them shiny.



And here's the choices part. On Friday morning when I was half asleep my mind started wandering back into the "I really should put a V8 in that thing" mode. Then today I came across a flathead. From the one picture I've seen it looks to be a later version. Complete, turns over. More or less local. Affordable. It would mean a lot of changes on what I had planned for the chassis. But I haven't bought many banger specific parts yet so I'd basically be adding tasks/parts, not obsoleting parts I already bought. Using the banger has an appeal, but the ORIGINAL plan for this, before I had even bought the car, was to use a flathead.

I had a 36hp VW for a few years. I ended up not driving it much since it was SO fookin slow. I wasn't comfortable driving it on highways so I never really drove it anywhere. I'd imagine a banger would be similar? So would a flathead be more "useable"? I get it will never be something I'd want to hop in and drive across country in, but a lot of the places I'd like to go around here would involve some highway driving where 70mph cruise would come in handy on occassion. Gilmore museum, the Henry Ford, etc.

The thing is, if I go for the V8, I'll have to spend the money I have socked away in case I find a turtle deck. Decisions, decisions...